Pool, Pizza and Pungent Prickly Pineapple ....thingies

OK.  I couldn't come up with another P word for the title.  I had to use thingies. 

Group stretching in front of the hospital.  I wonder if that would ever catch on in the US???

This is the wall in the interview room at the Civil Affairs office.

And I thought Menchie's was just a Utah thing.....

This is a very unique looking and smelling fruit.  Our guide said most people either love it or hate it.  If you put one in your fridge, it will make everything else smell.  It looks like a funky pineapple with spikes.

The wrapped yellow things are the "nuts" on the inside.  That's the edible part.  And yes, it smells.... even through the plastic wrap!

Guide Grace, Creed, Pierce and Scott strolling through the Aeon supermarket.  Much cleaner and less smelly than the Trust Mart. 

Scott tying his own shoe.  I was tempted to help, but then asked Grace to ask him if he wanted help.  He wanted to do it on his own.  It took about a minute to tie one shoe.  He is a pretty determined boy, but I think that is a characteristic of many special needs children.  Maybe they are born with it from an Omniscient Father in Heaven who knows they will need it, or maybe it is learned from recognizing they have to work just a little harder than everyone else.

Evidence that I am washing the fruit as instructed by my wife and daughter.  I even bought the right fruit wash soap she said we needed.  I was not completely smart in this process.  After I washed the fruit I rinsed it in the tap water.  Duh!  I rewashed then grabbed the bottled water to rinse again.

Pierce showing Scott the finer points of taking a picture of yourself in the mirror.

Before breakfast this morning Scott brought me to the hotel room window and pointed to the pool making a swimming motion.  The orphanage director said he has never been swimming and is afraid of it.  He was excited at that moment, but I was wondering how he would react when he actually got close to the pool. After the appointments this morning we went down to the pool and he just walked right down the steps without hesitation.  So fast in fact that I hadn't secured a very good grip on him yet.  In his anxiousness, he stumbled on the the way in and I had to quickly grab him.  I didn't want to have his first experience with a pool a big mouthful of water.  He was not entirely comfortable or skilled at balancing in the pool, but he loved being in the water.  I had to hold him tight for the first 10 minutes or so.  Then he relaxed and started to allow himself to float.  Probably the first time feeling weightless.  Then he started to paddle and kick and walk around on his own. 

He saw Creed and Pierce in the deep end and wanted to go to them.  I grabbed him again and started making my way down there and then he motioned to the life preserver on the lifeguard stand and wanted that around his waist.  I knew we couldn't coax the lifeguard into giving it to me so I went to the front desk of the health club area and they happened to have a little inflatable ring for $3.  That was enough flotation to give him some independance although I never was more than 5 feet away from him.  With the ring he was able to kick and move his arms to get around pretty well. I don't know if a built in pool qualifies for a qualified health expense for insurance purposes, but I think we should give it a try!  

Hunky Creed.

Pierce enjoying the motion sensor showers.

I spent some time with Scott on the Traffic Jam game this afternoon.  He watched me do it a couple of times and was eager to do it himself. He caught on pretty quickly and was very proud of himself when he got the white car out.  We celebrated with high fives.

We were talking about going to Pizza Hut today after another failed attempt at a Chinese restaurant last night.  Grace asked if Scott likes pizza.  He said no.  Yeah, right...

Big smiles after his first big swim!

 I have been watching the clock on my laptop and it says 11:53.  I thought I was doing really well getting to bed before midnight.  Then I realized that was 11:53 AM Utah time.  It's 1:53 AM  - I am going to bed now.....