As it was the first day of Spring break, the weather was delightful and lent itself to lots of fun.  I woke up and went to catch up with some high school friends, came home, went to an afternoon dawath, came home, took a wonderful nap and then had an amazing evening with family.

It was the later half of the day that was the real fun part; the evening.  The Raufs came over and it felt like the good old days.  The days when Iesa was a toddler calling computers tabunatchi, Ibrahim was brand new and maghrur haseen, and Saira appi and Najam bhai hadn’t moved away to Philadelphia, then to Germany then to Saudi Arabia.  It felt like one of those old Saturday nights when abbu’d fire up the grill, and we’d shoot the breeze on the deck.

Today the boys came earlier with their chacha and played football and soccer in the backyard.  I kicked the ball around with Ibrahim and Rania for awhile.  Osman was training Iesa with the football.  I kept remembering when Najam bhai and I would play catch in the backyard when I was in elementary school, and he would literally throw the ball *at* me.  Even he was remembering it, because he was getting nervous I would seek revenge on his little girl, Rania.

During this time abbu, puhpo, Saira appi, Hunno and ammi were all drinking chai on the deck.  Every once in a while they’d turn around to check up on what was going on behind them.  Iesa and Ibrahim kept play fighting and calling eachother names. And in one of the most hilarious sibling exchanges I’ve heard in my life, they said the following to one another:

iesa-and-ibrahim.jpg
Put a sock in it, Abraham!
Put a sock in it, Jesus!

Dinner was great.  Everything was cooked and seasoned perfectly.  There were simple sides: french fries and salad :)  Later we had dessert:  neopolitan ice cream with fresh strawberries, bananas, and chocolate syrup.

This was followed up with an intense and competitive game of Taboo.  Surprisingly, Saira appi had never played before.  She picked up really quickly!  But not quick enough, in the first round Hunno and I beat Fati and her.  In the second round Fati and I beat Hunno and Saira api.  If you are smart, you will notice the common thread in the winning team: me!  I am pro in Taboo and I will challenge ANYONE!

After Taboo got tiring we watched the antics of one Ms. Rania.  She was playing hide and seek with Iesa and he was being a good big brother and pretending to not be able to find her.  She hid under a couch cushion, and he looked in vases for her.  She was in a fit of giggles.  Then she looked for him, but got distracted when she got to the kitchen and discovered a green apple.  hehehehe

They all just left a little while ago, and I was feeling kind of sad.  I love my family and it’s days like this that make it difficult to think about leaving.