August Little Things

I got so wrapped up in our Singapore vacation pictures (still a few more posts to come - we did so much fun stuff there!) but I let September come and go without wrapping up August.  Here is a little look at some of the things we were up to in August.

  

^ Wes germinated jalepeno seeds and he planted a few pots - one survived and looked like this at the beginning of the month. ^

^ working on their roller blade skills despite the heat (August was pretty hot here). ^

^ a random weeknight dinner at a burger place. ^

^ I think I mentioned this already, but one night we went to a cool light show exhibit. ^

^ they had pretty fancy ice cream cones. ^

^ the four of us plus the guide that was assigned to us for the evening ;). ^

^ the girls loved watching the performers - these acrobats were their favorite. ^

^ I love when the light streams in through the trees on our bike/scooter rides. ^

^ our date at Iron Pig that I talked about awhile back :). ^

^ checked out the global center water park one Saturday. ^

^ but ended back up at our pool the next day - a much better choice for the girls ;). ^

^ we decided to let the girls try gymnastics class so Wes hopped on tao bao and ordered a leotard for their first class. ^

^ this girl and her puppy! ^

^ I couldn't narrow down which picture to include so I just included all three. ^ 

^ mommy got in the picture :). ^

^ we took the girls to our favorite indoor playground (and met our friends there). ^

^ this place is really great for kiddos (I think someone asked me why it is not crowded here - I think because it is a little pricey for the entrance fee, but once you are in, everything is included). ^

^ Good Good tacos for dinner is always a good decision (sorry, I couldn't help myself). ^

^ this is the only picture I have from the time we went to the wrong mall for our gymnastics 'trial' class.  it was really a disastrous afternoon, but we all survived ;). barely :). ^

^ we prepped for the first day of school - and Wes got Everly's snack bag all ready to go. ^

^ Wes took the girls to meet their teacher the day before school started. ^

^ I believe on this particular day the power was out so we ate dumplings for dinner. ^

^ the girls were excited about their first day of school!! ^

^ Wes and I had a Starbucks date after our immigration appointment. ^

^ we ate tex-mex the Saturday after school started and the girls worked on their crafts while Wes and I ate. ^

^ we fed the neighborhood fish and realized it was so stinking hot we nixed our playground plans... ^

^ and headed to the swimming pool. ^

^ that Sunday started an insanely busy week for me at work so I made some cinnamon rolls for the girls (and me!) for the week. ^

^ Everly decided that blue lips were a good idea; doesn't she look guilty here?!? ^

^ we made paper crowns and the girls had fun decorating them. ^

^ by Friday, I was so ready for the weekend and came home to this sweet scene to kickoff the weekend - Wes was a student and the stuffed animals were his classmates. ^

^ family selfie before we attended a baby shower for our neighbors. ^

^ they were having a boy! and the girls had so much fun with all their friends at the party. ^

^ the next day we made it to the mall super early for our gymnastics class so we let the girls jump for awhile. ^

^ found a balloon. ^

^ and walked through the mall arm in arm. ^

^ on our way to Starbucks for a treat. ^

^ this mall has a ropes course between all the levels - it really is crazy! ^

^ the girls tried (and fell in love with) their gymnastics class and we signed up to go regularly. ^

^ the jalepeno plant at the end of August, still not quite ready but we were excited about the growth! ^

^ Emma got a book at the library about hermit crabs so I sent my mom this picture since hermit crabs were a big part of our Thailand trip (doesn't she look like she grew five inches during August!). ^

^ seeing me snap a picture of Emma, meant Ev's requested a picture as well :). ^

^ silly faces to send to Nonni to tell her that we love her!! ^

and that is a wrap on August.

Five and a Half Year Old Emma

You guyysss! Emma is five and half (it's been a little while now) and she is obsessed with being five and a half.  Ask her how old she is and she will instantly respond, "I am five and a half and my sister is four.". This is the first half birthday that she has ever cared about so it came as kind of a surprise to me! Five and half has been so much fun with Emma! I love having real conversations and hearing about the ins and the outs of her days - she has been such a joy lately!!

Here are some things about Emma at five and a half.

