Pinhole Photography

B had to take around half a credit in order to complete her education component of her year in America before she would be able to sign up for a second year here (the au pair's need six per calendar year). She loves taking photos so we helped find her a class on pinhole photography. It was a two-day course and was worth one credit so it was perfect. The extra 1/2 credit will get carried into her next year so it will make her a little ahead of schedule there. B signed up on a couple days before the class was to start and she never got the email with all the supplies she'd need to bring. We looked online and found what we thought she'd need and gathered it all up so she'd be as prepared as possible and luckily we packed right! She had a lot of fun in the class - she met lots of nice people and the teacher and teacher's assistant took her under their wing to make sure she did well. She got the highest grade in the class for their final photograph and she was so excited about that. B got an A in the class and we're very proud of her. I think in her second year if she can find more photography classes that would be ideal. She loves photography so much I think she should get herself a nice digital SLR camera for the future and take classes to help her learn how to use it in the best possible way.

Drive Time

B hasn't spent much time driving in America. She has her international license but since she's been watching such a little guy there hasn't been much opportunity for her to get out and about in the car. She loves to walk so she takes him on stroller rides where ever they go. B drove with her friend B a couple times but has never driven our car. Friends always pick her up and that just got easy. Now that she's in the process of finding a new family for her extension year she's finding that many other families want or require her to drive and so she's a little nervous. Last night we went to the grocery store and I had her drive. I figured if she and I could go out a few nights a week for practice driving and parking she'd start to feel more comfortable and this wouldn't hold her back from finding a new family. It would be a shame if she'd feel the need to turn a potentially great family away because she was too nervous to drive. She did GREAT! B is definitely on the cautious side and tends to drive a little slower (which is the case with most nervous or cautious drivers) but I explained that it's important to keep up with the speed of traffic because if you're going to slow it can be a cause of an accident, just like if you're going too fast. We're going to go practice parking next as that was the one thing she had a little trouble with. We'll have to set up some saw horses to practice parallel parking and she can just use the lines in the empty parking lot to practice parking slots.

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.

Go Twins!

B got to go to her very first Twins game at Target Field last night. I dropped her off on my way to a happy hour with old friends and co-workers and she had some time to sight see around the stadium before meeting her au pair group. She didn't understand the game so I don't think she had as much fun as she could have but I think she had a little fun and she met a couple new au pairs in her group. She also got to meet T.C. the Twins' bear mascot and got her photo taken with him!

Whatsa Cabin

B finally came up to the cabin for her first time a little over a week ago. It was a tight squeeze in the car (we had to borrow my FIL's vehicle) to fit me, T, t, J, B and P but we made it work. The weather on Saturday was touch and go with rain, then sun, then storms, then sun, then rain...you get the picture. I used to it to my full advantage to take a nap when t took his nap. The others played Monopoly City. J, T and B shot targets with BB guns and went for a boat ride. Little man and I played outside and just chilled. On the way home B told me she had been a little homesick for Thailand (for the first time I think!) because she lives in a remote area and our cabin is in a remote area. We're happy she had fun with us and looking forward to the next time she can come up with us to have fun in the sun!

Eating at the Drive-In on the way up (and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes!)

Minnow Jim's hats

Nature walk (we saw a turtle, a chipmunk and a bunny on this one)

First boat ride on Nelson Lake

Me and my boys

Skol Vikes! (in Packer territory)

Shooting BB guns

B and t

Playing Monopoly

More on visiting au pair

Pics from B's weekend with A - they crammed a lot of activity into a short weekend!