Snow!

This Christmas season I was missing the cold and wishing the girls could have some snow to play with on Christmas. I ended up finding a jar of fake snow on Amazon for just over ten dollars.

This stuff is pretty awesome! When this powder is combined with water turns into some fluffy and slightly wet mixture that really does resemble snow. I hoped it would be a fun sensory activity for the girls Christmas morning, and was happy they loved it so much and spent half the day playing with it! The snow lasted for a couple more days and then started to shrink and lose its consistency. I decided to bring the remaining snow along to an orphanage I was visiting to deliver some stockings filled with goodies and artwork from my aunt Kathy and her second grade class. I thought the kids would enjoy feeling the snow, and imagined them playing with it in a similar manner as Addy and Torah. I was surprised, but delighted with the kid's reaction. You can see what I'm talking about in the short video clip below.

USS George Washington

In October James and I toured the USS George Washington. The American supercarrier was anchored in Manila Bay for a 5 day goodwill visit. Not too many Embassy employees received tickets to tour the aircraft carrier, and we were very grateful for the awesome opportunity!

USS George Washington (CVN-73) is an American nuclear-powered supercarrier, the sixth ship in the Nimitz class, and the fourth United States Navy ship to be named after George Washington. It was built by Newport News Shipbuilding and was commissioned on July 4, 1992.

The super carrier can accommodate approximately 80 aircraft and 6,250 crewmen.

The flight deck is 4 1/2 acres in size, using four elevators that are 3,880 square feet each to move the planes between the flight deck and hangar bay.

The George Washington is the 14th busiest airport in the world.

With its two nuclear reactors, the George Washington only has to be refueled every 20-25 years.

At full operational capacity, all the aircraft can be launched in under 30 minutes.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, the George Washington was operating off the coast of Virginia when the World Trade center was attacked. The carrier was diverted north and arrived in New York City within a few hours. General Washington had long been a proponent of a strong Navy. On 15 November 1781 he wrote, "Without a decisive Naval force, we can do nothing decisive. And with it, everything honourable and decisive." These words are engraved on a plaque on the ship's quarterdeck. (Info from Wikipedia)

Disney Breakfast

Hong Kong Disneyland

Here are some photos from our weekend trip to Disneyland Hong Kong. We planned this vacation around Torah's second birthday, and I was so excited to photograph her at Disneyland in all her toddler glory. However, every time I pulled out the camera she made a grumpy face, turned away, or took the opportunity to run away! (You might notice this in the photos) She also refused to wear her cute Minnie Mouse headband. But that's okay, because even though I didn't really capture it on camera, she had a great time. Both of the girls had so much fun on the rides and the only part they didn't enjoy was waiting in lines. We were happy that the park wasn't very crowded and our longest wait was only 30 minutes. Both of the girls had the same two favorite rides, the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, and the Carousel. Right before the park closed there was no line at at all for the Tea Cups, so we went on it four times in a row before Addy finally said she had enough. (Which was good because I was feeling motion sick by this point!) I think Torah would have been happy to stay on that ride all night long!

This was our first time leaving the Philippines since moving to Manila. It was so nice to have a break from the heat, humidity, pollution, and crazy traffic. The temperature in Hong Kong was the low 70's and if felt wonderful! The girls have definitely acclimatized to the Philippines because they were actually a little cold and we wished we brought them warmer clothing. Addy was adamant about wearing her Cinderella dress so we just put in on over her clothes.

Addy happy to pose for a picture while Torah takes off with the stroller!