Whirlwind of Fun

We had such a fun couple of days with the China sisters last weekend. Our girls were busy, busy!
It was neat to see the girls all relating to one another so quickly. I know kids of this age generally do feel comfortable with age mates easily, but I have to believe that these girls have a special bond.
We played at the beach... building a dam, swimming, hunting for shells and lake glass, and sculpting mermaid tails in the sand.
Kate escapes from the bonds of her mermaid tail!
Alia models her tail.

Kimberly and Gwen conversing on the break wall.

Jumping on the bed in the hotel where our friends were staying was a popular activity!

Kate's mom had these initial shirts made for all the girls, including the big sisters. Here are Alia and Gwen with their big sisters, Kela and Madelyn.
Alia and Gwen both have March birthdays, and had the same Chinese surname when they joined our familes. Being the same age, they would have been in the same play and sleeping rooms at their orphanage. They clearly knew each other and enjoyed interacting together in the days we spent together while their adoptions were processing. Alia is a good 3-4 inches taller than Gwen, but Gwen can proudly claim being older by a couple of weeks. :-)
Dinner was a casual one, at Five Guys for yummy burgers. We also had some coloring time so the moms and Dean could chat. :-) Here is our whole crew, minus my girls. I guess they were still coloring!

Last stop on our full day of playing was a visit to a playground that squeezed out the last bit of energy our girls had. At one point they ran around together in a little pack, saying it was time for a "China sisters' meeting". Apparently that meant the other three girls would run after the one in the lead to the leader's chosen destination.

Madelyn and Kate take a ride together.
Kimberly on the zip line.
Gwen gets a big push from Dean, Alia's dad.
It was a wonderful reunion. People have related the bond of families that adopted together as being like all being in the delivery room together for the birth of your children. A group birth experience sounds a little funky, but our four families were all in the same room at a civil affairs office in the Sichuan province when we met our daughters for the first time four and a half years ago, and that did create a special tie for all of us. The girls all knew each other before we had even seen their faces!

Thanks, everyone, for making the effort to gather the Sichuan girls, China sisters, this summer. Let's do it again. :-)

And Again

Once again I sit in the Admirals Club in the O'Hare airport, waiting for the flight to Shanghai. We've just finished our third summer of visiting the US for the hot weeks of Shanghai summer. Now the kids and I head back to our home away from home for the fourth year of our sojourn in China. Scott has been back there for several weeks already. It's wearying in some ways, this being away from our own space and having our family separated for some of the summer weeks. But its also wonderful to have this kind of time that is so very different than our other life in Shanghai, with our extended families in the green of the Midwest.

We think we have two more school years in China, so that means next summer will be our last of this kind, where we leave our home for the summer and travel around the world to be with our extended family. I made a comment in a post a few months ago about how sad it will be to be on that final flight coming home from Shanghai someday, knowing that we wouldn't be returning there in the fall. I'm glad that final flight is still a couple of years away, as we still have lots to look forward to in our "China life," but this morning, on the early flight from Cleveland to Chicago, I had an inkling of the relief we might feel to no longer be doing this back and forth. Someday. :-)

So in a few hours we'll head out for the long flight, the fourteen hour one, to go home to Scott and China. I am still incredibly grateful for this whole experience of living on the other side of the world, and although it will be good to have it end in a couple of years, I'm glad it's not over yet.

Twins

Gwen and her cousin Alyssa love to be twins... whether it be fixing their hair the same, wearing twirly dresses, or having flowers in their hair... whatever. Don't you see the resemblance?

China Sisters Together Again!

Gwen, Kate, Kimberly and Alia

We had such a fun reunion with our adoption group this weekend! It was the first time all four of these girls have been together since they had all just joined our families in December 2005. See the picture below! What a change in five years. The girls are not in the same order in the two photos... can you tell who is who?We were very busy playing together this time... all four girls running, jumping and cartwheeling! I'll post more pictures soon of all the fun we had. :-)

Favorite From Today

Took some fun photos today, and among them a number of Madelyn. I think this one captures her personality really well, and I love her beautiful eyes and smile, too!

