Who can turn the world on with her smile?

B can! Also Mary Tyler Moore. B walked around downtown Minneapolis with her friend B last Saturday. She wanted to see the Mary Tyler Moore statue from her Mpls/St. Paul book we sent her while she was still in Thailand preparing for her trip. He said she wasn't sure who she was but she wanted to see the statue! I have to say that if she did see it she didn't get a photo of it (which is surprising because as T says, B takes pictures of everything!) so I guess I should probably find out one way or another. But they had fun taking in the sights downtown. We brought her to the Hunger Games movie on Sunday and she slept through the first half! She woke up in time for the games to begin. She's not sure why but she always falls asleep during movies at the theater.

Another birthday celebration

B's "friend" (I can't get a straight answer from her) B celebrated his 27th birthday last Friday (day after mine). She went to his house for a party complete with BBQ and cake. They walked to the bar for drinks afterward. She met lots of new people and had fun speaking and understanding English better - a couple drinks will do that to you! The next day when B came over to pick her up he brought left over cake telling us that she told him he had to since it had been my birthday too. So cute. It was tres leche and delicious!

B and t

We love our au pair and so does little t.

St. Patty's Day!

B got to go out and celebrate St. Patrick's Day and see what the fuss was all about. She found a green shirt so she'd fit in although she thought if everyone was wearing green that maybe she should wear blue or red so she could stand out from the crowd! B brought her to St. Paul to Billy's patio to hang out with some of his friends. She was home early as she was worried about having a sober driver to bring her home and she also wasn't feeling very well. I think she had fun but drinking is really not her thing and sometimes it is hard to be around a bunch of drunk people when you're sober so I think she was happy to grill with us and stay in and watch movies on her computer.

Feed My Starving Children

Last Saturday B had a volunteer event to go to in Chanhassen for Feed My Starving Children. The au pairs usually do some kind of volunteering over the course of the year. She brought her "friend" B along to help as well. She didn't tell him where they were going (only the address) so they got lost and had to call for more detailed directions. Needless to say they were a little bit late but they arrived just as they were finishing describing what they'd need to do. All the au pairs were supposed to wear their Cultural Care t-shirts but B was the only one that wore hers. Oh well. I think they had a good time.

Arizona - Part 2

The second part of the trip for B brought her to the Grand Canyon. It's been a dream of hers for a long time to see it so we had to figure out a way for her to go. She studied it in Thailand at the University. Luckily while in New York for school in October (mandatory au pair training prior to coming to live with us) she met an au pair from Mexico that became a good friend. This friend just happens to live in Flagstaff. We purchased a Greyhound bus ticket non-stop (2 1/2 hours) to Flagstaff and T and I dropped her off Friday evening at the station. Her friend picked her up at the station in Flagstaff and she spent Friday and Saturday night with her friend and her host family. Saturday they took a day trip to the Grand Canyon (1 1/2 hours). While there someone broke into the girls' car and stole a laptop. The last site visited was a bank site and they transferred $2000 out of the account! I'm not sure if it was the au pair's account or her host family's but either way it put a damper on their trip. B spent an hour walking around and exploring on her own while her friend was on the phone trying to deal with the laptop situation. We picked up B on Sunday - she was home sick for us (how sweet; she missed little t) and she enjoyed a relaxing evening with us before packing up to head home Monday morning. We had a great trip and are so glad that B was able to come with us and see another part of the country.

Arizona - Part 1

Last week we took a trip to Arizona to visit my in-laws and took our au pair with us. B was looking forward to the trip for the warm weather and a chance to see another part of the country. We had a few nice relaxing days (maybe boring for her?) at home before we brought her to the Greyhound bus station Friday night. She was going to travel to Flagstaff and meet and stay with an au pair friend of hers from Mexico. B met her while in au pair school in New York the week before she came to our home. They planned to go to the Grand Canyon and maybe Sedona before B would come back to us on Sunday afternoon. More on that in Part 2.

B got to drive a golf cart for the first time, drive a new toy the in-laws bought for J, go in the hot tub, swim and take a walk with the little man and grandma. She enjoyed BBQ and missed eating her Thai food.

Birthday Weekend

B did all sorts of fun things over her birthday weekend. In addition to her Saturday morning class, she went with her friend G to their favorite restaurant, a Chinese/Japanese buffet and also bowling. In the evening she went with her male friend B (boyfriend? not sure) to the Saloon. She won some money in pull tabs although not very much. Sunday she went to the Thai Buddist Center of Minnesota with B again and then came back to the house for cake with all of us (minus little t who is still a bit young for cake...we'll give him a couple more months).

School

B finished her first 2 credits (a TOEFL prep class) at a local community college. Two other girls from Thailand were in her class, along with many other au pairs from around the world. I think she was happy to be done with the class. I know T is happy to be finished getting up early on Saturdays to drive her there! Next class...Maryland in May!