Our last week . . .

Flying Monkeys, as in don't make me get mine, has been my mantra this week with our Baby. Bea has been out of sorts, not her self, moody, and the big girls, bless their hearts, have been on egg-shells, but mostly to no avail. Maybe it has to do with getting all the crabbiness out before she turns a more mature four in just a few weeks.

So, we've all tried to approach life with lao san (literally "old number three" which less formal Chinese way of saying third child) more gently. Because this week, as she told me during one of her time-outs, she didn't want to be nice. She just wanted to be crabby.

Last week found Sean heading off to GuiZhou province in SW China, fairly near the North Vietnamese boarder. We've never been to Southern China, so I pulled out the guidebook anticipating paragraphs on the beauty and great climate. He was heading to the capital city of GuiYang, which Lonely Planet painted in a rather unfavorable light. It read, "Guiyang has a reputation among Chinese as one of China's worst cities for theft..." their restaurant recommendations included the ambiguously named New Zealand restaurant, even the people at Lonely Planet couldn't really explain that one. I decided not to be jealous, although I felt bad that he wouldn't have time to see any of the surrounding area which LP describes beautifully:
"Once outside the modern capital Guiyang (where you watch your wallet and eat at a restaurant named for an obscure island at the bottom of the globe) the landscape appears almost otherworldly. Terraced fields creep up the sides of rolling mountains that eventually give way to wide electric green plateaus. Striking karst formations and crumbling stone punctuate the scenery and giant limestone caves stretch for miles beneath the earth. Dense green forests and cascading waterfalls appear unexpectedly and the overall impression leaves you wondering whether or not you've accidentally stumbled onto the set of a Peter Jackson movie." Parenthetical insertion mine.

By Friday we had Sean (and his wallet)home safely from GuiZhou, had steak with rocket and balsamic mushrooms for dinner, and played a round of Scrabble. (Sean and Millie rallied and beat Eliza and I with a small word loaded with points when they turned "fruit" into "fruity" by placing a "yea" down. It did not help that our team had no vowels in our tray!!) Millie's wine bottle won the most votes at school. The teacher sent the wine recipe home (I'll post it soon.) Eliza was excited for a friend's birthday party this weekend. Bea was still fractious, but not as fractious as earlier.

After the girls went to bed, Sean slipped out to play billiard's with some friends, and our tricky three year-old came sneaking down the stairs. I lit some candles, put on David Crowder and turned down the lights. And that baby girl, who was so disagreeable most of the week climbed into my lap very agreeably and eventually slipped off to sleep.

Hopefully next week we won't need the flying monkeys!