A Jumble of June, part 1

The girls and I took a trip to the Children's Museum at the beginning of the month. Ally and Cora made crowns from a willow tree and then frolicked in the outside garden like little fairies.

Ever since we visited the museum in Omaha last November, Ally has wanted her turn at being in the middle of a bubble. Her wish was finally granted, and we did this over and over again. I also stuck Cora in a few bubbles but wasn't able to get a picture 'cause she just couldn't be contained.

No longer our home!

After some last-minute glitches and a week long delay, we finally relinquished ownership of our house in Richland! We celebrated the end of our financial stress by inviting our friends over for pizza and games.

We also splurged on some funky frozen fruit for dessert. Jackfruit looks just like durian (a super-stinky, dare-you-to-try-it fruit eaten in parts of Asia), so we thought we were being brave in finally gathering our courage and money to try one. We settled on the frozen, already-prepped jackfruit after smell-testing the cans of processed durian. We concluded that, if the unopened cans smelled rotten, we'd probably never get around to actually opening the can (let alone eating the treasure inside). And, we'd also heard that the only way to eat it is frozen.
Jen pled "baby-incubating nausea" and graciously backed out of the whole proposition. (In all fairness, she's the only one who'd eaten durian before and guided us through the do's and do not's.) Jeff put a piece in his mouth and then promptly spit it out. Chris and I both ate a piece, and then we tried a few more since it wasn't that bad and fairly palatable if you swallowed quickly. We took some pictures to savour the moment. And then we wrapped up the 90% of it that was left and promptly threw it outside in the dumpster.

After our experience, Chris did some research online and discovered that jackfruit and durian aren't necessarily the exact same thing. (This probably explains why the melt-in-your-mouth effect wasn't as strong as expected, but neither was the drop-dead stinky-feet odor.) Maybe we'll try this experiment again with the real deal durian sometime and you'll find me blogging about "The Durian Challenge, Take 2", but don't hold your breath.

Ally started swim lessons at the Aquatic Center. You can't tell by the picture on the left, but she was very excited. I am proud of her for conquering her fear of putting her face in the water. She learned how to motorboat her lips, dunk her head, kick her feet, and jump in (while holding coach's hands). He introduced the kids to the idea of floating on their backs, a skill that Ally had been working on in the bathtub for months. She floated like a pro for 10 seconds and Mr. Danny was beyond amazed. That's my girl!

Ally recently started another session and is gaining more and more confidence. When we go swimming at our complex pool now, Ally gives Cora private swim lessons.

We had various playdates throughout the month: one was to the pool at a local park. Cora got tired after lunch and tried to take a nap at the edge of the splash pad. (Not surprising.)

Posting intermission:

A cute picture of Cora,

 just because.

One Friday night we headed into Greensboro for a concert in the park. Once there, we realized the music wasn't to our liking and that the concert was not free for those people wanting to be inside the gate. So we decided to explore the streets of downtown instead. We found some interesting shops and architectural details. The city scene was painted into the pseudo-arches of the entrance to a small, indoor mall. A "stream" was tucked away between two buildings; a metal preying mantis sits at the bottom edge of the pool, but he didn't fit in the picture.

We hiked Pilot Mountain. And when I say "we", I really mean all four of us hiked. Cora was carried for only short distances; other than on rocky steps, she held someone's hand and walked on her own two feet. This trip gave me hope that maybe we can start planning some more hikes to do as a family. I'm too old to be lugging a little one around the whole way; lugging my own body takes enough energy.

We started the adventure with a picnic lunch and some Frisbee-throwing fun. Then we conquered the trail. 

As a special treat, on the way home we stopped at the Dairi-O in King. Who wouldn't want to eat some ice cream after seeing that shake?