Chopsticks.

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Spring

Yesterday was officially the first day it has started to feel like Spring.

And in Michigan, that means in the 40s-50s, and sunny.

We'll take it!

Sophia and I had our first real tea party with our good friend in a cute little tea parlor nearby.

We had so much fun!

Sophia loved the china tea cups and fancy napkins and hats.

Then we got to spend some quality time with the sun outside at the park.

You don't appreciate how beautiful the Spring is, until after the loooong Winter.

To the zoo!

A few quick pictures from our recent trip to the zoo.

Sophia was so excited to see this seal swim back and forth.

We were here for a good 20 minutes.

Loved this mama and baby cuddling.

It just reminded me of when Sophia was little and would lie on me like that.

Lazy otters in the sun.

When I took this picture Sophia turned to the butterfly and said,

"Say cheese butterfly!"

I think he's smiling.

Sophia: February Recap

February was a super fun month for us, and Sophia is still a hoot.
Each day, she comes up with something new.

Here are a few of my favorite things recently:
- Diaper inspector: so you know how parents peak in the back of kids pants to check their diaper? Awkward, but we've all done it. The other day I was standing in the bathroom and Sophia started pulling at my pants from behind- like at the belt loops. When I asked her what she was doing, she said "I check your diaper". Turn about is fair play I suppose?
- Opposites: she is starting to learn her opposites, and attaches it to everything. It is cute. "Petra small, Sophie big"
- Lover of all mankind: Sophia "loves" everything. At least that's what she says. "I love this song!" "I love this cracker!" "I love this store!" (this store= Target) I am glad she is so loving. We regularly have "I love you" contests. She says "I love mommy", then I say "I love Sophie"- then this is repeated in differing volumes and voices for about 10 minutes. Repeat 5 times a day. One thing I don't get tired of hearing.
- Ventriloquist in the making? - Sophia has started making the funniest voices. High pitched, low growls, and whispers. She thinks it is so funny, and we tend to agree.
- Problem solver: when you ask Sophia what she wants, she'll put her index finger to her mouth, look up and say "Hmmm". Then after a brief pause she'll exclaim "I know!" (although 9 times out of 10, she actually doesn't). It is super cute.
- Kiss-y face: Sophia LOVES kisses. She gives them, and demands them all the time. Every night we have a family prayer, and we have to each kiss her, then kiss each other, than both kiss her at the same time. She loves it!
- All better: Sophia has decided to cut out the middle man (i.e. me) when she gets a small bonk or something, and just reenacts my routine to herself. She asks herself "Are you okay?" then replies "I okay", then says "Kiss better?" and gives herself a kiss on wherever she hurt. I'll just sit back and drink some pina colada's now- I've been outsourced.
-Phone calls: she loves to play on her cellphone (just an old flip phone of ours that doesn't even turn on) to "call" different family and friends. Today she "called" Oma- they had a conversation about being good, and decided to go to the park later.
- Prayers: we usually help Sophia say her prayers, but she is starting to get the hang of it on her own now. Today it went like this. "Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for this day. Thank you for Oma and Mickey Mouse. In name of Jesus Christ, Amen." It's good to know that Oma at least came before Mickey.
She is just too fun to watch.

Some pictures below from our recent outing to the Cranbrook Science Institue. So cool!


Looking at the birds

Gyroscopes!

And so the world spins...

Mammoth!

Huge wall of arrow and spear heads.

She finds blocks where ever she goes.

"T- Rex! Raar!"
Sophia LOVES dinosaurs- so excited to see this.

 

And the cool fish.
We got a membership, so we should definitely be going back!

"I got Jesus!"

I walked in to our room to find this happening.

When I asked her what she was doing she said,

"I got Jesus!!"

Our Sunday Nights Look Like This...

Lots of chocolate (and a happy little girl) in preparation for dessert night

So happy to read books while waiting for our guests.

We've been reading Green Eggs and Ham about a million times lately.

Muse!

We have LOVED Muse for about 6 years, and have always wanted to see them live. But it has never worked out- just always a conflict. 

