Yesterday was like Christmas around here. We never get to see my brother, his wife and two little girls (ages 7 and 4). They live in the Middle East. This is the first time we�ve seen each other in two years. Not only that, but we can�t even send them mail � nothing, not even letters or cards, ever seems to get through. In fact, my mom just received the card she tried to send my brother for his birthday last year. After 11 months it finally came back �return to sender.� So yesterday was a party to make up for all the presents we can�t buy the little girls. My mom and I combined forces and bought them each a doll and assorted accessories. The girls were so excited that they were shrieking and every few minutes they�d stop admiring their dolls long enough to run around and hug everybody. AJ observed the scene with a perplexed look on his face before returning to his own presents: some books from his grandparents and a drum and fishing pole from his aunt and uncle.

After the present-giving was a little tough on AJ, however, as he wasn�t particularly interested in the dolls but they weren�t particularly interested in anything else. AJ tried to play with M., the one who�s his age, but she was not interested in sharing her new baby. M.�s baby came with a toy camera and AJ asked if he could take pictures of M. with it, but M. would not permit AJ to touch any of her new things. Finally, after AJ asked very nicely for the third time, she sighed heavily, held the tiny camera in her outstretched hand and said in her most world-weary voice, �Oh, fine!� AJ quickly lost interest in the baby camera, however and instead found an old teddy bear of mine and began playing alongside the girls with him. He found a small blanket and carefully covered the bear up. �Shh! I just put my kid to sleep!�

The children have been having a marvelous time together. 7-year-old G. has not lost her babyhood shyness. She loves to disappear with a favorite book and has discovered the valuable skill of being able to tune out the chaos of the world around her in favor of a world on the page. 4-year-old M. is all mischievousness and fearlessness. M. and AJ both adore G. and want to be near her all the time. The only strife we�ve seen between the three cousins has involved a certain amount of competition between M. and AJ for G.�s attention.

Today they kids made like they thought they were getting more presents, perhaps to test us or perhaps as an attempt to guilt us into giving them more. It did not work. We were not fooled. But we did take them to the beach where we all sat in the waves in the rain as we watched the dolphins diving and surfacing and let the waves roll us and knock us down until we laughed. We also took AJ to a nearby hotel where we admired the views, had drinks at the bar, played chess, and stole pastries from the concierge desk.

Tomorrow is our last day here, and it looks to be full of adventure. In the morning, the pool. In the afternoon, the spa. I should be fully relaxed, beautified and ready for the trip home.

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