These comments go with pictures for Susan's scrapbook. This year she has helped make it so they can take it home to remember and share.
We made several trips to Southeast Park
to feed the ducks and geese there.
Susan and Silvia are working a 199-piece
puzzle of a penguin. We bought several
similar ones at Walmart.
The trains in Walter Shelly’s train room
are an amazing display of trains, people
and buildings. Susan and
Bella were fascinated. So
was Silvia.
We celebrated Susan’s third birthday at home with some of her favorite foods: black rice, barbecued ribs, asparagus, and a sponge cake with whipped cream and fruit. She got Grandpa to light the candle several times so she could blow it out.
She had a good time playing with her new Legos and a My First Purse complete with a cell phone that rang and a compact that squeaked.
Susan has gotten interested in the Disney
princesses: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty,
Jasmine, Snow White, Belle, and Ariel. She
has the books and has watched most of the
movies.
With some old short gowns, she dressed as
a princess, complete with crown and princess
shoes. She wants to go to the party, dance
with Prince Charming, and get married.
Susan and Blondie are sometimes friends,
sometimes not. If Susan wants to gently
pet her, it is okay. If Susan is noisy and
active, Blondie runs for cover.
Dora gown
Making faces
Dora watch
When you take Susan’s picture, she wants
to use your camera to take one of you. Here
we are making music with Carl’s harmonica.
The last Saturday they were here, we left off
our usual routine and did things Susan really
liked: fried chicken from United, watching the
rabbits at Dreamland Cemetery, feeding the
ducks at Southeast Park, stopping for ice
creams at Braum’s. All five of us had a great
time.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
The princesses
Last summer, Susan loved Dora the Explorer, and she still does, but, in the past few weeks, she has gotten interested in the Disney princesses. She loves to dress up as Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty and ask if she can go to the party. I guess I started it by telling her the Cinderella story while we were on the long subway rides in Chicago. Now she is watching the videos and looking for princess books.
We often play on-line games before she goes to bed. Dora is still the favorite there. The princess games are not much fun. Susan can get pretty excited about Diego's pyramid game or Dora matching game or one of the adventures. It's amazing to watch her use the mouse at three years old.
We often play on-line games before she goes to bed. Dora is still the favorite there. The princess games are not much fun. Susan can get pretty excited about Diego's pyramid game or Dora matching game or one of the adventures. It's amazing to watch her use the mouse at three years old.
Santa Fe
Silvia had wanted to go to Santa Fe for a long time, so she, Susan, and I went on August 13th for 3 days. We didn't get off until about 11 and stopped for lunch at McDonald's in Amarillo. It is about 4 1/2 hours to Santa Fe, so we got there about 3:30 with the time change. The Travelodge billed itself as being remodeled, but it was definitely a work-in-progress! The outside is still quite shabby with little parking. The inside was better, but the light in the bathroom didn't work. I called about it, and the clerk said she would send someone to fix it. I had to call twice more before they decided we should move to another room.
We walked around downtown for a while and ate at Coyote Cantina, up on the roof. I think Susan remembered it from last year when I let her look over the edge. The food was good: duck fajitas for Silvia and pork tacos for me. We made a stop at Border's and found some goodies. Silvia was especially pleased by the materials for ESL.
Silvia and Susan wanted to sleep in, so I went to Pascual's alone and brought them takeout. We started out with the Indians in front of the Governor's Palace. Susan and Silvia really liked looking at the things they had for sale. We went
on to St. Francis Cathedral. It has been cleaned and repainted since I was last there. It looked quite good. There is a new labyrinth in front, and the gardens were great. Inside they have a new baptismal font that people had thrown coins into. Some kids were cleaning it out under the direction of one of the guides. It was pretty funny to see them perched on the grill with their rears in the air.
We had lunch a the Whole Foods Market and did some shopping there before going on to one of
my favorites, Santa Fe Quilting. Susan slept in the stroller while we shopped. They always have great stuff you don't find anywhere else. That night Susan opened up my sack and dressed as a dancing princess with long hair. We made a stop at the other Border's and ate at Maria's. Silvia says she is beginning to realize that you don't have to have beans and cheese with every Mexican meal.
It was quite hot both days, but we could see it was raining in the mountains, so we drove north both afternoons looking for cool. We never got rained on, but it was cooler.
Thursday morning we had to leave, but I had one more stop to make, High Country Gardens. It is a wonderful nursery with xeric plants of all kinds. I especially love the lavenders. Susan played in a huge sandpile, and Silvia and I took pictures of a hummingbird who just sat and let us do it. We made good time getting home. I think they both liked the trip, but Susan thinks she had to sit too long. She is used to being free in the backseat of the car in Taiwan, not sitting in a car seat.
