Milwaukee pics + update on my agent search

 

 these are some photos i took when we visited Milwaukee just before schools started. i had heard there were so many kid-friendly things to do, like the children's museum and the mini aquarium, but the weather was so beautiful and we were already missing summer, so we spent our time at the beaches and walking along the riverwalk. 

and i really, really wish i could share great news with you regarding my search for an agent. it has been a year now since my search began. and still no agent. it is very discouraging and i can see how disillusionment can set in. but i must always have a shred of hope in me, because i keep sending those query letters out there. i sent out a batch today. and it hasn't been all nothing. i've had many agents get back to me, asking to read my manuscript, but in the end, the answer has been no. for now. let's hope i'll find that agent out there whose aesthetics match up with mine! i just wanted to share this with you since i've been rather silent about the search. i do get tired of telling people that i'm still searching.

Beautiful Lyon

i really wish i could post some photos of Lyon, but i still can't get my computer to connect, so i'm stuck using our friends' computer for now.

Lyon has been a great place to stop in, in between our time in Barcelona and Paris. the pace is slower; it's a smaller city; and it's got a terrific free zoo and park. the girls and i have been going there every day. :) today, they even got to ride an antique carousel (although i have a feeling every carousel we ride in France will be an antique).

we are staying with some friends who are from Lyon. they have been cooking us some fantastic food. and last night, we visited with a korean family living here - i had met the wife 3 years ago when Phil was interviewing for a job here - and the girls had a great time playing with their son who is just a year older than Skye.

Barcelona was all about zipping around, trying to catch some sights, but Lyon has had none of that stress. here, we are enjoying good friends and good food (and good wine of course) and lovely weather. à bientot!

Catching up

our last few days in Barcelona were rather busy and packed and now that we are in Lyon, i am unable to access the internet on my computer and am having to use our friends...so, since i cannot post any photos, i will have to write. and i am using a french keyboard, so if you see some bizarre typos, you can blame the keyboard. :)

we made it to Gaudi's La Pedrera, a beautiful building that reminded me of desert dunes, esp up at the rooftop, surrounded by the heads of medieval knights. we took the train south to Sitges where the beaches are supposed to be calm and less crowded than in Barcelona. the girls loved playing on the beach, but they complained alot about all the walking they had to do in the city. i did my best to find them some treats to help with the walking. we loved stopping for churros and hot chocolate. the hot chocolates are super thick and oh so delicious!!! i could have churros and hot chocolate for the rest of my life. :)

when i was reading up on Gaudi before we got to Barcelona, i remember reading that Gaudi believed Barcelona to be the best place for art because of the light. he believed that the sunlight in Barcelona was unlike anywhere else. it made me curious to see for myself. the light was indeed beautiful. the sun shone everyday and set really late at night. and perhaps the sun did make all the colours more vibrant. i don't know, but i do feel inspired to return home and paint.

will give an update on Lyon later...

A Day with Gaudi

we started the day by going to Parc Guell. my poor girls. actually, my poor arms. i pushed Claire uphill all the way up to the park in 90 degree heat. but it was all worth it. it was worth it to buy the girls popsicles just so they'd be distracted from the heat. it was worth the endless, are we there yet?? i'd seen pictures of Parc Guell, but they couldn't quite convey the magical quality of the place. if you took away the heat and all the tourists (us included) :) Parc Guell seemed like a place for fairies and nymphs. how did Gaudi do it?

when i explained to Skye how Gaudi used broken tiles to create his mosaics, she felt quite inspired. i told her she could do the same thing, just substitute tiles for paper. i think we have an art project to do when we get back home!

while i was busy admiring Gaudi's work and taking pictures of the beauty around us, others were busy taking pictures of Claire. yes, she upstaged Gaudi! a mother with 3 teenage daughters thought she was the cutest thing and asked me permission to take pictures of Claire as she was pushing her stroller with her bear strapped in.





Gaudi's pink house in the background





in the afternoon, Phil and i went to the Sagrada Familia. i was truly impressed by some of the unexpected ways Gaudi chose to portray some of the very familiar and traditional aspects of cathedrals. first, as we entered through the Passion facade, i was struck by the cross of Christ sticking out horizontally from the facade, instead of hanging vertically. and then inside, the numbers of columns were dazzling, despite the ongoing construction. a placard explained that Gaudi was inspired by trees when he conceived of the design for the columns. he wanted people to feel like they were sitting in a forest. i couldn't imagine a better setting than sitting under trees for worship.



the cross of Christ hangs out horizontally


columns inspired by trees







while at Sagrada Familia, i was glad we didn't have our kids with us. there were several families there and all the kids were whining and complaining about the heat. i couldn't blame them. of what interest is Gaudi to them? :) my kids were with our sitter again. the other day, we went out in search of a playground for Skye and Claire and instead discovered something we have been calling "the water park." it is where the locals with kids hang out. we almost missed it - the entrance is a dark corridor in the middle of a block that opens up onto a courtyard surrounded by tall apartment buildings. this courtyard has a wading pool surrounded by sand. the girls had a great time jumping into the water and playing with the sand. Claire was so upset when we had to leave. i had to remind her she would return with our sitter. so that was where they were while Phil and i took off to catch some sights. :)



after Sagrada Familia, we headed over to Barrio Gotic. we saw sections of the old Roman wall. i was also hoping to wander around, looking for the bookstore from Carlos Ruiz Zafon's books, but unfortunately, we haven't discovered it yet. we found Carrer de Santa Ana which could be the Calle de Santa Ana from "The Shadow of the Wind", but alas, no bookstore.

