School's Out!

Even though the weather here has been toasty since March and it's felt like summer 3 months already, "summer break" began last week as Hope International School finished the year on the 12th of June. We've been blessed to be a part of this wonderful school community, and Juliana enjoyed her first year at the preschool, making friends from all over the world. The last day of preschool there was a party - here we are posing for a "Last Day" photo with the brownies that Juliana took in to share.

Juliana with preschool teachers and assistants - Miss Sopheak and Miss Somphoa from Cambodia (standing in the back), Miss Rose from the Philippines (kneeling on left) and Mrs. Katy from New Zealand (and Josiah snuck in, too!)

Since school's out, Juliana's added playing "school" to her make-believe play repertoire. She also recently got play-married to her brother Kai (despite her previous declaration to never marry so that she wouldn't have to leave her beloved family! When asked for comment, she replied, "It's just pretend married, when I'm little.") Here are a few "wedding photos" of the newlywed couple...

"You may now kiss the groom." Note the ring on her finger, and the headband with attached wig of long, fake hair. (Thanks, MawMaw!)

We've also rediscovered a book on our shelf - 501 TV-Free Activities for Kids - which has already contributed to the creativity in our household - just in time for summer break! Juliana and I made a hobby horse together out of an old mop-stick, cloth diapers, one of Daddy's socks, and other odds-and-ends. We're currently in the process of turning two milk-powder cans into stilts, so there's no end in sight to the creativity around here!

And in other news, Ryan and I are entering our last week of classes at Institute of Foreign Languages for this term. We will miss our wonderful teacher, Phara, as he doesn't teach the 3rd and 4th levels. This past weekend, one of our classmates hosted a carry-in dinner party, and we had fun sharing Western and Asian food dishes with each other. We tried kimchi (sp?), the Korean staple made from pickled Chinese cabbage, garlic, hot chilies, etc. Our Korean and Khmer friends enjoyed baked corn, PA-style, and someone's chocolate brownies received a favorable review from at least one uninitiated Korean. It's been fun to learn more about other cultures, in addition to our Khmer culture discoveries.

-Bethany