First Grade Oratory

 Friday was a very special day at Cushman School.  It was the first grade oratory.  Lincoln nailed his Shel Silverstein poem.  All the grandparents were very proud!

 Juan is funny!

 I love technology.  I had whatsapped the video to Sarah and Roland immediately and uploaded it to Youtube so they could have a good quality copy of it for later.

After the program, Ptolemy and I went to the park, where Ptolemy was the only kid there who wasn't with a nanny.  I noticed the nannies were extremely overprotective.  I can imagine why.  No employee wants a kid to get hurt on their watch!

We went back to Ms. Cheezious for lunch and then explored Little Haiti.  I have been drawn to Hatian culture since we started thinking about adoption.  We were originally going to go to Haiti, but felt like China was where we should go.  I still have a residual affinity for all things Haitian, though.  I read some articles and tried to research where the best places to go in Little Haiti are.  I didn't want to be bumbling around Miami; some neighborhoods aren't good.  We found some nice people and had a fun time.

 I could not for the life of me find this famous bakery that people recommended, so I asked a guy on the street for directions.  He not only explained it to me, but he offered to go with me.  Of course, I declined, so he gave me his phone number in case I had any problems with anything.  His name was B.  I texted him later to thank him for his help and he offered to be my security guard.  Lol.  He said, "Be safe out there and anything you need I'm here for you.  My phone is never off."  I had to laugh.  He's probably a drug dealer.  But a very, very nice one who would beat up anyone who messed with the white girl from Utah looking for the trendy bakery.

Ptolemy and I ate our bakery items in the Toussaint L'Ouverture Park, alongside a bunch of Creol-speaking retirees and a little boy who hadn't gone to school that day.  He and Ptolemy ended up hitting the jackpot with bottle caps!  Some of the older crowd got into helping the boys collect them.  See that lady in the three corn rows in the background of the picture?  She was so fancy.  She had those cornrows swirled around her forehead and pinned in a neat design.  Age wasn't going to stop her from looking her best!

Dinner was at a cool place called Dogma.  Ptolemy was amazed that he got his own drink.  That never happens at home.  It's water or nuthin'!  But Alex ordered for the kids, and they all got creme soda!  Ptolemy was in heaven!

They are so cute!

Saturday, the boys had decided that they wanted to go to a childrens museum in Fort Lauderdale.  We drove up, got there right before it opened, and nabbed the perfect parking spot with our handicapped pass.

I sent this pic to Sarah and said, "Just playing with fire.  All museum-sanctioned, of course."  The look on Lincoln's face is so funny!  Total captivation. He was actually spinning the garbage can to create a tornado.  The museum was cool, and we spent hours there.  On the way home, we were going to drive by the new Fort Lauderdale temple, but I took a wrong turn and the gps seemed confused, and it was still a half hour away, so we decided not to torture the kids.  Next time!

Lincoln's tooth fell out.

After a full day, the boys just wanted to stare at some screens.  We had an early day planned for Sunday, so Saturday night was relaxing.

Science and Discovery and MsCheezious

 This is my listening face.  I tried to focus as on Ptolemy as much as I could while he was my "only child" during the day.  It's exhausting to just have one kid.  But he's a fun one, so it's also great to jump into his world.

 Tricia and I took our little PT to the Museum f Science and Discovery in Coral Gables.  We scienced and discovered, but apparently didn't take any pics.  It was dark in there.

 Shopping spree!  We had to pick up a gift for a little girl's birthday party.

 Dinner at Ms. Cheezious, Alex's restaurant choice.  It was great!

 The boys played a beanbag toss game on the outside patio while we relaxed.

 Man, we sure did a lot of evening pool time.  This palm frond was hanging down, offering an irresistible swinging vine for the kids to drop into the pool from.  I didn't send Sarah the slow motion videos of their jumps until after she got home.  :)

 Alex is super responsible.  He took on the job of fogging for mosquitoes and lighting citronella candles.

 Alex also provided s'more ingredients.  Not quite the same as eating them around a campfire.  In fact, the marshmallows got all soggy from the pool water, but how can you complain when you're in this gorgeous setting, perfect temperature, and accompanied by three awesomely boyish boys, two scruffy dogs and one fun aunt?

Calle Ocho

 Breakfast at a place Sarah recommended that was great.

 Heidi, Sarah's friend, invited us to the "club" for lunch and beach/pool time.  Tricia stayed home to keep the dogs company.

 Heidi's 4 kids are all in school, but she was very nice to Ptolemy.

 How could you not be?  He's actually kinda grumpy to strangers due to his shyness, which is super annoying, but Heidi won him over.

 After floating in the ocean for awhile and gathering shells, we had lunch by the pool.

 I sent pics to Scott so he wouldn't forget me.  It's fun to be apart.

 This beach, in Miami Beach, reminded me of the Mediterranean and the weeks I spent alone in Chipiona, Spain, making new friends or just being solitary at the beach.

 Juan and Esther, Roland's parents, invited us to dinner at their favorite restaurant, Versailles.  The Cuban neighborhood is called Calle Ocho because 8th Street runs through it, or Little Havana.  The food was to die for.

 We were proud of ourselves for getting there before the rush.  It was a Cuban holiday, May 20, so I'm sure it was packed later.  It was kind of Juan and Esther to spend part of their holiday with us.  They had a bunch of parties to go to later in the evening.

 And this was just my plate!  Leftovers for days!

 After dinner, we hung around outside while Juan and Esther followed the Cuban tradition of getting a "cortadito" after dinner; a shot of espresso with a little cream.  Bunches of people were gathered around socializing.  Juan said Calle Ocho is like that every single night.

 Cemetery Little Havana

 And then back to this.

 And this.  The boys do most of their homework and extracurricular activities (socccer, piano, etc) at school, so evenings are free.  It was a change of pace for sure!  Genius for the school to offer all those programs.