Around the Neighborhood

February 2017

We live in a great neighborhood and we always love to get out and play in it!

Poppy and CC got to witness the skateboarding action...

...David's skills on this scooter...

 ...Tobin get his groove on...

 Bella bike fast...

 Gabrielle scoot along...

 And the old folks play cards.

Love this...

Fun face shots by Poppy

We busted out the kids' keepsake boxes and found some gems...

 back when the kindergarten gave these cool calendars

 and Tobin found his lovey (he left one in an airport!)

More trampoline, outdoor discussion time...

 How long is Momma going to stay in that headstand?

Okay, let's get jumping...

And then various kids became photographers and snapped some photos:

And later that day as we went out, we had fun watching this cute poodle walk a ways and then get picked up by its owner on a scooter every red light...

It was very entertaining.

Around the house

February 2017

Poppy and CC enjoyed seeing our day-to-day life and participating:

Wrestlemania! A ballerina is on my back!

Great food from our helper:  pork ribs, stir fry brocolli, egg and tomato, and a local dish that tastes like collard greens.

An absolute must: Chocolate chip pound cake. Gabrielle and CC have a heart to heart.

Lots of jumping, jumping high.

It was perfect weather so we all would just sit outside and enjoy all the laughter and squeals and company.

And this was priceless. Once CC looked at all their books and figured out the Chinese method of teaching, she spent thirty minutes to an hour each (almost every day) with both Sophia and Bella. They LOVED it and thought it was so helpful.

We decided to put icing on this pound cake and I let the girls decorate it.

 So fun and yum.

 Poppy and CC are champion clothes shoppers.
Sophia is the one who was lacking in clothing so I shopped Wal-Mart on line and bought various things that were cheap and I thought pretty cute. But the pictures on-line are not quite as accurate (duh). What CC bought for the kiddos was FAR cuter and they loved every piece. Most of the Wal-Mart stuff was too big and will be worn later.
Thanks for always thinking of our kiddos:

a little blurry and quite grown up!

We skyped the Craft Cousins, wishing they were with us.

Road Trip: Sand Play

We had heard about a great beach with lots of sand, so that was next on our list. 

This neighborhood made us feel like we were not in China....

Whaaaaat? Who lives here? We have no idea.

NOT politically correct.

The lake view and wonderful sand.....this was awesome, we stayed for hours.

Yes, I took G's pants off, she needed to ride home in them not filled with sand+water=mud.

And David and Poppy bought a kite and helped the kids fly it.

 This was a highlight!

Bella made her own little island!


And then went back to the house, packed up and said good bye (good riddance!:))

 Gorgeous drive.

 Perfect people to share such awesome memories.
We were so glad that Poppy and CC got to share in our first time experience of these places too, it made it even more special- all on an adventure together! (and adventure it proved to be)