Another weekend at home and another zoo

This past weekend we stayed home once again. We were anxious to get out of the house by Sunday, so we decided to visit the local zoo, known as CALM which stands for "California Area Living Museum". It gets very hot around this time of year, so we decided to get there as soon as they opened. This zoo houses animals, mostly California natives, that have either been injured and cannot be returned to the wild, or that are too tame to survive in the wild. It also has an abundance of native plantlife and there were a lot of different purple-flowered bushes in bloom.

We saw bobcats, bears, coatis, raccoons, minks, turtles, foxes, a bear, and lots of birds of prey--owls, eagles, & hawks. I think we enjoyed the roadrunner the most as he was exhibiting a lot of strange mating-type behaviors. He was wagging his big long tail just like a dog. When the caretaker entered the pen, the roadrunner followed him around until he put out his arm and the roadrunner hopped on and fluffed up his feathers.

Getting Lazy

OK. So we haven't been doing NOTHING these past couple of weeks. We just haven't been very good about taking pictures or blogging. Two weekends ago, we went to the cabin to visit with Uncle Mike and Aunt Nancy. We had a lot of fun playing and going to the park. For a Memorial Day weekend, we just had a nice time relaxing at both the cabin and at home.

Later in the week, we had a nice evening Thursday night. The girls had their regular swimming lessons. For the first time, I saw noticeable improvement. The girls are almost able to dog-paddle their way to the edges of the pool. They are swimming very well underwater, retrieving objects on the bottom with ease. After swimming, we went to dinner at Mom and Dad's favorite Mexican restaurant. Then after dinner, we went to a nice shopping area known as "The Marketplace". There we bought new sandals for Chloe and since Pearl didn't need sandals, we purchased a fancy hair bow for her in red, white and blue. Both girls also received a new pair of sunglasses. We left the shoe store and strolled over to the outdoor fountain, where the girls played and ran around, begging for coins to throw in. Naturally, Dad was eager to dispose of his loose pocket change. Now that the girls worked up a sweat, we decided to go to the ice cream shop for a final treat before returning home. Chloe is a chocolate-lover (like Mom) and Pearl is a vanilla-lover. It is always interesting to see how different these girls are and how well they get along.

Next post will include pictures.

Buttercups!

Tonight we had the girls try out their costumes for their big dance recital to be held on June 12th. We didn't have the hats and tights and shoes, but here is the tutu. It is so cute on the girls. I had no idea yellow could be so adorable. I forgot what they are supposed to be, whether it's little duckies or bees, but I will just refer to them as buttercups for now. I don't like to keep "stuff", but I do think these outfits will make it into the vault. So CUTE!!!!

The Atascadero Zoo

Sunday morning we didn't want to return to the beach, but it was still too early to head for home, so we decided to stop off in Atascadero to visit their small zoo. Well, it was really small, but it was very neat and clean and had some fascinating animals. I think the girls enjoyed it very much. The zoo is located in a very beautiful park and the girls played around on the playground equipment before we left.

Playdate in San Luis Obispo

Saturday we traveled two hours to San Luis Obispo to play with other China adoptive families. There were only about 3 other families there this time and it was such a beautiful sunny day. Two months ago we also had a playdate and nearly a dozen families were there. We didn't get any shots of the other children, but here are a couple of Chloe and Pearl.

Visiting Grandparents

Last weekend (May 12& 13th), we traveled to Pahrump Nevada to visit with Mom's parents. It happens to also be Mother's Day. Chloe and Pearl had a lot of fun, especially when they were playing outside on the patio. Grandma Evelyn is 81 years old and Grandpa Earl is 87. The girls also enjoyed coloring.

We are Getting Another Daughter!

For a year, that is.

SiWei Kang, going by the nickname "Chris", will be joining our family for a school year in an international exchange program. Chris will be the second daughter that we have hosted and she will also be the second student from Beijing China. The girls are already looking forward to meeting their "big sister".

Our first experience with Daisy Liu was amazing. She was such a sweet, quiet and adventurous young girl. We miss her dearly. She is now attending college in Manchester England. We hope that Chris will be even half as much fun to have around, and from her letter and family pictures, it seems she will.

