Thomas the Tank Engine!

Hello! Hope that this finds you all well! We are fine here and have enjoyed a lovely weekend with our family in the sunshine. The family are slowly coming out of their shells and the Mother has more English than we first thought, so, although a conversation is not possible, you can talk about things and answer questions slowly and make ourselves understood. It is interesting to note the difference developmentally between the girls as Esther has no idea that they can't understand her and waffles on very animatedly to them about various things whilst Naomi has cottoned on to the fact that they don't understand what she says and is learning how to show them visually or to communicate through non-verbal communication. The boys just shriek at each other if they want a particular toy which is also quite effective!!

On Thursday and Friday, we spent the mornings at home before going to the park in the afternoon. On Thursday, it was just my children that went to the park but on Friday, Tim was home too and so we all, the parents and little boy all went to Pine Lake Park, leaving the Grandma at home.

Yesterday, Tim went to the Farmers Market with the girls, the Dad and the little boy whilst Silas was asleep and in the afternoon we all played in the garden. I had bought some water toys earlier on in the week and now we have something for the girls to slide along as well as a ball that you blow up and then sprinkles water once you connect a hose. The children have all enjoyed playing in the water, Silas looks like a drowned rat most of the time but they are all laughing so that is a good sign!

For the first time, we managed to get the Grandma out into the garden for a while yesterday and the Mum and I sat on the bench and talked very slowly about living in America, which was good! It was quite restful sitting in the shade watching the children run around! Tim and the Dad weeded the back bed which was good!

Today, I took the girls to church as I was doing nursery and we then met up with Tim at Crossroads Mall for lunch. Very reluctantly, Tim had managed to get the Grandma out of the car and into the mall and we have discovered that she doesn't walk very far because of her chest. Well, if you had seen the awful looking things she smokes then you would understand why her chest was so bad! I only half hopeful that they contain a legal substance, but I can't be sure!! She seems to be only smoking one a day, so that is good!

After lunch we went to see Snoqualmie Falls which was fun (the Grandma did manage to walk the short distance from the car to the falls) and then we went into Snoqualmie Village to see the Trains. We discovered that Thomas the Tank Engine was there this weekend and, although it is astonishingly expensive to ride the Thomas Train, you can see it running along the track. Also, we discovered that if you go into the Train Depot area after the last train has left (about 4:30) you can enjoy the other entertainment for free!

So we left the Grandma sitting on a bench in the shade whilst the rest of us went into the area and had a great time. The children loved seeing Thomas when it returned and we had a ride on a maintenance train as well as the children had a ride on the bouncy castle. There were also loads of Thomas Train Tables to play with, but we didn't get much time in there. All in all we had a lovely time and I am tempted to suggest to Tim that we go back again next weekend at 4:30 to do a bit more!

We returned to collect the Grandma at just after 5pm (about an hour after we had left her) and she was mad! She shouted at her daughter and son in law and "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" is clear in any language!! We apologized but to be fair, she hadn't been doing anything more than she had been at home! Anyway, she came back to sleep and was a bit better later! She is a bit of a law unto herself and is the one that is going to find it hardest to settle in I think. She will do better when she can find other women to sit and chat to I think.

On the positive side though, the Grandma was very excited about the washing machine, which I guess is because she is the one that did most of the washing!

Silas has been very funny with the family, especially when they are eating. He seems to have a sixth sense when they sit down to a meal and wonders up to them with his mouth open! He seems to have quite taken to Thai food!! Strange child! Yesterday he even got down from his chair when he was eating his dinner when he somehow realised that they were eating something! This evening he was quite sweet though and wanted to give everyone a kiss; something that took the Dad by surprise I think!

Naomi and Esther have been lovely at looking after the family though. Esther did a jigsaw with the Grandma today because she realised that she needed something to do! She is very good!

Naomi has been doing maths this week all by herself and has been adding up numbers in her head! This must come from Tim as I would never chose to do sums by choice! She enjoys it though and is very good! She said to me today, when she saw a speed limit of 25 mph "are those the numbers that mean Christmas Day mummy?" I was very impressed.

Well, I am going to bed now, so I will write on Wednesday! take care and lots of love to you all!