Fried Rice & Mayo

Boy the days are flying by - I can't believe I haven't posted since Tuesday!

Our last days at Lake Norris were spent much like the first - enjoying the water, dodging the thunderstorms, eating and fishing. I believe Johan ended up with 11 fish total. He was a very proud fisherman indeed. He was also a master at tubing behind the boat. He was thrown off very few times and spent many of his rides taunting the driver (either Tom or my brother) with yawns and 'no hand' tricks.

Our drive home was uneventful, but felt long due to construction delays and accidents.

Which leads us right to our title for today - Fried Rice & Mayo. I bet you were wondering about that one??! Well, I think I boasted in an earlier post that Johan is a great eater - and he is. But of course things became a bit looser on vacation and family style eating gave Johan more opportunity to express his likes and dislikes. But back to fried rice & mayo - the night we got home we didn't feel like cooking so we ordered Chinese takeout. We ordered a variety so we could satisfy all. We were warned that Colombian kids would likely turn their nose up at any green-colored foods (green beans, broccoli, peas, etc.) - and sure enough Johan is in that group. So of course our Chinese food included several green items. We were able to talk Johan into a little fried rice - which he prompty drenched in mayonnaise. It turned my stomach! The kid eats mayo like most kids eat ketchup!

We spent Friday doing laundry and catching up around the house. We spent a few hours at the pool and popped in movies for the evening. In Tennessee Johan stayed up with the 'big kids' one night and watched Star Wars (in English). At home Friday he watched a movie in Spanish on the girls portable DVD player. We're thinking maybe we should try him at the big screen with the new animated Wall-E movie.

Yesterday (Saturday) we went to Columbus for a Kidsave gathering at the Zoo. It was fantastic to see the zoo through Johan's eyes. He was so excited with all of the animals. When asked which were his favorite he answered 'all of them'. Two of the local TV stations covered the event and interviewed some of the families - so hopefully the word about these great kids is spreading.

Today was another catch up day around the house. Johan was bugged by the fact that we kept pushing him outdoors - when all he wanted to do was play with his new legos (from Tia Lee Anna) or play games on the computer. Does that sounds like a typical 10 year old or what? We visited with our neighbor, Chela, who is a native Peruvian. A friend of ours, Sally, introduced us to her as a potential translator. She just so happens to live right around the corner and works for the Troy school system as a translator. We asked for a visit with her today so we could talk a little more indepth with Johan about upcoming events and find out if he wanted to know anything about us. Chela is a natural working with kids - she had a great rapport with Johan and communicated easily with him. She filled him in on the camp he will attend this coming week and the Colombian Festival we will be attending on July 26th in Columbus with Kidsave. The kids will be singing the Colombian National Anthem during the festival.

It is back to work for me tomorrow as well as the girls last day here. :-( Always a sad time for us. They leave first thing Tuesday to go back to their busy social lives. We miss them immensely when they are gone, but savor the time we do have together. They are beautiful young ladies.

Johan starts camp at the YMCA tomorrow. I will try to blog a little more frequently to update you on his adventures!

Take care,
Carrie