Camp Roth

The three of us just got back from Romi's first visit to Camp Roth. (Camp Roth is what we call my cousin's home because it reminds us of camp: there is always someone to play with and something to do. For example, within five minutes of arriving, Rob and Romi were in the pool with Bryan, I was lying poolside with Alan, and Sharon was watching Jaclyn and Jordan play tennis.) The flight to Cleveland proved a bit rough. We had a 7:00 a.m. departure out of Phoenix so Motzi Shabbat we headed up to a hotel a few miles from the airport (after bidding farewell to a house full of Shabbat guests!). Romi fell asleep in the car and all was going well, until we got to the hotel room and he woke up and completely refused to go back to sleep. So, after literally about three hours of sleep, we boarded the plane for the direct flight. The upside was the little guy slept on the plane for about two hours, which made the trip pretty easy. As we landed in Cleveland the flight got quite bumpy, which made Romi laugh and smile. Turns out our kidlet loves turbulence.

We retrieved our luggage, picked up the rental car and headed to Sharon's, only to get repeatedly lost. It seems as if my usually reliable sense of direction doesn't work without sleep. We arrived at last and as I said, were all poolside in a matter of minutes. My original plan was to head to the seminar, but I was shattered. Instead we hung out at Camp Roth, and Sharon made us a wonderful dinner that we ate outside, enjoying the Roths, the Mecklers, Marianna and the amazing weather.

Monday I headed off to the seminar and Rob stayed home to play and wait for David and the twins to show up. Everyone enjoyed another beautiful summer day. That night, Stan took Rob and Steven to the baseball game (we got to see them on TV) and the rest of us went out to dinner (Romi actually fell asleep at CPK) before returning home to watch Romi walk around carrying his pants. Oddly enough, that's much more entertaining than you might think.

Tuesday I was back at work. Romi played with his uncle, cousins and Abba until I got home, which is pretty much how Wednesday went too. Wednesday night we went out to kick off Austin's 16th birthday festivities, and Romi got so into it that he stayed up really late partying. (Partying by his definition is running around in his PJs, throwing remote controls.) We had some time to play and enjoy being with everyone on Thursday before heading to the airport. Unfortunately, Romi was not nearly as amiable on the return trip home as he was on the way out, but we all managed and return home safe and sound.

Romi's walking skills have vastly improved and he resorts to crawling far less than he did even a week ago. He still makes his new scrunchy face but that too is losing its appeal. We think he's been shaking his head no, but we aren't totally certain he knows what it means. He does, however, point to what it is he wants, which is helpful but not always the most accurate form of communication. Beryl got him a wonderful new toy: a remote-control car designed for the younger set. He likes the car, he likes to push the bottom to make it make noise, he likes the remote control, but he isn't so fond of the car when we start zooming it around. When we actually remote the remote-control car, he climbs into our laps, alternately fascinated and terrified. The other day he went so far as to push the offending auto under the futon.