Chengdu | Aroma Park (?)

A few weeks ago someone in one of the girls classes posted a picture of the most gorgeous field of purple flowers to their wechat group.  As soon as I saw the pictures, I knew we had to go.  The following Saturday promised to be beautiful (yet, hot) weather and so we decided to venture out.  I could never quite get the English name of the park (it didn't appear to draw a lot of foreign visitors) but on one of the signs I saw the word 'aroma' so we just started to call it Aroma Park.  I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking - we explored for about two hours taking in some gorgeous scenery, listening to a little complaining ;) and discovering a light house along the way.

^ rainbow field ^

^ snapping her own pictures. ^

^ this one takes the expression, 'take time to stop and smell the roses wildflowers' seriously. ^

^ our Elsa braid was along for the adventure ;). ^

^ I loved these flowers! ^

^ I love the juxtaposition of little Everly in a giant field. ^

^ we didn't make it to far before stopping for a snack break. ^

^ pink and purple together will always be my favorite. ^

^ not quite in the picture taking mood ;). ^

^ love this picture of Evsie's. ^

^ on clear days you can see the mountains that surround Chengdu. ^

^ they found caterpillar's. ^

^ and I found the light house. ^

^ daddy and Em's took off. ^

^ when Everly and I caught up, he was giving Em's a lesson in pollination. ^

^ I love this sweet scene. ^

^ Wes is great at letting the girls be themselves and getting these natural pictures of them - he took this one and it's one of my favorites. ^

^ we wrapped up our visit twirling in front of the lighthouse. ^

^ and said bye to these pretty flowers (until next year ;)). ^

Where has the time gone?

As a working mom, I feel like I still get to spend a fair amount of time with the girls - I attend most big things and even some little things at their school and especially since living in China, I spend every night and weekend with them; however, I am always still wanting time to slow down.  I am always searching for ways to spend more time with them.  To soak them up while they are still little.  To freeze these somewhat crazy, but mostly sweet moments of raising two little toddlers that have turned into kids all while living in a foreign country.  I am desperately aware of people telling me to 'enjoy them while they are young' and 'they grow up so fast' and 'you will miss those kisses and I love you's and lap snuggles one day'.  And even though I feel like I am doing all of these things, sometimes little things hit me over the head and make me realize just how fast time is moving.

The other night we went to dinner and Emma insisted on wearing a dress that was a size 3T with the compromise of wearing leggings (since it was obviously too short now) and while we were playing on the playground afterwards, I realized that she had worn this very same dress the day she started her 3 year old preschool and now she is ending preschool as a 5 year old (real kindergarten next year!). And just like that I was smacked in the face yet again with just how quickly time is moving.

I will spend the rest of my Sunday soaking up these munchkins - these babies of mine don't keep :).

Thailand Wrap Up

I promise I will stop flooding you with beach/Thailand pictures after this post (at least until we take Nonni later this month), but beach pictures are my favorite and there were just too many good ones not to share them all :). We kept to the same blissful routine of breakfast, pool, beach, snacks, pool, rest, pool, dinner every day we were there...

^ being the first ones at the pool every morning means we got this view all to ourselves :). ^

^ and they got this pool all to themselves. ^

^ and Emma got this slide all to herself ;). ^

^ pool/beach life is the best life. ^

^ jumping to daddy! ^

^ the blue skies and the teal water is my favorite. ^

^ three beach goers. ^

^ jumping for joy! ^

^ I love to watch their relationship form - it just seems like they get along the best while on vacation :). ^

^ I remember Ev's saying, "whoa" when the big wave splashed up on her. ^

^ these girls are so lucky to have him! ^

^ I think the wave surprised all of them! ^

^ apparently I could not get over this view ;). ^

^ I love this picture!! ^

^ I love when we take pictures together! ^

^ this picture is a perfect depiction of their personalities: one fearless, one timid; both uniquely perfect. ^

^ I love that Wes got this picture of me and my girl. ^

^ this girl. that jump. that water (with a filter ;)). 

^ they are standing the exact same way. and are sometimes more alike than they will ever realize. ^

^ we had some one on one time. Everly wanted to play at the kids club and so Emma and I went on a date. we fed the fish and had ice cream, just the two of us. she told me she had been waiting years and years for this. it is such a great reminder of how much kiddos value one-on-one time with their parents and we have been looking at more ways to sneak that time in. ^

^ can a girl have too many mermaids? ^

^ I love this mountain right behind our hotel - it feels so secluded even though there is a major street of restaurants and bars in walkable distance. ^

^ when I first started working, I had no idea my life would turn out like this - how incredibly blessed am I? ^

^ remarkable sunset at dinner (no filter). ^

^ after dinner, Wes and I would stop by the ping pong/pool table room to try to get a game in - turned out we both had two little helpers wanting to play too ;). giving them a chance was as hilarious as it sounds. ^

^ another morning at the beach. ^

^ I attempted a few more twirly pictures - the result was not as good ;). ^

^ tiny footprints. ^

^ the best kind of shadows. ^

^ I took so many different versions of this same photo. ^

^ how in the world is she going to be four this summer? ^

^ Wes catching crabs for the girls means all kinds of excitement :). ^

^ I love the juxtaposition of the huge beach with these tiny girls of mine. ^

^ I hope she always turns her feet inwards when she is playing. ^

^ looking like a teenager here! ^

^ blurry selfie that I still love! ^

^ this is the only picture I got of our drinks. ^

^ watermelon smoothies (and ice cream) are their favorite treats to get. ^

^ a massage while they are resting is my favorite treat to get ;). ^

^ another afternoon of feeding the fish! ^

^ our last night there we tried a different restaurant (our favorite one was closed for the day) and the staff there made these grasshopper things for the girls out of bamboo! Ev's was a little skeptical at first! ^

^ but Emma loved it right away! ^

^ we shared a banana split for dessert as we said farewell to vacation life. ^

^ this sunset view as we walked back to our hotel room. we truly had a magical five days in paradise. ^