The Bird Park

We arrived pretty early (8:30) after a LONG trip to the other side of the island. It is worth it to go early. Sometimes we were the only ones in an exhibit and the birds were out and active (mostly because they were being fed).

At the Lorry Loft we bought a cup of food. Ana was not interested in holding it, so Matt had the honors. These were beautiful birds and very accustomed to people. One in particular loved Matt. He was grooming Matt with his tongue and stayed on his shoulder even when the food was gone.

We always enjoy going to see the waterfall, but his time we were there for the feeding. Ana held a worm in her hand (which really impressed the feeder), but got tired of it squiring out. The man then gave her a cup to hold. Birds would swoop down to get it. They literally were a blur. Thanks to my fast camera I got a couple of shots.

This pelican was the biggest I'd ever seen and here's Ana up a tree!

We met up with two of the new teachers. One remarked at the end of our time there "She has a lot of energy." They should have seen her when we started!!

We ended our morning at Wendy's. I was so happy. I've been wanting to try it for a while, but have never been near one. It was all good and reasonably priced. I'm not sure the frosty tastes the same, but I haven't had one in years---so I'm no expert!

Christmas In July Breakfast

On Monday we attended a fun breakfast with the few staff that were back. I had been wanting to make cinnamon rolls for a while and was glad for the opportunity to have most of them eaten! Ana thoroughly enjoyed herself!!

Week 30: Purple

Ana likes purple! Zip over to see more purple!

What We've Been Doing...

We've...

1. been to school frequently since the chiropractor is near there. We've picked rambutans, kicked balls, looked for mangoes and bananas, played with uncle Raj, and blew bubbles.

2. went to the Botanic Gardens. It's beautiful at 7:30 in the morning. I wished I had taken my camera, but I was worried about carrying it. Another plus, Ana fell asleep in 2 minutes flat after all the walking.

3. been to Mustafa's to buy a new watch. My Swatch had a plastic piece on it that snapped (plastic goes brittle here quickly). I made sure to buy an all metal one this time!

4. been getting ready for the new staff coming in. It's always an exciting time of the year!

You can pray for:

1. The Eiler family who are all travelling to see the girls play softball.

2. The Clark family as my dad has surgery on his knee and will be housebound for a while.

3. our adoption. We are now considering visiting before the court date which allows them to become US citizens immediately and allows us to get passports quickly. We're weighing the pros/cons and costs at the moment :)

It's Freezing!

OK--not really! But it's 78 at 1:00 in the afternoon. I can guarantee all the Singaporeans have on their sweaters :)

Adoption Update

The president of our agency is in Ethiopia once again to try to move things along. It doesn't seem to be going well :) Please pray with us that our agency is able to secure their license and that we can get a court date before August 7th! We appreciate your support.

My Back

My back has been "killing" me lately. I went to a hospital and was there for four hours and got no help. More recently I've been trying a chiropractor which has been helping a little. As they don't sell Ibuprofen over the counter here, I've been trying to suffer through with a Tylenol-like drug which is pretty ineffective. The cause, is Spina Bifoda Occulta, a birth defect in my lower spine, a very mild case of scoliosis in my lower back, as well as some severely compressed vertebrae in my neck (two partially fused). The x-rays were quite revealing. So, I'll spend all my chiropractor insurance money and if that doesn't work will go back to an orthopedic doctor. You can pray that I can sleep and keep up with what needs done! Thanks!

Zucchini Brownies

I'm always looking for a way to squeeze in chocolate without a lot of fat and some veggies. I did reduce the oil a little and I pureed my zucchini in the blender! They are a little more cake like than I like, but tasted pretty good. Give it a try!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Brownies/Detail.aspx

July 3rd???

The Singapore American Association here always hosts a "July 4th" celebration. It's way up in the North and the fireworks don't start until 8:00--therefore, we've never gone. But, this year it sounded more exciting than sitting around the house. We took three different trains and a shuttle to get there. At 6:00 the party was already in full swing. Because it was raining everyone was crammed under the tents. It would have been fine if it wasn't raining, but because all the tables were taken we had to stand up and eat. First, we had the best burger I've had in a long time from the American club. Then Ana enjoyed her first corn dog and we shared a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw from the Terror Club (navy club). The food was great and really at reasonable prices.

After eating we went to visit the tents. Ana got her face painted to match her shirt. We went into the Vote Republican tent and Matt bought Fred a cool shirt which wasn't really for sale. The guy made him wear it or he wouldn't sell it! Ana got a free Tigger to put in her Crocs, a couple of glow in the dark bracelets (which kept her busy on the way home), and a balloon. We listened to some bands play, looked at some Harleys, and then...

watched the fireworks. I'm so glad they could still set them off even though it was still raining. I have to admit I teared up when they played the National Anthem. We so rarely hear it anymore! The fireworks were great--it's so nice of the association to do this here!

Ana loved the fireworks, but thought they were too LOUD! Luckily she wasn't in the States where the programs are much longer! Although we didn't get home until 9:30 and the train ride was NOT FUN--we plan to go back next year if we're here! Happy Fourth!!

Botanical Gardens Trip

We took a short trip to the Botanic Gardens on Friday. Thankfully it didn't rain while we were there. (June/July is USUALLY HOT and DRY, but this year it has been more like the rainy season!)

We looked at lots of trees and plants. While sitting on a bench we even had a surprise guest--Mr. Flutter sat with us! Amazingly Ana sat quite still and took a good look at him.

There is amazing diversity in these gardens. We loved seeing the old trees. If you look carefully at the picture on the right, you'll see Ana and Matt at the bottom!

I got to play around with my camera a little. These flowers were to pretty to pass up! Ana got to feed these two swans thanks to another family that had brought some bread with them.

There are lots of great places to shoot photos here. I couldn't resist this one!

Lots of people walk there dogs here and we got to pet a couple. I hope some day to live where we can have a pet again! Ana and I are going to go back. If nothing else, it lets her run around a bit and gets her ready for a good nap!