Eggs and Bowling

Yesterday, I bought some postcards at Walmart for the kids to send home.  So this morning the kids wrote notes to their families on the postcards and then walked down to the post office to mail them.

After they returned, we had tunafish sandwiches for lunch and then we decorated some eggs for Easter.  It's traditional in America to color eggs for Easter, which is a very important religious holiday here. So the kids put together some "spill-proof" egg dying kits and colored a dozen eggs.  It was so much easier than the methods we used when I was a kid!

Then it was time to go bowling.  I took Lin, Fern and Jean into Manitowoc while Jane and Erng waited at the house for the Kupsky family to come pick them up.  Patty and I had to deliver some gifts to the Miller family (who hosted Gam last year). Gam had asked us to bring some gifts for the Millers with us, and so we drove over to their house to drop off the presents.  The Millers really miss Gam and they hope she'll return for another visit next year.

Since the Millers live close to Lake Michigan, I drove the kids over to the lake so they could take a look at the second biggest lake in the world.  Imagine being able to take a boat all the way from Koh Chang to Udon Thani, that's how big Lake Michigan is!!  So it really has a huge impact on local weather.  I keep telling the kids that they need to dress appropriately for ALL kinds of weather when they leave the house, but they never believe me until they get some real experience with Wisconsin's erratic springtime weather.  For example, the temperature near the lake is almost always 5'C cooler than the temperature inland near.  Plus, the wind chill factor can drop the temperature another 5'C to 10'C. Thus, while it might be pretty warm out in Valders, it can be below freezing near Lake Michigan.  So they really missed their jackets!

When we arrived at Meadow Lanes, the kids met the Larson and Kupsky families.  It was pretty clear that the Thai kids were still very shy, and so they bowled on separate teams and didn't talk to the host kids very much.  But that's OK, they will have plenty of time to come out of their shells in the next week or two.  The American and Thai kids both proved to be horrible bowlers, so at least they have that in common! Haha!

Tomorrow morning we will go to Easter Sunrise service at Faith Lutheran Church and then the kids will get picked up by their host families after breakfast at the church. They've really grown closer together over the past few days. Our airline adventure and the low key family time at the Carroll house has really bonded these kids into a tight-knit little group, so I think they'll be a little sad to part ways for the next few weeks.  However, I haven't noticed too much nervousness about meeting their host families, so I think the kids will be just fine.

It's just the start of another new adventure!