The Land of the Integrated Resort

It was super cold at Zion Canyon when we woke up this morning, so we spent a long time debating whether or not to go hiking a little - we were mainly concerned if it would be too cold for the kids. Eventually we compromised by taking the shuttle bus within Zion Canyon, and we walked a bit later when the sun was higher, so it was warmer.

The Lodge where we spent the night.

In Zion Canyon, if not for the kids, we could have:

• gone on a much longer hike to explore the canyon. There are some really beautiful spots where the cliffs hang over the river. As it was, we could only look at photos of these hard-to-reach spots at the Lodge.

Because of the kids, we:

• got to go on the shuttle bus, where we got to listen to J engaging two old ladies from Wales in conversation. ("My name is Joshua, I'm three. This is my Mei-mei. She's one. You know what, we're from Singapore! But we live in L.A. now. In Claremont! This my Diego jacket.")
• walked along the Virgin River for a little bit, where both kids dipped them hands into the icy cold water, and where J took great delight in hurling rocks into the water.
• got to show the kids what a star-lit sky and what a grazing wild deer look like.
  
• stood behind and under a waterfall, where they also saw a small rainbow up close.
  

Then from nature, onward to the man-made wonder that is Las Vegas.

Without the kids, we would have:

• caught at least one of the FOUR Cirque du Soleil shows here
• watched Celine Dion in concert
• watched Monty Python's Spamalot (and possibly have died from laughter)
• seen the Blue Man Group
• caught The Producers, starring Tony Danza
  

Instead, with the kids, we:

• endured a buffet dinner at the Bellagio with a cranky, overtired J and a whiny, jealous E (when she saw J sitting on my lap). Both of them were fighting to sit on my lap. For what it was worth, the food was superb.
• caught the (free) water show at the Bellagio, which J proclaimed to be "good".
• saw a replica of the Eiffel Tower, the New York skyline, an Arthurian castle, and a pyramid (which was covered with an advert for Absolut Vodka)

Took My Breath Away

There was no WiFi in our hotel room last night, so this post is a day late. But then, we did spend the night at the bottom of a canyon.

It was a day of breathtaking beauty yesterday. We made the drive to the Grand Canyon, and the first glimpse of it… just the scale of it takes your breath away. It cuts so deep, and you can see the layers of sandstone and limestone, literally hewn through the ages. Awesome.

Another long drive today – longer than we expected actually, so I was so ready to get out of the car when we arrived at Zion Canyon in Utah this evening. But we did get to drive through the Painted Desert, and we got pretty close to the Vermillion Cliffs. Big wind! I drove at one point, and I could actually feel the car shaking because the wind was so strong. And for a short stretch, there was enough sand being blown by the wind to reduce visibility. I didn’t drive for too long.

We spent the night at Zion Canyon Lodge at the bottom of Zion Canyon. It’s pretty spectacular. After entering Zion National Park, you have to drive through a long chain of switchbacks, through a long tunnel cut through the sandstone cliffs in 1930 (!), before you finally reached the lodge. By the time you get out of the car, the cliffs are towering above. J had a great time in the car - it was a roller coast for him. Near the end, he said “Phew! No car hit us.”

Our photos don’t do justice to the canyons we saw. And it was a particularly exciting day for K, the geography nerd.

A post on our hiking in Zion Canyon and our adjustment to the man-made wonder that is Las Vegas later.

On The Road Again

We picked J up early from school a little early today so that we could begin our long long drive into Arizona. We spent the whole afternoon, and then some, in the car today. The kids were so ready to get out of their car-seats.

To backtrack a little, I sneaked in a little early into J's class and managed to catch this exchange.

J's teacher, Miss Sara, was talking about different types of fruit with the class and had got to lemons. "Are lemons nice? Noooo, they're sour."

Then J alone, out of the whole class, piped up loudly, "BUT LEMONADE IS NICE!!!"

Cracked me up.

Then as J and I were leaving, he asked me again where we were going, and when I told him the Grand Canyon, he shouted to everyone from the door, "BYE, EVERYONE! I'M GOING TO THE GRAND CANYON NOW!!!"

Cracked me up again. Even as I was trying to shush him.

We caught a beautiful sunset during the drive, all oranges, pinks, purples. Spectacular enough for J to notice.

We are now in cowboy country. Evidence: our hotel room tonight has framed photos of John Wayne and Roy Rogers.

