We get off the chairlift and make our way to the top of the slope and Rafa just takes off - no turns no snowplows, no finesse - just unadulterated straight skis and going as fast as possible. There are a bunch of older ladies, perhaps in the early fifties (kinda hard to say what with ski clothing on and all), going ever so slowly down the hill. In fact, they were stopped and basically inching their way down. They turn their heads up towards us because their disbelief is so great. There is this kids, seven years old, barreling down the hill and singing the famous Mary Poppins song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." What must have been going on in their heads, I do not know. But I do know that they were laughing their heads off. Rafa didn´t even notice he was the object of their enjoyment.
Picture this - late afternoon/early evening skiing at Vorlage in Wakefield, PQ. Cold but not as cold as the previous days. The kids have had a number of runs as we have been out on the slopes for about five hours now. It is our last run of the day. Kaleigh was off skiing with Francis Rose and I was with Rafa as I had been all day long (still a bit too short to on the chair lift himself).
We get off the chairlift and make our way to the top of the slope and Rafa just takes off - no turns no snowplows, no finesse - just unadulterated straight skis and going as fast as possible. There are a bunch of older ladies, perhaps in the early fifties (kinda hard to say what with ski clothing on and all), going ever so slowly down the hill. In fact, they were stopped and basically inching their way down. They turn their heads up towards us because their disbelief is so great. There is this kids, seven years old, barreling down the hill and singing the famous Mary Poppins song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." What must have been going on in their heads, I do not know. But I do know that they were laughing their heads off. Rafa didn´t even notice he was the object of their enjoyment.
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WE hadn´t been to New York in a few years...the last time was to visit Tia Doris and you guys were quite young and did not remember the visit at all. This time, we went to visit Tio Carlos as Tia Doris had passed away two years ago or so. The thing that we remembered from the last visit was Rafa staring at Tio Carlos´ toes - they are huge! We reminded you two of this and so we made sure this time you got a good look again at his toes. Carlos, as always, was loud and with his heart full of love for you two. The Empire State Building was at the top of the list for you kids. It was foggy the first day and so we had to go back the second. Also high on your list was the Statue of Liberty but the ferry was closed, I think due to the season. Another highlight was the Lego Store beside the Rockefeller Center and eating New York pizza. The weather was terrible as you might remember from these photos. We hope to go with you all one summer - New York is a fantastic city! The kids have really gotten into the Sound of Music this year. They saw the movie last year but this year Aunt Nat got them tickets to the play at the NAC!! Before the play, all four cousins listened to the cd a number of times and this was god because the play, which has been going around the world, want the audience to sing the songs with them. According to Nat, Kaleigh led them all! Below is a video of Adele and Kaleigh singing a couple of those songs. Note: they are standing on the quincy you can see John digging out...Francis Rose is right under them digging as well. Spending time with these kids is one of my favorite things! I swear this happened and in just a few weeks´ time. I kid you not. As we were on the plane to get to Canada for the Christmas vacation, Kaleigh and Rafa ask if I can download the Aristocats "because the movie we have in Sido´s downstairs doesn´t work anymore" "It must be old because it is in like an old plastic box cd thingee." (a VHS casette, perhaps?) One day, Iwas driving Sido´s car when I asked the Francis Rose and Adele how they knew that Sido´s car was old. After a bit of humming and hawing and thinking that leather seats were a sign of old cars, Francis Rose states, "Because the radio does not have a USB...it only has a place only for one of those plastic majoogie thngs." (A casette - Sido´s car is a 1996 Volvo and does not even have a CD player in it - can you imagine?) Rafa got a phone call from a girl yesterday afternoon. He was in the shower so I told her so and asked her to phone back in ten minutes. Rafa was already in his pajamas. I was thinking it was something to do with school or homework but the girl only wanted to talk! Rafa is only 6...well almost seven. It looks like Rafa didn´t mind talking to her at all as he stayed in that position, sometimes with his legs crossed, mostly with his hands behind his head as comfortable as can be... He strongly stated that she was his best friend and not his girlfriend when I tried to tease him...he was having none of that! thanyou daddy for the pictures that you sended ,but the first picture was upsidedown.I hope you have a great day ,and dont forget that I love you.your love,kaleigh. dad. Have you went to beavers day. Celebrated in canada and In united states. Is it a celebration or a tradition? I miss you a lot. Say hello to mom. Love you Rafa Mamá y papà
Saly. En el magazine de nueva cropolys te lo imaginas. Soy un modelo famoso. les extraño mucho que dios los quide. Este es mi primer email de toda mi vida Los amo Rafa (Rafa was referring to coming out in a video interview for Nueva Acropolis) Jazmine and I were on a job interview but had to leave the kids alone...well not alone per se but we left them with a teacher (Lorena Guzman) we have 100 percent confidence in and whom the kids love. She wrote us these emails...
