I love my friends

First, I've got a sweet one of Millie for you.  Look at that face!  Can you believe people (her parents) say she doesn't like the car?

Second.  Can I just take a moment to tell you all that I love my friends? My friends make it so easy for me to live my life abroad because I come back here and they act like I never left and tell me all their news and just feel comfortable and lovely.  It is so so so nice.  Does it make me want to live in Seattle? Yes, it does.

(Also, they read my blog which is gratifying and some of them even tell me they love it, which is, again, so so so nice.)

My friend Lynn's girls with T & L.  I babysat for the elder one when the younger one was born
and now they are in HIGH SCHOOL and I feel OLD.

Waitrose Flashmob (almost my dream come true except I wasn't there)

I have written in the past about how much I love flashmobs.  Here is my new favorite one.  I really really really hope I am in the middle of a flashmob someday.  I really do.

The Woodland Park Zoo

Yesterday Dad and I took the kids to the zoo.  I think it was easily Tommy's favorite activity since we arrived in Seattle.  We did the zoo in the order one is supposed to do it -- saw the African animals first and then moved over into Asia to see the elephants (Lulu's focus).  But, sometime before we got to the elephants, Tommy noticed a sign for the Raptors and became singularly focused on seeing them.  I made him wait until we'd seen the Asian animals but we got to the Raptors and there was a woman doing a demonstration with all the birds.  It was AMAZING.  We saw two types of owls, a raven, two types of hawks, a golden eagle and a turkey vulture (my personal favorite I think, because he walked out of his little house rather than fly).  Anyway, Tommy has been spending a fair amount of time since we got here with my parents' North American Bird Guide, so he was beside himself with excitement to see all these birds.  When the zookeeper said she was bringing out a Harris Hawk, he put his fist in the air and screamed, "YES!!"  And when the Golden Eagle came out, he leaned over to me and said, "that bird can kill mammals as big as small deer."  When we got home, he showed me where it says that in the book.

I think a surprising part of parenting is how much my kids teach me and not just about life -- but about actual stuff.  I now know more about dinosaurs than I ever thought possible, same with construction machinery.  I can tell you which insect can jump highest and I can identify some types of penguins (but I still think they smell horrible).

Of course, the kids were enamoured of the gorilla as well.  She picked her nose and then vomited into her hand and ate it.  Not kidding.

There's a vintage carousel at the zoo.  I said no, Grandpa said yes.  So here they are.

The Golden Eagle.  As big as Lulu, for sure.  It didn't fly because there is a bald eagle nest nearby and the zookeepers don't think the golden eagle should share their airspace.

Berry Salad Sale

So my son really wants some Lego Ninjago stuff (I have promised to take him to Toys R Us to make his list, wish me luck) and so he is trying to make some money.  Yesterday afternoon, he spent a long time practicing cutting with a sharp knife (under Grandpa's close supervision) and making berry salad.  He decided to sell it to make money toward the dragon sword of fire (or something).

This says:
"Enjoy it freshly served try the recipe straweberey bluebery salid sale pay 1 qarter"

(He is a clever little boy but we need to work on the writing.)

What we've been doing...

First and far most importantly, we have been sleeping during the hours that Seattle residents usually sleep.  Yay!  I always wake up between two and three during which time I feel hopelessly awake but three nights in a row I cannot remember how these episodes end and wake up feeling very rested near six am.  Yay!  This is a huge relief.  Lulu has been waking Tommy and me and for punishment she has skipped her nap today in hopes that she will go back to being the last one up.  We will see.

The kids have almost completed exploring (ahem, wrecking) my parents' house and so we have started to go on outings.  Honestly, that we made it more than a week with so few was lucky, but it feels like work to have to pack up snacks and leave the house.  I would've written that we pack up snacks and raincoats, but my children do not have raincoats and the ones I ordered have not been delivered.  We need them, though, as the weather has been odd and amid sun there have been hard bursts of rain.  

Yesterday we went to the Seattle Aquarium.  As my high school job was on good ol' Pier 59, at the Omnidome which no longer exists, it is very strange for me to go there.  I tried to enter through the wrong door.  But, it's a better aquarium than it used to be and we had a nice time.  Fast though, as Tommy seemed to be worried that there was something better ahead that we should be viewing.  

We have huge octopuses in Puget Sound.  HUGE. 

Lulu loved this diver. She waved and couldn't stop looking at him.

Climbing on a statue outside the Aquarium.  Lulu couldn't make it up by herself which is unusual, but meant she needed a spotter.  Thanks, Grandma Nancy!

