In Seattle

We made it to Seattle. Chloe did awesome on the short flight.  Now she is running off some energy in the airport play area.  

Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City

Yesterday we went to Tianamen Square, The Forbidden City, Lunch (which was great) & A Hutong Tour.  It started out gray, snowy & cold. The snow cleared up later but the gray & cold did not.  After breakfast, in which Chloe was happy to find they had noodles, we met our guide and the other family and headed out. 

We went to Tianmen Square first it is quite big & Chloe soon got tired so we put her in the Ergo, thank goodness she is still tiny.  

Jim bought a cool hat as he forgot to bring one.  And next we headed to the Forbidden City.  This was not an easy day in terms of walking we all got our work out.  Chloe was excited to go thought the entrance just like on Karate Kid.  

After the Forbidden city we were all tired & hungry for lunch.  Chloe was really cold too probably because she wasn't walking around very much. 

We got to eat at the same place Jim and fell in love with Kung pao chicken.  It did not disappoint!  It was so good & Chloe got more noodles.  

We then went on the Hutong tour by Rickshaw it was fun but I didn't get any pictures on my phone.  Jim got plenty of pictutures he will share later but we keep blowing a breaker in the room so the battery on the laptop died.  But I am sure as soon as he is able he will post them.

Right now it's 5 in the morning & we are all wide awake.  We can't get breakfast until 6 & we don't meet our guide until 9. So Chloe is working on school work & Jim and I are busy on our phones.  It's Great Wall day today so that should be fun.  We don't have anything planned for the rest of the day so we should be able to do a little exploring.  

Finally, Noodles for Breakfast.

China, Day One

Beijing.  We made it.  It was a 12 1/2 hour flight.  Cramped is a word.  Still, we are here and well.  Touring Beijing's Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Hutong.  Chloe is excited.  No pics yet.  Will be some later.  Breakfast now.  We got in to the hotel about 5:30AM PST.  It was around 8:30 China time.

Packing, Packing and More Packing!

We are in the final stages of getting ready for Miss Hailey Grace!  We spent the weekend preparing and packing.  I think we have everything we need probably more than we need. We leave on Wednesday and I can't believe it is already here.

Chloe is so excited she could hardly stop moving tonight at bedtime.  She did her share of packing too.

We are taking a couple more bags than last time but I think we are OK considering we are adding an extra 6 year old that we need to keep busy to the trip.  

3 days and we will be in China, one week and we will be united with Hailey, and 3 weeks and we will all be home together.  I know this is going to be exciting and hard and wonderful and miserable and lovely and ugly time of our lives, all at the same time, Bring it ON!  We are in for the most amazing roller coaster ride of our lives.  Not only do we get to bring home our second daughter, we get to show our first daughter her birth country!  I hope this is the first of many trips back to China.

Birthday Weekend

Chloe turned 6 today!  Today she woke up super excited to be 6! It has been a whole weekend full of fun events.  

We started on Friday with a movie in the park.  Chloe found a friend from School that we sat with she has made several friends and it is nice to actually meet a few of them and their parents.

Saturday morning Chloe had cheer camp, she had a blast.  She get to preform at 1/2 time in next weeks football game.  We ended up at lunch and Chloe ended up taking a much needed nap.  After nap we watched Cinderella the new one.  I am absolutely in love with that movie and I think Chloe likes it.

This was after I had to leave Costco and let Jim finish the shopping because someone needed a nap! 

She thinks Jim's old iphone should be her's it is a little amusing.

Her party was at 2 at the local pizza place.  It was just family this year which turned out to be very nice.

Jim painted this for pin the tail on Rainbow Dash, it was Awesome!

She got a ton of My Little Ponies stuff and other fun things and she has been playing ever since we got home.    

We also said goodbye to Jim's sister and her family as they will be moving to Texas for the next part of their adventure in life.  I barely made it with out crying, Ok, Chloe and I cried a little after they left.  I know we don't we each other very often especially during the summer but it has always been comforting to know they are close.  They will do well in Texas but I selfishly hope they find a reason to find their way back to Washington, soon.    

 

Busy Saturday

Yesterday, we had a pretty busy day.  No busy-ness was planned it just needed to be done.  

First off Birthday Party Maddness - We have had a few things going on lately so Chloe's Birthday party has taken a back burner.  So yesterday Chloe and I set out to plan a party.  We were able to reserve the room at the local pizza place, get some My Little Pony Birthday stuff and order a cake! Then in the lazy mom way I texted most people to let them know and created a Facebook event for the rest.  

I remember Chloe's first Birthday home it was HUGE!  I had all the decorations just perfect ordered her a special outfit, invited everyone with homemade invitations, had a menu and prepared the food, ordered balloon bouquets all several weeks in advance.  It's all gone down hill from there.  Oh well what I have learned in the end she is happy and that is all that matters.

While Chloe and I were running the errands, Jim had a project of his own.  We have a VERY small kitchen and there is really no room to store our dry food items.  So years ago we bought these armoires from Shopko to put our food in.  They have done a decent job but they were not meant to hold heavy items so after years of use they were ready to die.  We didn't feel having less than stable furniture was a good idea with a toddler coming into the house so we bought a pantry.  Like a real pantry, one that is meant to hold can goods.  

It was delivered Friday so Jim spent the day putting it in.  It was a pretty big project but we are so happy with it!

After the errands and while Jim was still working on the pantry, Chloe and I decided to re-arrange her room to make room for the crib!  It was a challenge but we did it.  I don't think you can fit any more furniture in that room but we did it!!  An added bonus Chloe likes it!  It was then my challenge to put the crib back together.  It only took 3 tries!  Jim helped with getting it out of storage and some of the more difficult furniture moves and attaching everything to the wall.  

All in all a very productive day!