Christened

So far, the new basement has been a smash hit with the kids.  They had spent time in a play corner down there in its previous incarnation, but we had always been too nervous about the steep, creaky stairs and all the stuff stored down there to let them go down by themselves.  Now that everything is shiny and new and the stairs are shored up and carpeted, we're feeling much more free about letting them go down to play on their own.  We've even left the gate off and the door open, so they can experiment as they will.  Tali did take one tumble down the stairs, but luckily wasn't hurt and has been much more careful since then. 

To that end, they fulfilled a dream last night by setting up our pup tent and camping out down there.  Mateo was the only one who actually slept in the tent, with Tali opting for her old pack and play at the last minute.  I slept on our guest bed near them and Sacha stayed upstairs with the baby.  Even though we weren't all down there, I still consider it a christening of sorts.  It's a whole new wing of our house and we are getting more and more excited about it.  Now that we know we'll be here for another year or so, we're thrilled to have more space and to have it be a great place for kids to play and run around is an added bonus.

The sleepover was so successful that it's being repeated tonight.  This time, Sacha's going to sleep down there and I'll stay up on the main floor with Rosa.  I don't know if it was the camping theme or just staying up too late playing after bedtime, but the kids slept until 7:15 am this morning.  That is a major sleep-in at our house!  Let's hope they give us the same gift tomorrow :)