NH Fall Weekend

Columbus Day weekend we headed up North to NH

for a fun few nights.

Josie and Clara Rose were super excited about the trip

and were waaaayy happy when we arrived.

The girls and I were the firt to arrive at the Barn and we had fun exploring the property.

They both were mesmerized by the tall trees.

We did a little bush whacking through the forest.

Back near the barn-- Clara Rose is checking out the chickens.

Night-time came and we figured the rest of our

group got stuck in weekend traffic.

We settled in for a yummy dinner of

Pizza Rolls and tomatos and yellow beans from the garden.

At long last, the arrival of the cousins!!!

WoooHooo!

The big slumber party weekend begins!

Cousin Em's B-Day Blast!

A couple weekends ago we headed across the way for a very special occasion . . .

Cousin Emily's big FOUR!

What a pretty birthday girl!

She treated all her party guests to a fun pumpkin painting craft.

Crafts are always a big hit with our crew-- throw in a few pumpkins and

a good time is sure to be had by all!

Cousin Abbie is a seasoned crafter and takes

her projects very seriously.

Next was some bounce time in the bounce house.

Look at those little girls fly!

Oops!  Looks like we lost one!

A quick shot with four of the cousins.

Josie and Cousin Ethan playing their own

version of horseshoes.

Time for cake!

Followed by presents!

Cake. Presents.

What's next?

Smores of course!

Clara Rose was very proud to roast her

very own marshmellows under

the carfeful watch of big Cousin Ethan.

After all that sugar, the younger set burned off

the extra energy running around

the back 40.

Regular at Home Fun

Just a few cute pictures of the girls from the week.

Dancing to their new Mei Mei video.

I think they like it!

A rain saturday makes for a fun craft day!

After painting the girls made

some 'minoculars.'

They came up with this idea all on their own.

Glow in the dark sunglasses!

Popcorn with a Mickey Movie to cap

off the night!

Falling Back in the Routine

Hey There!

Yeah, we've been busy getting ourselves organized for the

fall/winter schedule of activities.

Josie and Clara Rose continue to ride the water in swim class

and now that fall has arrived we are back in gymnastics and loving it!

The China Care Bears program kicked off their school year this weekend!

The girls are taking language classes with Care Bears followed by

a fun Care Bears Play time!

They also started Chinese class with Mei Mei this year and after having two classes

the vote is "LOVE IT!" and  everything Mei Mei.

Below is Clara Rose running around playing games with her China Care Bear Playmate.

They got acquainted pretty quickly and became fast friends!

Speaking of fast friends and becoming super independent . . .

Josie's playmate this year is also one of her language teachers.

Josie adores her and couldn't be more thrilled!

I hardly saw her at all afternoon because,

"Mommmmm, I'm busy!"

Here are the girls and their playmates listening to a Chinese fairytale

while enjoyning a yummy snack.

"How Chur!"

After China CareBears, we stopped at a nearby playground for

a dinner picnic with friends and some good play time!

Josis was proud to conquer her fears, climbe the spider web,

and cross the rope bridge.

All the girls playing on the

"spider web."

The girls also started bi-weekly Chinese classes with

Mei Mei.

They both love the Mei Mei videos and are thrilled to be taking classes with her.

After the class we headed off to a nearby park for a picnic and more playdate fun

with our friend Gracie and her mom.

The forecast for the weekend was a 'wash out," but

the day was lovely and quite humid!

The girls cooled off playing in the lake and

pulling out leaves.

Notice that Clara Rose is squatting.

Clara Rose showing me,

"My Bum is WET!!!"

Happy Faces!

Silly antics!

And, the best of the best . . .

Our new routine typically ends like this.

What better way to end a fun day than with sisterly cuddles while watching a

favorite cartoon before bedtime.

Happy Autumn Moon

The Autumn Moon Festival begins Monday with the full moon, the eighth lunar moon of the year.

I think I have posted about this important Chinese holiday before so I am not going to describe it in this post. I am preparing to go away for a week on business and the weekend was bit more hectic than I prefer preparing for this trip.

Between craziness at work and the hulabalu from the Hurricane the week before this year's Autumn Moon really snuck up on me!

But, we did manage to get some fun activities in for the holiday all weekend long.

Friday-night the girls stayed up a bit later than usualy and we went for

a nightly stroll to gaze at the nearly full moon.

Saturday the girls and I went to a local Dragon Boat Fesitval and Taiwanese Festival.

It started off with a shuttle bus ride on a school bus-- which may not sound like \

much to you, but when you are 3 and nearly 5, getting ride in a real

big kid school bus is all the RAGE!

There were a few performances including a really

booming drum corp.

The girls wanted their picture taken with the drums after the show.

A famous Taiwanese Band, Wu Shu, played several beautiful songs.

Josie was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see any dancers perform at this event,

but she really liked the music.

We wandered to the river-side and watched a few of the dragon boat races.

The seating for these races aren't as nice as the dragon boat races we

watched last month, but you are able to get closer to the boats.

Josie and Clara Rose both say they want to race in a dragon boat

when they are big enough.

Each dragon boat team had at least one member compete in a dumpling eating contest.

It was a fun event to watch.

The winner ate 19 dumplings in 2 minutes.

Before we left four of the dragon boats floated out in the river next to each other and all the riders and many people on the banks threw a pink carnation into the river

in memory or support of someone fighting breast cancer.

It was a nice ceremony and lovely to watch.

That afternoon I made some yummy dishes, following to the best of my ability,

recipes from my Chinese cookbook.

Dumplings (of course!).

Tea Eggs

Pineapple fried rice with Shrimp, served in a pineapple shell.

Call me crazy, but I think this might be more of a Hawaiian dish than Chinese- but it was a fun dish to eat.

Today we did a little bit of shopping and then hung

out in the yard.

The days are sunny, but a bit cooler.

Fall is in the air.