Yesterday (Tuesday) was a long day. It started first thing in the morning, when it look like Abigail was coming down with the chicken pox. Ordinarily I'd have been enthusiastic, since it would mean having all the kids get chicken pox at once and being done with it. Unfortunately, on Wednedsay my parents were due to arrive from the East Coast. Their trip had already been postponed once, so there was a lot of glumness in the house at the prospect of telling them that the kids were out sick. After consultation with their doctor, they decided that they still wanted to come, which replaced glumness with wariness. Combine this with a 9 hour power failure that started shortly before dinner, and you had an entire family that was spinning a little sideways.

This morning (Wednesday) Michaela and I trundled off to the airport to pick up Mom and Dad, or A-Ma and A-Yeh, as they are known to the kids. This is one of the few bits of Chinese language that they kids know. In spite of her excitement Michaela fell asleep once we got off the ferry, so she missed the entry to the airport and the parking garage. She did, however, get the grand tour of baggage claim until we discovered A-Ma and A-Yeh sitting at a table.

It's been almost two years since we've seen my parents, and all of the kids have changed significantly since the last time we saw each other. Thus far it's been fun to watch my parents getting reacquainted with their grandchildren, and vice versa. In principle, I'm on vacation, so blogging will probably be suitably erratic.