I’ve been meaning to write about our Labor Day weekend, but just haven’t gotten around to it.

Let’s see, on Saturday I had a garage sale which was not very successful – so, a lot of things got donated, which is good. Then I had my Vietnamese lesson, as usual.

Sunday, Parker and I went to a local park and ran around the fields, and watched some high school guys practicing soccer. I hope Parker is into soccer – it’s one of the very few sports that I enjoy. He’s pretty good at kicking the ball already, so maybe I’ve got a little pro on my hands! We also went to the fruit market and bought peaches and watermelon.

On Monday I finally went to an event with NE Ohio’s local Vietnamese community. They had a labor day picnic at a park just outside of Akron. I arrived at about 10 AM and stayed until about 3 PM. Everyone so enamored with Parker An, they couldn’t believe how cute he is. I had mentioned that he was from Quảng Nam, and that the G&R was in Tam Kỳ. An older lady came over to see Parker and she was telling me that she was from Tam Kỳ. So, I told her that I went to the government building there, and to a grocery store, and finally to a nice outdoor bar/restaurant. She was obviously very happy that I had been to her home town, even if only for a short time. I met all of my Vietnamese teacher’s family members except for one brother who still lives in Việt Nam. She has one younger brother and 4 older brothers!

Everyone was so welcoming of Parker An and I. They all wanted to hold him and play with him, and he enjoyed running around and playing. Just as when I was in Việt Nam, I was struck by how much everyone, and I mean everyone, is into the children. Children from all the families got passed around all day long. Even the teenage boys were happy to play with the kids, even the babies. I wish more American men were as interested in children – it’s a sad commentary on our society that that isn’t the case.

The food was also great. There was hamburgers and hot dogs, and also grilled chicken which had been marinated  in some sauce that was amazingly delicious. I will have to try and get the recipe for it. There were several rice cookers filled with rice, salad, fruit, and a couple of desserts. I made chè bắp, which is a dessert porridge made with tapioca, coconut milk, and corn. It was very good.

Overall, it was a good weekend.