Our last weekend in Kathmandu and we did much of our usual. Saturday we had breakfast at Mike's Breakfast because I had forgotten to go the market for milk, cereal, bananas or basically anything that could reasonably be called breakfast food. Tara played with a little girl we met there. She was a sweet girl and Tara nicely shared the books we had and played well with the bubbles (relatively well, at least). However, there was some foreshadowing of difficulties later as Tara was fussy about food (and we had banana pancakes - who's fussy about that???) and about walking home (she wanted to be carried). Back at the house we got our bathing suits on and got ready to go to the Hyatt for our Saturday afternoon hang out. Tara threw a little fit about putting her pants back on after the bathing suit - so we waited until she calmed down and then headed over. We met Celia and Karina at the hot tub and the girls had fun playing in and out of the water (it was a little too hot to stay in for long periods of time). They were both being silly, splashing, laughing and generally enjoying themselves. When we got out of the water - Tara started to walk away - and kept walking away and around to the far side of the hot tub. I asked her to stop, she did not. I told her to stop, she did not. I got up, walked over to her and said that mommy told her to stop - and she did not look at me but kept going. So - I picked her up and told her we were all done. Thus, the first tantrum was set off. Eventually we all calmed down, lotioned up, changed into our regular clothes and went to have lunch. The buffet was lovely as we sat outside (upper 60's, maybe even 70) and the girls sat well and ate. Then - it was off to the bouncy house. Karina had been talking about the bouncy house for days and it's one of the girls' favorite activities, and it did not disappoint. The went up and down and all around and bounced and laughed and enjoyed. After exhausting themselves, we got ice cream and sat back at the tables for dessert and coffee. Tara and Karina finished and then went and played around. At one point Tara was playing in the trees right next to where other guests were sitting and I asked her and Karina to come closer to us to not bother them. Tara was in a mood and basically looked at me and sat down. So yes, I got up, picked her up and told her no more playing. And then the second tantrum of the day began - and this was a doozy. We're talking 20 minutes of crying, kicking, whining, the whole 9-yards. Of course I walked out into the gardens so that she didn't bother everyone and we sat while she had her cry. All this is to say that while we had fun on Saturday, Tara had hit her wall of exhaustion and I think I had put in too many activities over week, coupled with my own stress levels. She was a mess. We made it back to the house and she promptly fell asleep (actually falling asleep in the car) and slept for 1.5 hours. Woke up, we went and got groceries, had dinner and she went right back to sleep - for 12 hours. Happily - Sunday morning she woke up with a smile! Another day, another chance for mom to learn to manage activities and not over-committing!
Today was a school day, so off we went - treppsing our 10-minute walk navigating roads with no sidewalks and lots of motorcycles, cars and the occasional cow. I ran errands, did some work and a bit of packing and then picked her up at 2. We came back to the house and just rested - snack, and a video. A normal after school afternoon. We met folks for dinner - a Mexican place called 'Lazy Gringo' not far from the zoo. It was one of the family's last night (April, Mark and Layla) and we thought it fitting that we'd all eat Mexican for their last night in Nepal (why not, right)??? Tara fell asleep on the drive home - I guess she's still catching up on sleep.
Tomorrow is our interview at the US Embassy - basically a formality but the last hurdle for us to get Tara's visa. Almost home!!
And I'll leave you with photos of Tara at the Hyatt. When she wasn't throwing a fit, she was having fun!!!
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