Chillin'

HM has always liked to work with tools. A few years ago, she got this wooden tool set for Christmas. At the last minute, I decided to pack it and bring it. HG played with it for about an hour this morning. (HM took the above picture for you to see).
At first, HG thought it was funny because she was permitted to hit the nails with the hammer. (She will try to hit the girls on occasion and so she was delighted that this was something she could hit without being redirected). Then, after a while, you could see that she was really thinking, trying to figure it all out. She would hammer the nails in and then turn the case upside down, trying to get them to fall back out. It has screws, nuts, a screwdriver, and a wrench too.
Today we mainly tried to use the screws and the nuts without the screwdriver and the wrench. HG's fine motor skills are behind and so this was "good work" for her. I have some wooden puzzles here too and so we will probably continue to "work" with both of those things for now. We also worked on making different sounds with our mouths. We're working on "Mommy" which typically either comes out as "Nina" or "Monny." She has a version of both HM and HV's names too. She is starting to try and tell us what she wants and she's no dummy! The girl loves to drink--it doesn't matter what it is, she loves it. At dinner, I told her she had to eat first and then she could have a drink. Well, I didn't say she had to eat ALL OF IT and so she ate one bite, just like I asked, and then asked for a drink again. That girl! Tonight, I tried using "todo pizza" but if one of us had a drink, she would ask for one. There's a part of me that feels bad by not letting her have a drink during her meal because at her orphanage, they were given just a few ounces of watered down juice after the meal, not during. I do allow her to drink during the meal, but if she had it her way, she would drink the whole cup and then try to eat.
After doing some "work" this morning (while HV and HM watched some videos), we headed for the pool. It was much more crowded today but we all had a good time. HG stayed in the water the whole time, a couple of hours. I even got a little sunburned! Being in the pool is such a good bonding tool for us. We must be close, skin to skin, because she is fearful but yet likes the water. There were some other families there that are fostering with little/younger kids and they had a ton of pool toys. HG got a cup toy and poured water on my head for a long time, laughing each time. If you came close to us, she would pour it on your head too! We won't be swimming over the weekend. The price is more on the weekend and they say it's much more crowded. I didn't like it too much this afternoon because it was harder to keep an eye on all 3 girls so I don't want to try for the weekend. Here are some pics from today.

I'm not quite sure why HG always gets this dazed look when you take her picture. She can be laughing and playing and when you bring out the camera, she turns to this look. Well, here she is, enjoying her ice cream cone today (Yes, I let them have ice cream again today but we had it on the way to the pool instead of before dinner!)

HV had seen on the sign for this ice cream shop that they have some sort of uva (grape) float called a Nevada. She has been asking me if she can get it. Well, today was the day. This was grape ice cream (it's not creamy but more like Italian ice--they call it nievas which is snow) with grape soda. She loved it! It was tasty but I don't think I could drink the whole thing! A bit too much grape for me!

HM looks tired in this picture (and this was BEFORE swimming today). She has been wanting to try the chocolate dipped cone with peanuts. Well, the chocolate didn't set up like it should have today but it still tasted good. If HM won't eat real food, you know she will eat ice cream, pizza, or spaghetti!

HV is such a good big sister for both HM and HG. Here she's trying to get HG to smile or laugh instead of the dazed look.

All 3 girlies on the good ol' horse!

We hope you had a good Friday. It's hard to believe that we've only been here for one week. On one hand, it seems like we've been here a LONG time. On the other hand, it seems like we just arrived yesterday.

Oh, I know it's been so hot in TX. I was talking to the housekeeper this morning and she told me that it was very hot here right now. I agree that it has been rather warm. I've done my fair share of sweating, that's for sure, but I know that it's NOTHING like what you guys have been experiencing at home. I hope you are all staying cool!

Peace and blessings!