Hotel Foltice Peak Season

German Guests

Hotel Foltice has hit a busy spurt thanks to our German guests. We had Sven and his friend, Marcel, visit for a couple of days in September. Sherin and her boyfriend, Eddie, came for a couple of days last week. We feel very blessed to have such great friends and it is always great to see them. We can go for years without seeing each other and pick up right where we left off.

Dana stayed at home with Dylan while I took Sven and Marcel out for the night. Our night was highlighted by the Orange Park Dog Track. That alone tells us two things: 1. Jacksonville is not the most exciting place to be on a Friday night. 2. I am not the best night life tour guide. I never was a night club person and I don’t do bars unless it’s trivia night. Nevertheless, we had a good time.

Due to Dylan’s teething and that fact that it was a Tuesday night, we stayed at home with Eddie and Sherin. Actually, we stayed home to watch the Tigers play the Twins in the play-in game to earn the right to get destroyed by the Yankees. I never knew how complicated the rules of baseball can be until I had to explain to Eddie and Sherin from scratch. We got the basics down (3 outs, 3 strikes, 4 balls, 9 innings) though we didn’t get much further than that. How do explain a force out at second base to someone watching baseball for the first time? (Editor's Note: The actual reason we stayed home is because the dog track is closed on Tuesdays).

After the baseball game, we brought out the Wii. Eddie killed us in all of the sports. Note to self: We need to practice before bringing it out with our friends. Our performance was embarrassing. I was smiling on the outside, but was really upset on the inside. I cried myself to sleep that night. (Editor's Note: Our neighbor's boyfriend, Thomas, who is from Berlin is over right now and is heckling Bryan in Tiger Woods Golf on the Wii. I can tell Bryan is upset by the swift inhale sound through his teeth that he makes after each hole. Maybe in general we just suck at Wii games since people who don't have a Wii come over regularly and kick our butts. PS. Thomas just said they should play for money. I'm getting separate checking accounts.)

Work / Life Balance

Ha! What a joke. Balance is the furthest thing from the truth at this point. Work / Life Blur might be more accurate. Dana and I have the routine down now that she is back to work. I take care of Dylan in the morning, while she makes sandwiches and takes care of Oscar. Dana puts Dylan to bed a night.

After work, one person makes dinner, (hopefully it’s Dana) and the other takes care of Dylan. Dinner may not come until 9pm and it may come in the form of hotdogs and rice if I am in charge of dinner for the night. Like I said, not very balanced.

We will definitely need to improve on this balancing act, because it will only get tougher when Dylan gets older and if there are any new additions to the family. (Editor's Note: That is not a hint that there will be another addition soon. Some day...)

Vacation

That is why I took a week off for vacation this week. Dana had to work, so it’s just the three boys. I will give you an update on how things went over the weekend. Hopefully, everyone will be alive and in one piece by that time.