Until now!

It was even more amazing than I thought.

We had fantastic seats right in front of the stage

They are better live than on their recordings.

One of the BEST concerts I have ever been to.

Afterwards we ate pizza in bed after midnight.

It was a night to feel young again.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Another random celebration- Dr Seuss' birthday!

Lots of books were read, we watched The Lorax, and had Green Eggs and "Ham"

Love that man!

Chinese New Years!

It is the Year of the Snake!
And to celebrate we had lots of friends over, and ate lots of delicious Chinese food.
Rick is the chef (when it comes to Chinese food at least), so I get to decorate :D

 

THE FOOD!
The highlight was of course, the duck. The kids were all shocked at seeing it like this.
Our menu consisted of:
candied walnuts, stir fried cabbage, pickled cucumber, raw asian cabbage, peking duck with pancakes, pot stickers, steam pork buns, fried and steamed rice, and sweet gourd tea.
Phew.

That may sound like a lot, but there was a lot of people.
About 20 altogether, in our tiny little house!

We made dragon masks for the kids

And everybody got to try on the cool Asian farmer hat

 

At the end of the night, we burned 'money' to honor the ancestors.
The kids were definitely a fan of lighting things on fire.

Aren't they cute?

 

The winning mask of the night for sure!
We even made a gong (totally forgot to take a picture) and then gave everyone the traditional little red envelopes with money in them.

A picture of the happy hosts in our traditional garb.
Happy New Year!

Ford River Rouge Factory Tour: Or how I came to love the industrial revolution

We went on a tour of the River Rouge Factory yesterday, and it was, by far, one of the coolest things we've done since being in Detroit. 

They make Ford F-150 trucks there, and it was amazingly impressive, and gave me a new found respect for Henry Ford and industrialization.

Here's Sophia running the halls of the Henry Ford while we waited for the bus to take us over to the factory.

She was very excited to go on the bus...

...and sing "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round"

At the Factory

So before you go into the factory, they have some movies and stuff to watch about the history of Ford, and the whole process of how they make a car. But this is not your typical documentary experience. It is more like a ride at Universal studios. You are in these spinning chairs, with the movie around you 360degrees. There are points where they make the floor vibrate, blow up steam, rain down mist, and use strobe lights. It was crazy cool. 

Things I learned about Henry Ford:

- He actually got his start by working in Thomas Edison's company, and they went on to become close friends

- He left Edison to start a car company, and failed and went bankrupt 2 times before being successful on the 3rd try

- the River Rouge factory was the first huge industrial factory of it's kind 1919 where they manufactured everything (iron, steel, etc.) on site- the birth of vertical integration

-It was originally 1.5 miles long, and 3/4 mile wide, with 100,000 employees (HUGE for 1919?!)

Inside the factory- it is HUGE, and we only got to see a small part.

Sophia's favorite part was the robots putting the windshields on the cars (so cool)

The assembly line is now over 3 miles long!!!

It is super intricate and well timed to maximize efficiency.

The Factory still makes everything it needs for the cars onsite, except steel.

The complex is now 2,500 Acres and has 600,000 workers.

I was also impressed with how clean and organized everything is.

There is also a big Green initiative there.

10.4 Acres of roof is dedicated "living roof"

Where the snow is, would normally all be plants. 

And you can see the big solar panels everywhere.

Actually quite impressive.

Skyline of the complex.

(mostly steam coming out)

We got to see some classic cars at the end.

My favorite part?

Personally written Thank You letters from John Dillinger and Clyde Barrow (Bonnie & Clyde)- two of the greatest gangsters ever- thanking Henry Ford for making such a great get away car!

hahaha!

The final product- the F-150

Sophia was ready to drive it home today.

All in all, just so impressive. I would recommend ANYONE going to see this.

It is funny, because we are kind of 'granola' type of people, so I wouldn't expect us to necessarily enjoy this as much as we did. But you just can't see something so intricate and huge and not stand in awe of the power and creativity of Henry Ford.