This is turning into a weekly update...
Another week gone by. Time is going quickly. K sleeps again on the couch as I write. I am taking a break from studying herbs that 'cool the blood and drain heat.' We finished off last week by going to the movies and watching Herbie which I enjoyed almost as much as K. Now he is asking David and I to buy a VW Bug and paint a number 53 on it.
One of K's training wheels was removed over the weekend and he has been promised a pair of biking gloves from his dad once he learns how to ride on two wheels. We don't exactly live in an area conducive to learning how to bikeride. We live on top of a mountain. You can go down, but then you must return. This has made it difficult for K to keep at it but he is gaining more confidence and the prospect of new biking gloves has proved to be a nice incentive.
Monday was spent with his mom who didn't have to work that day and Tuesday we were back at our adventures. The agenda? We rode the metro from Pasadena into Chinatown. K followed the map the entire ride, counting the number of stops remaining and practicing his reading. The whole trip was about 25 minutes, about the same amount of time it would have taken to drive (w/o traffic). I have to admit, my reasons for going to chinatown were purely selfish at first--i needed to by some herbs but I quickly realized I could entice K into being excited with a ride on the train. This is cheap entertainment and I highly recommend it to anyone living in a urban area with few ideas of activities.
Earlier in the morning K had asked if I would buy him a wooden snake in Chinatown (Something he had seen on a former visit). I was going to say yes but before I did it hit me to try something new. I told him he could earn some money by doing chores. One organized couch, dusted piano, and clean toilet later he had earned $2.00 for his trip. Now, I told him I didn't know how much the snake cost so I wasn't sure he would have enough money. The deal was that he could spend his $2.00 on whatever he wanted but if he saw the snake or another toy he wanted that was more money he had the option to save his money until a later trip when he had worked for more money. He ended up buying 2 packs of the fire cracker things that you throw on the ground and they pop. He was more than happy with his purchase and even had .50 left over. He was hungry after that and it was nearly lunchtime so I decided to spring for a treat and eat out. K picked a chinese restuarant where one of the Jackie Chan movies was filmed. The place had a "B" rating from the health department as most restaurants in Chinatown do. (I've heard it's because of how they store their meat but i'm not sure). We both ate a $3.00 lunch special and left feeling very full.
K was tired by this time and I told him only one more stop to an herb shop where I bought
Ju Hua (Chrysanthemum flower), Gan Cao (Licorice Root), and Niu Bang Zi (not sure of the english). Ju Hua and Gan Cao are brewed together in China during the summer to help with irritability due to heat. Figured I could use a few gallons of the stuff at this point. I'm not a fan of licorice in any form so I didn't really enjoy the tea but added some mint to try and mask the flavor a little bit. Not too bad.
After the herbs we hopped on the train and came back home where we put on our suits and went swimming.
When K wakes up we may go see Charlie and the Chocolate factory. It is so dang hot outside that it's hard to be active right now. Tomorrow I'm thinking the beach with K and david's 8 year old brother, also K's best friend.
One of K's training wheels was removed over the weekend and he has been promised a pair of biking gloves from his dad once he learns how to ride on two wheels. We don't exactly live in an area conducive to learning how to bikeride. We live on top of a mountain. You can go down, but then you must return. This has made it difficult for K to keep at it but he is gaining more confidence and the prospect of new biking gloves has proved to be a nice incentive.
Monday was spent with his mom who didn't have to work that day and Tuesday we were back at our adventures. The agenda? We rode the metro from Pasadena into Chinatown. K followed the map the entire ride, counting the number of stops remaining and practicing his reading. The whole trip was about 25 minutes, about the same amount of time it would have taken to drive (w/o traffic). I have to admit, my reasons for going to chinatown were purely selfish at first--i needed to by some herbs but I quickly realized I could entice K into being excited with a ride on the train. This is cheap entertainment and I highly recommend it to anyone living in a urban area with few ideas of activities.
Earlier in the morning K had asked if I would buy him a wooden snake in Chinatown (Something he had seen on a former visit). I was going to say yes but before I did it hit me to try something new. I told him he could earn some money by doing chores. One organized couch, dusted piano, and clean toilet later he had earned $2.00 for his trip. Now, I told him I didn't know how much the snake cost so I wasn't sure he would have enough money. The deal was that he could spend his $2.00 on whatever he wanted but if he saw the snake or another toy he wanted that was more money he had the option to save his money until a later trip when he had worked for more money. He ended up buying 2 packs of the fire cracker things that you throw on the ground and they pop. He was more than happy with his purchase and even had .50 left over. He was hungry after that and it was nearly lunchtime so I decided to spring for a treat and eat out. K picked a chinese restuarant where one of the Jackie Chan movies was filmed. The place had a "B" rating from the health department as most restaurants in Chinatown do. (I've heard it's because of how they store their meat but i'm not sure). We both ate a $3.00 lunch special and left feeling very full.
K was tired by this time and I told him only one more stop to an herb shop where I bought
Ju Hua (Chrysanthemum flower), Gan Cao (Licorice Root), and Niu Bang Zi (not sure of the english). Ju Hua and Gan Cao are brewed together in China during the summer to help with irritability due to heat. Figured I could use a few gallons of the stuff at this point. I'm not a fan of licorice in any form so I didn't really enjoy the tea but added some mint to try and mask the flavor a little bit. Not too bad.
After the herbs we hopped on the train and came back home where we put on our suits and went swimming.
When K wakes up we may go see Charlie and the Chocolate factory. It is so dang hot outside that it's hard to be active right now. Tomorrow I'm thinking the beach with K and david's 8 year old brother, also K's best friend.
3 Comments:
What a great idea to take the train and use a map to follow the route. You are getting very creative! I pray for you and K and David, and am excited to hear some of what your life is like
Cool blog, interesting information... Keep it UP » »
Very nice site! » » »
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