purim

a few weeks ago i heard of a purum (jewish holiday) festival happening on the promenade and on the street near terrace 19. i could see the flags and the crowds of people walking from my kitchen window. having seen kids dressed in costumes all over town that day, i figured it would be a fun occasion to put aliyah in her bumblebee costume and take her up to see what was going on. there were hundereds of families walking around under the warm sun, buying food from vendors and enjoying the live entertainment. aliyah and i saw many different costumes including the usual assortment of fairies and princesses, but also ladybugs, warriors, flamenco dancers and native americans. it was fun trying to guess with aliyah what people were dressed as. aliyah saw her first float, though there wasn't a parade. the float was just parked on the street for people to look at. though there wasn't a whole lot for aliyah to do, it was still a nice way to spend a couple hours on a sunny spring march afternoon.

aliyah's newest slide

just outside of the dhp office is a short set of stairs that leads to the monument gardens. this has become one of aliyah's favorite spots because here she has actually discovered a slide in the baha'i gardens (under her raised foot in the photo). sure, she has to scoot the whole way down and practically wear a hole in her pants, but a slide is a slide and being in the gardens, well, that makes it even more special. ;)

Aliyah's 3rd Ayyam-i-Ha - Day 4

on the fourth day of ayyam-i-ha, there was a field trip to the zoo planned for the moms and babies/tots, but because of bad weather, we went back to tando instead for more (dry) fun.

in the elevator with papa

Aliyah's 3rd Ayyam-i-Ha - Day 3

ok, day three was a busy day.first aliyah went to rose garden, baha'i school for toddlers at the world center. this was a special rose garden because it included an ayyam-i-ha celebration. it was also amelia and shiori's first time to attend.

class photos

cupcakes!

singing















in the afternoon, we went to the Shrine of the Bab and visited the terraces.

family photo

in the evening papa took aliyah to an ayyam-i-ha party for the bwc families at the pilgrim reception centre

checking out the play dough station

that night, aliyah went to the merkaz with papa and friends to surprise mommy for her birthday.

Aliyah's 3rd Ayyam-i-Ha - Day 2

on the second day of ayyam-i-ha, aliyah went to mother goose on the loose, a fun, singing and musical class for bwc moms and babies/tots.

that night we went to an ayyam-i-ha party where aliyah had fun with thomas (aka "cactus!") and got a nike neckband in a gift exchange.

Aliyah's 3rd Ayyam-i-Ha - Day 1

this year aliyah celebrated ayyam-i-ha with a number of activities spread throughout the four days. there was also an orange-picking project at the garden of mazra'ih the week-end before ayyam-i-ha.

on the first day of ayyam-i-ha, aliyah went to tando, her favoritie indoor play/activity center. there, aliyah got to play with her buddy layla.

after tando, she went to the lunchroom and had fresh orange juice with her good friend sisay.