Lake, China, Lake

The beginning of June was beautiful and we spent a lot of time down at the lake. This gave Dada a lot of time to work on perfecting his pulling kids behind the jet ski and air chairing skills. I think he's got them both down to a science. On June 6th we had our small group over for a lake day and he got Nathaniel (6), Emily (5), and our little Opal (4) up on their first try on the trainer board. Kivi water skiied, and Eben, Raegan and Josh went in the tube.

Opal deciding to give it a go was a huge shock! She's normally not so daring, but she saw all the other kids get up and thought she could do it. She did! She had fun too!

This was Peter's face the whole time Opal went around the lake. He loves that the kids love water sports. I think he's got them every water toy imaginable now. 

He was so proud of her!

The kids had a blast digging in the sand and making cities,

roasting hot dogs and marshmallows (we eat a LOT of hot dogs and marshmallows in the summer),

tubing and hanging out in the sun and having fun. Dada got Kivi and Eben wetsuits because they started water skiing before the water got warm this year. Crazy Dada. Crazy kids. So that people would know she was a girl, Kivi wore a skirt on top of hers - cute kid!

 In China, we used our cool ink stone, ink stick and calligraphy brush (from our new Ancient China treasure chest which we scored for free from a home school book sale) to paint bamboo paintings.

We made dragons out of the kids hand prints and egg cartons (oh yes, that's where all of our egg cartons went!), since this is the year of the dragon.

I also read the kids awesome Trailblazer books about the Judsons, missionaries to Burma, (I didn't read the back cover to realize they weren't in China) and Lottie Moon. Many Christians were put in jail in both of these books, therefore the cute picture of Berg wearing Dada's handcuffs totally fits here. (Bonus: it's in chronological order!)

On June 10th, we went to Reagan's dance recital/Mr. Joe's homecoming party/goodbye Mc Pholland gathering at their home.

We were able to have one more special day with them because Kivi ended up spending the night at their house for a sleepover with Reagan. Thus, another lake day... and another new toy! I was wrong, he needed one more - the hot dog bun or taco as it is now called is a great multi kid ride.

Pippa and Pella rolled around on the blanket, well, Pippa rolled, Pella just laid there, but she did play with her feet, while Miss Kim fed the begging Berg.

We even talked Mr. Joe into trying the air chair! It rarely ends successfully, but it's always fun to watch new victims friends try to get up.

A good memory of a last hurrah with our good friends before they moved away!

Six Month Old Pella Pie

Pella is growing so fast! Our little baby is half a year already! Seven days after she turned 6 months old we tried feeding her some rice cereal. She did pretty well that first time, but every time after that she's had no interest whatsoever. So much for the new VitaMix making baby food. She only wants to eat things that are not mushed up. She has done well with the mesh bag feeder. But we've only tried bananas and nectarines so far.

She does pretty well playing on the floor, probably because there are so many other little playmates around to keep her company.

  She also loves the jumpy seat that hangs from the ceiling and her bumbo seat. She can be totally happy and then all of a sudden be screaming her head off. She can change moods in an instant, but usually it's because it's time for a nap. She knows when she's tired and just wants to lay down. As soon as you lay her down she turns her head to the right and sucks her thumb.

We love you little Pella Pie!

Memorial Day Weekend

Dada left for his annual Lodge Boy Reunion that happens every Memorial Day after Jasper and I got back from our Chuck E. Cheese date. He went to Oregon this year and did some deep sea fishing with the guys.

On the 25th, we hosted a sign making party for Mr. Joe's homecoming! The kids had so much fun painting in the letters (and out of the letters), playing with their friends and being excited for Reagan to see her Daddy again. For lunch we got some pizzas and set up a lemonade stand. On the 26th, we went to Mc Chord to welcome Mr. Joe home with our friends. It was a long wait, but the kids did great waiting on the bleachers and cheered and cheered when we finally got to see him.

The 27th and 28th we did a lot of Chinese stuff. We've "been in China" for a while now and so far we've created lanterns,

made Tea Eggs, Eight Treasure Rice Pudding and read the Chinese mysteries to go with them.

We've played all kinds of Chinese kid games like Knocking the Stick, Cat Catching Mice, Dragon's Tail, The Chop Stick Game, 

and Hopping Chicken.

I think Hopping Chicken was our favorite, we even taught our friends at a Chicken birthday party. Eben was the Champion.

When Dada got home from his Memorial Day trip, he taught the kids how to make origami cranes.

 Then Eben and Kivi worked on their panda reports. 

We are going to be in China for a while, there's a lot to learn here!

Jasper's Date With Mama

The kids earn "Special Helper Rockets" (little pieces of paper that used to look like rockets but are actually little Bibles and present shapes now) for helping out the family without being asked.  They also can't ask for a "Special Helper Rocket" or they don't get one. 

On May 24th Jasper cashed his in to go on a date with Mama for a Chuck E. Cheese lunch.

"I had to earn 20 "Special Helper Rockets" to go to Chuck E. Cheese. 

I took Mama to Chuck E. Cheese. We played games. My favorite game was the bowling one. I was the champion of every game.

I danced on the screen and then I goed into the next screen. I was in a shopping cart. I bought with all my tickets a little spider and a rocket blaster. And what I ate was miniature pizza."