Hockey

B's friend B took her to see his Little Brother's* final hockey game of the season and I think she had a lot of fun.

*Not biological little brother but from the Big Brother, Little Brother organization.

Happy Birthday B!

Today was our au pair's birthday. The big 2-4! She was out with her friend B when we returned from the hotel in Rochester this afternoon. He brought her to the Thai Buddist Center of Minnesota and she was able to talk to some people there (Hmong, Laos and Thai). The came over for cake and presents and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She also sang along and clapped - she's so cute! She left with B to go shopping for her present (apparently she told him in Thailand you pick out your own presents) and most likely to dinner.

B, we hope you had a wonderful day and will have great memories of your birthday here with us in America. We love you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Singing along to "Happy Birthday"

We didn't just get her a box, there were jammies in there!

Valentine's Day

This is a couple weeks late so I apologize; life has been busy!

B had a date for Valentine's Day. J and I helped her pick out a good card at Target but she wasn't happy with the photo that was on the front. She wanted a picture of a panda and a gorilla because those are their nicknames for each other (how cute is that?) so I let her be an art director and I made a new picture for the front of the card. It said "Crazy Gorilla" and "Lovely Panda" next to some cartoon images of the animals. It turned out very cute.

B got some beautiful orchids for Valentine's Day! She thought if boys like you they get you roses but I explained that orchids are much better - everyone gets roses. But she did get a chocolate rose, a pillow that spelled out LOVE and free dinner. She played a little prank on B - hid them when he came to pick her up and told him the flowers never came. He said she did it with such a straight face and she's too good a liar.

Winter Sledding Fun

Last night was B's monthly au pair get together. The group went sledding and J and I got to come along. We got lost on the way there and arrived about a half hour late but since it was so cold out that was okay as I don't think we could've lasted a full two hours outside sledding. We got bundled up (B didn't want to bring along a coat but I made her. I also made her put a sweatshirt on over her t-shirt. She was happy I did!) and hit the hills. Unfortunately there is no snow on the ground and so we had to sled on man-made snow only which was very hard and slippery and the edges of the lanes were pure rock solid ice and looked pretty dangerous if you were to fall out and/or hit your head. Luckily for us that didn't happen although on our 2nd to last run I almost tipped over and we were going FAST! So thankful I didn't. J did have a collision about half way through. He was on his tube at the bottom of the run and facing away from the hills. A group of two tubers came barreling down and ran into him and his head got hit with the other guys head. It hurt enough to go in and rest for a bit but after a slice of pizza, nachos, drinks and brownies we braved the hills to go down a few more times before they closed for the night. I think all in all we only went down eight times (I figured that to be $1.50 per ride, per person) but it was a lot of fun. Scary but fun.

Pre-sledding photo

Tri-tubing

Riding up the hill

Warming up the cold, red cheeks in the warming house

School!

B had her first day of class last Saturday. T had to drag himself out of bed early to get her there before 8:00 am and once they got there the school was still closed and they all had to wait around for someone to come unlock it. I think she was a little nervous because she hasn't gone to school in two years but she knew her friend G was going to be in the same class so that helped. Once she got there she recognized several other girls (fellow au pairs) that were also in her class so she got excited. She said the class was all girls (she was sad - no boys!) and the majority were all au pairs. She told the teacher she didn't understand everything she said (it's a prep class for the TOEFL test) and the teacher said she'd speak more slowly. She suggested she try to read some books in English and to start out with those at a 5th/6th grade level. If you have any suggestions for something an almost 24 year old girl would like please leave a comment! After class she went with G and another au pair to the Chinese/Korean buffet and Target and just hung out all day. We're so happy she'd out meeting people and having fun.

G and B on the day of class

Hoar frost on the tree - everything white that morning