The kids are back. After two weeks of being just the two of us (and what a relaxing two weeks were these) we are back to being parents. It’s nice.
We missed the kids. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to get some time to ourselves – and we are going to miss the fact that we will not be able to send them off to the grandparents until next year (kindergarten and all) – but we are not a family without them. We need them to be complete.
Anyway, I’m happy they are back. They were so wonderfully affectionate when we got them back, so many hugs, so many kisses. Mika is having transition problems, she misses Kathy (“my real mama”) very much, but I think she’ll pull through. Transitions are just hard for her. Camila seems just the same, perhaps a little bit more needy, but very much back to her own self (mommy do it, daddy do it, next to mommy, next to daddy, you get the drift).
I know they had a great time at the grandparents. Here are some pictures of them at Chuckee Cheese. The other little girl is Nikki, their cousin.
Author: marga (Page 99 of 158)
ABC News reports today that 2 young boys face criminal prosecution for slapping girls’ butts (and touching a girl’s breast) at the school. They are currently charged with misdemeanors, and if convicted, regardless of whether they have to serve time, they will be registered as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. The boys already spent 5! days at juvenile hall – which seems to me punishment enough.
Moreover, apparently spanking each other’s butts was a common way for girls and boys to greet each other at that school – according to a girl interviewed by abc news. While some girls said they felt uncomfortable, at least two of them recanted when questioned in court about it.
Don’t get me wrong, I think what the boys did was terrible. I still remember the humiliation and plain dirtiness of being touched on the butt when I was a young teenager. /I/ didn’t like it, /I/ felt uncomfortable – but then again, it wasn’t a common thing to do in my school and it had a clear sexual meaning. That said, these are 13-yo boys. They still are learning what proper rules of behavior are, that they are not little kids anymore and that girls are no longer the simple playmates of -literally- yesteryear. I think it’s absurd that that prosecutor would prosecute the kids for acting like kids act. Yes, they did something wrong, but there are many, many, many lower forms of punishment that can be used to bring home that message.
As they say on the Week every week “Only in America”
It’d been a year and a half since we’d taken a vacation. The kids were safely with their nonos. I wanted to go to Mexico. Chiapas and the Yucatan. But Mike wasn’t too excited about it, and I really didn’t want to spend the money, so we decided on a short trip to the wine country and Mendocino instead. Wine tasting and waves. We started last Sunday.
We left around 9:30 am and headed to Napa, intending, of course, to wine taste. I’m not a serious wine aficionado, I can’t tell the difference between grape and blackberry in a wine, but I love wine tasting, the whole experience of it. And Mike, who couldn’t taste much ’cause he was driving, humored me.
Our first stop was Domaine Carneros, we hadn’t been there before. It’s a beautiful winery, built to look like an old manor, with nice views of the valley below and the highway. We had a relaxing time tasting there.
We were starving by then – we hadn’t had breakfast and the trip to Napa isn’t that short now that we live in San Leandro (we used to live in Richmond) – so it was time to hunt for food. Or rather, go to Giugni’s, which has to be the best deli in the whole world. At least they make the best sandwiches, we’ve been tempted in the past to just go to Napa to have them. Yum, yum.
Then it was V. Sattui, what must be the most popular winery in Napa Valley. With its large tasting area, store and picnic grounds it’s a perfect place to stop for lunch. With the sandwich you just had bought, for example. But nooooo, you can’t bring your own food anymore (even if you buy their wine). It sucks. We hurried to eat our sandwiches in the car. They were yummy but the car was hot so we didn’t want to linger over the food.
We had a good tasting experience at V. Sattui too, and we ended up buying some Muscat. Mike loves Muscat, I like Muscat, the problem is what to do with a whole big bottle of Muscat. Nobody can drink much of it without going into diabetic coma. We are going to have to invite some of our friends for something and Muscat. What goes with Muscat, anyway?
After that we went to Milat and Flora Springs, two nearby tasting rooms which weren’t too exciting.