We walked around downtown for a while and ate at Coyote Cantina, up on the roof. I think Susan remembered it from last year when I let her look over the edge. The food was good: duck fajitas for Silvia and pork tacos for me. We made a stop at Border's and found some goodies. Silvia was especially pleased by the materials for ESL.
Silvia and Susan wanted to sleep in, so I went to Pascual's alone and brought them takeout. We started out with the Indians in front of the Governor's Palace. Susan and Silvia really liked looking at the things they had for sale. We went
on to St. Francis Cathedral. It has been cleaned and repainted since I was last there. It looked quite good. There is a new labyrinth in front, and the gardens were great. Inside they have a new baptismal font that people had thrown coins into. Some kids were cleaning it out under the direction of one of the guides. It was pretty funny to see them perched on the grill with their rears in the air.
We had lunch a the Whole Foods Market and did some shopping there before going on to one of
my favorites, Santa Fe Quilting. Susan slept in the stroller while we shopped. They always have great stuff you don't find anywhere else. That night Susan opened up my sack and dressed as a dancing princess with long hair. We made a stop at the other Border's and ate at Maria's. Silvia says she is beginning to realize that you don't have to have beans and cheese with every Mexican meal.It was quite hot both days, but we could see it was raining in the mountains, so we drove north both afternoons looking for cool. We never got rained on, but it was cooler.
Thursday morning we had to leave, but I had one more stop to make, High Country Gardens. It is a wonderful nursery with xeric plants of all kinds. I especially love the lavenders. Susan played in a huge sandpile, and Silvia and I took pictures of a hummingbird who just sat and let us do it. We made good time getting home. I think they both liked the trip, but Susan thinks she had to sit too long. She is used to being free in the backseat of the car in Taiwan, not sitting in a car seat.Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Ezrie's birthday
When Susan and Silvia went with Carl to a party at Lake Tanglewood, they were with Ezrie and her parents. They asked us to celebrate Ezrie's birthday at the end of the month.
On July 28th, we went to Medi Park for watermelon and playground and feeding the ducks. The children had a wonderful time.
Coming home
We had too much stuff!! Of course we used it all, but we still had too much. We decided to use the subway from the airport to downtown to get to Union Station the last morning. Our hotel had a free shuttle to the airport. We got to the subway without much trouble and onto the train. However, repairs to the lines were being made and closed some of the stations for the weekend. We had to transfer to a bus with all that stuff. When we go to the place to get on the subway again, and it was elevated without an elevator or escalator, I said it was time for a cab to Union Station. We got there with no problems after that, check the extra luggage, and ate lunch while we waited for the train to load.
Again we got seats together. The trains were
comfortable except the restrooms. We had room to spread out and sleep and play games with Susan. Again we enjoyed the observation car, and, this time, we ate in the diner. The food was good and not too expensive. We were prepared for cold at night. What we weren't prepared for was a freight train that broke down in front of out train and held us up 7 hours. We got into Ft. Worth 6 1/2 hours late, 8:30 at night. We got a motel, dinner, and slept until 9.
On the drive home we saw the camels between Electra and Iowa Park. I stopped on the shoulder when we saw that part of the herd was close to the fence. We sat there about 10 minutes, watching the camels and taking pictures.
Again we got seats together. The trains were
comfortable except the restrooms. We had room to spread out and sleep and play games with Susan. Again we enjoyed the observation car, and, this time, we ate in the diner. The food was good and not too expensive. We were prepared for cold at night. What we weren't prepared for was a freight train that broke down in front of out train and held us up 7 hours. We got into Ft. Worth 6 1/2 hours late, 8:30 at night. We got a motel, dinner, and slept until 9.On the drive home we saw the camels between Electra and Iowa Park. I stopped on the shoulder when we saw that part of the herd was close to the fence. We sat there about 10 minutes, watching the camels and taking pictures.
Chicago 2
The city of Chicago has a wonderful variety of architecture, from the 1800's to the most modern. However, when I read more about some of the buildings on the Internet, I found that some 
of the most modern looking were at least 20 years old. These two buildings at the Marina were built in the late 70's and remodeled about 10 years ago. They look like corn on the cob. The upper part has 450 pie-shaped apartments, and the bottom has room for 450 cars.
of the most modern looking were at least 20 years old. These two buildings at the Marina were built in the late 70's and remodeled about 10 years ago. They look like corn on the cob. The upper part has 450 pie-shaped apartments, and the bottom has room for 450 cars.We saw one that looked like a castle. It turned out to be the water building
for the city, built more than 100 years ago. We walked on Michigan Av one day, looking at the people and stores. Susan got tired and rode in the stroller, then fell asleep, so she missed the castle. Her allegiance is changing from Dora to the Disney princesses, especially Cinderella. Silvia bought her some "princess" shoes in the Disney store.
