Trip to Rochester, NY

The beginning of May the children and I were able to accompany Wayne to his pastors' conference in Rochester. So while he was at conference during the day - the kids and were free to roam about town!!! It had been quite awhile since our last trip to the States so Mommy was in need of a major Target fix (among other places). So for the first morning I dragged (at times this was quite literal) them around the local mall. I had no time or luxury to lolly-gag as they were not amused by this outing. But I had a list!!! Since Mother's Day was fast approaching and didn't want their minds to be focused on this unpleasant experience - I made it up to them by taking them to Chucky Cheese for the first time. I then turned into "super Mommy" thank you very much! We ate OK pizza and Will played video games (a rarity for him) and Zanna rode the machines for toddlers (the cars that vibrate). Sure she sits on these things at our local mall but we never actually put any money in it. Now she knows they do something - rats! We went back to our hotel for some down time and I had hoped she'd nap at some point but she was having too much fun. Then it was time to leave for the children's museum where we were to meet some friends. She fell asleep 5 minutes before we got there. I put her in her stroller and thought she'd wake up during the transition but she continued to snooze. So after refusing to nap ALL day and fussing about shopping she falls asleep at the Children's museum of Play!!! Crazy! She finally woke up about 45min later to find herself in Sesame Street. I thought she was going to pass out. It was like we were there! There was a room that was Elmo's World!!!!! It was magical. I was just as excited as the kids were. There was a Berenstein Bears exhibit that they loved too. They played in Bear Country. How cool is that? We went to an amazing butterfly exhibit in a room like a rainforest flew 80 or so species of butterflies. Unbelievable. This place went on and on and we didn't even get to everything. I can't wait to go back.
The next day was back to shopping and while they were "fresh" in the morning I took them to Target and Kohls. It went pretty well, in Target the two of them sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, little star" at the top of their lungs. Annoyingly cute, but at least they weren't driving each other nuts.

That night after Wayne's meetings were over we drove to Syracuse for a family evening before heading home the next day. After dinner that night, we walked back to the hotel and Will and I played tag and I sprained my ankle. Did it ever hurt. Of course, I can't go to a doctor because I'm in the States, so I put ice on it and waited to have it checked out the next day when we got back. Thankfully it happened after my shopping was done. Whew!

Our school year is winding down. We're finished with everything except Language Arts and should wrap that up in a few days. Will finished his pottery class and made some pretty cool pieces - definitely something he'll do again. He's doing great at the violin and hopes to take his Level 2 test in August. Hard to believe he'll be in grade 3 in the fall!!! Crazy!

Zanna's doing well and likes to take care of her babies Rou Rou and Susie. She's a good mommy and takes them on walks around the house. She still gets her fair share of 10second time-outs for various reasons like telling her brother to "shut your mouth". Consequently, she can count really well in both English and Mandarin.