Online photo album

Apparently all of the photos of me, me, me from this blog (starting from March 13) are now being kept online in a Picasa photo album. (And yes, Bubby, you can order prints!)

ps...the picture below is a link to the album...

Little Levi Fox

Sometime one is just not enough...

...instead, I need one for each hand! ...and what's wrong with that?

Berat

Yesterday we went to Berat, a town that is about 2.5 hours away, with our friends Alba, Genti, and Tedi. Alba works with Mama Melissa and, of course, loves me. I also love to say her name over and over again, "Abba, Abba, Abba..."

Berat is one of the oldest towns in Albania, and there are lots of old houses and ruins--I heard Genti say the town has been around since the 6th C. BC. My mommies seemed really interested in all the ruins...I just liked getting carried around, eating bread crisps, and running on the grass. And, of course, the statues!

Oh yeah, I also really liked playing on the beach for a few minutes when we stopped for coffee on the way there. What is it about Albania and coffee? Somehow I'm always at some coffee place where no one will share with me.... Sad.


Me with Alba--aren't we cute?

One of the beautiful churches in Berat

Me, Tedi, and a statue!


Ruins of the fortress and the tip of the Red Mosque

Alba, Tedi, and Genti

My first Albanian beach...when we stopped for coffee in Golem, on the way to Berat. No one would give me any coffee, but at least Mommy Mindy shared her hot chocolate. And, I got to watch a kite fly!!

Hiking in the hills

Every Saturday there is a group hike in Tirana called the Hash (Hash House Harriers). Hashes happen all over the world--it's basically a group of people who run/hike on a regular basis together. In Albania there are lots of the people from embassies and NGOs along with some Albanians.

But, the great thing about the hash in Albania is that we get to go into mountains that are beautiful, but that we couldn't otherwise see. (My mommies say that there are no trails or trail maps.) People who know the area (the hares) go and mark the path in the morning with flour...the rest of us meet and hike the trail later in the day. About 50 or 60 people go every weekend--some run the trail, some walk the trail...and the familes who have kids like me usually bring up the rear. At the end we all meet to eat something. (And for those who choose to partake, beer is also a big part of the tradition--for some reason, I never get any.)

The trails we hike are basically sheep trails (and I love that we get to see sheep and cows). There's lots of scrambling through bushes and avoiding mud...and Mama Melissa gets a great workout carrying me in the backpack carrier (she doesn't get to fall asleep when she's tired like I do). But I love the views, and overall, it's a lot of fun. Here's a couple photos from our last hike (with our new friend Meghan, who was here from London to conduct a training for the research project Mommy Mindy is working on).

The last shot is a picture of Kruja, a nearby town where we had dinner after the hike with some of the other people from the hash.

More from Vienna

Okay, so other than the statues, the best thing we did in Vienna was go to the Zoom Museum! It's a museum for kids & I LOVED it. Here's photos and a video of me playing and having a really, really good time. Oh yeah...and a bonus photo of me playing hide and seek with a curtain!






Okay, the real question is, why on earth did my mommies make me wear this silly thing? I look ridiculous--it's so hard to be dignified when you're a baby.

But, I think I got them back when I hid behind the curtain and tried to look scary!

Statues in Vienna

I had a GREAT time in Vienna last week! My mommies and I visited statues, statues, and more statues! Okay, well, maybe we did a few other things too, but really, what could be as important as statues? Because you seem like you want to know, we also went to the Natural History Museum (which I loved), my mommies dragged me to a lot of clothes shopping, and we did look at a couple of historical things here and there. But mostly we looked at statues. (And I think my mommies ate a lot of sushi after I went to bed at night.) Oh yeah, and I went to a really fun kids museum, which will deserve a post all of its own.

Me and Gutenberg





Okay, I admit it, I fell asleep for a while, and completely missed the statue in front of the Parliament building. But I hear that my mommies got to enjoy a yummy Thai meal while I was sleeping!


Look at all the statues between the Natural History Museum and the Kunsthistorisches Museum!


And I had a great time with this really fun elephant statue in front of the Natural History Museum.



See, here's me playing with the elephant. And following the 'ducky.' What, you don't think a pigeon is a duck? All of the rest of the birds in my books are ducks, why can't a pigeon be a duck?


This statue was in front of the Secession Building (note the gold cabbage looking thing in the background!).


I'm in good company here, hanging out with Strauss!

For my elf Diana

Why Diana is happy I don't live over her head right now! (Even though I know she misses and loves me very much.)

No...

Oh...and did I mention that I learned a new word today? I'm not sure how many words I can say now, but I'll at least try to repeat almost anything you say to me...and now you can add every toddler's favorite to the list. Yep...those magic two letters, "N" & "O" crossed my lips. So far, I just sort of enjoy repeating it...and not very forcefully yet. But, I've waited a long, long time to get to this fun little word, and now my mommies are really in for it. They've been lucky that up until now I've been much more interested in learning how to say more complicated things like "statue," "butterfly," "basketball hoop," "mommy" and "mama," and, of course, the all-important, "ball!"

Tea Time at Preschool

My preschool is the best! I love going every day. Pretty soon I'm going to post pictures, but for now I just thought I'd ask you to join me for a quick tea party.

Playing in the Park

Winter has been mild this year in Tirana, which has left plenty of time for me to play! I love this little park right outside of the Taiwan Center--there's a fountain, lots of people, especially other kids, and lots of toys everywhere. I even got my mommies to buy me a blue soccer ball!

The wonders of technology...

I'm darn cute...even in a cell phone photo!

Enjoy the concert!

Just a quick post to show you what I was up to tonight. I love the piano -- my mama plays for me, and also Miss Elham at the preschool. Because I'm the littlest, I get to sit in Miss Elham's lap sometimes when she plays.

Stat-choo!!

Have I mentioned to you how much I love statues? Little ones, big ones, hidden ones that no one notices until I point them out, even pictures of statues! I love them all. Luckily, I get to see lots of them all the time. We have some tiny ones inside of our house, my mommies' Albanian dictionary has a photo of the statue of Skanderbeg on the front, every morning we pass the statue of Mother Teresa at Tirana University, and then there are the big and little statues all around town. And that doesn't even begin to include all of the statues I get to see when we travel. And, you guessed it, statue was one of my first words. (Okay, well all I could say then was, "statch!" but now I can say the whole word!)


In Kotor, Montenegro:

In Dubrovnik, Croatia (yep, I even like statues on top of things like buildings, fountains, and birdbaths!)

In Apollonia, Albania (and I like things that look like they are part of a statues...and there were lots and lots of statues just behind us!)

In Tirana, Albania (this is a statue of Skanderbeg, the most well known statue in Albania!)

In Tirana (just outside the National Gallery of Arts--I saw this statue just before we went to go see the exhibition of the 2005 World Press Photos)


In Tirana (at a playground...just outside the one theater that plays English language movies. And in case you're wondering, it currently has only one screen, is playing "Night at the Museum," and no, we definitely have not gone to go see it!)
And check this out...don't forget to notice the statue of Skanderbeg on the dictionary...along with one of the little statues around the house (thanks Nisha Masi!)

Apollonia

I went with my mommies and other people from the Embassy on a field trip to Apollonia, the ruins of an ancient Greek city from the 6th century B.C.

I got a little tired after a while and had to take a rest.


It was a beautiful day at a beautiful place. Now, don't you want to come visit???

boxes and bears, oh my

We had a rainy Saturday this past weekend, so I stayed inside and played. Here's one of my favorite games...

Which is the cutest?

My mommies can't decide -- what do you think?