Super Target

Living in China there's a lot of things we miss from America. I don't know how many times throughout the year I think, "if only we had a Target." So you can imagine my utter joy when we found out that they opened up a Target, and not just an ordinary Target, a Super Target, right in our neighborhood. So, to wrap up my series of summer blog entries, here's a one dedicated to Super Target. (the kids' clothes actually matched, we were on our way to get group pictures taken with their cousins)

Tubing with Daddy

Lizzy going tubing with Daddy.

We wanted Hayden to try it, but he was terrified of it. We finally got him to just float with Daddy on the tube, but his face remained expressionless and serious the entire time.

Lizzy helping out with pulling the tube back in.

Cute pic of Hay!

First Day of School

The day has finally come. Lizzy starts school today, everyday full days. I have been dreading this moment for a while now, so I'm lamenting on my blog. I'm really going to miss her a lot, and so is Hayden. He's been acting grumpy all morning, and I"m sure it's because he misses his sister. Lizzy has been quite nervous about her first day. She made up a song to comfort herself, the words are "rock, rock, rock a bye, everything is new, I'm going to school "tomorrow", and Everyone too." sung to the tune of row row row your boat. I know she's going to have a great time at school, but I can relate to her little first day jitters. Fortunately, she is in the same class as some of her good friends. As soon as we went in the classroom, Rose calls out to her, and I know that made her feel a lot better. Here they are reading books in the corner. I also included some shots of their brand new classroom. The school has a recently opened the "Early Childhood Center" for kindergarten and under little ones. Hope Lizzy has a wonderful year. I'll miss you Lizzy!!

Tractor ride with Great Grandpa

Lizzy got to ride on great Grandpa Brandt's tractor. In fact, she drove it! She's a good driver!

Dancing

Some pics from our front yard


After the pics, the kids came inside and danced. Hayden didn't last long...

Cousins

Of course the kids were able to enjoy some fun play times with their cousins. Jason's brother now have four kids, three boys and a girl. Lizzy and Eli are only a year apart so they've gotten close this summer. I took them to an indoor playground one day,

Here are some of the nieces/nephews piling on top of uncle Jon

Amelia and Lizzy - our Brandt princesses

Xander is so great with the little ones, here he is helping me entertain Hayden at a restaurant

Here they all are...minus Amelia, on our last day in the US

We'll miss the Brandt kids in Colorado!!

Boating with family

Where is Thumbkin?

Because we drove around a lot in the U.S., the kids learned to sing songs to entertain themselves in the car. We had to follow very strict "Patterns" with Lizzy, there was a series of songs, alternating between English and Chinese, that Lizzy made the kids have to follow militantly. Hayden has learned most of the songs, although sometimes chunks of the lyrics are missing. Jason and I love hearing him singing "where is thumbkin?"

Here are the words in a slightly clearer 5 year old voice

Swimming Lessons

Jason said, "Lizzy is busier than all of us" this summer. She did Gymnastics twice a week, she went to a week of vacation Bible school at our church, and for three weeks, she took swimming lessons every morning. Here's a picture of her cute little swimming class:


She learned how to do front glide, back glide, and started to learn to do some strokes.

toddler snoozes

We've had a fun and busy summer. Sometimes, in order to keep up with family activities, little 2 year old Hayden has to catch his snoozes wherever we're at.
Sometimes he naps in his stroller...

a couple times he'd nap as we are cruising in the boat at the lake (gotta love the cheeks squished up by the lifejacket)

and when he got really lucky, he'd get to do that in Grandma's arms

and most often in the carseat

protected from the bright Colorado sun.

Backyard Fun

We're BACK! Still exhausted, but ready to blog! I've got lots of pictures, so the next several posts will be from the summer. We had a wonderful time back in beautiful Colorado. One of the first things we got to enjoy was our awesome backyard! And we found that while we were away, a little visitor decided to camp out under the children's slide...

Besides having lots of fun with the swing set

we decided to invest all our Toys r us gift cards we got this year to buy the kids a new trampoline!!