On The Seventh Day

What the kids brought home from Sunday School today...

Singapore Boy

I suppose it was inevitable that J would pick up some American-isms in our time here. He says dan-s for dance, tenny for twenty (not quite managing to get the w sound in there) and hut dog for hot dog.

Today he spilled a little water onto his clothes drinking from a bottle, and a most annoyed Aiyah burst forth from his mouth.

I have to admit, I was rather pleased to hear it.

Noah's Ark

There was a reference in the LA Times a few weeks ago to a Noah's Ark exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center (a Jewish cultural center). It's a really great exhibit, made with lots of recycled materials - and the kids got a lot of hands-on action!

Asian elephant - Chinese steaming baskets for its trunk

Making the rain fall...
...and the wind blow.
J got to built part of the ark

And then we sent the animals up two by two

With the animals they love
E enjoyed making an ark collage.

And to finish off, we caught a rainbow...

Pajamas

These are the pajamas that actually caused E's jaw to drop. She so loves them, she actually cuddled them before I put them on her. And then she proceeded to thank me profusely for them: "Kyu, mommy. Kyu, mommy."

On The Seventh Day

Standing Corrected

One of E's favourite books to look at is a Diego picture book, filled with many animals, some of which we (K and I) aren't particularly familiar with.

This has been the book of choice for bedtime for quite a while now. Today, daddy was going through the animals with her. He pointed to one, and said, "That's an anteater."

J looks up, and says, "No... I will show you." He then proceeds to hunt down E's Diego field journal toy, so that he can find the picture of that particular animal, press the button beside it, and tell his daddy, "Aardvark, daddy. Aardvark."

Storytelling

E is quite the artist. She loves drawing, and has begun to put stories to her squiggles.

Me: What is this?
E: Bird.
Me: What colour is it?
E: Waid. (Red)
Me: What is it doing?
E: Pie. (Fly)

Daddy takes over...

K: What does it have in its mouth?
E: Tsee-weed (Seaweed, which is what she calls all vegetables.)
K: Where is it bringing the seaweed?
E: There. (Points to telephone) Peed bay-bee. (Feed baby.)

Yosemite

Yosemite. Was. Beautiful.

(We all enjoyed it, even the kids.)

Inspiration Point

Yosemite Falls
(which was only a short walk away from where we stayed, Yosemite Lodge)

Mirror Lake

Bridalveil Falls

Sidenote: I had bought a travel-size Hungry Hippos game for the kids. J's been asking for it for quite a while now, so he was thrilled with it.
At the tender young age of two, E has already figured out how to push her kor-kor's buttons. When she tired of trying to make her hippo eat the little balls, she just laid her body on top of the whole toy. Leaving J haplessly trying to hit his hippo lever without being able to see what he was doing.

Travellers

We are spending one night in Bakersfield, en route to Yosemite National Park.

The kids are excited to be out of the car. And are even more excited to be in the pool.

Their first words when we got into the hotel room...

J: Nice sheets!
E: New bed, woo-hoo!

Little Bakers

News flash: J cracked his first egg today.

Quite out of the blue, J asked to eat banana bread one day. He who usually abhors all fruits and most veggies! Naturally, I had to oblige. I found a really simple recipe for banana bread here; my main criteria was that it would be easy enough for the kids to do.

So they did everything here. I just helped out with some measuring of the ingredients, and making sure that all the ingredients were mixed in properly at the end, with no random bits of just flour.

All ready to go into the oven.

The final product

Oh, and notwithstanding the fact that it was his idea, J ate a mere two bites.

In other related news, E saw me drying the dishes a couple of nights ago, and decided that she wanted to help to. Who am I to turn down help from my children, especially when it comes to the household chores?