Kelsey’s Birthday

The thing about kids is that they grow up. And every year the have a party. And who doesn’t like a party?

Not Molly, she loves them!

Molly’s classmate and friend Kelsey had her 6th birthday party at a local entertainment center. I liken it to Chuck E Cheese, but it’s not near as obnoxious. And the pizza is better. Better stuff to do, too.

Like black light miniature golf.Molly’s never played miniature golf before and it showed. She held her club so that the head faced backward. I kept trying to correct her but she seemed to like her unique putting style. She was having a blast, so who am I to judge.

The theme for the miniature golf course was dinosaurs, which was right up Molly’s alley. She knew the names of all of the dinos scattered around.

Group shot of the party girls! Kelsey the birthday girl is top row, far left, eyes closed…sorry Kelsey!

After golf it was time for pizza.

And then time to bowl. Another activity that Molly has never done. I guess we need to get out more!

Molly faired better at bowling than at golf. Look at that ball…right down the center of the lane.I think she got a spare in that frame. Love the miniature bowling balls. So much easier for the kids to use.

Back to the party room to sing Happy Birthday to Kelsey.

Finally Molly’s favorite part: cake and ice cream.

One would think that this would complete the party. Not even close. Each kid was given a credit card that they could use for games and rides.

Molly and Kelsey riding the Motorcycle race course.

Molly racing her sports car. Judging from her performance, the BMV won’t be issuing her a driver’s license any time soon.Molly thought the party was “awesome!”

That’s her new word: Awesome. Makes me smile every time she says it. She thinks she is so grown up.

Ya know what? She is. Not much longer until my baby will be celebrating her 6th birthday. I am so not ready for her to be another year older!

Happy 6th Birthday Kelsey! Thanks for including us in your celebration.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back On The Blog…

I know what you were thinking when we moved. Be honest. You were thinking, “Thank God! Finally no more posts about the          %*#@! zoo!”

Well guess what?

The new town has a zoo! And we went! And I am posting about it!

Don’t worry. We don’t have a membership (yet) so you won’t see zoo posts popping up with the same regularity as before. But for today, you’ll have to suffer through.

At least the scenery will be different. That’s something, right?

Onward, to the zoo pics…

My friend Suzanne and her son Max invited us to a day at the zoo. Molly and Max had a few days off of school and the weather was beautiful, so how could we resist?

A chilly start to the day.

Off to the reptile house. I thought, “Wow, that’s a neat sculpture. The crocodiles look pretty realistic.”

And then one of the crocodiles moved. Umm, not a sculpture. Real crocodiles and my kid was leaning over the railing just a few feet from their ferocious jaws.I guess it was safe. I mean there were no signs warning of danger or to keep your hands away from the meat-eaters. But still, a little close for comfort if you ask me.

Molly poses with her favorite zoo animal: The Gorillas.

Woo Hoo! Molly was so excited to see that this zoo had a carousel, just like the one back home.

Max and Molly pose for a picture.

And another. These two fall into a pose with each other so easily that it reminds me of a married couple. Which I am not at all ready for. At all. At least not in this century.

A visitor to our lunch table.

The sun was right behind Molly's head so not a great picture, but this peacock strutted right up to her and demanded some lunch.

Another Molly and Max pic on the train.I hope you are not puckering those lips, Max.

Max on the playground.

Molly in the tortoise shell.

Max’s turn.

And one last picture to end the day. Uh, Max. Please take you hand off of my daughter’s thigh. Thank you.

Reader’s beware…I just might be purchasing a zoo pass in the not-to-distant future. And you thought you were done with zoo posts.

Bwaa ha ha ha!

Happy Camper

“Mommy, today was the best day ever!”

That’s what Molly told me on the car ride home. We spent the day back in the old town, with the old friends. There was a certain comfort that being back in the “old” provided for Molly. And me.

The morning began with Miss Lily’s Mandarin class. Molly started with Miss Lily when she was only a year old. Although she doesn’t always love Mandarin class, she always loves Miss Lily.

After class we went to lunch with Molly’s best friend Mia. Now that we have moved and Molly has started Kindergarten, she has tons of friends. I mean tons. She has friends that she plays with daily at home. Friends that she sees everyday at school. Friends that are at her extracurricular activities.

But ask Molly who her best friend is and she will reply without hesitation: Mia.

Molly was thrilled to go to lunch with Mia. These two always order the same meal. When they are together these two slowpoke eaters inhale their food just so they have more time to play with each other.

After lunch, we went to the China Friends playgroup. Molly has known many of these girls since she was two. The group has recently expanded and we have more formal monthly outings now, but Molly still looks forward to each and every meeting.