Okay.  So this is a herd of goats that Seattle uses to landscape hard-to-reach spots.  Like under the viaduct.  I rolled my eyes but I actually think it's neat.  But soooooooo Seattle.

Grandma got an easel before we arrived and Lulu spends a lot of time there.  This is called "Rainforest with a Cheetah."  And she has pants on but you can't tell.  Apparently the shirt was too confining.

Today we went to Lincoln Park.   Doesn't my kid look enormous? 

Seattle Aquarium naturalists were there and thank God because somebody has to answer the questions.
They were great. 

Not a great picture.  This was steep but Lulu kept up.

The kids have been very busy doing things like having dance parties and making banana bread and picking strawberries and doing all the things I don't really have enough energy to do.  OH!  And we went to a family swim on Monday morning and guess what Lulu did???  SHE SWAM BY HERSELF.  It was a huge breakthrough and though she's far from an independent swimmer she is going to be one at a much earlier age than her big brother.  I am so impressed (and she knows it, whenever I scold her she likes to remind me about how she swam by herself).

My sister is about to pop, behold:  sidandemmathews.blogspot.com
She thinks it's a boy, what do you think?

Two things I've been waiting for

Yesterday was a big day for two important reasons.  (These are not necessarily in order of importance.)  

First, look at how many strawberries mom picked.  It took her two hours, with 'help' from Tommy and Lulu.

 Second, look who I got to babysit all day long!!  Baby Millie!  Isn't she cute? She sure likes that paci, which is why I think it's appropriate that it is included in her photo.  She has a very sweet personality and even though she does occasionally get angry, she is easy to soothe.  She is nearly three months old and feels like a feather compared to the person I am normally carrying around everywhere.

We are still painfully jetlagged but at least the kids sleep until three reliably and Tommy slept until four this morning.  We are on the way out of this, I do believe.

And we're in Seattle!

It must be with some trepidation that you have decided to read this post.  "Hmmm," you may be thinking, "do I really want to know how a fourteen hour flight with two young children went?  Do I actually want to read about the reality of trying to adjust to an eleven hour time difference?" But you're here now so you may as well skim this post, right?

First, the flight.  It sucked.  But, apart from Tommy vomiting about 12 hours into the flight, it was totally best-case scenario.  (And even the vomiting was okay as we made it into the bathroom.  What are the chances?)  As we walked into the plane, I was overcome by a feeling of calm.  I think the realization that we were stuck and I was committed somehow helped me relax.  We had some confusing moments - Tommy refused his lunch from the flight attendant because "we are having lunch at Grandma's!"  "Yes, we are sweetie, but in ten hours.  You should probably eat it."  But by and large, they are good little travelers and they are game for whatever silly games I suggest and they most importantly like television.  Each of them slept for about an hour, but not the same hour.

 Here we are boarding the flight from Muscat to Dubai.  That's the new airport in the background.  (As we drove past one time, Eli said, "there's Daddy's airport!" or something like that and little Lulu exclaimed, "OH, DADDY!  How did you do it?")

Lulu liked the eye mask.

Second, the jet lag.  Which is much worse than the flight.  (Of course it's better in that we have a bit more space to deal with it.)  But on night one, Tommy woke up at midnight and Lulu woke up at 2:30.  Last night, I woke up at 1, Lulu woke up at 2, and Tommy woke up at 3:15.  If we can all make it until 3 tonight, I will be happy.  I will know we are on the road to making it to 5, and right now I feel like that is all I will ever hope for in this life.  (Let us hope that is not true and I rekindle some of my ambition when I am a bit more rested.)  I had a moment on Saturday night of wishing I had not already purchased our tickets home for Christmas, but OH WELL.

The kids are having so much fun here.  Tommy can barely handle going to bed or resting because he feels that it is wasted play time.  He has seen three caterpillars (all the same species, he is careful to explain), a bald eagle, crows, a blue jay, and he has also caught a dead bee in his bug box.  Lulu is enjoying having new adults to boss around, and is enamored of "Akota".  She has participated in feeding him every time he has eaten since our arrival.  I am mostly not doing anything because I am so tired, although I did do some yoga this morning at 4.  And I ran outdoors for the first time in five months yesterday and now I have shin splints.  I am slightly bitter that due to my offspring I cannot take a sleeping pill and just get this sorted.

I'm hoping to stay up until 7 tonight, but that is feeling ambitious right about now.  Seattle (and Portland!) friends, I will be in touch soon.  I just have to get over feeling so badly and then we can  get together and perhaps I won't fall asleep while we are chatting.

It is so nice to be outside so much.  I love it.