Buenas noches, Como les va? Esperamos que todo bien. Les cuento acerca de nuestro lunes, nos levantamos 6.15 y es que luego de todo lo cansados que terminamos del domingo nadie quería despertar, por suerte Kaleigh se vistió rápido, cosa que no ocurrió con Rafa a quien tuve que sacar de la cama cargado y lo ayudé a vestir casi dormido. Luego tomaron desayuno, la medicina, se lavaron, peinaron, acomodaron sus loncheras y mochilas, pero el taxi demoró mas de lo calculado, entonces llegamos tarde (bueno tarde para mi) A la salida recogí a Kaleigh y mister Shivy me dijo que tenía que ayudarla con las fracciones y que mañana se quedarà media hora mas en el aula para practicar acerca de lo que no entiende. Mientras esperamos a Rafa nos quedamos en mi oficina a rehacer la pràctica de fracciones en la cual no obtuvo buena calificación, ella se molestó, renegó y hasta dijo tener fiebre+dolor de cabeza, pero todo era por las fracciones. Le explicaba pero no me atendía, le daba ejemplos gràficos pero se negaba a entender, hasta que le dije: bueno niña si quieres anda juega y si no quieres que te ayude no perdamos mas el tiempo, entonces le cambió la cara y me dijo que iba a poner de su parte, le di algunos trucos que mi madre me enseñó de niña y le hice otro examen parecido, entonces lo resolvió con rapidez y se dio cuenta que sabia como resolver y vaya le cambiò el estado de ánimo y todo. Mientras Rafa hacia solito la tarea y se encargaba de decirle: Yo tengo un diploma porque soy el mejor en matemàtica, y así torturaba a su hermana. Finalmente el premio fue dejarlos ir al aula de psicomotricidad por un rato a jugar, eso es lo que mas les gusta y por eso me piden hacer la tarea en mi oficina. Han invitado a miss Claudia y Paty (maestras de psicomotricidad) a cenar mañana en casa, serà algo así como una cena de despedida/agradecimiento con sus profes por estos días de juego en la sala, saben bien que el miércoles ya no podrán quedarse hasta tan tarde conmigo. Luego en casa llegaron a tender su cama, bañarse medio cuerpo, alistar su mochila, cenar, jugar con unos juguetes q trajeron de mi casa, seguir practicando con Kaleigh y Rafa hacer control de lectura, se lavaron los dientes, tomaron la medicina y rendidos quedaron en sus camas. Al rezar Rafa dijo: Q mañana pase despacio para que Lore no se vaya sola a su casa nuevamente...ohhhhhh que lindo!!! Para mañana me han pedido pastel de arroz con atún para el almuerzo y bueno eso traté de hacer, ojalà y les guste. Hoy llamó Gloria para saludarlos también. Ahora los dejo, pues mañana no quiero llegar tarde nuevamente, les dejo un fuerte abrazo Ya pronto estarán con nosotros, cariños Lorena Buenas noches, Hoy al igual que ayer los niños terminaron rendidos en sus camas, Rafa me dijo: Lore mis brazos y mis piernas ya se durmieron, pero creo que lo dijo para que yo le cambiara la ropa para dormir. Ayer les fue muy bien en Nueva Acropolis, se emocionaron al ver el video de promoción en el cual sale la familia Zeitoun completa, también Rafa sale en la revista y por eso dice que es un modelo famoso. Lo malo fue que todo terminó muy tarde y los niños ya se dormían encima de sus violines, llegamos a casa y se quedaron dormidos de inmediato. Hoy se bañaron en la ducha y terminamos remojados como patos, luego nos llamó Gera para invitarnos a almorzar en su casa, los niños se la pasaron bien, jugaron, pelearon, comieron, vieron tv, por un momento se pusieron un poco tristes, luego se recuperaron, vieron película, comieron torta y se les activaron las pilas, empezaron a corretear nuevamente y terminaron super cansados. Rafa pidió torta para traer a casa y bueno Gera nos dio hamburguesas para el almuerzo de mañana. Al llegar a casa, se lavaron y pusieron la pijama, comieron algo y de manera automàtica se fueron a dormir, pero me pidieron que cocinara otra cosa porque no querían hamburguesa para llevar a la escuela. Hace un rato terminé de cocinar un pollo que espero les agrade, los uniformes listos, las loncheras y todo en su lugar. Como todas las noches rezamos antes de ir a dormir, les recuerdo lo mucho que ustedes los extrañan y que los días van a pasar rápido para volver a estar juntos. Gracias a Dios todo está bien aquí, hoy Rafa dijo: ya no me voy a poner esa pijama de enfermo porque aquí nadie está enfermo, por otra parte Kaleigh a pesar de que tiene diferencias con Rafa la he visto tratar de hacer cosas por él, darle gusto con las películas que quieren ver o decir: yo voy si Rafa también va (cuando tuvieron que decidir si hoy irían donde Diego) Bueno, los dejo con un fuerte abrazo :) Que todo vaya bien con ustedes, cariños Lorena Rafa - you were so funny this weekend. We were playing at swords in the backyard and as always I was Obi-Wan Kenobi and you were Darth Vader. Out of nowhere you stated, "I am Darth Vader. You killed my fatheri. Prepare to die." You had to have gotten this from The Princess Bride which we had watched two weeks earlier when Inigo Montoya had said the same thing (like a dozen times!).
So, I said back to you, "You are Rafa Zeitoun. Son of Peter Zeitoun. Prepare to be loved!" and I gave you a big hug!! |
AuthorPeter is the proud husband and father of this family and created this website to be held in perpetuity until his grand kids can take it over for his own kids! Archives
January 2018
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