Weekend at the Beach

We spent the 4th of July weekend at the beach with three other families for our 7th annual "Spicy Girls" reunion. Three of the four families that traveled with us to Changsha, Hunan in June 2002 were there. It is amazing to watch these little girls grow up. They are all so beautiful and smart. Even though we generally don't see each other but once a year, the girls just pick up right where they left off the year before. They truly are "spicy sisters" and are all so close to each other.

The first activity of the weekend was horseback riding. It was very exciting for our girls since they had never done this before (except for the tame pony rides at the county fair). Very nerve wracking for this mom to watch her babies sitting alone on top of very big animals!

Watching the hometown 4th of July parade -- it was all about the candy!

Four of the five original "Spicy Girls" -- can they really be almost 8 years old already? Every year we have taken a photo of the girls sitting together in the same order that they were in their red couch photo. I will post each year's photo in another post.

mmmmm - smores!

Stuck in the Shower

Every morning when I take my shower, Ruby gets my towel and lays down on it. She patiently waits for me to be done and then excitedly hands me the towel. Well this morning our ritual started out just like any other morning -- except that she fell ASLEEP -- right in front of the shower door! So there I stood, stuck in the shower, debating what to do. I finally decided to go ahead and try to open the shower door. By doing it slow enough, I was thankfully able to slide it past her face just far enough so that I could squeeze out. She slept like this for over an hour!

Waiting for mommy to get out of the shower

Fun in the Sun

There is no place on earth more beautiful than Seattle on a warm sunny day! We have all really enjoyed these past few days of 80+ degree weather. We dug out the swim suits and got a little blow-up pool for Ruby to play in. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more -- Ruby or the big girls!

Splashing with big sisters

Testing the water

Ruby loves the water just like her sisters

Beautiful Abby

Four big sisters squeezing into little sister's pool!

Backyard Sisters

We are finally starting to have some beautiful warm sunny days around here. According to the local weather records, it was the first Memorial Day weekend in Seattle with no rain in 40 years! The girls love playing in our huge backyard, which on any given day can be a princess castle, vast desert, wild jungle, kung fu panda hideout, or secret garden. And all this is much more fun to do in shorts rather than rain coats!!

Bath Time Fun

Can you believe that this is the same little baby who cried pitifully during every bath I gave her in China just a few weeks ago??

Home Sweet Home!

We arrived home early Thursday morning. Both Abby and Ruby did so well on the flights from Guangzhou to Narita/Tokyo and then on to Seattle. We all dozed a little bit but were very very tired by the time we got off the plane at Sea-Tac. Immigration and customs were a breeze compared to the last time when we came back to the US through LAX.

Seeing our family at the airport was so wonderful. I swear that the girls all grew 6 inches taller while I was gone! Ruby didn't complain much about being strapped into her carseat for the ride home. She was so enthralled by the Backyardigans DVD that was playing in the car that I guess she forgot all about her confinement.

The big girls are so in love with their new sister. For the first two days Ruby would push them away when they tried to hug and kiss her. But now she loves all the attention. What a change I have seen in Ruby in the past two weeks. That sad, withdrawn little baby who was handed off to me in Guangzhou has blossomed into such a precious gift! She now smiles and laughs all the time. She dances to music and waves at anyone who looks at her. She scribbles with the girls' markers and gets into all their stuff. She is curious about everything, opening every door, drawer, closet, or box that she can. And she absolutely loves her baths!

Now if we could all just get adjusted to our local time zone rather than China's time zone for sleeping all would be right in our little corner of the world.

Five Ladybug Princesses

Ruby -- our newest precious gift

Toy Market

Yesterday we went to the Toy Market. I felt like I was in the middle of an Oriental Trading catalog! Abby was like a kid in a candy store. That place is a bit overwhelming! We had a great time picking out little things to bring home for all the girls and for our little friends.

For the rest of the day we just wandered around Shamian Island. After dinner at Lucy's I took the girls down to the Swan Room to play. It is so satifying to see Ruby having fun there. The first time we went she didn't even get off my lap. Now she runs all over the place. She loves to bring me the big Lego blocks one at a time. Back and forth, back and forth across the room.

We are in the home stretch now. Our oath ceremony is at the US Consulate this afternoon and we leave for the airport very early tomorrow morning. We are definitely ready!

Abby's favorite food here --french fries at Lucy's

After dinner stroll in the park

Go get the Legos . . .

. . . and bring them to Mom