A weekend in the life of Kiddo

We have our LA and SF trips set.  We are going to find some time this week to plan and set the Wisco trip and then the Mexico trip, but one step at a time.  J is looking at properties in MX for us and we will book that all soon.  Then, it’s just tying up life here, selling off our stuff, packing and getting ready to move and then it’s just airplanes, airports, and adventures.

It’s not all busy work though.  We are still having some fun.  

J needed to go to school on Saturday to drop off some of Kiddo’s stuff that she is repurposing to her classroom.  Puzzles and books that Kiddo aged out of and what better place than a Kindergarten classroom.  Perfect solution and better than trudging them into town and getting next to nothing selling them for credit only to acquire more books to drag around the world.  New books can wait for Shanghai, if at all, because J and I are on Kindles and Kiddo is mainly on the iPad and Epic for her books.  The less ballast to pack the better.

Kiddo went with J since I was going to be on Kiddo a lot during the weekend.  J is fighting a cold still and needed to bang out some Grad School work, so I told her that I could take the bulk of Kiddo so she could work.  Kiddo got to bang around and play on the playground.  After that, since they were so close to Central, they popped into the mall for lunch and some errands.  They did stop into a book store, mostly because J wanted to see about paper or a journal or something like that for Kiddo.  She told me that they walked in and Kiddo wanted to see some books, so J told her to stay in that aisle or back wall and J was going to look at something that was a few rows away.  Kiddo is almost 7 (2 weeks) and we can trust her alone in a bookstore for 5 minutes.  When J came back and found lil miss bookworm just reading to herself, she couldn’t resist getting a pic.  I mean… can you even???

At lunch, J took a pic for me of the two of them and then Kiddo wanted to try her hand at pic taking.  Not bad!!!

Kiddo loves the Tuks and since the weather has turned here, it’s back to being 100 and HUMID pretty much 24/7.  Walking to and from Central is a chore, a Herculean Labor even.  J got her phone out and got a few snaps of Kiddo in her full Thai girl mode just riding and chilling.

We also had a Plurn Dee dinner one night, pretty early.  After that, we cruised by a little nail place that opened in the back of PD.  They were booked until 19:30 (too late for Kiddo) so we told them we’d try back another day.  Sunday we got a 15:00 booking.  Kiddo picked two colors for her hands and two for her toes.  She is loving her nails and was so happy and excited for it.  I think the pics give that away.  

It was a busy weekend, but it was a fun weekend.  It also felt really good to knock out some of the planning steps of the summer.  One less thing to do and worry about.  There is a lot of work that goes into moving to China as an American Expat and that takes time and effort as well.  Knocking items off the list is good and keeps us moving forward.  It was also kind of a quaint little family time as well.  While J and I were doing the LA and SF planning, Kiddo was finishing a shower.  After that she was going to play, but instead, she grabbed her fluffs and made herself a little Kiddo nest and she just sat and watched J and I plan.  Asked to see the places we were looking at in LA and The Bay.  It really was just a whole family planning session.  It was… wholesome.  Normally, I’d shutter at the thought, but it made my heart warm and happy.

More than that, however, is the input Kiddo has.  We want her to be part of this planning and these efforts.  Partly so she feels involved and not like a third wheel, but also because this is life for us.  Every few years, we will need to do visa and work permit paperwork and all that.  Every summer, we will need to plan life and any trips we are planning and the older Kiddo gets, the more she is going to have wants, thoughts, needs, friends, peers, significant others, etc etc and knowing the how and when to plan and prep for that is important.  She will go to college one day, or she will move away and live in a place she wants and will need to know how to plan and do all that.  

Sunday, we had Shabu at home.  Kiddo picked it as the meal.  Not only do we all like it, but it’s not a hard meal.  It takes prep and clean up, but it’s worth it.  Besides, look at Kiddo rocking her chopsticks and getting baby corn.  She even asked for more meat.  Usually we have to tell her to eat meat and she sticks with noodles, soup broth, and veggies, but she was feeling the Shabu.  Three bowls of it.  I wish we had a video of it, because it’s so cute seeing her go to town on Shabu.

Sunday, she also got some time out with J to write her book.  It was the same book that I posted a video of her reading to me a while back.  About her friends and the facts and info on them.  She loves writing her book and is insistent that it will get published.  Kiddo, I’m pulling for you.  Maybe I can poke my cousin Chad and see if he has any hook ups for you.  

Let’s go, Kiddo… A new week has started and a new month.  We get to celebrate Songkran and then your birthday in quick succession.  Next thing you know, it’s going to be May and then June and then the next adventure starts.  Everyone, time to elephant walk and get to our next point.  I’m glad I get to do this with you and mumma.