Even though it was still early, I was done wine tasting for the day. I’m not sure exactly why but we decided to head to the hotel, the Roman Spa. Don’t get any idea this was a fancy place, more like a 70’s motel with a couple of outdated pools (yeah, you thought pools couldn’t be outdated, but these ones really had a 70’s feel). Mike (and this, I’m sure, will surprise you) took a nap while I read a mystery I borrowed from the lobby. I finally convinced him to wake up and join me at the pools. They had three, each one at a different temperature, all hot. In a hot Napa afternoon, this was perhaps not the most refreshing idea. But it was nice and relaxing enough. Still, we couldn’t do it for long.
We returned to watch the end of Copa America, a soccer contest between South American teams. Argentina had such great hopes when it started, it had all of its best players playing and was sure to take the cup home. Brazil, whom they were playing, had sent their second-string team and had shamefully lost against Mexico in their first game in the tournament. It didn’t matter, Brazil massacred us. Argentina played terribly and deserved the three goals (against nothing) that Brazil scored. But what a shame, what a way to put a dumper on my vacation.
But soon it was time for our mud baths, and the whole experience (related in the linked article) made us relax and forget the game. Thanks generic-god-of-your-choice!
We were by then hungry again and kind of tired, and decided to go to dinner early. We’d made reservations at Solbar, the restaurant of a brand-new spa in Calistoga, for the simple reason that I wanted to review it before anyone did (yeah, yeah, yeah, you shouldn’t review a restaurant when it just opens, whatever). It was actually quite good and we had a very nice time.
Then we came back, had another swim in the pools, including the jacuzzi inside, and went to sleep. It was a very nice first day of vacation.
Last week we took a short vacation in the Wine Country in California. As part of that we decided to get a mud bath. We’ve never done that before (in reality, I’ve never done any spa activities before) and Mike had a boyish fascination with the idea of being in the mud.
Our first choice for spas wasn’t available, so we booked treatments at the Oasis Spa, located at the Roman Spa Hot Springs Motel in Calistoga. The place did resemble a trailer from the outside, but inside it was generally pleasant.
For those, who like us, have never taken a mud bath before I am describing the experience at Oasis Spa.
We started by going into a changing room, taking off our clothes and covering ourselves with long blankets. From there we were taken to the mud bath room, a private room with two mud tubs and two mineral jacuzzi tubs. We were told to take a shower and then go into the mud.
That was more difficult than imagined, however, because the mud wasn’t really soft mud. Instead it was peat moss, with chunks of wood and whathaveyou. The attendant helped by pouring mud over us. There were pillows to rest our head, and at various times the attendant came with glasses of cold water for us to drink and cold towels that she put in our heads. That was quite nice and relaxing.
What was not nice, was the view from the mud tub. All you could see was an old tiled wall, with pipes and hoses coming out of it. Even a picture would have improved the situation. I guess you are meant to close your eyes, but still, some decoration, a picture and a few hanging plants would help. Of course, what would help most is if they redid the whole room.
Neither Mike nor I were particularly impressed by the mud bath experience. He was disappointed than the mud wasn’t really mud and he’d still like to try the real thing. I thought that the experience was just overrated. In all, I think we spent 20 minutes in the mud bath.
What we both enjoyed much more was the bath in the spa tubs (after showering of course). These were filled with bubbles and were very relaxing. The fact that there was a plant and a window nearby (and no pipes) made the view a little better. Mike was so relaxed that he fell asleep. I just laid there contented. I think we stayed in this tub 20 to 30 minutes. Once again the attendant came to put cold towels on our head and give us water.
After we got out and shook the bubbles out of our bodies (it’s recommended that you not take a shower so as to not take away the minerals that have deposited in your skin), we were led to a room with two cots, told to get inside the thin blanket and relax. They gave us lavender eyemasks to put on our eyes and there was a little running water fountain. After the draining hot baths this was a very pleasant experience. So relaxing that Mike, once again, fell asleep. I just stayed there thinking about whatever. I’m not sure how long we stayed there, 10 to 15 minutes perhaps.
It was finally time to get dressed and go.
In all we had a very good experience (save for those ugly pipes), and I’d definitely like to try a spa again. Though next time, I’ll probably try a different one.
Oasis Spa
1300 Washington St
Calistoga, CA 94515
(707) 942-2122
http://www.oasisspa.com/
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