Children's Museum and Splash Fun

On our 2nd full day in Texas we headed out to a Children's Museum. As you can see, Josie Dong Dong and her new friend "airline" were settling in just fine to our new adventurous routine.

"I wonder where we are off to today?!"

The Children's Museum was really cool with lots of fun and interesting things.




Many of the kids started the visit off at the space rocket.

"Does anyone know how to count down from 10? Or even to 10?"

Astronaut Dong Dong manning the controls.

Another big hit-- a kiddie sized ambulance with red lights that really worked.

"Baby Chickens in there!"

Josie was very interested in the baby chicks just behind these cow-poke horses.

This area was a play bank with ATM machine and lots of MONEY!!

This little rebel made a getaway with a shopping cart out to the water fun section.

The rest of the kiddie-pops were quick to follow.

The water table was huge and big hit with all the kids-- regardless of age.

"I can help push that cart if you need it."

There was even a small rock wall, but most of the girls were really interested in the shopping cart that had made its way outside.

Back inside, several of the girls had fun shopping in the little grocery store.

Before we left the museum everyone surprised me and one of the other families with a baby shower for our in-process adoptions. I didn't get any pictures, but wanted to say "THANKS" again to all of the families. It was really very sweet and I feel so lucky to have these people as part of our life.

Back at the homestead several folks opted to buy some kiddie pools for the younger girls to splash around in while the bigger kids either went tubing or to the water park across the street.

Here is a picture of the tubers in the river in front of our porch.

Josie and "Airline" splashing in one of the pools.

A close-up shot of the tubers. It was a regular speedway of tubers down the river.

Several of the girls and some parents hanging out around one of the kiddie pools.

After cooling off and eating dinner it was time for some more fun and games inside the house.





Harper is about a year younger than Josie and her Mommy planned this fun get together.

"These are YUMMY!"


Josie and "Airline" sharing some grapes.

"Have some 'P' Lily."

Proof that Josie Dong Dong made some good friends-- here she is sharing her beloved "P" with her new friend Lily.

Anyone that knows Dong Dong even a little, knows she doesn't just share her "P" with anyone!







The bigger girls continued fun and games outside.

To end the night we made our best attempt to get a picture of all the girls together. It went slightly better than the Red Couch photo shoot in China.


Next on the list . . . our Wild Safari Trip! Stay Tuned. You don't want to miss it!

Howdy Ya'll

Howdy Folks!

You won't believe all the fun I had with Mommy this past weekend down in Texas!

I got to see all my little friends from China and their families.

The airplane ride was a lot of fun. I laughed and laughed during take-off. Mommy packed lots of fun things for me to do on the plane, but I really enjoyed playing with my seat belt and the dinner tray.

We kicked off the big gathering with lunch-- not all of the families had arrived yet so we were still a relatively small group of only 33. Hey! This is TEXAS and they do it BIG down there!




Here is a picture of Alexandria and her Mommy. She hardly had any hair in China and now she can wear pigtails!

This is a picture of Jencie and her Daddy.







After lunch we all gathered at a Grist Mill to re-group and take some pictures.

I am sitting next to my new best friend Caroline-- I call her "airline."

The baby on the far left has really grown! She could not hold her head up when we were in China and now she is all over the place with her big sis chasing her around.


Here are several of my friends from China with their siblings and a few Mommies as well. My mommy is sitting next to me.

All of us kids had a great time back at the house we rented. I went swimming in the river with my Mommy. Later, the boys played water fights on the patio below and I yelled at them for making a mess and spraying water on my new friend "airline."

"Not Nice! No Mess!"

A bunch of us girls decided to have a play dough party on the upper patio.

"Airline"

Avery

Me and my friend Jasmine. I let her sit in front of me because she is smaller and a year younger.

Mommy says I am going to be a good big sister, but I don't know what she is talking about.

After dinner, we settled in on the couch for some cookies and movies. I am sitting next to Dillon and Ben. They are Lily's big Brothers. That is Lily with the cookie.
Then it was time for bed.




This is Josie Dong Dong's Mommy now. That night Josie woke up crying and wanted to go home. She kept asking for her bed and saying she wanted to go home. It took about an hour for her to settle down. We ended up sleeping on the couch. Well, one of us ended up sleeping.

More from our Texas adventure will be posted in the coming days.

Friends, Trucks, and Frogs

Hmmm . . .

What do friends, trucks and frogs all have in common?

Josie Dong Dong!

What did you really expect the answer to be on this blog?

After days on end of rain and cool weather, we are finally enjoying some seasonal temps here in New England and what a weekend we are having!

The Friend Portion:

We spent Saturday having fun with Grace and her Mommy Michelle.

Josie and Grace enjoyed a good portion of the playground and seemed to especially like driving the colorful wooden train.

Grace took some time out from the train to work on her pedaling skills. Or maybe that is more like her, "Mommy do this for me skills."

:-D

Grace has that skill down to an art form!

The Truck Portion:

This morning Josie and I had a fun time at the YMCA Truck family event. There were several different kinds of trucks, cars, motorcycles etc.

It was just Josie and I at the truck fair, so I wasn't able to get many pictures. I was too nervous to let her sit so high without me being right there. Many of these trucks were pretty big and high off the ground.

Here is Josie sitting at the helm of a backhoe-- with a lolly pop. Evidently, many of these truck people like lollipops because the trucks were full of them.

"I wonder what this lever is for."

What-OH! What did Josie Dong Dong get herself into this time!!?


"I swear I didn't do it!"

I think Josie's most favorites were the school buses. She was soooo excited to go in them and sit down. Just like her Jie-jie and Guh-guh.

"I'm a big girl! I can walk on this bus without holding Mommy's hand."

"Wow. There are a lot of seats in here!"

OK. We did the friend portion and the truck portion.

What else was there?

Oh Yeah. That's right.

The Frog Portion:

I have to tell you first. A few weeks ago we found a toad in the yard. I showed it to Josie and it jumped out of my hand and almost landed on her face.

She screamed bloody murder. Ever since then, she always asks about froggies.

Is there a froggy in there? or as Josie says, "Fwoggy d'there?"

This has been going on for some time.

"Ummmm, What's that over there?"

There's a froggy over there!

Actually, it is the Geico Gecko-- but for a 2-1/2 year old-- It's one heck of a big frog!

Much to my surprise, Josie was VERY curious about the "Fwoggy oer'dere."

After the big froggy adventure it was time for a few more vehicles.

"Golf anyone?"

The grand daddy of them all, the fire engine was last in line.

"Watch out, fire-fighter Dong Dong's on the move!"

Josie Dong Dong and I are flying to Texas this week for a reunion with the families we traveled to China with, so it will likely be a couple weeks until I post again.

Until then--

"Here's Looking at You Kid!"