just because it's cute

Snack Time Conversations

Snack time seems to present an interesting environment for creativity at our house. Here are some recent conversations:

Conversation 1: (Phone call)
Moo, with an almond pressed into each ear (blue tooth?): "Hello! How are you? See you later! Bye!"

Lu, with the air conditioner remote pressed to her ear: "Bye!"

Conversation 2: (Word association)
Moo, after biting a cheerio in half: "Look! A Moon!"
Mom, in full song: "When the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie, that's amore!"
Moo: "Will the moon hit the sky tomorrow?"

Conversation 3: (Attempted phone call)
Lu, with air conditioner remote again to ear.
Mom, with plastic banana to her ear: "Hello? Can Lulu play?"
Lu: blank stare
Mom, with air conditioner remote to ear: "Hello, can Lulu play?"
Lu: big smile

Diagnosis: my child cannot fathom a rotary phone and a banana looks nothing like a cell phone.

3 days left

Wednesday: hump day

 Lu gets a little reading time in before nap. "Chooooooo"

 And a special thanks to GranBon for her letter that arrived today with these fun stickers! Fun for the whole family and the thing that got us from dinner to bed. A beautiful gift.

And a stunning self-portrait from Moo who was enamored with the special playback function of our digital camera.

4 days left

Tuesday: Starting to taste the finish line!

 Oh my goodness, why did I not have this stroke of genius earlier? What better place to get Lu her walking practice?? Here is Moo "walking with her". She is as ecstatic as a birthday girl in front of cake!

 Moo finds a secret hideaway in this tree. For those who follow the exploits of this young environmental savvy adventurer, can you see what he has his eyes on?

 Yep! One plastic water bottle tossed aside by some one who cares a little bit less than this little lad who makes a dead-on-sprint for the nearest trash can. Go captain planet!

 Yes, and here is what happens with four wheels and a little freedom. Oh the places you'll go.

 Moo lending sis a helping hand over that big water hose.

 Thanks to cousin Selma for this summer-fun idea of chalk drawing! Unfortunately it paled in comparison to the open road sidewalk.

 We gave bubbles a short go as well. Moo used to suck in rather than blow out, so his bubble-blowing has dramatically improved over the past year.

 Lu wants to use big bro's bubbles. Big bro is not accommodating.

 But Mom, I dumped all my bubble juice on my dress! What do I do now?

And the sad state of affairs of the rest of our park. Thankfully they are not remodeling the whole park, but wow...a sheer wasteland where our favorite playground equipment and picnic zone is! We hope they finish it before summer ends! Or at least before the pretty fall leaves start falling.

5 days left

Monday: 5 days left of Dad's loooooong course. What does Mom do in the 11th hour of full-kiddo detail? Take the kids for a walk....literally, no stroller, both kids must walk, we go as far as we can without falling down from exhaustion. So, we chose to visit Dad at Starbucks to cheer him up while he was working on homework. It is about one block. It took 15 minutes.

 Lu is trying to scale the wall behind our building...because big brother did it.

 Look! Two cute little people chairs! And two very tired children. Only 20 yards to go, but a good spot to rest. And a cat decided to come by and entertain us.

9 months after moving to this spot, I still have no idea why these dolphins are in front of this photo studio. I've never seen any brides posing in front of their parking lot. Ah well, it entertains the wee ones.

Note the slight bemused expression at Mom's request to stand under the dolphin.

Beat the Heat 2

On Sunday, we stayed in the air-con all afternoon and when the sun started to dip, (with an hour before bedtime), we raced to the beach for some quick sand and water play.

 Moo loves to hang onto Dad's neck and 'swim' around in the sea. But he's just as happy dumping buckets of water in the sand and making little lakes, dams, and waterfalls.

Lu love-LOVES the water and would swim by herself if she could. She loves practicing her walking into the sea and floating with Mom. She likes to sit in the lakes Moo makes on the beach.

Beat the Heat 1

I was so excited to hear from a friend of another restaurant in our area that is kid-friendly! Dad has been gone 12 hours/day for 3 weeks and it has just gotten hotter and hotter. Last Friday I decided to take the kids to find this place in the hopes that Dad could join us later. As it turned out, he got home much later and missed all the yummy food. (Frowny face.) The kids and I had a very nice meal though. Check out this shady playground!

 Lydia is waving to two birds on the adjacent chair who kept eyeing her pizza.

 Isn't this a magical place? I bet it is beautiful at night. Only crazy foreigners with little kids eat at 5:30!

And the best part? The restaurant comes with a nanny who will play with your kids while you eat!