Monthly Au Pair Meeting

B had her monthly au pair meeting at the Como Zoo. It was a scavenger hunt. She had a lot of fun but admitted that she cheated when asked to find the Minnesota flag. HA! Oh well. Now she knows. She won a great smelling candle from "Life is Good" but I think was hoping for something else. Her name got drawn toward the bottom though so there wasn't much to pick from. B was a little disappointed with the sleeveless green shirts they handed out for the day. In Thailand they are a bit more modest that Americans or Europeans and don't usually bare their shoulders so she put it over her t-shirt which was red and the neon green clashed a little. Okay, a lot. The boys all got regular t-shirts so she tried to trade. She wondered why they hadn't gotten regular t-shirts for all of them but she made the best of it.

California

B saved up her money so she could take a trip out to California. It was planned very last minute as we were going to be heading to the cabin for a week over the Fourth of July and thought it would be a good time for her to use a week of her vacation. She booked her ticket less than a week before the flight and started packing right away. I brought her to the airport early Saturday so she'd have a full day in California. B had plans to stay with another Thai au pair that is living in Los Angeles and after staying with her a few days they told her she was welcome to stay her entire trip. What a relief! Free place to stay with friendly faces. She befriended the neighbor who was a 97 year old woman who used to work at Disney Studio. She still drove and brought B there for a tour which is something that not everyone gets to do so B was pretty excited about that. B thought her driving was a little erratic but they are both still in one piece so that's good. She got to visit Venice Beach, Disneyland (B was very excited to meet Mickey Mouse!) and see the Hollywood sign. She also went to Thai Town and had fun walking on the streets speaking to all the Thai people (in Thai) and finding the best familiar food to eat like Papaya salad. B went to the Temple there which is supposed to be the largest in the country and spent a good part of her day in the kitchen at a restaurant talking to the cooks and helping them out for fun. B also met someone who buys hair and sells it in Thailand. He told her she had great hair and wanted to know if she'd like to sell it! She told him "no" but he told her that if she could find people in Thailand to sell their hair to him he'd give her a share in the profits. So funny. She really enjoyed her trip and felt good about traveling there alone...she's getting much more comfortable being independent in the States. We're happy B had a good trip and that she had a safe and fun time.