How E bullies her Kor-kor

She sits on the sofa in the hall, crying and whining. Meanwhile, J is running in and out of their romm, bringing out a different toy each time, and offering it to his Mei-mei. When she continues crying or whining, he runs back into the room to get another toy for her, "Here you go, Mei-mei".

Aiyoh.

I had to tell him to stop.

Kidspace

Today's activity - an excursion out to Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena.

This was supposed to be the kids panning for gold, but it ended up as the kids playing with the sand.


This was undoubtedly J's favourite activity. He was peddling away for a good 20 minutes at least, getting into races and collisions with other boys. And at the end of the day, he was all "I'm so tired, Daddy. Carry me..."

J took Mei-mei for a spin, but it didn't last very long. She, being of very poor balance, tumbled off as J took off. J yelled, "Mum, luckily Mei-mei wearing her helmet."

Line of the day: As we were leaving the cycling area, J waved at a lady who was sitting at the side waiting for her son and sang out, "See you later, alligator!". K was mortified.

Operation Teach-the-Kids-to-Sleep-Without-Me

So this is what has been occupying me over the last few nights. Up until now, I had to lie down with the kids and wait for them to fall asleep each and every night. But four nights ago, it was time for something new.

I had the sense that it was time. Lying down with the kids had begun to feel really tiresome. A feeling that I hadn't had before, but I suppose after months of doing it, and sometimes having to wait up until an hour before both of them were asleep, well, it had felt like too much.

With the progress that we had made with leaving E at the nursery at church, I felt also that God was saying, "She's ready". And in a way I can't fully explain, I do believe that God had prompted me in this.

It's been a journey of small steps. The first night was pretty traumatic. E cried and cried every time I left the room. Eventually K had to go in to calm her down and while he stayed in the room with her, she managed to fall asleep on her own. The second night, both she and J cried when I left the room. Even J had gotten used to me being in there, and wanted me to stay. I had to go in, tell them to lie down and sleep, and reassure them that I would return in a few minutes to check on them. Amazingly, that worked. No crying on the third night, even though I still had to check on them. Ditto for tonight, I've also been trying to stretch out how long they have to wait before seeing me check in on them.

So I praise God for the progress. The next step - getting them to sleep through the night without me having to move into E's bed to sleep with her at some point during the night. Pray with us!

Body Art

This is how we amuse ourselves... J took a paintbrush to his face today.


Then he decided that Daddy's plain-looking arm needed some paint tattoos. (Actually, he would have preferred to work on Daddy's face, but Daddy had some strong objections!)

Distractions

It is premiere week here in the US. So all the new seasons are starting this week on NBC and ABC: Heroes, Bionic Woman, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters.

K is so looking forward to Heroes tonight.

So many shows, so little time.

And my good friend from CBC, A, introduced me to Facebook; I in turned introduced K, I confess.

We are now spending way too much time on Facebook - so addictive. So in trouble.

It's A Rainy Day

Finally.

It only took about four and a half months, but we finally had rain today. And not that evaporate-before-it-reaches-the-ground, misty drizzle. Real rain.

It's much colder these couple of days too, so much so that E is wearing her thermal pajamas and J has his sweatpants on for bedtime.


Fall is coming.

A Visit to the Fair

Today's been such a totally fun-packed day for the kids. J had school in the morning, then we brought Willie the guinea pig home, then we took off to the L.A. County Fair (which is at Pomona, next to Claremont, for most of September). It seems to be a pretty big deal here; a lot of people are excited about it. What it is really, is a pasar malam, just on a much much bigger scale. True to the American way, there is deep-fried everything here: fried S'mores, fried Twinkies, fried Coke!


The highlight was the amusement park rides. J had his pick! Bumper boats, giant slides, race cars...


E couldn't reach the height requirement for most rides, so she missed out. But here's one she managed to get on.

Not too many rides, but she did thoroughly enjoy a corn dog.

(Imbibing the American way of life.)

And both J and E enjoyed the petting zoo. J has become quite fearless when it comes to most animals nowadays. The indoor play area was cool too - trains for J, play food for E, power tools for both! They were very very busy.


So exhausted. On the way home, when I suggested that J take a short nap in the car, he actually said, "Good idea, Mom", settled down and did just that. He who from birth has fought against sleep!

Comeback of the day:
When K told J that he had ten more minutes with the toy trains, he said, "Dad, five and five make ten!"