Newport News

This weekend we went to visit Aunt Char and Uncle John at their home in Newport News. It was great to visit their home, which always is improving and looks great. Bennett, Chris and I all slept till past 8, which is something that almost never happens. We spent the morning at a nearby beach, where Austin showed some courage in the ocean with Uncle John- "swimming" to mommy or Aunt Char. John was good at gently pushing Austin with some reverse psychology without freaking him out. Of course, one of the big hits was Campbell, their black lab puppy. Bennett and Campbell became fast friends at the table, sharing food. Bennett would also crawl in her cage and bed and squeal with delight around her.

Bennett and Campbell "sharing" Campbell's bed. It was a mutually enjoyable relationship, fortunately. Whenever they were together, John or Charlotte and me or Chris would say "gentle!" at the same time...us to Bennett and them to the dog. They are both learning how to be around puppies and kids at the same time. I think it might have confused them a little though.

Bennett has changed so much during our time in the States. He has been very clingy and stays attached to me most of the time, though is relaxing somewhat. As he gets more comfortable with Bop, Nana and all my siblings he will go with them some of the time. He's perfectly happy when I am gone...maybe my presence brings out his clingy-ness. He is developing quite a will and is quick to scream and be loud when he does not get his way. We are starting to have to discipline him more, but he is responding well and thinks twice before doing some things. He is also quite a ham and knows how to use his big brown eyes to his advantage. His vocabulary is exploding. He is putting words together now in little sentences and has new words every day. "Daddy downstairs" "mommy chair Nana chair Bop's chair". He also loves to color now and will sit for quite awhile coloring at the table. He continues to amaze us with his mechanical inclinations and can do puzzles and the shape ball so fast. He really gets shapes and will turn them over patiently till he figures out the right way. Maybe we will have an engineer in the family?


Chris is gone these 3 days on a trip to Cleveland, OH, but it is not bad since I have lots of help here.

Hot hot hot

It has been hot here, but we are enjoying the summer and time with our Virginia family. It reached 102 last Thursday! We have had lots of evenings out, but slower days. I feel like a "normal" American mom, taking the boys to the pool in the neighborhood a lot. We have also had a lot of fun with family...here are a few of the things we have been up to.

All the girls together...with Bennett. our first weekend back everyone came over to hang out...unfortunately Bennett had a fever that Charlotte, Em and I all got. Maybe from this picture? Still fun to be together.

The long-awaited fishing trip with Bop. Bop had been telling Austin he would take him fishing for months...Austin picked out a Batman fishing pole at the store with Bop and caught a blue gill. He had a great time and is waiting for the next trip.

Nana and I took the boys to the Richmond Metro Zoo, where Austin was excited to get to feed a giraffe....something he had been wanting to do at a zoo ever since he got to in Chiang Mai, Thailand almost 2 years ago. It was a hot day but we all had fun. Austin also had his first snow cone there and enjoyed it. Bennett squealed and pointed out lots of animals that he knew.

A swim meet kept us from the pool one evening so we went to a local outdoor mall where they have an outdoor fountain. Austin and Bennett both enjoy it, but are a little too scared to run into the middle where the water gushes hardest. Bop treated us there and to dinner while Chris had an appointment out and Nana had to work. AND as you can see, Bop got the clearance from his doctor to lift up to 30 lbs, so he can now hold Bennett- which they both enjoy.

Austin and his noodle...Austin loves the noodle and has enjoyed the pool. He is still very cautious in the water...he won't float by himself with his wings if he can't touch the bottom and will blow bubbles but won't put his face under. But it is still plenty of fun and he is getting more used to the water. Bennett also likes the pool, though he mostly wants me to hold him in the water most of the time.

still catching up

I am not sure what happens to me in America that makes it so hard to keep up with the blog...but I keep getting behind. We are now in RIchmond and enjoying time with Haneys. WE have also gotten a lot busier working on finances and such, but that comes with the territory. The boys had a bug this past weekend that later I and both my sisters have come down with- fever and then sore throat. Yuck and sad we passed it on to everyone. But the boys are doing fine now and I am on the mend.

Here are some more pictures still from our St. Louis/NC trip. The Richmond ones will come soon.

Great-aunt Nonie, otherwise known as Aunt Diana, hosted us for a fabulous lunch one afternoon. The boys both had fun reading books with her, eating, exploring her house and surprisingly...the most fun "toy" was her candle snuffer. They both played with over and over.

Austin enjoyed hitting a little baseball and golf in the back yard with Aunt Nonie and looking for animals. Aunt Nonie is Chris' father's sister and a faithful blog reader.

