Missouri/St Louis

Here in Missouri Bluet was reunited with her sister (she even told her she missed her), and we went to the Zoo in St Louis, along with the Missouri cousins.



And playing in their cousins' garden


Then onto the farm, where they have been learning to drive



Proudly wearing their new raincoats



Carving 'punkins' at the cabin

The Beach

This weekend we were at the beach in Florida with the American half of Bluet and Ilona's family. On the plane the stewardess asked Bluet where she was going, and she replied 'the beach' - she had a great time playing with her cousins and in the sand, and particularly seemed to enjoy throwing a small ball around. Ilona isn't quite big enough to appreciate the beach, but she did get to spend some time lying on the beach, and enjoyed getting held and fed by various different people.

Missouri Part II

We had a very pleasant time flying with Bluet - this was the first time she has had a seat to herself rather than travel for free, which we all enjoyed. When we arrived at the airport she stood at the window and looked at the planes coming and going for about 45 minutes. She is currently fascinated by the things that have wings and the things that don't, and has learnt that wings are for flying.

E.g. "Does Bluet have wings?" "No, Bluet have hands"

"Does eagle have hands?", "No, eagle has wings. Fly in the sky"

Stopping briefly in St Louis, Bluet caught up with her cousins (she also learnt that Nate was her cousin, but hasn't yet worked out that one can have more than one cousin.

Then we headed down to the family farm. Bluet was really excited to see all the animals - she learnt the names of the dogs, and counted how many dogs there were. She also heard us telling the dogs to go away, so started to say things like "Go way, Dingo", which was very cute, if ineffective.

She also got to try out some new forms of transport, including a tractor that was a birthday present for Emily, back in the day.

And of course there was plenty of opportunity to play outside with water (although for some reason she thought the water pistols were 'cameras'. She also really liked it when I used the water pistols to squirt her. At least I think she did.

She also practised wearing her life jacket for the float trip - more about that tomorrow. At first she liked it so much we couldn't get it off her. This changed at times when we were out in canoes and she actually needed it, obviously. Then Emily had to hold it on to stop her undoing it. Yes, she has mastered the zip (at least in the undoing direction)

 
  The life jacket also came in handy when she went to play with another cousin, Thane

And at some points she almost combined her love of water and love of animals - fortunately she did not jump in this pond, despite the fascination

Tomorrow: What happened whilst canoeing

Still to come: Bluet gets a haircut

 

Weekend

Last weekend Bluet was visited by her cousins Nate and Lila (and their parents). It was extremely fun to have some people to hang out with here. You can read more, and see more photos here.

Bluet was particularly fond of following Nate around, and now if we ask her 'is Bluet a big girl?', she says 'no, Lila's a big girl'. We spent most of the time at the pool, where Bluet was excited to see that both she and Nate had goggles.

We also went out to eat, made BBQ food, and then went to the pool again. Bluet is probably about to sprout gills.