Dragon Boat Festival

This past weekend our family joined a few other families for a fun trip to an
Asian Festival and Dragon Boat Race!

We started the day with some face painting.

 I was a little surprised-- this is the very first time that Josie actually went through with letting someone paint her face. Usually she changes her mind just before she gets to this spot.

She looks a little unsure about it doesn't she?

 Oh Wow! A Princess Pony face with glitter and everything!

 Next up-- Clara Rose!

 Of course she wanted exactly the same face as Josie!

 Next we enjoyed several performances while eating yummy fried rice dishes.

 Two friends of the girls almost stole the whole show-- dancing around the court yard.

 We ventured down to the water front where the dragon boat races were on-going throughout the day.

Jie Jie giving Clara Rose a lift to see the river.

 Some of the boats off in the distance heading toward the finish line

where we are standing.

 A close up of one of the dragon boats.

Me and the girls, sweltering in the humidity!

 Me and the girls with a few of the families from our local Chinese adoption play group.

We have all become good friends-- the moms as well as the girls!

Josie and Clara Rose asked to walk up to the bridge that overlooks the river and the finish line for the dragon boat races. So off I went with the girls.

We watched a couple more races from the top of the bridge.

It was super windy on top of the bridge!

I am not really sure what Clara Rose was doing!

Josie thought all the wind was fun!

 It was definitely cooler up here than next to the river!

And let's not forget our fearless shirpa-- once again providing us with safe travels to and from our desired destinations.

Rain Rain Go Away

I am running a bit behind-- these pictures are from a couple weeks ago when our fun weekend

plans to go into Boston China Town were foiled by the rain.

We did our best to turn a rainy day into a fun day!

The girls thought it was hilarious for us to all go for a walk around the block in the rain.

They made the most of using their rain boots and umbrellas.

Wow! Josie is absolutely gorgeous! Not that I am biased!

Clara Rose giggled and giggled while jumping in all the rain puddles.

The rain let up during our stroll and Josie kept a close eye on Phoebe.

Back at the house we pulled out the play dough and the girls made some very impressive birthday cakes.

Check out all the layers in that cake!

Next on the agenda-- cakes made from moon sand-- Weeelllll, we were planning to go to the Autumn Moon festival-- so this was somewhat fitting.

So, not the day we had originally planned, but we all made the best of if and had a great day despite the rain.

Last Day with Ye Ye

It always comes sooner than we would like-- Ye Ye's last day with us!

We packed up early and headed for another fun day at the beach;

Ye Ye doesn't have beaches where he lives.

As usual, we are quite the show setting-up our spot in the sand.

It didn't take long for the kids to start digging in the sand to build the ever famous

and increasingly required 'sand sea garden.'

Today we happened to dig in area abudnant with little sand crabs.

Ye Ye had not ever seen a sand crab before and was somewhat bewildered.

The hunt was on for more sand crabs-- everybody joined in!

You gotta love teens checking out sand crabs!

Can you guess whose hand that is holding the strange looking sand crab?

It is Gabrielle-- Ha!  You go girl!

Soon it was time for lunch and everyone was full of the sillies!

Clara Rose took over the camera and got some pretty good shots-- half the time I think I should just give the camera to her and Josie because they seem to get better pictures than I do!

After lunch it was time for more exploring on the shore--

Clara Rose found a little worm.

Josie tried out the boogie board and did pretty good with some help from Daddy and her big sibs.

Clara Rose was still showing off her worm and Josie was still gushing about boogie boarding.

Next, Josie worked on her body surfing skills with Daddy and Jie Jie.

It is really hard for me to take pictures of this! I know she is having fun, but it is really scary to watch!

To add to my horror at the beach, Clara Rose decided she wanted to try boogie boarding!

She didn't actually catch and little waves so much as Jie Jie put her on a couple little ones.

Ye Ye had his share of fun playing in the wavs as well!

The week flew by and before the girls knew it-- they were hugging and kissing Ye Ye good-night and good-bye until his visit next year.

I love you Ye Ye and I am going to miss you!

We all are sad when Ye Ye leaves!

We love you Ye Ye!