New Adventures & Funny Stories

Today we went to the Lake Elmo Park Reserve with an amazing friend of mine and her 2 kids. Let me say first off, if you have never been to the Lake Elmo Park Reserve it's a must do for summer... and it's only $5 per car! They have a man-made lake that is chlorinated, but still has a sandy bottom. Both Michael and Liliana had a blast. Michael actually swam around (as best as he could) up to his neck. He did really well staying afloat; although he did loose his footing one time and it took him a few seconds to re-gain his balance. He didn't seem scared at all. Liliana stayed in the shallow area. She refused to sit down in the water, but squatted the entire time. She loved splashing and pouring water all over her face. They both also liked playing in the sand at the beach area. Liliana spent the entire time pouring sand onto her face so it ran down her body (she was COVERED in sand under her suit ... see picture). Why that would be fun is beyond me. I hate having sand on my body. Michael played with his buddy, Isaiah. They worked on digging out a whole to pour water into.


I can't remember if I mentioned going to Como Zoo over Father's day weekend. Well, we went and Michael absolutely loved seeing the animals. He kept saying, "More, more" because he wanted to see more animals. I think a membership to the Minnesota Zoo will be a must for this family.

We have had some funny moments with the kids over the past week and a half. It has been so fun to watch them come out of their shells more and more. We think we know who these kids are and have them figured out and then they surprise us with something new. The other day we were listening to some music from my iPod. Matt and I had put a CD with basic Amharic phrases on the iPod before we left for Ethiopia. The iPod was shuffling through all the music on it and started playing one of the chapters from the Amharic phrase CD. In English a woman said, "Are you hungry?" Then the Ethiopian guy said 'Are you hungry' in Amharic. Then I hear Michael say, "Yes." He moved closer to the speakers and was listening intently to all the translations. I skipped to the next song and he said, "No, Mommy, more!" Funny boy. Since he said yes when the guy asked in Amharic if he was hungry I asked him if he wanted a snack. He said no. I guess Michael doesn't know what the word 'snack' means yet.

Liliana had an exciting moment yesterday. She went pee-pee for the fist time in the potty! I am not sure why I decided to start putting her on there, but I did. We started yesterday afternoon putting her on every time Michael goes potty. I figured if I am undressing her to change her diaper while Michael is going to the bathroom anyway, I might as well put her on the potty. She went pee the second time I put her on. She was so proud of herself. Michael was also very proud. The first thing he told Daddy when he got home was, "Lily pee-pee!" Of course, Daddy had no idea what he was talking about because Lily pee-pees all the time, so he took Daddy by the hand and showed him the potty with pee in it. We haven't duplicated yesterday's excitement yet.

Another exciting moment for Liliana is she is getting over her fear of going down the stairs. She would scream and cry anytime I tried to help her go down the stairs backwards on her belly. I was thinking that maybe it's because she doesn't like to be unsteady and not know where she is going. So I faced her forward and showed her how to sit on each step and slide down that way. She is very proud of herself when she gets to the bottom of the stairs. I am guessing it will only be a matter of days before she's going down by herself.

Last Sunday the kids didn't take a nap at all. Our schedule was full and the kids didn't want to sleep in the small window we had for them. They did fantastic with no nap. That night they fell asleep practically when their heads hit the pillows at 6:50 pm. Liliana woke up around 7:20 and was playing quietly in her bed. When I went in after my shower at 7:40 Michael was laying half sleeping still. Poor boy was exhausted. He slept until 7:40 again on Tuesday and this morning he was awake, but stayed quiet until I came in around 7:15. I don't know why he stopped whining when he wakes up, but I like it!

I think that is all the excitement we've had in the last several days. We are excited for the 4th of July and to take the kids to the parade. It's right during nap time, but I think they will do okay. We'll take a late afternoon nap and then maybe let them stay up (if they can make it) for some fireworks. I know Michael will love them, but I am guessing they will scare Liliana. Hoping for the best!