No trip to St. Louis would be complete without a Cardinals' baseball game. We all headed out for the afternoon game. It was a great win over the Reds. The boys had a lot of fun the first hour...there was a rain delay and we spent a lot of time in the breezeway towards the end. But overall a fun experience and one I'm sure Austin will remember. He also was treated by Nai Nai and Grandpa to the "Build a Bear" INSIDE the stadium. If you don't know what Build a Bear is, it apparently is a very popular (and expensive) kids activity where you make a bear with clothes/outfit etc. Austin made a Chris Carpenter bear (Cardinals' pitcher and Austin's favorite). Wow.

Fun with Daddy- they had a very bonding experience.

Bennett got excited whenever people cheered. I think he might have thought they were cheering for him :).

The lake

During our time in St. Louis, we got to visit with Chris' Uncle Steve and Aunt Susie, otherwise known as Stepper and Nuttie. We had a great time visiting with them in St. Louis, but we also got to go to their house on Lake of the Ozarks. We had a great time swimming in the pool, in the lake, on their boat, fishing and enjoying the nature around us. I keep realizing how little wildlife or even non-wildlife their is in the big city. We got to see Canadian geese and their goslings, deer, ducks, herons, lots of turtles, chipmunks, spiders and fish. At home I see snails, an occasional bird and mosquitoes. I can't even remember seeing a bee outside at home. Wierd. Anyway, here are some fun times from the lake. We are very thankful for their hospitality and hard work to host us.

This is technically from the house in St. Louis...but the boys loved Aunt Nuttie and Bennett would squeal with delight when she would yell and raise her arms in the air. He loved it and wanted to do it over and over. Susie takes care of her grandneices and nephews throughout the week and is an expert child-lover!

Uncle Stepper let Austin "drive" the boat and was so patient and kind to both boys. They loved asking him for help around the lake or house or just climbing in his lap for a story. Steve is a former pilot and wowed Austin with his flying stories.

We all enjoyed the pontoon boat ride and hanging out by the lake. I was glad to have many hands and eyes around to help watch the boys.

Austin caught a fish! Or a blue gill, as he would quickly correct me. He had good fortune...after only a few tries on his bread balls, a fish bit and Austin caught him (with a little help from Uncle Stepper).

Austin was pretty timid to get in the lake at first, but Uncle Stepper was very patient and got him in and used to the lake. After a bit, he was ready for some great fun with Daddy in the water.

A Day Out with Thomas 2

Here are some more pictures from the Thomas day. Besides Thomas, there were lots of fun things to do and perfect for small children.

This picture is proof of Austin's growth as a person over the past year. A year ago he was scared to sit by himself on the merry go round at the zoo. This year, after riding the merry go round, he wanted to ride this airplane ride. I was imagining Austin getting on and as soon as it went up, him crying to get off while there was no option to get him down. Instead, he LOVED it if you can tell from this picture. This was a happy face. He rode it a total of 4 times, once on the airplane and the others on the helicopter.

Here he is on the helicopter as it lifted in the air.

Austin and Daddy rode in a go-kart together (with Grandpa, Nai Nai and Uncle Jason close behind). Bennett is too squirmy for any ride these days so we waved them on. Austin even rode the ferris wheel with me and Chris...poor Bennett cried the whole time because I was not there I guess.

Bennett's favorite thing about the day...Mommy of course. I am pretty much his preferred companion all the time these days. As friendly and outgoing as he is, he wants to be in my arms most of the time. While there are moments I want a break, I love the little guy! He is so cute and cuddly and I am glad he likes me :).

Austin sharing a snack with Uncle Jason. We were glad he got the day off of work to drive up and be with us on this special day.

A Day out with Thomas

Well, I am back to the land of blogging and boy is there a lot to blog about. We have been visiting Chris' parents, traveled back and forth to St. Louis, seen lots of family and friends and are now back in NC till Friday. I cannot possibly fit everything in one or even two or three posts. So I am going to start recent and go backwards. On our drive back from St. Louis, Chris' parents had planned to stop in Blowing Rock, NC at the Tweetsie Railroad park for a special day out with Thomas the Tank Engine. If you are a 3 and a half year old boy, I can think of nothing more fun or special. It was a very fun day for all and wonderful treat. See for yourself.

We did not tell Austin about the day until we got there. When we told him it was Thomas, he did not believe it at first. Then he saw Thomas choo-chooing around the bend and was stunned. He kept asking "How did Thomas get to North Carolina? How did he get there from Sodor?" It was so cute. Here he is catching his first glimpse.

Here we all are in front of Thomas. Even Bennett seemed to understand who he was and kept saying "choo choo" whenever he rode by. We were glad that Uncle Jason got to drive up for the day to join us.

Sir Topham Hatt made an appearance and we got our picture taken with him. We actually bribed Austin - if he smiled in pictures all day he got ice cream. It worked great and we got some great pictures.

As part of the day, we got a 25 minute train ride on the Tweetsie train, pulled by Thomas in front. Austin sat with Grandpa, the train expert.

Bennett LOVED the huge, inflatable Thomas you could jump in. He had no fear of the bigger, bouncing kids and loved it.