for the city, built more than 100 years ago. We walked on Michigan Av one day, looking at the people and stores. Susan got tired and rode in the stroller, then fell asleep, so she missed the castle. Her allegiance is changing from Dora to the Disney princesses, especially Cinderella. Silvia bought her some "princess" shoes in the Disney store.We finished the day by going to Millennium Park. The picture of Susan with the purple shoes is taken under "Cloud Gate", a huge metal sculpture that looks like a drop of Mercury. Another
thing we saw in the park was a changing display of glass bricks with pictures of people of Chicago. We saw it just a the light was going. There are places in the park for musical events, art displays, a prairie garden, a fountain, a bridge. It's a wonderful park. I was impressed by another park too, Grant. It contains several museums, gardens, a sculpture garden, a display of globes (similar to the horses in Amarillo). We didn't have time to visit the museums. I'll have to save that for another time, but we walked in the park and gardens. The first thing we saw was a huge sculpture called "Agora". It consists of figures without heads or arms and larger than life size. I don't know how many there were, probably 100. We liked the globes. They have been painted and decorated with the theme of green Earth. We took a water taxi from that end of the park to Navy Pier, an amusement park.In front of the Children's Museum was another small park. Some little girls were in their bathing
suits playing in the fountain. There were mosaic areas depicting the ocean and Chicago history. I liked best the life-sized figures of children playing 'crack the whip'.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Chicago
Susan, Silvia, and I left Canyon on Friday about 2 to drive to Ft. Worth. We spent the night in Wichita Falls so we wouldn't have to do the whole trip before 1 pm in one day. We got there in plenty of time to get food, park the car, eat, go to the water park and spend a lot of time waiting. The train that should have left at 2:30 didn't go until nearly 4. The attendant got us seats together so we could spread out. We were fairly cold the whole trip.
It was amazing to me to see the crepe myrtles. Some of them must have been 20 feet tall. There were also fields of small ones that may have been nurseries. Sunday morning we watched the Missouri River flow by the train. We got a great view of the St. Louis Arch. We had too much luggage. You should have seen us with 2 suitcases on wheels, 2 smaller bags, a stroller, and a lunch cooler. Too much stuff!
I think we liked the observation car best. It had big windows, tables and benches. We sat there quite a while Sat. evening and again Sunday. There was a snack shop downstairs from the OC, so we could get breakfast food there. There was also a dining car, but we didn't try it.
On Monday we went to South Bend, IN, to take care of Silvia's business at Better Books. Susan and I spent some time in a hammock reading books. They were
very nice to us. Silvia told me they get books from libraries and other places, then sell them or donate them to foreign countries. Silvia ended up getting 20 boxes which hold 1000 to 1200 books each.
Today we went to Gurnee Mills Outlet mall. It turned out to be not worth the time it took to get there. We looked for new shoes for Susan because she has already outgrown the ones she came with. There were some in her size, but nothing she and her mother both liked. We had to have the rental car back by 5 at O'Hare.
In the car there was a GPS device. It helped a lot getting around both in Indiana and in the Chicago area. Silvia programs it with where we are going. It already knows where we are. Before she gets to an intersection where she has to turn, it will say "2 miles to ____ ramp on the right", then "_____ramp on the right in .5 miles", then "____ ramp on the right now", then "bong, bong" and that is the exact time to turn or go off. We haven't gotten lost too many times, and when we do get lost, it just recalculates and tells where to go from that point. I don't believe I'll ever rent a car in an unfamiliar place again unless it has the GPS.
Time to quit for today.
It was amazing to me to see the crepe myrtles. Some of them must have been 20 feet tall. There were also fields of small ones that may have been nurseries. Sunday morning we watched the Missouri River flow by the train. We got a great view of the St. Louis Arch. We had too much luggage. You should have seen us with 2 suitcases on wheels, 2 smaller bags, a stroller, and a lunch cooler. Too much stuff!
I think we liked the observation car best. It had big windows, tables and benches. We sat there quite a while Sat. evening and again Sunday. There was a snack shop downstairs from the OC, so we could get breakfast food there. There was also a dining car, but we didn't try it.
On Monday we went to South Bend, IN, to take care of Silvia's business at Better Books. Susan and I spent some time in a hammock reading books. They were
very nice to us. Silvia told me they get books from libraries and other places, then sell them or donate them to foreign countries. Silvia ended up getting 20 boxes which hold 1000 to 1200 books each.Today we went to Gurnee Mills Outlet mall. It turned out to be not worth the time it took to get there. We looked for new shoes for Susan because she has already outgrown the ones she came with. There were some in her size, but nothing she and her mother both liked. We had to have the rental car back by 5 at O'Hare.
