Summer 2009

Last Day of School, June

Friday, June 19th, was my last day of Montessori. We only had a half-day, and then Mommy picked me up with a big bag of clothes, shoes, and artwork. We ate lunch at McDonald's and then went to Tracy's so I could get my hair cut. After she cut my hair, she styled it with a special iron (it was really hot) to make my hair curly. I felt very pretty [right]! Unfortunately, the curls didn't last very long; my hair was nearly straight again by the time I went to bed. 

A while after breakfast, Mommy began to feel sick and had to lay down. So Papa and I had the afternoon to ourselves. Papa took me to Bellevue Square, and I found some friends in the play area there. We also went to Starbucks for a treat, and walked across the street to the park. I played on the equipment (I'm getting really good at monkey bars) and made some more friends. We seven saw ducklings in the pond!

Strawberry Festival, June

Just like last year, we went to the Strawberry Festival in Bellevue.  It was lots of fun. 

We bought tickets so that I could go on lots of rides—slippery slides, inflatable jumping rooms, and more. My favorite ride was the giant slide I had to carry a bag up to slide down on. Mommy went down the slide with me the first time, but the second time I climbed up and slid back down all by myself. I wasn't afraid at all! 

Mommy and Papa also bought me a flower balloon sculpture and cotton candy, my favorite. For lunch I had Vietnamese chicken on a stick.  

At 3:00 there was a clown show, Zero and Somebuddy. Early in the show they asked for volunteers to come up and tell a joke. I raised my hand right away, and they asked me to join them. So I walked right up and stood in front of everybody [right]. I wasn't nervous at all. And I told this joke: "Why did the monkey cross the road? To get to the trees on the other side!" Isn't that funny? Everyone laughed.  

First, we picked up Brennan, Cameron's brother, and went to downtown Bothell to watch the parade. All dressed up like the Statue of Liberty [left], I was ready with my pavement mat, my candy bag, my sunscreen, and my bottled water. First we watched the kiddie parade of decorated bicycles, scooters, and pets. Then the big parade started. I didn't like the noise when the Redcoats and Revolutionaries fired their guns at each other and the SeaFair Pirates set off their cannon. But I liked all the other things that walked and rolled by—especially when they threw candy!

After the parade, we had a light lunch at home, then we went to Mr. Scott's house for a barbeque and celebration. I played croquet, bocce ball, and badminton with the big kids, but also spent some quiet time inside drawing. I made myself a sign that said, "Please do not disturb" so that I could color in peace. For dinner I ate a hot dog and, my favorite fruit, watermelon.

We didn't leave Cameron's dad's house until about 7:00, and from there we drove right to the house of a neighborhood friend who was also having a big party. We ate a little bit, I played with some other kids, and we listened to music.

I didn't get home until about 8:30—and my usual bedtime is 7:30. I'd had a long, busy day, so I fell right to sleep and didn't wake up till morning.

Ladybugs, July

For my birthday in January, Mommy and Papa bought me a ladybug house to raise ladybird beetles. I was very excited and wanted to get them right away, but we couldn't because of the cold weather and upcoming vacations. Finally, after we got home from Holland, Mommy ordered the ladybug larvae. When they arrived, we poured the teeny live larvae (they looked like little black specks) into the ladybug house. The mailing tube also came with powdery food, and we gave them a couple droplets of water every other day.

We watched the larvae grow for a couple weeks. Every morning, as soon as I got out of bed, I ran downstairs to climb up on a stool and have a look at them on the counter. Some nights I even asked to have them sleep in my room! Finally, they attached themselves to the clear plastic wall as pupae to change into beetles. When they emerged, they were light pink and slowly turned darker red over a couple days. We fed them waterlogged raisins, but we also learned that they can be cannibals: some of them actually ate one of the pupae that hatched too late!

Potholes Reservoir, July

In July, Mommy, Papa, and I spent a long weekend at Potholes Reservoir (a 28,000-acre, man-made lake near Moses Lake in Eastern Washington contained by O’Sullivan Dam, the longest earth-filled dam in the United States). We stayed at MarDon "Resort" in the Chateau op Wielen, and because Cameron wasn't able to be with us (he had to work all weekend at Target), I got to sleep in the top bunk!  

It was very hot—over 90 degrees! But I stayed cool by eating Popsicles and playing in the water all weekend long. Mommy brought floats to play on, and Papa brought a boat to row in. He even towed me on my floating turtle! But the best part was playing with my beach toys in the mud. I love the muddy-muck [right]! 

The rest of the summer I kept very busy. When I wasn't in daycare with Miss Stephanie (playing make-believe, making crafts, singing songs, digging in the garden, reading books), Mommy and Papa took me to lots of other fun places: the Pacific Science Center (I loved the Grossology exhibit), Woodland Park Zoo, Pump It Up!, Juanita Beach Park, the Kirkland pool, and farmers' markets. I also had lots of play time with my friends Ella, Joseph, Max, and Merel. Summer is the best!

On August 19th, Papa and I flew to the Netherlands. Mommy took us to the airport, and she was sad to see us go, but I was excited to travel again to Vlissingen. We flew to Amsterdam (I watched in-flight movies, mostly). We missed our connecting flight to Cologne, but the nice airplane people put us on a different flight to Düsseldorf, Germany. There, Tante Lianne picked us up and drove us to her house in Venlo.

We stayed with the Janses for a day, then flew from Niederrhein (Weeze) on RyanAir to Alicante to visit Opa and Tante Margaret in Albir, Spain. There, I spent lots of time in their backyard pool—it was very hot there, so that was the best!  We also swam in the salty Mediterranean, went to a Dutch (!) pancake restaurant, and bought a flamenco dancer's dress [left].

After three days with Opa, we returned to the Netherlands and traveled to Vlissingen by train (a double-decker) to stay with Oma. We visited with family, took walks, went on bike rides, and went shopping. Papa also took me twice to the Bambini play area and the Sportpunt Zeeland, a big swimming complex with lots of fun slides, in Goes. We also drove to Den Haag for a day to visit with Oom Marinus and a friend of Papa's from his student days. Another day we drove to Plopsaland, a big amusement park in Belgium. The car trip was long, but the park had lots of fun rides. and it was a great day!

To get back home, Oom Rob drove us to Breda with Oma. From there we took a train (I got to sit in the top!) to Venlo, from which my cousin Christel drove us to the airport in Cologne, Germany. We stayed the night in a hotel, and our plane left at 7:00 in the morning.  Whew! That was a lot of traveling!

I had a great time visiting with all my Dutch relatives. But even though I saw Mommy on Skype almost every day while we were apart, when I got off the airplane in Seattle and saw Mommy again, I was really, really glad to be back home.