When we lived in Scotland, I could always write about cultural differences. Or somewhere scenic we had been; as we knew we were only going to be there for two years, we were a lot more motivated to travel around and see things. However, now back in Arizona, the cultural differences are minimized (other than the occasional, "Wow, Americans are weird" moment) and we don't have much time or motivation to travel - we're busy on the weekends seeing family and friends, having playdates with new friends, and juggling schedules.
So what ARE we doing here in Arizona? Well, we build a lot of Lego creations, thanks to three Christmas-time infusions of old-school Lego - we now have 2.5 boxes of Lego bricks and a lovely rainbow carpet on which to build.
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| Claire and Paul in building mode |
The Lego obsession has also sparked a science project - Audrey is investigating, for her first science project, whether she can build a taller Lego tower on the carpet or the concrete.
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| 105 Lego bricks! (It topped out at 133, in case you were wondering) |
Beyond Lego, we are of course working on our own personal styles, including accessorizing the preschool class "pet" - a stuffed chipmunk called Figaro.
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| Princess wearing sister's outgrown Christmas dress and Figaro sporting a pink ribbon outfit designed by Audrey |
We spent nearly a week in San Diego with friends Uhrs and Christina and their daughter, leading to a number of personal style photo ops as well:
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| Audrey in Balboa Park |
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| She hurt her knee, hence the rolled-up pant leg - plus the cowgirl boots. Classic. |
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Finally, we've been bonding with animals. Audrey had a class at the zoo where she got to go behind the scenes with a zookeeper - she even got to pet a rhino ("Fireball") and clean out the giraffe house. As a reward for scooping giraffe poo, the class got to feed the giraffes carrots - Claire and I got to, too, and as a reward this giraffe posed for me:
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| I never got this giraffe's name: I will call him or her #3. |
In addition to getting to know wild animals, the girls were also thrilled to play with Uncle Patrick and Aunt Charlene's new dog Daisy, an older rescue dog who they are training and acclimating to hanging out with people - by bribing her with cheese.
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| Girls with Daisy, Uncle Patrick and Aunt Charlene |
Stay tuned for further Orzech adventures...we're hoping to hike more, get out to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, and otherwise enjoy Arizona in the winter!
