Celebrating Jun Ke

Some friends of ours recently returned from China with their new eight year old son, Allan Jun Ke.  So my friend Ellen and I decided that we should throw them a "baby" shower of sorts.  A welcoming party, really. 

We threw it at a local park.  I don't know if you can tell, but we hung up both the American and Chinese National flag.  Here we are starting to decorate.

FF put on her party dress.

Some familiar faces showed up!

The big kids hauled the little kids around a bit.

And Lili, who was adopted from Wuxi at the same time as Jun Ke, joined them. 

The battle of the cakes!

Who knows who will win?...

 

But then a bunch of Eagle Scouts who were having a party in the community center next door tipped the scales by bringing over the remains of THEIR flag cake, and suddenly there were two American flags!

Here is the man of honor (Jun Ke, not Ryan)

Hazel, Spike and Jun Ke were going REALLY fast.

Then Hazel got off.

Then Spike got off.

And Jun Ke was happy to be the last man sitting.

There is a life sized concrete rhino at the park that the kids couldn't stay off of.

Rhino horn.

It was a lovely day in the park.  A nice party for a very nice little boy.

 

(Pssst, there are two new posts below this one - - keep scrolling down!).

More Visitors!

 

This has nothing to do with the rest of the photos in this post, but - she likes to pretend she's a dog.

Immediately (like the day after) my folks left, my dear old friends Yana and Alison and their families came up for a visit.  We had dinner outside.  The kids picnicked on a blanket...

While the grownups were a little (not much, still eating off paper plates) more formal.

Spike LOVED the visiting kids - especially the girls - Taty and Charlotte.  They played for two days straight.

I don't know if there is anything I like more than big dinner parties where the parents get to eat and talk and drink while the kids run around and play and the sun slowly sets and no one makes a move to go inside.  Such a deep, deep pleasure.

It happened to be Jeanmi's birthday - much to FF's obvious delight.

Cake?

Cake!

We lit a bonfire, turned the lanterns on at the swing set, and everyone played deep into the night.

And the next morning there was much boxing on the Wii.

Then we all took a field trip down to the local antique barn...

Where FF tried all the chairs...

And the big kids claimed this tree as their own.

The most wonderful of visits...

Grandparents and Graduation

Sorry it's been so long.  The month of May was incredibly busy.  Wonderful, but busy.  Two sisters graduated (G and Ren) and my parents came out from Oregon to attend the ceremonies and meet FF for the first time!  It was a great visit.  I only wish they could have stayed longer! 

FF meets Granny Lynn.  She was a tad bit shy at first.

And Grandpa Frank.  She's wielding a rubber monster hand for some unknown reason...

Spike was very happy to see his grandparents, too!

As you can see, it took basically no time for FF to warm up.

Whatever my dad was doing was deemed HILARIOUS.

Spike had a wonderful dance concert, and pre-show, while we were waiting for him to warm up, we all played out on the playground.

This slide was especially cool because each of those dowels rolled as you slid down it.  Here's FF catching Daddy.

 

 

Good Accessories, as always.

I forgot to bring my camera into the city for G's graduation (NYU, MSW, Whooo!) but I did manage to remember to bring it to Ren's (Sarah Lawrence, B.A. Whooo!)

Spike was very patient.

Lynn and Dad checking out their photos of the graduate.

Spike, FF and Ryan spent sometime outside the graduation tent once the speeches started.  They could still hear them, but the kids didn't have to be so quiet.

Happy graduate!  Now she just has to figure out what to do with the rest of her life!

Lipstick and Skittles

Things Change Things Stay the Same

 

The magnolia tree bloomed last year...

And the magnolia tree bloomed this year...

 

And this child seemed to bloom as well.

Pigtails

 

(Signing "doll").

Reconsidering Password Protection

So, don't worry if you requested the new password and haven't heard from me yet. Due to a few different things (nothing bad) I'm reconsidering password protecting this blog. I will, however, probably limit my posts to pictures and fairly brief updates (not that that's anything new these days). Haven't totally decided yet. But for now - no password. Thanks to everyone who asked to follow along - I will keep a list if I change my mind again!