Trip to LA January 2009

as promised, i'm backing up now to give an update on our trip to LA. i should also mention Phil had a fantastic time in Vietnam and really misses the food!!

the girls and i went to LA mainly to escape the cold and to visit with my good friend Mary and her growing family. her husband Martin scheduled a baby shower for their new baby (due date in May) while we were there, so that was pretty special. the girls and i got to catch up with an old friend, Joon, who i knew back in Kenya, who i hadn't seen in about 20 yrs. thanks to Facebook, we reconnected and got to meet up!

here are my girls with Camille, Mary's 9 month old little girl

here is Skye with Nathan, Joon's 7 yr old son

Joon's boys and the girls and i went to Griffith Park and rode the train

Joon and Ian

i took the girls to Dolce Mango for frozen yogurt which they loved! they preferred Dolce Mango to Pinkberry...Dolce Mango has many more flavours to choose from!


here we are at baby Micah's shower


Skye with a friend, Malia




i took the girls to a mall and they were fascinated with the water fountain! :)


in Koreatown for some naeng myun


i had the spicy hwae naeng myun - yum!


we returned many more times to Dolce Mango...


Skye's favourite toppings


Claire digs in

it doesn't look like Claire has any toppings on her frozen yogurt, but she actually did have some mochi toppings on her mango frozen yogurt

Traveling as a single mum...

when you travel as a single mum, you have to depend so much more on the kindness of strangers. and kind strangers there were today as i made the trip from Madison to LA. but there were also plenty of people who just didn't care. chivalry is almost nonexistent i think. but the girls were fantastic. of course, we had our troubles, like Claire refusing to pee in the airport bathrooms, never mind the plane ones. i ended up just putting a diaper on her until we got to our friend's house. at one point on the plane, i conked out because i was so exhausted. i don't know for how long, but the girls just kept themselves occupied for those few short minutes.

do i recommend traveling alone with 2 kids? i don't know...i'll let you know after i get back home. but i was impressed to see a mum traveling with 3 kids today. each child was pulling his/her own wheelie and they all looked to be under 7 yrs of age.

Two weeks without Phil...

Phil is off to warm Vietnam for 2 weeks and so i've decided to take the girls with me to LA to visit my friends there. not quite as adventurous as Vietnam, but hey, anything to get away from this cold! LOTS have happened since Saturday when Phil took off, but i'm afraid there's no time tonight to give you an update. will have to wait until we settle in LA. it's late, i think i'm all packed up and ready...i'll let you know how it is flying by myself with 2 kids!

Busy month of August

phew! it's hard to believe that August is almost over. and what a full month it has been. i will try to catch up as best as i can, but most likely, it's going to be more like a list of things we did and photos of our various trips and activities.

first of all, we had many celebrations in August. Phil and i celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. we celebrated my father's birthday, my nephew Amoz's birthday and my birthday.

we went on a trip to southern California. we drove to Zeeland, Michigan--it was our girls' first long road trip. we had a great time in both places. in CA, we met up with our friends Mary, Martin and their baby Camille. we visited the beautiful aquarium at Long Beach and played on the beaches. we ate lots of delicious Korean food.

the drive to Zeeland was hard for the girls, but they survived. we broke up the ride a little for them by stopping in Chicago for lunch with Phil's parents on the way to and then for lunch with friends on the way back. Zeeland is close to Lake Michigan and so we were able to visit the beach there and it was beautiful. it was great to visit my parents' new home in the States. it was great to see them settled and to see the community they live in.

and on top of all the travelling, we have been busy getting ready for the school year. we registered Skye for kindergarten and learned who her teacher would be for the year. we have visited her school several times to get her used to the environment, and we go back to the school tomorrow for open house where Skye will be able to play in her new classroom and meet some of her classmates. it'll be quite exciting! i've been busy getting ready for Claire too. i've signed up for a music class with her and will be busy setting up playdates for Claire so that we can keep busy while Skye is away all day!


here we are at Griffith Park in LA. Skye enjoyed a pony ride and Claire and Skye loved the great carousel!



the girls enjoy some down time...


beach time!



enjoying the beautiful jelly fish at the aquarium




with our friends, Mary, Martin and baby Camille!










in between our trip to LA and our trip to Zeeland, we had a few days back in Madison for some down time. our neighbour stopped by one day and asked us if we would have any use for some very large furniture boxes. i spent one morning working on the boxes and voila! except now i'm not sure where i'll put it when we have guests over...


in Zeeland, MI.
Skye goes fishing! but those sneaky little fish...they gobbled up the bait and refused to get caught! but we did end up enjoying feeding the ducks and the geese who also occupied the pond.


the beach at Holland, MI


the girls had a fantastic time with grandparents. they even endeared themselves to my parents' neighbour who gave the girls each a piggy bank from her rather large collection of piggy banks. here are the girls each holding their pigs.