3rd Prize

Our local favorite ice cream and a long standing Cincinnati tradition, Graeter's is celebrating 140 years of the yummiest ice cream in the country. To celebrate they are offering several fun events, one of the them being a coloring contest. Seeing that the each child received a free ice cream just for entering, each kid was excited about the contest. Imagine my surprise the week after we dropped off their pictures when I got an email saying that Tori had won 3rd prize! And that she needed to come and pick up her prize.

Way to go, Super T!

Birthdays and other random musings

Last week was Andy's birthday and tomorrow is mine. And for both of them we are apart (he is back in China and I am currently at my parents'). So maybe this is one of the reasons that the birthday does not seem like a big deal. Though I am told that this number is the beginning of middle age. Really? Huh. I don't feel middle aged. My response to that is that I won't be middle aged until I have a teenager. Somehow those are linked in my mind. No clue as to why. . .

Sure I will go out to eat with my parents tomorrow. And I really don't dread the day or even the getting older. But for some reason it just seems like another day. I think a bigger day for me is our anniversary. Which coincidentally is next week. And you guessed it, we will be apart for that one too. For me that seems like a more significant marking of time. This year we celebrate 12 years. 12 years of wonderful life -- challenges and adventures and through it all just walking it together. So to my wonderful companion on this journey, happy birthday and anniversary (though you can't read this due to the great firewall. hmm, maybe I will email it to you). We will have some celebrating to do when I get home!

Great anticipation

Becca had been waiting with great anticipation for camp for so many months. Now as I am going to pick her up today, I await with great anticipation to hear about her week.

Eagerly awaiting the time to go.

B with some of the girls from her cabin.

Pretty, pretty princess

Getting dressed this morning was a process for Tori. First she put on a pair of shorts with a shirt only to decide she was cold. Off went the shorts. As I began the hunt through the suitcase for leggings, she pondered which shirt to wear. She had on her Olympic one, but wanted to take that one off . She was thinking about her tie dye or maybe a pink one. I found some leggings and she choose a pair and found a shirt. The end result:

Living out of a suitcase

Today I am packing again. I have lost count of the number of times that I have packed and re-packed our suitcases this summer (I am guessing at least 5-6). We come to the U.S. with several LARGE suitcases. If this is any indication, our kids have appropriately dubbed the biggest one of them "big red." Since big red does not need to accompany us everywhere, I usually just use one suitcase for all of us. Living out of a suitcase is not my favorite thing and poses some logistical challenges. Case in point the camera cord (which thankfully, I finally found just yesterday). And earlier in the week, I couldn't find the kids hairbrush for several days. But now that I have found that cord, I will think about posting some pictures from the summer.

In other news, Andy is safely back in China. I am so thankful to our friends there who are looking out for him while we are away. He has only been back 4 days and I think he has seen friends 3 of those nights.

Goodbyes abound

Yesterday I dropped off Becca at camp for the week. I am so excited for her and the fun things she will get to experience this week. But my excitement does not even begin to compare to what she was feeling. She has been looking forward to this for months. She was all packed up and ready Saturday (honestly, if we had been in Cincy earlier I think she would have been packed up way before). Then this morning Andy boarded a plane to return to China. While I don't regret our staying longer, we miss him so once he leaves. But it is worth it to get extra time with family and friends. I mean once we have come all this way (and only returning to the US once a year), it seems silly to return after only 2.5 weeks. Right now the younger two are outside enjoying Josh's new rocket launcher. We are off to run one errand (I have promised the kids that it will be only one. I think we are just a bit done with shopping). Then we are off to enjoy this beautiful day at a park. Quiet days like this are the whole reason it is worth it to stay. So I hope that you too can enjoy this wonderful day.

Tire swing

In Cincinnati, we stay with Dwight and Duease (Andy's mom and step-dad). She had told us about a tire swing that they recently had put up in their backyard. Our kids have been LOVING it! I will let the pictures speak for themselves (these were before our camera cord went MIA -- see next post for more).

This is seriously one of the longest tire swing ropes I have ever seen. Can you see how high up it goes?

Our kiddos had the great idea that they could put the sprinkler by the tire swing and swing through it. Doesn't this just epitomize being a kid in the summer?

I feel like this is a punchline to a joke. . . how many kids does it take to pull the tire swing?