Tomorrow two of Gwen's China sisters arrive for a reunion this weekend, with the third coming on Saturday. This will be the first time all four of the Sichuan girls have been together since we left Guangzhou with our newly adopted daughters in December of 2005. Looking forward to seeing how they all interact. Will definitely have pictures of all the girls together to post!

Caleb is finishing up his second week of camp in Michigan tomorrow. His camp program includes 30+ hours a week of work in the kitchen, but he is among friends and has been looking forward to this time all year. We've not been able to hear anything from him while he's there, so I'm anxious to hear his stories!

We're just about a week our from heading back to Shanghai. Still some visits to have and things to do here, but looking forward to having our family back under our own roof. Scott has been hard at work in his new office in the World Financial Center in Shanghai for a week and a half, and is ready for some company at home besides the cats!

Thanks for the encouragement some of you left for me about blogging... I am grateful for your kind words! Truthfully, this is an outlet for me that I really enjoy and I would hate to give it up. Just don't want to be writing something irrelevant. :-)

Through Time and Space

At a graduation party at a park in Cleveland early Sunday evening, Gwen has a conversation with her daddy who is on his way to work on Monday morning in Shanghai.

Isn't technology wonderful?

Garden Pics and a Few Blogging Thoughts

I mentioned the Cleveland Botanical Gardens in the last post, and I wanted to share these couple pictures I took the day we visited there last week that I am especially pleased with! This one below features Gwen running across the little footbridge, but its the amazing lushness of this part of the garden that I feel like I captured in this photo. Doesn't it look so cool and inviting? Looks like a place fairies might live, I think. :-) Click on it to enlarge, and you might find that you want to step into the photo yourself!
For the thoughts... I feel like I am in a bit of a blogging rut. Lots of photos but not anything unique to say about them, I guess! Summer in the US is a wonderful time for our family, but it has us out of our regular life. Perhaps that is part of my blogging block. Scott's gone back to Shanghai now and so I'm looking that direction myself.

Also, I've been hungrily reading the blog of college friends who are in China adopting right now and it has me thinking back to those days when we were waiting for Gwen and then traveling to get her. She was the reason I started this blog, wanting to keep people in the loop with what was happening in our adoption process. Then it was to chronicle our life in China. Now that Shanghai has been our home for three years, it seems I have less to write about daily life there. Not saying I am hanging it up, but I wonder if my blog outlived itself. Thinking about it tonight.

Gwen On Her Own

With all her siblings at camp in Michigan this week, Gwen has had to adjust to a quieter routine. We've learned a new board game, read books, strung beads, practiced jump rope tricks, and done puzzles. She's also asked every night when Madelyn will be home!

Tonight we have her 18 month old cousin Isaac with us, whom she delighted to feed at dinner and carry around afterwords. I think she looks so funny holding him since their size difference isn't too great, but they both seem to enjoy it!

With less distractions than usual, we've managed to practice reading and writing fairly consistently this week... six Reese's Pieces after 20 minutes of hard work has been a great reward.

We spent a day earlier this week with Aunt Mindy and Isaac... one of Uncle Mark's many horns was fun to try to blow!
Gwen molded and decorated a mud pie at the children's garden at the Cleveland Botanical Garden on Wednesday. The finished product was so pretty we took this picture and then left it at the garden on a log for other visitors to enjoy. :-)
Gwen also had one-on-one time this week with both Nannie and Grandma. What went on those days are their secrets!

Evenings on the Beach

We had a really great week on Oak Island with Scott's family a couple of weeks ago. Of course we took lots and lots of photos, and I've been a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, thus the lack of posts from that week!

Here I've gathered a few from my favorite time of day at any beach~ early evening. The sand and air have both cooled, no sunscreen is required, and everyone can stroll together along the water. Ahhhh!


Jenna and sweet Naomi
Trying to slither through a tunnel Seth dug... all the girls tried it.Lots of gymnastics on the beach



Madelyn chases speedy Samuel

Emma Clare's famous smile~

You don't fool us with that look, Brad. We know you love it! :-)

Uncle Justin gives Gwen a whirl
Brad and Seth

Nannie and her granddaughters~
Our crew! It must be noted that Seth skillfully photo shopped Andrew and baby Naomi into this picture... notice the lack of a pair of legs, if you look carefully!