My Favorite Place on Earth

Long Weekend Behind

Las weekend was, as I said yesterday, a long and loaded one. Besides Mara's busy dancing schedule, on Friday, the 1st of June, we've celebrated The Children's Day and yesterday it was the Whitsun (Rusaliile), a very big Christian celebration, and a day off here, in Romania.

So, between two dance shows, we spent our time in the park,  skating...

 

... or driving...

... eating cotton candy...

 

... wearing pastel cotton candy colors...

... playing tennis on the street, and throwing the ball up, over the electricity wires, and spending half an hour trying to disentangle it...

 

... and mounting the swing on the terrace at 7'o clock in the morning...

 

Finally, after almost one month of rain and leather jacket cold, we set our table outside! 

In Italy, Bogdan invented a bonus system for eating veggies: for every raw vegetables the children eat, they receive bonus points and they can afterwards exchange the points in gifts. For instance: tomatoes bring 3 points, cucumbers 1,  carrots 1, 3 olives for 1 point, and so on.

It's easy to see that they ate lots of vegetables lately, we collected their points and we generously added some for good behavior and for Kid's Day, too. So, three new bikes found their way to our garage: Runa chose a retro model, Mara a pink one, and for Radu we picked a pirate's model from Decathlon.

Is was great to spend so much time with the kids outside, we are kind of house-mice-computer-and-ipad-freaks, but we try to change that, encouraging them to move, to love sports and nature. 

It would be more about last weekend (told ya' it was a long and busy one!), but I think I will share some later.

On the same matter, I have in plan to start some sports, too, to help me lose weight and tone my body. Due to the chronic spine problems, the only gym I practiced in the last couple of years was the medical one (OK, OK, just sometimes. Rarely. Almost never.). But I found those classes at Ballet Beautiful on the internet and I was so delighted to try some steps on my own, so I decided to try more. 

I shared this because I think I'm not doing enough for my well-being, and I need some encouragement, too. Comments and stories are very welcomed!

Have a perfect day, my friends!

Mara, Our Little Dancer

It was a busy weekend here, Mara had three shows in the last few days: two festivals and one show in a overpopulated mall (AFI Cotroceni). She dances her soul out of her fragile body, is truly passionate about expressing her feelings by moving. 

Since last February we decided to trade ballet on modern dance, and Mara seems to be happier than ever. I'm asking her sometimes if she misses ballet classes and she always says "NO". 

Her dance teacher, Alina Cimpoieru, is a very appreciated, award winner dancer, teaching lot of children of all ages how to dance. She is also a founder and organizer of "Joy of Life" dance festival.

Enough talking by now, I'm the proud mother of this little wonder (actually, three of them, but today's post is about Mara):

 

This Moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. {from www.soulemama.com}

This Moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. {from www.soulemama.com}

 

Lago di Garda. Sea Life.

It seems like forever since we came back from our holiday in Italy, but the kids are still talking about Gardaland and Sea Life. Why it was such a hit?

It's easy to say! There is no aquarium in Bucharest, you can only see some plastic fishes at the Natural History Museum (recently and successfully renovated). To be fair, I have to say there are some sort of small aquariums at Zoo, but as far as I remember, they are the same kind of aquariums you can see in a pet-shop.

The Gardaland's Sea Life is a beautiful and modern aquarium building, with a sailing vessel in front of it, surrounded by a small lake with colorful creatures inside.

They have a glass tunnel, where you can admire all those beautiful and interesting species... the kids were sitting there the whole morning.

The space is beautiful decorated, with sinking boats, pots and multicolor water herbs.

We could admire a large diversity of creatures, each of them in its own environment.

Outside the aquarium is a retro photo booth, where for a coin you can have you own pirate reward photography.

Radu is proudly waving his flag and the sword...

... his favorites toys yet.

Mara's trophy from the souvenir's shop was this cute dolphin, I think this was one of the most productive trip when we are talking about toys for kids. 

 

We had a reward system for eating vegetables, winning points and converting them in toys shopping. Bogdan invented it and I was very happy with such arrangement, because I knew we would buy some toys anyway. 

They even saved some points for home!

The kids were full of questions, and I hope we satisfied well their curiosity!

The next stop: Verona by rain!