We are running out of steam. It feels like the late night at dinner on Tuesday caused us to hit a wall. The boys have not caught up on that lost sleep, which has made them more irritable and their output level even lower, and Allison and I have been challenged with demanding work weeks.
We had planned again to go to the Castel Sant’Angelo today, but it quickly became pretty clear that would not be a wise decision. Silas had a complete emotional breakdown when he didn’t think he had enough toothpaste on his toothbrush. It was at this point we knew trying to go on another sight seeing tour would be a fool’s errand.
As an alternative, we decided again to just stay local. We walked down to what has become our go-to breakfast spot for pastries and coffee. Everyone got their usual and, in his tiredness, Silas used his finger to surgically extract the custard filling out of his donut. We are very ready to just enjoy a huge steaming cup of coffee again back in the States. Sometimes, especially on the backend of this trip, one little espresso or cappuccino is not nearly enough.
From breakfast, we wandered over to the playground. The boys played with the motorcycle and Silas enjoyed swinging, as he usually does. Allison and I enjoyed sitting together on a bench and talking a bit about our upcoming trip to Capri and Beren’s overly abundant earwax.
The weather was wonderful. As we’ve gotten later in the month, it is starting warm up. Today, the sky was clear and blue, with a slight breeze, and an enjoyable warmth.
We had been at the playground for over an hour when Beren was playing with a toy next to a lamppost and a pigeon sitting on top of it pooped directly on his head. I’m still not sure if he noticed it or not, because another parent told him and then brought him over to us. It’s been in these moments that people have been really kind. Another nearby mom saw what happened and pulled out some wipes to help us clean it up. Beren was not very phased, and even maybe a little amused, and went right back to playing once it was clean.
Soon, everyone was hungry again. We looked at restaurants around and decided to go to a nearby Asian restaurant that had sushi and was open for lunch. The walk was a couple blocks and we seemed to be the first ones there and were the only ones there for our visit. We ordered using an iPad at the table. The restaurant was clean and swanky, but still really affordable. The sushi was also really good and they didn’t skimp you on the portion of fish in each roll. I’m surprise it was so empty because it was a great lunch experience. They even brought each of the boys a balloon to keep them occupied.
On the way back home, Silas had a hard time hanging onto his balloon and, I have to admit, it was entertaining watching him constantly drop it and then Allison chase after it down the sidewalk. He just refused to hold it anywhere other than the very tip of the ribbon.
The boys took a decent nap while I buckled in for another full day of meetings. Allison was kind and brought me snacks and dinner throughout the day. In the evening, when the boys got up, they mainly hung around the apartment playing while Allison finished some of the laundry in preparation for our final adventure.
The boys took a shower and went down around their usual time and Allison and I finished our work and I was able to do a little reading before bed. I’ve read much less than I was expecting, but by the time everything else is done and I get around to it, I end up dozing off about a paragraph in.
Tomorrow we make the trip to Capri. It will be an interesting journey getting there, but I think we’re in for a treat. Maybe gelato?