Dry Erase Boards are a Big Hit

Max draws lots of things. He is working on shapes and his name. While spelling he always does M A X, in order but doesn´t always put them in a line. The X or A can end up any place on the page. We are working on that. Right now we are coloring with the large crayons and the doggie coloring book. Sometimes gets to be a tussle when two children want the same color.

Lucas and the new toy

This new toy gets lots of attention from Lucas and all the neighbor kids. Lucas does more lifting and moving of the whole toy than moving the items on the wires. The 6 sided block puzzle is more difficult unless an adult is there to show the colored edge pieces, then Max and the other older kids do pretty good. Lucas likes to stack the blocks. He loves to take my pen from my shirt pocket and put it back in several times before he tires of the game.

Sideways hummer

Sorry about the sideways photo, but I can~t find a way to delete. I´m sure it is somewhere hiding from the computer illiterate. We enjoy thse hummers everyday and almost every ten minutes of the day. Both of the feeders are leaking and we need to replace them or fill a couple of times per day. This photo was at the girls dorm. Their feeder is even busier than ours. The shutter on my camera is too slow to stop the wings.

The Topless Giraffe of Montes Claros

Hah, made you look. Sort of a tall boo boo or is that boobie?? The giraffe is carved from wood and was quite nice. It was the best animal in the park, although a dinosaur was also good. Max road his hot wheel and Lucas was in the stroller. It was a nice walk in the woods!! Pun intended.

´Wild West Wade it Ain´t

The soccer field is cement. Falling is NOT a good option. The goals have wire netting with holes at the bottom so the ball usually gets stuck behind the metal standards. Wem, Max and I had gone to the field to burn off someone´s excess energy. It wasn´t mine or Wem´s!! Sara brought up some water and snacks and a family shot is in one of the side photos. A group of young men had asked for permission to play on the field, so we left fairly soon after this. The burrowing owl (photo in side panel) was sitting in the tree next to the soccer plaza. The concrete seating area is quite steep and reminds me of Mayan architecture.

Farmers Market in Montes Claros, MG

The market featured vegetables, flours, spices, craft items and some food vendors. We wanted spinach and broccoli as we did not find any at the normal grocery store last Friday. We are coming down some stairs from an upper level which was not interesting. This view shows many of the tables that the vendors use to display and sell there stuff. There are a few permanent booths also to the upper right.

Big Little Bigger

The lake at the park is to my left, your right, and had paddle boats for rent. The park was on either side with a walkway where they had damned up the valley to create the lake. The last time Sara and Wem were there a soccer team was running the paths to either warm up or build endurance. Wem and Max enjoyed an ear of corn snack, but I just took a bite. It was a very tough corn and not at all as sweet and tender as the peaches and cream that we enjoy during the summer months. Sara bought a pastel which is a thin flour crust with ground meat filling and freshly deep fat fried. It was crunchy on the outside and delicious on the inside. Of course the Skol beer I had with it may have made it even better. We dont have any alcoholic beverages on the MTC complex.