She Likes to Put Things in Bags.

Eugene Part I

We went home to Oregon for two weeks recently, and FF not only got to experience the ocean (the Pacific, which always feels like the proper ocean to me) for the first time, but she got to meet up with pretty much everyone in her family that she hasn't met yet.  As you can imagine, there are a bajillion pictures - so I'll have to parcel them out. 

So let's begin at the beginning, eh?

 

On the plane.  The first time she has flown since she came home from China.  We took a red eye and arrived at my dad's in Eugene around 5 a.m.  Auntie Ren came home too, but not on the same plane.  She met us at the Portland airport.

At my Dad and Lynn's.  Getting ready to meet her great grandparents.  Auntie Ren helps out with the hair.

All ready!

But first she has to spend some time with Granny Lynn and Tanaki.  How FF and Spike love that bird (and their granny, too, of course.  But they don't feed peanuts to Granny Lynn).

Seeing GGPa for the first time in a couple of years!

Meeting her Great Grandpa (who just turned 90!)

And her Great Grandma (who just turned 89!).

And then, since they are at Bampa and Cake's - straight into the pool!

FF, too of course.

She was right at home.

GGMa and GGPa like to sit by the water and watch.

Gabba came up for dinner.

And Bampa and Cake made dinner.

The next morning we visited Susan and Kurtis, Ben and Owen.

And fed their neighbors' mini horses!

The Mitchell Family Manse

Cousins

Gabba skipped over to visit and play some piano

And then, because we were in a friggin' heat wave (106!) back to the pool!  Cake wins FF over with new dresses and...

...toe painting!

Owen decided to get in the act as well.

Owen's fancy toes.

Then on to Wicked Grandma's and Grandpa Zak's!

My mom always hangs presents for the kids on her home made welcome home sign.

And it's always appreciated, as one can imagine.

Yurt Decorations.

Uncle Max - who showed up just in time to make dessert!

Next morning.

 

She usually wakes up happy.

 

Can I come in?

 

FF Loooooves Sienna.

Come on Auntie Ren!  Get your bikini on!

We've got swimming to do!

The cousins showed up, and Ren was out numbered.

Photo by FF

Pure joy.

There were lots and lots and lots of naps.

 

More to come!

The Last Two Months

Playing catch up as always.  Lots and lots and lots of pictures.  And this doesn't even touch the photos from our trip back to Oregon . But gotta start somewhere, right?  So, in no particular order....

 

I am guessing she is dancing to her current favorite song, Poker Face.

FF's Godfather, Johnny stayed with us for a couple weeks and taught Spike how to play his guitar.

4th of July pigtails!

She decided to change her outfit.

I swear she is not chanting "We're Number One!"

Picnic at the fairgrounds before fireworks.  Take note that she's changed yet again. 

First taste of cotton candy.

She really got a lot of fun out of that roll of paper towels.

Breakfast outside.

My beautiful boy.

 

Auntie Ren worked really hard to get Spike to try on that bikini top.  Alas, she did not succeed. 

Who else came to visit us?

Our beloved Emme Lu!

And our beloved Linda and Reuben, too, of course!

 

 

Auntie Ren proved to be very popular.

Oh Ren, come back to NY!

Gah! The cuteness!  Thank goodness I had two little girl aprons!

 

 

Not sure what was going on here...

That takes us through early July, anyway... I  More soon!  I swear I'll do my best to post updates more often! 

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