For todays outing, Annie’s mom Jill planned an exciting day for the kids. She had teachers from a local Mandarin school (not the one connected with our Families with Children from China where Molly goes) come over teach the kids all sorts of traditional Chinese activities.

Here are the girls learning about the Chinese Zodiac.

Next up was chopstick lessons.

Molly is already proficient with chopsticks so she enjoyed showing off her skills.

After chopstick lessons, the girls learned the hand signs used when counting from 1 to 10 in Chinese—different than we use here in the USA.

Then they learned a hand play using Chinese counting.

Finally they learned how to play a Chinese version of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

This proved to be great fun and they were still playing this game at the conclusion of the activities.

At the very end of the day, the girls took part in a candy tasting. The kitchen was filled with different stations where the kids could taste a whole variety of traditional Chinese candy and then vote on their favorite. How fun is that?

Sorry, not pictures…I was too busy tasting candy myself! And for the record, the sesame candy was my favorite. Molly like the lychee gummies.

The drive home was a quiet one. I had a tired little camper in the back seat. A tired little camper with a big smile on her face. One that though that this was the best day ever!

The Great Big Halloween Post

Warning: Unlike the politically correct and very boring school party, this post contains non-PC material that may be considered graphic to some. Be advised that there will be costumes, candy and general tom-foolery normally associated with Halloween.

The Halloween celebration started up on Sunday, with the annual carving of the pumpkins.

Here’s Molly pretending that she enjoys this little Halloween ritual.

And here she is showing how she really feels about carving pumpkins. Can you tell it is not really one of her favorite things to do?

Here’s Molly pretending to draw a face on the pumpkin.

And here what really happened…We downloaded pictures off of the net and Tony took over from there. He’s the real genius behind the carving.

He even uses a Dremel, because that’s how real men carve pumpkins….with power tools.

Molly was content to wash her hands of the whole mess.

Molly and I both agree that Dad did a great job on this year’s jack-o-lanterns!

Moving on to Monday, Halloween, the day that Molly has been waiting for all month!

This year’s costume choice came as a bit of a surprise. Did she request a princess costume? A bride? A fairy?

Surprisingly, Molly chose something very un-girl-like. *insert audible gasp here*

Molly  getting into her under layer. Any ideas of what she might be?

A Pteranodon!

Here’s Molly in her perfectly clean, untouched costume that she wasn’t allowed to wear to school. Pretty obvious why our politically correct public school system bans costumes in the classroom, isn’t it.

It only takes one look to see it’s full of satanic overtones,witchcraft and blood. I can certainly understand why the local elementary schools wouldn’t want there hallways filled with cuteness evil like this. (Yes, I am still bitter about the Pumpkin Day celebration.)

But, I digress, once again.

Molly made the most adorable little flying pterosaur that ever took to the prehistoric skies.

Speaking of cuteness, my little girlies that live behind us came trick-or-treating at the back door. Can I just say LOVE.THESE.GIRLS!

Molly was anxious to get Trick-or-Treating herself, but she knows me well enough to understand that nothing is allowed to start until the photographing is complete.

Picture with Mommy.

Picture with Daddy.

And the family photo.Now let’s get this party started!

This is the first year that I  haven’t gone Trick-or-Treating with Molly *sniff sniff*.

My mother-in-law usually comes down to pass out candy while Tony and I take Molly around. Unfortunately for everyone, she couldn’t make it this year. She was stuck at home with a broken ankle! Hope you are on the mend, Mom! We missed you!

Molly had plans to Trick-or-Treat with Max. Max’s dad was taking him out. I decided to let Tony take Molly so that he and Max’s dad could do some male bonding.

I sat at home, all alone, missing my baby.

Well, not actually alone.

I got a comfy lawn chair and pulled it up to my neighbor’s fire pit and enjoyed their company suffered in sadness as I handed out candy.

I gave Tony instructions to take pictures of Molly while she was Trick-or-Treating. As soon as they got home I downloaded the pictures to see what they did.

This is what I got a lot of:Yes. Pictures of Molly’s back. And Max’s back.

Apparently men don’t know enough to stop periodically, pose the children in believable scenarios and take pictures of their FRONTS!

Here’s a nice blurry one. Tony explained to me that at this point Molly and Max met up with Allison and the real fun began. The three amigos ran from house to house and there was no way to get any clear pictures of them.

Okay, maybe I am being a bit harsh. Here are a couple of good ones.

I guess you could say that the night was a huge success. The kids had a blast, Tony made a new friend, I kept nice and toasty warm by the fire pit, and the pumpkins looked really cool all lit up on the front porch!

Oh, and then there was the candy. Can’t forget about the candy!What more could you ask for?

Except maybe a real Halloween party at school.

Happy Halloween!