... she is so brave, seriously nothing scares this girl.
... she bounds and jumps and leaps and skips everywhere she goes; she is never not moving.
... she loves loves loves her Nonni
... she is rocking kindergarten, seriously her teacher sent me a note and it started with, "Emma is a superstar at school" - so proud of her!
... she loves creatures of all kinds (minus spiders) and she asks Wes and I for a pet nearly every single day (we are firmly standing our ground with an adamant 'no')
... she still has the best imagination; even though Boca (her imaginary friend) only makes a few appearances a year, she stills dreams up all kinds of scenarios for her and Everly to play
... she loves princesses; Rapunzel and Cinderella are her favorites (she still adores bopping around in her princess dresses every day)
... she has never met a hair accessory that she does not like.  the bigger and more sparkly the better!
... she loves/craves alone time with me and Wes; it is hard for us to do here but we are trying to make a point of it since she looks forward to this time so much
... she can swim! and do twirls in the water and if you are lucky she will show you her 'finn outtie' move (basically where she swims like a dolphin)
... she is such a good eater - she will try almost anything and mostly likes what she tries!
... she has turned into a great sleeper! I don't talk about this much anymore, but there was a time (a very long period of time) when neither of the girls would sleep through the night! hooray for good sleep now!!
... she loves to draw/craft/paint and makes us new creations nearly every.single.day
... she is a great baker and she cracks an egg like a boss (no shells!); her favorite to help with are banana bread, brownies and cinnamon rolls
... she loves to go away on holiday and often asks about where we are going next (I hope she grows up to be an adventurer)
... she likes to have a plan and would strongly prefer to be the boss of that plan ;)
... she gives the best squishy hugs a momma could ask for!

Emma, you are the best!, we love you to the moon and back and back and back!! 

Singapore | Merlion

On Saturday morning, we headed out bright and early to check out the Merlion statue.  The Merlion is the national personification of Singapore.  Its name combines "mer", meaning the sea and "lion".  The fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, which means "sea town" in Javanese. Yes, I had to look that up (in case that wasn't obvious ;)).

^ Emma the photographer. ^

^ on our way to see the merlion, we spotted a uni-phant ;). ^

^ Ev's was extra proud to have her picture taken here. ^

^ Emma is sitting here as I type this and she tells me this is named "ella-corn", I kind of like her name better ;). ^

^ twirly girly ^

^ I think Emma might have taken this picture and I love it! that mischievous look she is giving big sis! ^

^ and this one too! that tongue! ^

^ showing sissy her pictures. ^

^ and then we saw it! and I have to say, I love cheesy stuff like this - it was so fun to see in person! ^

^ the bay was extra sparkly and magical this particular morning. ^

^ I could not stop taking pictures - along with the other thousand tourists who came to see :). ^

^ giving a twirl and posing with her new toy in front of the Merlion. ^

^ let's focus on that cute girl in the sunglasses and not the girl who was claiming she was too hot right behind her ;). ^

^ cooler than me! ^

^ we walked out on the deck to get a different view. ^

^ several major attractions in Singapore - all in one picture.  we were headed to the Singapore Flyer (the giant ferris wheel) after I snapped this picture :). ^

Four Random Things

1. Everly learned how to write her name seemingly overnight! We have been working with her for a long time on drawing dots and she would trace or we would write and she would try to copy, but she would always get frustrated or stuck on the 'R'.  Then, just like that she started writing Everly, Mom, Dad and Emma one day and hasn't looked back.  Fun fact: after Everly finished coloring her turtle, the indoor playground that we love scans it and then her artwork came to life on the screen.  The girls loved this!!

2. The girls are loving gymnastics class! We have been going for about five to six weeks now and just recently they moved us to a 9am class (fewer students and its in English! (because everyone in the class goes to the girls school)) and we are loving it even more.  It is so fun to see the girls get really excited about having a regular activity to go to - it was one of the things I thought they were missing out on during this experience. They are both doing so well and most importantly having so much fun!  Bonus, the mall that The Little Gym is in is super kid friendly and always has a character or balloons for the girls to enjoy!

3. We have been living in China for a year and a half!!  Can you believe it?!? Sometimes it feels like forever and sometimes I still can't believe we actually live in China but either way it is safe to say we feel about 150% more comfortable than we did even at one year in.  We are really trying to embrace this adventure that we are on and enjoy the ride!

4.  My mom stocked up on some pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks for me - while it is a bit on the sweet side and I enjoy adding a dash to my cup of coffee rather than preparing it as recommended - it has been nice to partake in the fall traditions of pumpkin spice everything!