Chris will be attending the high school across the street from our home. She will come with her own money, health insurance and personal items. Hosting an exchange student is a wonderful experience as you learn about other cultures, philosophies, ideas and what you have in common. We hope to show Chris a great time and we hope our appreciation of her home country (our daughter's heritage) will also be deepened.

If you are interested in hosting a student, there are many still waiting to find a host family before the school year begins in August. Now is the frantic search for people willing to open their home and their hearts to these courageous kids.

To learn more about hosting an exchange student, click <here>.

Things that make you say "NO!!!"

Here is another post as a result of a challenge dealt out by Donna over at Double Happiness. The challenge is to get pictures of our kids doing things that they shouldn't be doing. I usually try NOT to do this, but it was fun for a change.

I was doing my laundry while the girls were supposed to be cleaning their playroom next door. Chloe came in and as usual started turning all the knobs and buttons on the washing machine, even though I always tell her not to touch them! Then she insisted on taking all of the wet clothes out of the washer and putting them into the dryer. Actually, she was pretty good at it. This "No" ended up turning into a big "YES!!" Good Job Chloe!



After a load of laundry, it was time to put the girls to bed. Chloe always tries to climb on my counter in the bathroom to either get at bandaids or perfume. This time it was the perfume.




This is her second bottle of perfume. She has already put one on.

















Now Pearl isn't totally perfect either (but a lot more careful). She occassionally does things that she knows are forbidden. Here is a picture of her playing with her toys on the stairs....that is a definite NO NO in our house.

Cinco de Mayo & Haircuts

It's hard to believe this is our third Cinco de Mayo with Chloe and our first with Pearl. We usually go down to the neighborhood park where there are lots of booths and exhibits and food. There is live music and a very festive atmosphere. I will always remember our first time with Chloe in May of 2005. At the time, she wouldn't have anything to do with her father. She had only been home with us for a month. It was during the event that she first reached her arms up for her daddy to hold her. It has been a father-daughter love fest ever since.

This year the weather was cooler. We decided to skip the parade downtown as usual. We went to the local beauty shop, Noggins' & Nails, so that "Bubbles" (real name Elvira) could give the girls a hair cut. Attached are two pictures of the girls from today.

Gotcha Clothing Foto Challenge

Once again, we are responding to a challenge, this time to take pictures of our children in the clothes they were wearing when we met them for the first time, AKA, Gotcha Clothes. These first three pictures are Chloe and Pearl today modeling the clothes that we first saw them in.



These are the clothes that came with Pearl and Chloe. Pearl's dress fit her better today than it did when we met her. Her little purple sandals were so cute that she continued to wear them last summer long after Gotcha. They are now put away for safe keeping. It was very hot on both days, even though we met Chloe in April. She was bundled up in a sweater with a heavy quilted jacket and pants. She had cute little socks that had a bear on them and read "hooP" which is of course, "Pooh" backwards. She also had some Mickey Mouse shoes. The clothes were very big then, and as I suspected, she can wear them just fine now, although the outer jacket doesn't button up anymore.



These two pictures are of Pearl (8 months ago)and Chloe (2 years ago) when we first met them.

Thomas the Train Ride

On Saturday, April 28th, we all went to Fillmore California to take a ride on Thomas the Train. Thomas visits here a few times a year to take families for a ride through the fields. On this day, it was packed full of eager youngsters and their parents. Also at the train depot were lots of booths with free play areas for the kids. It was a very warm, almost HOT spring day and we had fun riding the train with our friends Marc and his daughter Kamille.

Red Tongue Blue Tongue

This is what happens on a HOT afternoon in Fillmore California.

Motorcycles

The girls played with their new motorcycles today. No peddling required, all automatic. Pete picked these up sometime before Christmas and we just never had a chance to assemble them and give them to the girls. Shame on us for holding out!

Marty

Pet my tummy! Go on, I dare ya!

King of the rooftop!


HEY!! That's my tail!

This post is a response to a challenge to post pictures of our girls with our pet. Trying to get some cooperation between two toddlers and Marty the Cat is next to impossible, so this is the best we could manage. Pearl wasn't really interested in playing with Marty and Marty kept trying to curl around my leg, which also makes it hard to get a shot. We do have some birds, but I'm not sure they're ready yet to experience "Chloe and Pearl".

Spring Sisters