well... we had heard this rumor that when we go to restaurants if they like our kid (and who in their right mind wouldn't?) they would just take him out of his high chair (without permission) and take him out of our sight and show him off and show him around! well y'all... it's true.
we were at chili's tonight... yes the same chili's as in the U.S. and towards the end of dinner they snagged him and took him to the bowling alley in the next door shopping area, to the patio area of the restaurant and I think at one point he made the rounds in the kitchen. yvonne and i had discussed this possibility beforehand in case it did happen and we agreed we would have to find out how we felt about it once it happened. well, once we realized what was happening we were totally at peace with it. we spent the next 5-10 minutes that he was gone enjoying each other and mainly laughing at the whole situation. it was such a riot to see 5+ adult men going crazy over our 14 month old.
after that we hailed a cab (which costs about 50 cents to go a few miles) and got the nicest taxi driver yet! he loved landon too and played with him (while driving) and made noises and kept him entertained. so i got his cell number and name (fowzi) so we can call him to give us rides from time to time.

this place rocks.

PS... earlier today we went to this awesome park that was really quite beautiful. it was called al-ahzar park. it used to be a garbage dump and then it was all fixed up. we ate at a nice french restaurant there (mmm... quiche lorraine) and then we walked to a kiddie area where there was a lot of playground equipment. landon made a 2 year old friend there, named Ali.
the first pic is of our kid in the park and the second is of some girl on a bungee/trampoline contraption with a great shot of the city in the background.