Neighbours

Right after a long, leisurely walkies with the Dog, isn't it great to find oneself in the company of friends right there in the neighborhood?

Especially when the said friends are fun little girls just like her Little Highness.

And so they all jumped and played, and shouted, and laughed, and basically had so much fun together ...

Even as the Dog sighed and waited patiently, for her turn of attention.

Later on, they all took turn to let Mama take a pic.

It was really great playing with you, Girls!

Here's for more girly girls play dates in the future!

Epic Holiday: A New Friend

Next stop in our Epic Holiday was Opa & Oma's house in Bogor. The visit was also timed to happen during the Christmas weekend, with the hope that all the Tante's from Mama's side of the family would also be around. It was pretty good timing, especially considering Oma's recent surgery.
Somehow, amidst all the scheduling, we also managed to arrive at home while there was a little friend for the Little One in house, and so Kecil quickly acquired a new friend and companion while on holiday.

Her name is Ayu, and she is the daughter of Mama's childhood nanny, who came for a extended visit and help out in the house during the holidays. We are all happy to have them around, especially, it would seem, Kecil!

In the speed of lightning in which apparently typical bonds between two little girls of similar age seems to happen, the two became fast friends, quite literally.
They ran around the house together, they looked for each other constantly, Kecil even insisted that Ayu got a share of her favorite (oversized) pink apples that she filched from Oma's fruit basket.
And the only other thing that make the whole affair cuter is the fact that Kecil speaks primarily in English while Ayu in Indonesian and Sundanese, and they just managed to get along fabulously nevertheless.

Oh my Kid, the apple filcher!

Ah well.. anyway, as I was saying, the fast friend ran amok throughout the house, creating mayhem and destruction in their wake (kidding). Among other things, they did managed to help Tante Ela get the Christmas cookies down in production:

They poked and prodded the dough, they chose the most difficult shapes, generally making a nuisance of themselves, but the did help. And we all had fun, didn't we?

And since the cookies need to be baked for a while, they still had some time to blow some bubbles outside, which kept them out of the way, at least for a while.

Of course, the time spent in Bogor was not only spent playing with Kecil's new friend. But perhaps we'll cover that in the next post.

Here's for new friendships, especially those that go beyond cultural boundaries like languages!

Water cooler chat

Apparently there is no age restriction to water cooler chat or water cooler effect. There must be something primeval about water and humans, I suppose.

Little Pilots

There were days (usually Fridays) when Mama got a little fed up with staying at home for the millionth cleaning session and looked for better inspiration outside. It helps that sometimes the weather co-operates, providing the much needed mood booster in the form of light, beautiful light.
Not to mention a few gorgeous muses frolicking around, all ready to be Mama's next photo op!

There was no time to waste, no reason to not jump at the opportunity.
These girls, they are old hands at walkies with Mama, the Dog and the camera.
They know the rules of the road, and they do not mind Mama clicking away.
So ... why not just follow on autopilot? Or rather, Little Pilots?

We had some difficulty starting off. The scuttle involved some to and froing into the house to get the necessary 'gear' for walkies: drink, bottle, bags to bring the bottles...
But we finally made off with the girls leading the way: up the slope, through the trees, round the fence and everywhere...

... ending up at the playground, as usual.
Hmm... I guess the attraction of a nearby playground is undeniable when you are little girls walking with a friend, a Mama and a Dog in tow, huh?
Anyway, we did have a good time. Mama even got some pretty amusing bits of conversation. Not to mention lots a pic, resulting in THIS very blog post!

Thank you, Ami and Kecil for being Mama's 'autopilot' for the day!
Here's for more walkies together, enjoying the late afternoon light, fresh air and good company!

The quality of light in late afternoon such as these has always been one of Mama's obsession, even in the days before the Big Camera. The Golden Hour, the folks in the photography circles call it. It's a beautiful, beautiful hour to be out and about, with or without little ones and dogs.
If you haven't enjoyed it, go out and try it at the first opportunity! It does not happen everyday, you see, so when it happens, you really should jump at the chance. Who knows what you might get out of it? Fabulous pictures, new friend, or even just simply a fantastic mood.

Birthday party

Kecil's Pink dress got another use last week as we went for Kecil's classmate's Birthday celebration in town. Having received her invitation during the UN day, the event had been wildly anticipated. Perhaps it's Mama's fault, but it would seem that Kecil had developed her preconceptions of what constitutes a 'proper Birthday party', namely that it should include some candle blowing, Birthday cakes, toots, and hats.Oh, and of course, bringing presents for the Birthday girl/boy.
Good thing she was not disappointed that day.

Kecil took her present-giving very seriously, so once we got to the venue, she made a straight bee-line for the Birthday girl to deliver her present. In return, Kecil was so excited to get her share of the various Dora merchandise, both as part of loot as well as a reward for her participation in the various games being organized.

Games? Why, yes, games. There was the fetching the balloon game, the race with the balloon between your legs game, there's even a wishing-the-longest-Happy-Birthday game. She actually took part in all three (No pics of actual action because Mama was busy coaching then). She even did her part of the Chucky dance, which involve some shaking of her body. Hahaha...

Of course, I am not too sure if she is really into the games or if she is just looking for more Dora stuff. She did come home with a veritable stack of loot from the party.
There was just one time when she faltered, that was when the 'guest of honor' arrived.

Ugh Ogh. Kecil did NOT like the chicken. In fact, she was absolutely terrified of it. Many days after the party, she would still talk about that scary, big, white chicken. With Christmas coming, Mama is just wondering about Kecil's reaction with the ubiquitous Santa Claus. Hmmm....

Still, I think we had great fun at the party. Thank you for Thea and her family for inviting us. Happy (belated) Birthday and all the best wishes!

Walkies with a friend

There are times when walkies are made more challenging, with the lack of a proper vehicle (the bike sustained some damage through the weekend when Daddy was not home), uncooperative weather (slight, intermittent drizzles) as well as an additional participant.

But I guess, there is always the case of making lemonade when the world throws you lemons.
Make the best of what you've got!
And we did have fun. Great fun! And Mama feels that the risk taken by taking TWO active little girls out for walkies on a CLOUDY day without BACKUP transportation was justified.
Especially with the returns that we got.

Still remember the drizzle I told you about? What happened when there's rain and sunshine at the same time?
Haha.. you got it. We had a beautiful rainbow that day.
And TWO very fascinated little girls squatting side by side on the road.

As I said before, it was a good walkie. Even when Mama was only planning to take a short one.
We ended up being out for almost an hour. But it was fun. And we so do look forward for the next one.
Until then!

An afternoon at the pool

A beautiful sunny afternoon, and a prospect for reunion with a former classmates, it was a great combination for some great time at the pool last week.

Little Karin was a former classmate of Kecil's. After just 1 term, however, she moved back to Japan. Last week, she came by for a holiday, and we made arrangements for Kecil to meet her old friend (whom she still remembers!). And so that was how we got invited to spend the afternoon at the gorgeous pool.

The invitation was also extended to a few other girls, who are part of the small Japanese community here. We have with us that day Ami and also Sora & Hana.

Right on top of the list of things to try: the small water slide!

Followed with a few more rounds...

Then it was swimming around the pool ...

Attacking a figure of authority ... (these girls are rebels, I tell you!)

Even admiring the view!

Kecil had a real great time at the pool and we would like to thank all the girls very much for playing with Kecil. The girls probably spent more than an hour in the pool, after which they still played at the playground nearby. The picture follows:

Karin had since gone back to Japan. But we do hope that there will still be next time for the girls to meet up and play together again. Until next time, Karin!