Brooke & Micah's Visit

Brooke and Micah came up for a visit, and we both played around with my new camera. Brooke is actually the one able to figure out all the cool functions, and then she teaches me!

Memorial Day

We just got back from a long weekend at the lake. After several hectic weeks and no sleep, it was nice to just kick back and chill. Josie, our 9-year-old Cardigan Welsh Corgi, has decided she's Ephraim's personal bodyguard. No matter where he is, she's always close by.

Baby Stuff

Last night, Ephraim actually slept! He went to bed at 9pm, woke up for a quick snack at midnight and was up for the day a little after 5am. Up until now, he hasn't slept more than 1 1/2 hours at a stretch, day or night. We've been exhausted and pretty irritable.

Ephraim is also such a quick crawler and is into everything. It's been impossible to get any work done all week, especially since he thinks he should either be in our arms or we should be in the floor playing with him at all times. That's been tough because after taking two weeks off from work for our trip to Vietnam, the EOB's had really piled up. I got on craigslist and found someone who was selling a Little Einstein Activity Gym, a Jump & Go, an Exersaucer and a diaper pail, something I'd totally forgotten to buy earlier. Then I went to WalMart and bought a baby swing for our swingset. He's now happy and entertained while I work! It helps too that yesterday was the last day of school, so he has four little mothers who are fighting to be the one who holds him, strolls him, feeds him and swings him. The poor little guy is going to be so exhausted tonight that maybe he'll sleep all night long!

Today Ben also bought me my birthday presents. I got a new digital camera because my old one had died, and we had to borrow Logan's when we went to Vietnam. He also got me the Wii Fit. I've got to get in shape to keep up with this busy guy!

Recreation Center, Water Puppet Show, Chinatown

Today Minh and Jade decided to fore go sightseeing. Thuy offered to take us to the Cu Chi Tunnels, but it was a three-hour drive each way, and the tunnels were supposed to be pretty claustrophobic and stifling. We'd been on airplanes and road trips so much the past week, and we were so hot, it just didn't sound fun. I know we'll regret skipping the opportunity later when amnesia sets in. Instead, we asked to go to a water puppet show. We drove by to find out when the next performance would be, and while we waited, Thuy took us to a public recreation park. Access to the park was free for everyone in the community, although classes were extra. They had everything from Latin dancing classes to private badminton coaching. It was kind of funny to watch adult men taking badminton so seriously. Volleyball and ping pong both looked like blood sports too! We also watched a group of men playing what we think was bocce. The water puppet show was so cute - and air conditioned! There were tons of small children there from school groups, mostly pre-school age, although it was Sunday. The show was an elaborate presentation with about eight skilled musicians accompanying the show. Of course we couldn't understand the words, but we could follow the action pretty well. The children just howled with laughter! Afterwards we drove through Chinatown and visited a traditional herbal pharmacy and Chinese doctor's office.