Wednesday, August 3, 2011

We Made it to Malaysia

I know that bragging and blogging are a cliche combination but it must said that Lucy has turned out to be a brilliant world traveler. She travelled for 40 hours, crossed 15 time zones, stopped in 4 countries and somehow stayed cheery for 39 of the 40 hours. She skipped naps and even a whole night of sleep but not until the very last hour did she melt down into a state of daze and intermittent tears. Mike beat Lucy's 39 hours with 40 solid sane hours of traveling. Not as much can be said for myself, who started to melt down around hour 24.

The first activity to be had was a nice dip in the family famous tub overlooking the Petronas towers.

The second activity was keeping Mike awake until nighttime and thus keeping jet lag at bay.

Activity number three was a tour of the Petronas towers which are just down the street from my parents' apartment. We visited the skybridge, the top floor observatory, and my dads office on the 52 floor.






We met grandpa for lunch and tried some local flavor. Lucy and I were only brave enough to start with local desserts while Mike let the locals in line order his entire meal for him.

And then we spent the evening at a local park with a wading fountain.


My favorite part about being here is learning about Islam. I hadn't really realized that I have never been to a Muslim country before and I am consumed with learning more about the religion and traditions. Being a part of a religion myself that requires sacrifices and includes traditions that are not mainstream and often misunderstood, I am fascinated by another religious group that wears their religion in outward signs of sacrifice in such a proud and nobel way. I love the modesty and beauty of the hijab and, because it is Ramadan, I have been moved by their day long fasting. It is a fascinating culture here in Malaysia.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Summer Mornings

I really enjoy the school year and the opportunity to teach one class in the mornings, but I will miss our lazy summer mornings. Lucy is always in such a cute mood when she wakes up and once we get past the flood of "daddys?" we get to just sit and chat for a while. It is too hot for sleepers and I am loving the long t-shirt as pajamas look.




Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Daddy?

I love the fact that Lucy and Mike have a really great connection but it is non-stop "daddy" around here. I get her out of bed in the morning and it is "daddy?" I open a door and it is "daddy?" I pick her up and it is "daddy?" She probably requests her dad around 50 times a day. I love her daddy too but what happened to all the mommy-ness that was so last month?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Meeting Tenzin

On our way to Panguitch we were lucky enough to have brunch with some of Lucy's favorite people. Lucy was tickled to see Nate and Kelly (we miss you here) and of course Grandma Wecker, whom she can never get enough of. She also got to meet baby Tenzin, her very first cousin, and picked up right where she left off with Pete - getting in trouble (think a whole chocolate pie at Christmas and swinging around in a baby carrier this time). It was a lovely brunch.





Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Panguitch

The other day I was on the phone with Megan and she mentioned that she was calling from Panguitch, where my grandma lives. I felt immediate pangs of jealousy. Then when my grandma called and mentioned seeing Lucy on the blog I thought I could do better than just posting pictures of Lucy, I would bring the actual girl to my grandma. Which was really just an excuse for me to spend some needed time with her myself. So, I booked a ticket and was on the plane in a matter of days. Then, when I mentioned my trip to the sisters, they all cleared up their schedules and met us there as well. It was a perfect weekend.
Lucy loved spending time on the swing with grandma. Grandma couldn't escape having Lucy by her side/shins most of the weekend.
My dear sister bought Lucy a pop-up bug book to either address her fear of worms for the purpose of overcoming it or, more likely, to torment her. It worked. Lucy was horrified and scared with every turn of the page.
Meeting her newest cousin

Testing the peanut butter fudge used to be my job.

Lucy loved both fudge making and fudge tasting.

The next photos look posed but it really is like this, they fight over who gets to hang out with Lucy. Except when the diaper stinks!




Riding in the pickup.
My mom wore this dress when she was a kid and when we found it in the doll box we just had to try it on and Lucy did't want to take it off.


She adopted the neighbor's dog and couldn't get enough.

Megan teaching Lucy how to truly relax.
Lucy's first My Little Pony to help on the ride home. She was into it for about 90 seconds before she was on to the next activity.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Finger-painting

Mike and I had widely differing ideas about what finger-painting looks like. I put the paint on the paper and showed Lucy how to drag one finger through it to paint a cute little tree. Mike, on the other hand, squirted a handful into Lucy's hand and encouraged wild creativity! While messier, his method was a lot more fun...