The Rest of September Little Things

Hellooo! Happy Tuesday - I hope you had a great weekend! We had sweltering weather here in Chengdu during this National Holiday weekend, but it didn't slow us down - we went to the playground, out to dinner a couple of nights and had brunch with L's family on Sunday.  I am back today to share what we have been up to the rest of September.  It was a good month!

I am sure you have been wondering if I have found frozen waffles in China - rest assured we finally found some and they are quite yummy!

One Friday morning, I was still at home and so I got to walk the girls to the bus stop - in case you were wanting to see Everly's pouting here it is; I cant remember exactly what she was pouting about, but her pout is my favorite.

I was home that morning because Wes and I headed out for a quick Starbucks date to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary!! Quite a bit different than celebrating in Mexico for our 5 year anniversary :).  We don't have anyone here to babysit the girls, so we decided to make the most of their time and sneak in a quick morning date while they are both in school! I sure do love this guy - he has been a rockstar on our journey to China and there is no way we would be here without him!

Our coffee's + a cinnamon roll for me :).

That night when we headed to the playground, we discovered there was a night market - this is always the girls favorites because they know they will get balloons + waffles. Emma asked for a snail and since L's mom was there - she was actually able to translate and Emma got her snail!

Emma paying for her waffle - she has become obsessed with paying for things lately (too bad she is not obsessed with making money lately ;)).

Evsie's got a teddy bear which she was quite proud of!

On Saturday we did not have big plans so we decided to run to Ikea (we were in desperate need of some new pillows) and then to one of the girls favorite playgrounds that you can only get to by car.

They are finally getting big enough where they can be see-saw buddies.  I am obsessed with watching them go up and down (it only lasts a few times before Ev's gets tired of it).

Emma let me put her hair up in a top knot - this is my favorite hair style on her!

Just love this smile :).  This might be one of my favorite pictures of Emma - I know you can't see her baby blues, but I just love the way her face is scrunched, she was really laughing hard! And rocking her top knot ;).

Looking less like a toddler and more like a kid every single day.

Twirling and running on the streets of China :).

And giggling, there is always giggling with this one :).

They had fun exploring this new to them section of the park.

There was lots of running up and down the hills belting out 'Let it go'.

After the girls had played their hearts out, we went back to our neighborhood to pick L and her dad up for lunch - they surprised the girls with these sugar lollipop's (not sure exactly what it is called, but you eat it) and of course the girls were thrilled.

We headed to Wes's favorite lunch spot that he had been raving about - and it did not disappoint, it was fabulous! And they made the girls a version with no spice and Emma ate it up! We won't even talk about Everly because girly eats nothing when we go out :).

The cutest girls table I ever did see :).

I had the best time with my lunch dates.

After a nap, we headed up to the playground and to feed the fish.

Always with her lovie.

The girls saw a balloon that they wanted so we took a picture so we would be able to communicate with the clown.

When we got to the clown he was making this flower - Wes and I tried to convince the girls to get this one...

but they had their heart set on a teddy bear with a heart.

Sunday morning - we rode our bikes/scooters back and forth and back and forth on our street.  Ev's wears out on her scooter after a few rounds, so I just get her and put her in the stroller with a snack while Emma continues to ride her bike.

On my way home, I thought I had lucked out on finding a heart rock.  Turns out - it was a piece of styrofoam... womp womp womp.

We went to a baby shower that afternoon with my other expat co-workers and had the very best time!!! There were chipotle style burrito bowls and cinnamon rolls - you guys, the girls and I went crazy for the cinnamon rolls, they were so so sooooo yummy! I must have been too happy about this that I didnt even take a picture of them - I just wanted it in my belly!!

One night during the week, we headed to the playground after I got home from work - I always love when she puts daddy's hat on!

Everly is very into strapping her own shoes and I just think it is the cutest the way she straps them in a criss-cross pattern :).

You guuuuyyyyyssss!!!! We are officially out of the baby stage! We gave our crib away to the person who we had the baby shower for (insert - me shedding a tear for the baby days being gone).  It is kind of a long story, but I made a huge deal about bringing Everly's crib with us to China - because remember how long it took me to get her weaned/sleeping in her own crib/sleeping through the night (21 months in case you are new around here!) and there was no way I wanted to mess with that.  Anyways we were in temp living right at around a month sleeping in hotels and in that time she gave up the crib and transitioned to the bed mainly because she had too.  Anyways, when the crib arrived in China, we never set it up and so I wanted to be able to give it to someone.  So we did.  And the crib is gone.  And I am officially calling us out of the baby stage (in reality, I know we have been out for awhile - but no crib seems like a game changer).

Wes sent me this picture from the bus stop this morning - we just love how excited our girls always are to head to school; I hope this enthusiasm continues when they are teenagers ;).

On Tuesday's/Thursday's the girls get out of school at 2:30 and so they don't take a nap.  Our sweet baby is just not quite ready for a school day with no nap - here she put up a fuss about something for Wes and then 5 minutes later, he found her asleep in her chair.

The next Friday night, we headed to the more Western type cuisine restaurant in our neighborhood where Emma, Everly and L had a picnic complete with cheersing their water cups :).

Whenever there is a new baby in our family, Emma always likes to act like a baby herself - she is projecting some jealousy on Ally's baby that she has only met through the phone.  Anyhow, she wanted me to swaddle her and I obliged.

I think these next fewpictures sum up how I want them to remember their childhood: always together plus sweaty hair from playing so hard plus ice cream stained clothes plus a little bit of independence expressed through picking out their own clothes.

We are always at this playground :).  And this little one has gotten more and more brave since we got here.

I have started walking 3 - 4 nights a week.  More on this to come in a future blog post, but when it is 'Wes's night' I go ahead and head out on a 30 - 45minute walk while he puts the girls to sleep.  I also have learned that a Sunday morning walk also really helps me - mentally and with gives me a pep in my step for the rest of the day.  I caught this beautiful sunrise on my most recent Sunday morning walk.

L's family invited us over for holiday brunch on Sunday - Ev's was looking so cute that I called her over for a picture.  Without fail, Emma hopped in front of the camera - she never wants to be outdone by little sis.

I can just imagine Everly saying, "are you sure I needed a sister??".

We walked to L's house and I finally got a picture of Everly :).

I have been wanting her to wear this tank all summer.

We went outside on their porch and the girls got busy drinking 'baby coffee' - warm chocolate milk ;).

Which gave this one the sweetest chocolate mustache.

Emma sometimes gets invited to play with L by herself, so Ev's is always pretty excited when she gets to go too.

Especially when there is chocolate cake involved.

Chocolate cake makes everyone happy :).

The girls had so much fun hanging out and playing with L for the morning - all the girls were well behaved and it was just one of those morning that is good for the soul (there was great coffee involved too so that is always a perk :)).

That evening we headed down to the playground with our newly acquired bubble makers in tow - the sky was blue blue blue!

Pop!

I just love her smile and the simple joy she finds in bubbles!!

We stopped for a treat on the way home to top off our holiday weekend :).

Quarter close afternoon pick me up (instant cappuccino + Dove dark chocolate).  Adge - I can feel you rolling your eyes about the instant coffee right now ;). But sometimes it is the best China has to offer ;).

Well, that was it for us in September.  It was a pretty low key month - no travel for work or for family.  We are looking forward to our trip this month - I have been itching to get to the Great Wall ever since we got here!!