March Little Things | Part I

How is it already April?? When you are far away from family and time is flying by fast - it is such a good feeling :). As much as we can't wait to be home in about 15 months time, we are really trying to treasure this special time for our family of four. Here is a little look of what we were up to in March!

^ Wes's new drone - so pretty, right? ^

^ the first Saturday in March, we went to Xiling Mountain - posted about that back here. ^

^ but I forgot to include this picture of me and Wes! it is one of my favorites :). ^

^ the next morning, we took it nice and slow (we changed gymnastics class times - more on that in a minute) and I made homemade cinnamon rolls. when they were ready, we decided it would be fun to take them down to Starbucks to enjoy with a coffee. Wes was getting our coffee's and the girls and I couldn't wait and dug in :). ^

^ Ev's brought Peppa and they made sure she got her sugar intake too ;). fun fact about Ev's - she can remember who gave her each one of her stuffed animals or where she got it from. all morning, she kept saying, 'Peppa is from Nonni for my 2nd Christmas!'. ^

^ the people that run the gymnastics class suggested that we move Emma up a class because she is quite good, so after some hesitation (we really loved going to the 9am class), we decided to give it a go and just try it one Sunday. ^

^ it was fun to see Emma excel and keep up with bigger kids - she is so cute, she is at least a head shorter than all her classmates. ^

^ forgot to grab a picture of Ev's class - she went at 2:30, but turns out they were all younger than her so we decided to keep her in the 9am class and Emma in the 1:30pm class - safe to say, our Sunday's are all about gymnastics now. we grabbed a treat when they were done! ^

^ Wes sent me this picture of him and Ev's walking to the bus stop hand in hand - I don't take it for granted what an awesome opportunity it is that he gets to spend so much time with our girls and that they adore him! ^

^ and then he sent me this picture and I literally teared up. don't they seem impossibly small? where have my babies gone? I try to be so intentional about spending as much time as possible with them while they are young and, still, the time seems to be passing increasingly fast. gosh, I sure did adore that baby stage. and Ev's cheeks!! she was so deliciously chubby. and even Emma had cheeks! and it is very obvious, I miss my big girls being those little babies! ^

^ the sunrise's have been so good this month. ^

^ and so has the weather outside, we have been trying to eat outside as much as possible and then go on a bike/scooter ride. ^

^ the yellow flowers popping up around Chengdu are my favorite. ^

^ that smile! ^

^ Emma still loves to ride 'Speedy' from time to time. Yes, that is the balance bike she got when she was three. And yes, she still (barely) fits on it. ^

^ we tried out Wes's drone to capture some twirly whirly pictures from above. Ev's wasn't in the picture taking mood, but can't wait to get some of her too. I think these pictures are quite dreamy. ^

^ I posted this picture with this quote on Instagram ("childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons"). I just think she looks so happy here! one of my favorite pictures of her, for sure. ^

^ our friends had a birthday party that involved pizza, trampolines and pinatas - what is not to love about that when you are 4 and 6. ^

^ my girls can really get after a pinata. ^

^ they jumped until the place closed down :). ^

^ seeing the sun rise over the golf course will never get old. ^

^ matchy matchy before gymnastics class. ^

^ the look that Ev's is giving is priceless - it is like she is thinking, "one day I will be as tall as you, Emma." ^

^ Emma wanted to take a picture with Ev's like this. ^

^ Evsie's went to class. ^

^ and then we did a craft. ^

^ they picked a new craft this time around where they built a cake like structure. ^

^ and had the best time decorating them with 'jewels'. the more sparkle the better is the girls current opinion ;). ^

^ then Emmy went to class. ^

^ Emma signed up for her third round of after school clubs and this time she chose hair accessories for her Tuesday club - we love seeing her come home with her new creations after each club session. ^

^ 3.14 was pi day and Emma's class got really into it this year. ^

^ her and Wes whipped up a lemon pie together. ^

^ sealed it up and let it bake. we didn't win any awards for our pie, but Emma had so much fun participating. and with that we were halfway through March. ^