The last two months have been a little weird with emma being gone so much. Most of the time, I really enjoy the extra time I get with samantha, and I even get special time with emma on the way home from school. But lunch time is especially quiet, and I am often surprised at how much I miss her silly laugh and cheerful presence at the lunchtable.
But samantha and I have also had lots of fun times together. Nearly every day, she asks if we can go outside - and now that the weather is warm but not too hot, it's been fun to take her with me on my errands. She loves riding the bus (or at least the part where she gets to swipe the bus pass or put the money in the box) and likes getting special snacks when we go outside. Mommy likes that part too.
On the agenda this particular day was a trip by bus to the city's central post office where I had to sort out a problem that arose last week. At the bus stop, samantha loves watching all the buses go by. "Is this our bus, Mommy?" "Is this one ours?" Patiently, she waits, money in hand.
Because she's a child - and a foreign child - she always gets a seat. Looking out the window provided her plenty of things to comment on. Bicycles, for all their ubiquity here, always capture her attention.
on the bus: self portrait.
The stop closest to the post office lets you off right at the entrance to the city square. The square is actually really well laid out, with lots of flowers, kites, and fountains (and not to mention pooping pigeons! :) The square also is bordered on one side by a natural spring, so the stone bridges and weeping willows on that side are quite nice as well.
Samantha didn't mind going back to the post office, because some friendly little clerks last week gave her seaweed-flavored crackers. She munched on them the entire time I filled out my twelve customs forms for shipping! She told me as we walked closer to the familiar gold-and-green sign, "Mommy, that lady gave me cookies. I do want to go there!" How anything with seaweed could possibly qualify as a cookie is beyond me.
After the post office, we walked up to wal-mart to buy a few things. And on the way up, I remembered they had a terribly odd bench just outside. I got a picture of it, just so you could marvel with me at the strangeness of it all. 
Um, yes. That baby is naked. And yes, he is a boy. Samantha was more concerned with whether or not that mister really was looking at her or not. But she did want to know if the baby had eyes. Now, that question I can answer!
Inside wal-mart...nobody's too concerned about BPA's here...
at the check-out line, doing some checking out of her own...
and we had to get a picture of the girl....
...because, well....
so, a shout to my big-little sister! if you only knew how many managers I had to talk to to get that picture!
Part of the reason we went out was because the weekend brings out all sorts of extracurricular groups - little kids, some as young as 3 or 4, take karate classes, rollerblading classes...and it all happens in public. Emma annd samantha both like watching the "big kids" do fun things. This little class of rollerbladers is getting an early morning stretch in the parking lot before their class starts.
For those too young to join the classes, wealthy families can purchase a speedy little roadster for their guy or gal to zoom around in.
Over in this area is a little "sports ground" where you can get your exercise, Asia-style! This is the only driving our kids will be doing anytime soon!
This whole olympics thing is kind of like the never ending soundtrack of our lives...we see it everywhere, we hear it everywhere, everyone and everything is all-olympics, all-the-time. We're even going to rent a TV for the two weeks of the olympics - woo hoo! So, we're trying to get the girls in on the excitement too!
Treadmill: no electricity required.
little girls doing things i now only reminisce about...
kids of all ages enjoying the chance to "work out"...
Just across the street from the little exercise place, we stumbled on this beautiful and secluded patch of grass, just begging to be used for a picnic someday. The grass was lush, devoid of animal poop, and shady. Lovely. That was a capital L.
Ok, sorry for all the grass pictures. i'm not grass obsessed, just sometimes I feel a little grass deprived so I get overly excited about the green stuff. Last one, courtesy of the self-timer.
After the impromptu grass photo shoot, we took emma and samantha down the street to the gym wherer josh and I go almost every day. They are always asking if they can go to the gym with us, if they can work out. We thought since we were in the area, we'd give them a little peek at where we go. Way to go, josh!
One cheesy-crust filled pizza later, we let the girls choose one ride from the outdoor plaza to ride on. They both agreed on the cars, and I was tickled watching them make their rounds - I was surprised at their delight!
the girls were delighted with how small they were!
Step 2 - Put soil in the pots. Armed with a shovel (emma) and a trowel (mantha) the girls scooped dirt til the pot was full
step 3 - pat it in all nicely together, and make a few holes to put the seeds in.
step 4 - put the seeds in, sprinkle a little dirt on the top, and (hopefully....after several days/weeks...) voila!
We weren't the only ones taking pictures...
mantha trying to find her way...wandering...in no hurry...
...taking a break for a quick tea party...
