Dogwood Festival week is now over. I’m guessing that next year, Lydia will need a wristband too to ride until she can’t ride any more. We reached a sad turning point this year – we can no longer walk around as a family without someone not so happy. Evan wanted to be with friends and do “grown up rides.” Ashlyn eventually was convinced to graduate to those rides too. Drew, on the other hand, was still pretty excited about the bouncy cars. At least they all united for the Monkey Maze, Pirate Island, and the Kuckoo House–3 fun house type rides (all of which drive me crazy). I’ll be glad when all are tall enough to not need a parent escort. I wonder if Lydia will ever be tall enough. :)
Mother’s Weekend
I’m coming off of a mother’s Day weekend stupor. Saturday started special with Mark giving me the Canon t2i which we had wanted to get for our trip to China but hadn’t been released yet. We had fun playing with it at our family picnic that afternoon which was a great time despite tornado like winds (not kidding. We had to park the cars in a sort of automobile fortress to protect us. We were worried little Lydi may well blow away. Don’t worry, she didn’t). Even enjoyed a game of kickball with Nanma and Grandaddy even playing (in fact, Nanma had planned this game for weeks).
(That’s Ashlyn and cousin Audrey seeking protection and fun in the back of our van. Lydia wanted in.)
(yup, that’s me with Lydia in tow. The Chinese would have my hide if they knew her skin was showing and she had short sleeves on with all that wind.)
And, Sunday didn’t disappoint with early morning muffins, gerber daisies, homemade cards to die for, a homemade bookmark, a potted basil plant, and then a big lot of flowers and mulch outside the kitchen window given with the promise that they would be planted that afternoon. After church, we went out to lunch at our local Chinese place. Apparently, Chinese is not a popular choice for a Mother’s Day menu. Despite the 40-minute wait at the diner next door, we ate alone for most of our meal at the Chinese place. And, we had a fun time reminiscent of our time in China trying to ask the waitress and then a cook if they could make steamed egg for Lydia. The cook literally brought a raw egg out to us, and we went back and forth trying to communicate what it was we were asking for. We weren’t sure what we would actually get. But, sure enough, we got the steamed egg (which by the way I’ve mastered at home. Yea me!). Once home, Lydia went down for a nap, and everyone else went outside to (1) plant my flowers and mulch and (2) admire the Dogwood Festival which was setting up literally across the street (and I mean literally). Our park has been taken over by carnies as it is one week a year (and has been since the 1940s for this tradition). While they did that, I stayed inside in the (relative) quiet (lots of noise outside as the ferris wheel and the like were being assembled). So, now, it’s Monday, and I’m coming off the high of being the “star” for the weekend and preparing now to enter the world of carnies tonight as we take the kids out for wristband night. I don’t know how much they are going to cost us this year (a small fortune, no doubt). I’m going to be the mom making my kids go on just a few more rides to make sure we get our money’s worth. Kidding. Sort of.
More posts on that to follow, no doubt.
Me and my babies. Lydia wasn’t happy unless she had my necklace to chew on play with.
I told you it was directly across the street. We can look out our bedroom window and see that obstacle course just perfectly. Good times.
She’s a mover and a shaker
When we were in Xi’an, on the day we visited Lydia’s orphanage, we got to see her take her first steps. In fact, we were skyping with my sister Erin and her husband Brian at the time. So, they got to see them too!
Since then, she’s gotten pretty darn sure of herself on her feet. She is walking everywhere now. And, of course, everybody thinks she is a genius baby since she looks a lot younger than she is. I took this video on Sunday–Note: it was 90 degrees for some strange reason. I don’t typically let my children roam around in only a diaper. But, that day called for it.
Hobo City
While I cozied up in our tempurpedic mattress with a bowl of Ben & Jerry’s and an episode of 24 last night, Mark was with the kids outside in this–
Mark and the three older kids each had their own wing…in theory. Drew ended up sleeping with Mark in his wing and then woke up at 4:15 and said, “I’m going in.” The other three lasted until about 7:45 when Drew, Lydia, and I came out and crashed the party.
Yes, this was Evan’s idea. He saw something like it in a magazine and bugged me about it everyday until I went to an appliance store and got these boxes to do it. It was quite a scene with the kids in the car and me pulling boxes out of the dumpster trying to jam them into our van. I deserved the night in the tempurpedic.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 18
- 19
- 20