Vacation Part Tres Natural Bridge

We left Gatlinburg and drove to Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky. We had a reunion of the families from our adoption travel group. It was the first time seeing most of the girls since we left Guangzhou more than four years ago. We hiked, rode the skylift, played putt putt, roasted marshmallows, swam in the pool and overall had a great time just hanging out with our friends. EmmaLi wants to know when they can come to our house to play. LOL

Vacation Part Dos

We returned from The Outerbanks on a Sunday and then left again on Thursday for part two of our vacation. This time we packed up the camping gear and headed to the Smokey Mountains.

Last year for the Fourth of July was the first time she sat in a chair with me and watched the fireworks in the neighborhood. We had never gone to a "real fireworks display" because she never liked them much. They were too loud and unpredicatable for her. However, last year that all changed. This year I wanted to go some where for the Fourth of July celebration. We decided to go to Gatlinburg TN. It's close and we had another camping trip already planned for the dates after the 4th.

We camped at a campground called Adventure Bound. It had a lot to offer. It was fairly close to Gatlinburg and had a pool, waterslide, fishing pond, and go carts if you wanted to rent those. The campsite was a great one. It was completely shady which was great with a tent. It backed up to a creek which was natural entertainment for EmmaLi. Whenever I was making dinner or packing everything up, she went to the creek to throw rocks. Here are some pictures of the camp ground.

Emmie on her favorite playground toy. I told her Grandpa will be happy to see her with the earth mover since he has several for his business. LOL She played on this contraption more than any other play structure they had.

We also went into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. When we were in the Outer Banks EmmaLi got a "Passport to the National Parks" book. You take it with you each time you visit a National Park and they stamp it marking your date of visit. We made sure we went to the visitor center and got her stamp for The Smokey Mountains. We also picked up a Junior Ranger book but she didn't complete that project. We'll save it for another trip. It would have been difficult to complete that project. One of the things she was supposed to do was pick up a grocery store bag full of trash. Honestly, we didn't see any trash except a water bottle top here and there. She also needed to attend a guided activity with a Ranger but we didn't have time to do that. Here are some pictures of us in the Mountains.

Photo posting problems again...wi;l; try again later.

Vacations Galore!

Well, we've had a whirl wind of a summer so far. Vacation #1 was to the Outer Banks of NC. We have friends who drove down from NY and rented a house on the beach. They invited us to spend a few days with them. I have wanted to go to the Outer Banks for a few years now but have never made it up that way. Since it has been about 4 years since we have seen our friends we decided we couldn't pass on the opportunity.

We had a blast! EmmaLi loved playing with their daughter. She wasn't thrilled with their dogs but she loved spending time with our friends. In her mind it was a good trade off. It was nice to have some one to keep her company too. Given they spent three days together and had only one real disagreement, I'd say they got along great.

Here are some of the photos from the trip.

EmmaLi and I at the Cape Hatteras Light House.

The fantastic view from the top of the Hattaras Light House.

Saluda Shoals Sprinkler Fun

Our local Families with Children from China got together today at the Saluda Shoals park. They have this fabulous sprinkler pad to play on. We have gone before but EmmaLi doesn't like too many people out there and she doesn't like water in her face. Today she played more than she has in the past. Of course our friends the Chrissy and Jackie were there which made EmmaLi's day. I got a couple of awesome pictures of Jackie.

This is the water sprinkler pad. There are two sections with different types of sprinklers.
EmmaLi wetting her hair.
Saying cheese!
Rather tired looking.
That pink bathing suit you can barely see in the big flow of water is our friend Jackie! I couldn't believe she let that water fall on her. I guess I have been too used to my "I hate any water on my face kiddo. This is sweet Jackies close up. Isn't she just the sweetest?

Do you think she enjoys bowling?

Once again we went bowling. It was too hot for anything else. ALl spring EmmaLi has been bugging me to go bowling. I told her that we go bowling when it is too hot or too cold to do anything else. This past weejk has been over or near 100 degrees everyday. This weekend EmmaLi said "Mom, it's too hot to do anything else can we go bowling now?" Here are some photos to start. I will follow them up with some cute EmmaLidotes.

EmmaLi loves bowling. Her facial expressions when she is bowling surpass those of anything else she enjoys other than getting trophies and scoring goals.