In the car there was a GPS device. It helped a lot getting around both in Indiana and in the Chicago area. Silvia programs it with where we are going. It already knows where we are. Before she gets to an intersection where she has to turn, it will say "2 miles to ____ ramp on the right", then "_____ramp on the right in .5 miles", then "____ ramp on the right now", then "bong, bong" and that is the exact time to turn or go off. We haven't gotten lost too many times, and when we do get lost, it just recalculates and tells where to go from that point. I don't believe I'll ever rent a car in an unfamiliar place again unless it has the GPS.
Time to quit for today.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
A month already
Susan and Silvia have already been here a month. I have a lot of catching up to do. Silvia is going to school with Garrett every day so she can audit a composition and reading course. She works hard at home writing letters and practicing grammar patterns. He is teaching two courses so he is pretty busy. Susan and I have fun at home.
Susan goes to school at the Methodist preschool two days each week, Tuesday and Thursday, 10 to 3:30. She usually cries before going in, but is
happy afterwards and is happy when I pick her up. They have fished and played and eaten burgers from McDonalds and had a bubble party. They had no classes this week because of Vacation Bible School, but will start again Tuesday.
We took a long walk last night. It was pretty hot even at 8:30. Susan picked up rocks and dandelions and pinecones. When we passed Beth's house, she and Vaughn were working in the garden, so we stopped. Susan and I climbed up to the top and looked at the cats and plants. There are some rock balls in the garden; she wanted to take one home. Luckily, it was too heavy to carry.
Susan is amazing at puzzles. The ones for age 3 are
a snap. She would rather do one with about 50 pieces that is for age 5. Once the edge is finished, she can do the rest easily. Silvia and I are working on a 500-piece one, and Susan can sometimes fit pieces in.
I have been sewing for Susan. I made a small travel quilt out of Dora fabric and a tiered skirt she calls her princess dress. They didn't bring Backpack, so I'm making another out of pink Dora fabric. She loves Dora everything and pink everything.
Susan goes to school at the Methodist preschool two days each week, Tuesday and Thursday, 10 to 3:30. She usually cries before going in, but is
happy afterwards and is happy when I pick her up. They have fished and played and eaten burgers from McDonalds and had a bubble party. They had no classes this week because of Vacation Bible School, but will start again Tuesday.
We took a long walk last night. It was pretty hot even at 8:30. Susan picked up rocks and dandelions and pinecones. When we passed Beth's house, she and Vaughn were working in the garden, so we stopped. Susan and I climbed up to the top and looked at the cats and plants. There are some rock balls in the garden; she wanted to take one home. Luckily, it was too heavy to carry.
Susan is amazing at puzzles. The ones for age 3 are
a snap. She would rather do one with about 50 pieces that is for age 5. Once the edge is finished, she can do the rest easily. Silvia and I are working on a 500-piece one, and Susan can sometimes fit pieces in.I have been sewing for Susan. I made a small travel quilt out of Dora fabric and a tiered skirt she calls her princess dress. They didn't bring Backpack, so I'm making another out of pink Dora fabric. She loves Dora everything and pink everything.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
They are back!
Hoorah!! I am finally am back into my blog! It has been in Chinese for the past month, and I couldn't fix it.
Susan and her mother Silvia are here for several months so Silvia can work on her English. They arrived May 12th at 3:30 p.m. We were so glad to see them. Susan went back into English as if she had never left. They had spent several days with Dora and Fei in California to wait for Laura's birth. We went to Tacos Garcia for dinner.
I had knee replacement surgery on April 30, so I wasn't getting aroung too well when they got here. Garrett was home from the 12th to May 28th, and we put Silvia right to work too. I couldn't drive or carry much because of the walker. I visited the doctor on Thursday to get the staples out. We also took the time to go to Sam's that day.
Susan has grown another 3 inches. She is slim and weighs about 30 pounds. She wants a pony tail like her mother, but at the moment, her hair is short. Here is a picture I took shortly after they arrived, in the backyard with Duck and Rabbit. She had been feeding them honeysuckle and dirt.
Susan and her mother Silvia are here for several months so Silvia can work on her English. They arrived May 12th at 3:30 p.m. We were so glad to see them. Susan went back into English as if she had never left. They had spent several days with Dora and Fei in California to wait for Laura's birth. We went to Tacos Garcia for dinner.
I had knee replacement surgery on April 30, so I wasn't getting aroung too well when they got here. Garrett was home from the 12th to May 28th, and we put Silvia right to work too. I couldn't drive or carry much because of the walker. I visited the doctor on Thursday to get the staples out. We also took the time to go to Sam's that day.
Susan has grown another 3 inches. She is slim and weighs about 30 pounds. She wants a pony tail like her mother, but at the moment, her hair is short. Here is a picture I took shortly after they arrived, in the backyard with Duck and Rabbit. She had been feeding them honeysuckle and dirt.
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