October Little Things | Part I

Look at how timely this October Little Things post is :). Since we stayed in Chengdu during October, I have so many pictures - I broke this into two posts.

^ October 1 was on a Sunday and officially the start of Golden Week (i.e. no car) - our driver helped us get a Didi to gymnastics so we were set for a few hours of fun! ^

^ these two were being ridiculously sweet to each other this particular morning. ^

^ early to class means that I got to go inside and snap a few pictures while they 'warmed up'. ^

^ their favorite part of gymnastics class this particular day. ^

^ we let the girls jump jump jump for awhile (which was a good thing because just like that the trampoline is not at the mall anymore??). ^

^ we ate at a Papa John's (can you believe we found one in Chengdu?) for lunch and then let Emma do a craft while Ev's bought stickers.  ^

^ during the holiday, the girls created ooodles and ooodles of artwork and proudly displayed it when I got home every day. ^

^ they met their friends at Luxelakes playground one day. ^

^ and one day I worked at our local coffee shop (I realize this drink looks delicious, but it was actually terrible - why oh why would you ever serve lukewarm coffee?? ^

^ one day, I got home early and we took the girls to the playground and played some hide-and-go-seek and fed the fish. ^

^ Saturday morning coffee and cuddles outside. ^

^ they were being particularly cuddle buggy this morning. ^

^ Wes came out and snapped a picture of the three of us - three happy girls! ^

^ dressed and ready to go get dumplings. ^

^ I liked the look of someone else's food, so I snapped a picture for the following day. ^

^ a very authentic Chinese experience - we drove there on our scooter and ate dumplings all huddled up in the cold (Ev's was eating banana bread and Emma ate pomegranates just in case you were wondering ;)).

^ that afternoon, we had neighborhood friends over while their parents were out. ^

^ Ev's got a makeover! which is exactly why I haven't bought the girls any makeup. ^

^ the next morning, I took the girls back to their friends house and Ev's got another makeover ;). when we got home, she told Wes "don't I look fabulous." yes, you do, baby girl :). ^

^ dumplings and wontons for lunch. ^

^ I made a double batch of cinnamon rolls -half for us, half for friends. ^

^ we attended a very Rapunzel birthday party. ^

^ my kiddos love being tickled. and we had a particularly good tickle sesh one Saturday morning. ^

 ^ dressed and ready to go to the indoor playground. ^

 ^ goofballs ^

^ but also the sweetest duo. ^

 ^ puddle jumping at Starbucks. ^

 ^ these two always have so much fun here! ^

 ^ she is a blur the entire time we are there - bouncing, jumping and running off so much energy. ^

 ^ coloring their masterpieces ;). ^

 ^ seeing their artwork in action. ^

 ^ where did Everly go?? ^

 ^ oh, there she is! ^

^ serious artwork ;). ^

^ dinner at Iron Pig (the girls had lost interest in dinner and were sitting on the front porch - my boss was walking by and spotted the girls and came into say hi! moments like that make living in Chengdu a small world) before heading home to meet our friends new baby!!! we are so excited for them :).  and had so much fun snuggling up a newborn.  we went to bed tired and with happy hearts. ^

A Rapunzel Birthday Party

A few weeks ago the girls were invited to a birthday party at the Little Gym - it was Rapunzel themed (Emma's favorite!!) and they were pumped and ready to go (their teachers told me that it was all the girls talked about that day!).  I left work a bit early and headed to pick up two excited girls.

The excitement just grew once we got there - the Rapunzel decorations were so good (p.s. Ev's doesn't care what the theme is, she is always Minnie Mouse ;).

Three cute girls :).

This was my favorite decoration :).

Once the party started, they had a Rapunzel theme where they had to escape from the tower and it was just the cutest watching all these kids run around together.

I am not sure exactly which part of Rapunzel this was, but I loved it :). And so did the girls :).

Climbing down the tower.

Just for fun they took the kids down the parachute - the joy on their face was priceless.

The birthday girl blowing out her candles surrounded by princesses :).

I know this sounds cheesy, but I just love when the girls get invited to birthday parties (expat life can feel lonely sometimes) and this feels like we are building a real community.  And just to see the excitement on their faces and the anticipation is the best.

And yes, Emma wants a birthday party exactly like this (just in case you were wondering ;)).

Our Halloween Morning

Happy Halloween! We had such a great Halloween, I couldn't wait any longer to share pictures :).

While I was out of town, Emma and Everly saw a Mickey Mouse show where Minnie was dressed as a witch and they decided that since their princess dresses were everyday clothes, they wanted to be a witch for Halloween (well Everly decided and Emma converted later when Everly's costume arrived).  They hopped on tao bao and Wes placed an order for a witch looking costume (that in reality turned out to be a bat, but don't tell the girls that ;)) and a few days later it arrived at our house. They ohhh'ed and awwww'ed over it and a few minutes (and one more tao bao order) later, we had two witches/bats on our hands.

Halloween was wet and rainy, but that did not stop the excitement in our house (you could literally feel it pulsating through them!).  They were up, dressed, and teeth brushed before 7am. 

Two cuties!!

Some bus stop modeling (their wings were in a bag so they wouldn't get wet).

Gosh, I just adore them.

What they didn't know is that we had a little surprise in store for them.  After they left, I worked for a bit and then we got into costume :). Wes was Tigger!!!

And I was Pooh Bear!!! (our driver took this picture, maybe she couldn't stop laughing at us - true story and that is why the picture is tilted??).

In case it is not obvious, we were pumped!!!

And a few individual shots of me, because how often do I get to dress up??

At school and ready for the big surprise (funny story, on the way to school Wes's Tigger tail got stuck in the door and he literally could not move until our driver stopped.  When she stopped at a stoplight, Wes opened the door, pulled his tail out and all three of us burst into laughter - as if we could get any more ridiculous)!!

We waited outside the main hall and if you look very closely, you can see Everly's class coming...

She was waving hi, but she had no idea it was us!

Still didn't know...

And then we took off our heads!

Pure glee when she saw that it was us.  Best feeling ever and we were going to get to do it all over again with Emma!

She was jumping going to the parade, she was so happy.

Next up, it was Emma's turn. We moved a little closer to the parade route and waited.

Here she comes, no clue it was us...

Still no idea...

The moment we took off our heads, at first surprise!

Followed by that big smile!

Sooooo much fun!

When we got inside the cafeteria, they asked Wes and I to lead the parade route and show the kids how it was going to go (we found this picture someone took of us on wechat!).

 And some friends took this picture - we were having a blast!

Then it was Everly's turn to parade :).

That little wave is perfect and never gets old :).

And one last little wave before returning to her seat.

Then it was Emma's turn - can you see her smile peeking through?

She found daddy and convinced him to parade with her!

Family Halloween picture :).  We know the girls won't appreciate us dressing up and surprising them at school forever - we are really cherishing this time of our lives parenting little kids (it is such a joy!).

We hope you had a great Halloween!!