There were several couples bowling a few lanes down from us. After our first game I noticed that there were two women in the group who were not bowling but sitting in the spectator area watching their spouses and friends bowl. Half way through our second game, they stopped watching their people bowl and were watching EmmaLi! They were shouting and cheering her on. They were woo hooing her and jumping up and down hen she got her spare. It was a riot!

EmmaLi not only likes bowling but she also does a great job of cheering me on when it is my turn. She says "Nice try Mom." whenever I got a split. If I got a strike she was woo hooing me and telling me "Great job Mom! You are awesome!"

I just love this kid and I have no idea how I was so lucky to be blessed to be her Mom. Her energy is sometimes draining but most of the time catching. Her enthusiasm for life and the simple things is nothing short of amazing. To have a kid that says "Oh Yay! New Chap Stick!" when she gets a new Burt's Bees Chap Stick reminds me to be grateful for all things great (like her) and small like a new chap stick. With any luck she will remain this easy to please...I know it's wishful thinking but maybe if I do it right she will be grateful for all things for a long time.

Can you say Kung Fu Panda!!!!

We had a blast last night at The Big Mo! Kung Fu Panda was playing with Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.

I was a bit nervous about Kung Fu Panda because the day before we were going some one advised me there is an adoption theme in it. As it turned out it was a non-issue. Po the Panda is adopted, his father is a crane or goose. I couldn't really tell as his beak was more like a goose than a cranebut I have had others refer to him as a crane. Who knows. Either way, adoption is never mentioned directly and adoption is looked at as a none issue. Families that do not look like one another are just viewed as families. Loved that part.

We went to the drive in with some friends. We had of course, Chrissy, Gordy and Jackie (EmmaLi's BFF) and our friends Pete and Becky and their daughter Morgan. There were also two other families that were friends of Pete and Becky's who we did not know. We got front row seats and had a blast. EmmaLi enjoyed herself a lot. We stayed for part of Indiana Jones but could not stay for the whole thing. The girls were trying NOT to watch the movie but they could hear it and the music was a bit spooky for 5 year olds. Pete and Becky and Chrissy and Gordy stayed but EmmaLi and I left about midnight.

Here are a few pictures.





Here is our whole gang. You cannot see them all but there were 5 families sitting in our group and another two families came with us but came separately and parked on the other side of the screen. They were another adoptive family and friends of theirs. By the way, EmmaLi took the picture of me with her snow cone. She wanted me to eat some of the ice out of it so she could get to the juice. I ate some of it and managed to get the rest crunched up so she could get the good stuff.

And the Cubby Clubber of the Year Award goes to...

...EmmaLi Taghan! Yeah! Woo Hoo! Hurray! Yippy! You're the best!

Yes my friends, EmmaLi was Cubby Clubber of the year for her AWANA program. Last night was the end of year AWANA awards program. I knew her class was going to sing the Cubby song because I was the one who taught it to them. I had no idea that my baby was Cubby of the year.

All of the children in her class receive certificates of achievement for completing the Cubby book. Each of them received a metal for an individual strength they possess. After they completed their part of the program, they all sat down. Then the Sparks did their part of the program, followed by the T&T's and then the Treks. They then bestowed the teacher their service pins and a special award for Commander Dan. EmmaLi loves Commander Dan. He even came to her birthday party. He left the after the first half of the year. He accepted a pastoral position in another church. That man was so moved at his special award (which by the way he started a few years earlier) that he was in tears as he spoke to the group. Then came the Clubber of the Year awards. One clubber from each age group was selected to be clubber of the year. The criteria used to select the Clubber of the Year was attendance, number of verses learned, class readiness, and most Christ like. While I think she deserves every award ever created, her teachers chose her to recieve this special award. She recieved a trophy and special recognition from the Interim Pastor of the church. It was really kind of sweet too. He called her name for Cubby Clubber of the Year. She walked up and he said, "Well, I don't know this little girl but if she is half as sweet as she is cute, she definately deserves it. Did ya'll get a look at her!" LOL She has another one wrapped around her finger.

Here are some pictures of the evening.

Emmie with her trophy

After getting her certificate and metal

Singing the Cubby song

Ms Cubby, KC, EmmaLi, Daniel, Dixie Rose, and Meredith