The written word

As I've said here before, what's the point of these blogs if not to give me a platform for some shameless proud mama plugs? Here's a big one!

Check out what Norah did to entertain herself as we packed our bags in our Kingston hotel room yesterday morning:

She wrote "Mom, Norah, Kata, Dad" on her own-- names she has already learned to spell. And then! And then she showed me "Flyr"...Flower! She sounded out flower completely by herself (as, like I said, Patrick and I were busy in pack mode).



Needless to say, I stopped packing when she showed me this! She's almost as proud as I am!

Mimi and Papaw head South!

We just had a really, really wonderful visit from Mimi and Papaw last week. They traveled a long way, but I think our Guyana Girls made the trek worth it! Everyone really enjoyed having them around.

Mimi and Papaw were so good about taking pictures of everything, that I didn't pull my camera out as much as I should have. So, I don't have that many pictures to put up now (but if they e-mail me some, I'd be happy to revise...hint, hint). Here's some of what we did last week:

Lots of this:
Liming



Sundowners and afternoon shade



More liming. Chuck Taylors at the Pegasus pool.



Back at the Pegasus playground...remember pictures of Dad here over a year ago?!?



Swinging!



We also celebrated Patrick's birthday. Saturday morning, Norah put on her official party dress and wrapped herself up in pages from a coloring book. What better present could a Dad ask for?



Modeling the fabulous dress-up clothes Mimi brought the Guyana Girls, Norah helped me decorate Patrick's cake.



Chocolate-mouth fairy princess. Evidence of having been a really great helper!

Late Addition!

Uncle Louis reminded me that I did in fact have two extremely important pictures to add to the account of our girls' latest USA expedition!

World Famous Bluffton Mexican Night!

The Guyana Girls ate (and ate, and ate) like they had never eaten before. Poor girls are so deprived of delicious, cheesy Mexican food down here in Guyana...thank goodness we can all get our fill when we go home. Check out these contented faces:

Here is the infamous french fry burrito. That was really just the icing on the cake after having eaten the rest of her meal...



Don't forget the baby...I actually didn't order her a meal because I figured she'd just nibble on some of mine, some of Norah's etc. THANK GOODNESS that the wait staff either didn't understand me or didn't trust my instincts and brought out two of Norah's meal, because K merrily wolfed down an entire quesadilla all by herself.



Uncle Louis, I think we need to go ahead and make a reservation for our Christmastime Mexican feast...

Giddy Up!

After weeks and weeks of "Mommy, I want to ride a pony. Mommy, can I ride a pony? Mommy, when can I ride a pony?" (thank you, Dora) I booked a pony ride at the National Park and invited a few of Norah's friends. Here's how it went:

Once again, Norah surprised me with her bravery. Didn't blink a lash. "Hey pony. Your new name is Pinto. I'm going to call you Pinto. OK, Pinto?"



This was the routine: one girl got a turn on the pony to ride down the field and back. All of the other girls ran alongside.



They did this for an hour. Safe to say they all slept well that night.



Norah and Thandi: BFF.

Only about a month late...

Sorry it's taken me so long to do this latest post! We had another great trip home in August. The girls switch back-and-forth between their two countries seamlessly and always enjoy a little (or a lot!) of grandparent spoiling...

We started off by taking a quick drive down to Alabama.

Original Eva and Lil' Eva



Nana and Norah



Norah and Kata enjoying the super swanky lobby of Nana's new super swanky home!



Back in Chattanooga, Kata enjoys a round of Norah's favorite game, "Ok. You're sick. I'll be Nurse Connie."



Cousins! Could this be any cuter??!?



Kata kept taking it to the face and coming back for more.



The carousel was a huge hit! We went twice in one week...



...and look forward to going again in January when it's not quite so hot in there.



And then we got a week in Bluffton! Some mercifully cooler weather, and a lot of hot weather too. Cantaloupe, blueberries, and ice cream sandwiches for dessert every night!

We also took the girls one day to the Spalsh Park in Bluffton on one of those hot days. So neat!



Go, Kata!



Honorable mention events that did not get properly photographed were: two days with Papaw and dear Aunt Julie so I could go up to DC by myself! (obviously I wasn't there to take pics) and a trip to the fabulous zoo in Fort Wayne (camera battery died). Great, great time with ALL of our grandparents and many aunts, uncles and great-aunts and great-uncles!

Unfortunately, every trip back to the US ends like this: the flight from JFK to Georgetown, Guyana leaves at 1AM. Yes, AM. And it's often delayed until, say, oh, 2:45 AM. Ugh.

Here's how you handle the late-night wait if you're a Guyana Girl:

Norah, Woobie and the iPad. A regular in the Delta Lounge.



Kata, Duckle, and a pacifier. Had enough of this day.

Dog days of summer

I still try to keep in touch with the seasons, you know...here goes: "Wow. It's August-- sure is hot here in Guyana in August." And in October. And in December. And January. Here's how our girls have been coping with the heat lately.

Goofy grin competition.
Kata



Norah (channeling a little Chicago breeze)




It also seems that they have decided Kata is finally big enough to really hang with a three year old.



I told them to do that.



They really do play together now. It's fantastic!



Sandbox exfoliation



Writing and/or eating crayons!



It's great to have a sister.

Empty Nest

Remember our daring baby bird rescue two weeks ago? Every day for a little over a week, Norah, Kata and I watched as our baby bird in the easter basket grew more and more feathers. The mother continued to bring him worms one after the other, and our bird started looking too big for his new nest!



Until one morning, after watching him stretch his wings bigger and bigger, we came out and found him on a rafter on the other side of the garage!



And then by later in the day, he had made it to the mango tree! Kata still dutifully checks for him in the garage every morning, but it seems our baby has flown the coop. Makes a mama proud!