Estes Park

This past weekend, we went up to Estes Park for a family reunion. Here are some pics of us and Lizzy's cousins

Swimming Lessons

Last year Lizzy didn't pass level 1 swimming, so she had to re-take level 1. Here she is in the new swimsuit I got for her on sale at Kohl's. It was supposed to raise her patriotic spirit but then she strikes such a Chinese pose. :)

This is her teacher and the only other kid in her level.

I'm proud to say that after two weeks of swimming lessons - she passed level 1!! moving on to level 2 next week! She can put her head under the water for 5 seconds! And she can jump into the pool all by herself. Good job Lizzy!

Eating Out

Because we are only back for a short time, it's hard to cook at home with limited ingredients, so we eat out quite a bit. Here we are at one of my favorite restaurants - Chili's!!

Lizzy drawing on the kid-friendly menus

IHOP with Daddy!

American portions of pancakes

Backyard Fun

So nice to have the kids run around in the backyard!


Grandma/pa bought this swing set for the kids for Christmas in July

Lake fun

Here we are getting ready to go play out in the lake. Gotta get lotioned up! Colorado sun is deadly because of the elevation. Lizzy got burned one day even with suntan lotion. Well, the lotion probably expired because it was from last year... Oops, sorry Lizzy.

Carseats

The first major difference we always experience between the U.S. and China is the necessity of carseats. As soon as we step off the plane, the kids have to get into their carseats. Here are some pics of Hayden in his carsetas (it used to be his sister's).

My sister puts silly hats on me when I'm in my carseat!

too precious pictures of him sleeping in his carseat...


In general, we like our carseats. Lizzy also enjoys seeing us drive our car around. She says, "Mommy, you're "Kai che de a-yi"" (translation: you're like the driver aunties in China)

We made it

Hey, sorry we've been jetlagged and tired and so am just now posting. We made it back to the U.S. safe and sound. The kids were just perfect on the plane. Lizzy kept herself busy with the in-flight entertainment system, and Hayden slept through most of it.

Grandma's here!

At long last, Lizzy's anticipation of Grandma coming to visit us in China has arrived. We spent a couple of days in Beijing, here at a nice restaurant:

At the Heavenly Temple:

Eating Peking Duck:

Swimming with Lizzy:

Preschool graduation

Lizzy and I attended the graduation of her preschool "Da Ge Ge Da Jie Jie" (translation Big Brothers Big Sisters).

The lady on the right is Lizzy's favorite teacher

All the classes prepared performances, Lizzy's class did a "percussion ensemble", and she was assigned the clappers. It was pretty cute to see her up there


At the end they sang a song and used hand signs, that was cute too but I couldn't get a good picture of Lizzy because she was behind a boy.

This was Lizzy's last time to go to Chinese preschool, next she is moving on to Junior Kindergarten at the International school.