Magical Moment 457, "Meal Time Shocks"

Every time I go back home to visit my nephews, it seems they manage to shock and surprise me with how much they've grown up and changed since my last visit. For some reason, meal time, is the common time to do this.

Once on a visit home, I was feeding Ethan (then 3 years old) a snack of cheese and crackers. Midway through, with his mouth stuffed full, he said something like,

"Aunt Beff, can I have more cheezwilmows?"

I had no idea what he meant, so I asked him to repeat it.

"More cheezwilmows?" he asked again.

Finally I had to get his mother in the next room to translate.

She laughed and explained, "He's saying, 'Can I have more cheese, little mouse?'"

It seems whenever his mother puts cheese on his plate, she says, "Here's some cheese, little mouse!" He learned to make it all one word.

Ethan shocked me again more recently when he was having trouble getting the ranch dressing bottle open.

He struggled for a minute and then said in frustration, "Ayudarme!"

I threw a puzzled look to his mom, "Did he just say 'help me' in Spanish?!"

Speaking of bilingual, little Zach when he was barely a year old, sat in his high chair once eating cheerios. At this point, he wasn't very verbal yet, but when he ran out of cheerios, he made a strange motion with his hands. It looked vaguely familiar. He touched all 4 of his fingers to his thumb on each hand, then tapped them together several times. I was still trying to figure it out when his mom explained, "He's saying 'more' in sign language."

Good grief! I guess I need to get back and visit more often to lessen the shock of these growing boys!

Magical Moment 620, "Lilac Garden"

Eddie and I visited the Lilac Gardens at Ringwood Manor in New Jersey, a pristine and beautiful state park with 8 species of lilacs and several varieties within. We went on a rainy afternoon, which turned out perfect because the rain stopped for us when we got there, and began again as soon as we left. It also decorated the plants with gorgeous rain drops, adding to their beauty. And now for a quick game of "Where's Elizabeth?" And "Where's Eddie?" ~~Have a great weekend! ~~

Magical Moment 625, "Thailand - the Elephants"

Needless to say, my favorite part of our Thailand vacation, was our week long volunteering at Elephant Nature Park ! The logging industry was banned in Thailand in 1989, leaving thousands of elephants unemployed. These elephants are now used for tourism. You may have heard of elephant shows featuring the animals playing soccer or painting pictures with their trunks. They are no doubt amazing to watch, but the sad truth is that these elephants have gone through a series of torture and abuse to "break their spirit" by their trainers. This short clip is very hard to watch, but it will give you an idea of what the elephants in captivity in the country of Thailand go through. The only elephants in Thailand who do not endure this, are the very few baby elephants who are first generation born in "safe captivity" at places like Elephant Nature Park. Every other elephant at this park has been brutally abused. Some have been blinded by their owners, le...

Magical Moment 280, "The Eleventh Hour"

The Veterans Day Parade, NYC On July 29, 2001 , five exceptional men were honored by the President of the United States for their remarkable military service. They were involved in a top secret mission that required unfathomable intelligence and as a result, literally won a battle which was instrumental in winning the war. Not the war that was happening in 2001, not even the Gulf War. It was World War II, and they were the Navajo Code Talkers who were largely responsible for winning the bloody battle of Okinawa. The only problem with the ceremony was that just 5 remained of the original 29. Our country was too late in thanking the other 24, and nearly too late in thanking those 5 men. On March 10, 2010, three hundred women won the Congressional Gold medal for their outstanding war service. Unfortunately, 800 received the award posthumously. These were the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II, who devoted themselves to flying military aircraft like the B-26 and B-...

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