Sunday brought a reunion of sorts. We got together with Patrick and Linda (GiGi's mom and dad) and with Ray and Gaye (Anne's mom and dad.) These are the folks who were in our travel meeting with us. We haven't seen Ray and Gaye since before they went to China so this was the first time we met Anne. She's 4. The girls had fun playing in the sprinkler and on the swingset and also with Play-Doh. It was a fun day for all of us with us parents comparing notes on travel and kids. I asked them if they ever thought that they'd be in a group with other people whose common bond was our Chinese daughters.
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| Anyssa with Anne and GiGi |
On Monday, we hit the Shedd Aquarium with Phil, Lee and Matt Bauman. It was a treat for me because I've never been to the Shedd before. Pretty neat...Anyssa loved the fish but she REALLY enjoyed seeing the beluga whales. Oh, and the otter. And the dolphins. And the jellies. Let's just say she had fun all day! We sprung for JELLIES which is the jellyfish exhibit. Very interesting, but hard to tell what flavor jelly each one was (include rimshot here!) When she saw the belugas, she started insisting that no, they weren't whales, they were DOLPHINS! When she started getting mad, we knew she was serious. We had to find the dolphins and show her the difference. It was a smart move to bring the stroller with...she started to poop out and needed a 15 minute breather every now and then.
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| Anyssa meets "the jellies!" |
Hmm....what else...OH! On Tuesday, we went to visit her kindergarten teacher from last year at her house. Since Mrs. Knizek will be movong to 1st grade this fall and Anyssa will be repeating kindergarten, we figured no harm, no foul. Laura, Anyssa and I hung out with Angela, Jerry and baby Landon, cooked out and swam in their awesome pool. They just had a slide put in that Anyssa REALLY enjoyed. We waited for her at the bottom holding a pool noodle for her to grab onto. Even though she's had swim lessons, she felt safer having something to hold onto. It was a really fun afternoon. Angela has been a great teacher and set the bar for teachers SO HIGH that I told her she's set up all of Anyssa's FUTURE teachers to fail. It was also neat to find out the both Angela and Jerry grew up close to where I grew up so we compared notes about the old neighborhood. I had to grab my HS yearbook when we got home when Angela told me she went to my HS.
Wednesday was school supply shopping day. Ho-hum... We won't count this day. :-)
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| I think I know what Anyssa wants for Christmas THIS year... |
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| Pool girl! |
On Thursday, we went to the beach! Of course, in Chicago, that means a trip to the Indiana Dunes and Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, becuase of the weather patterns, there were some rip currents, so the beach was closed. No worries...that just meant a jaunt down the road to the public beach where there are no lifeguards and a "swim at your own risk" philosophy. That was great for Anyssa...she mainly wanted to play in the sand with all of her sand toys that she got as presents over the past year. We built a sand "castle" complete with a moat. We tried to fill the moat with water but it kept draining out...darn sand!! Anyssa built up quite a rock collection. (For you non-area residents more familiar with the oceans, since there are no shells, you collect rocks.) At days end, we saved the cooler, smaller ones and tossed the rest back. We drew the line when she started showing up with 5 pound brick-size rocks! The waves were breaking pretty nice (for a lake) so she had fun waiting for the waves, then running away yelling and waving her arms as they broke. Ah, to be 6 again, huh?
Friday brought a special dinner with Gramma and Ye Ye (Ye Ye is Chinese for Grandpa...if you knew that, then you probably watch Ni Hao Kai-Lan.) Anyssa likes her meat so off to the Lone Star steak house. Whoever came up with the kids menu/crayon combo ought to get a peace prize. (insert joke about the meaningless Nobel Peace Prize here ;-) She sat between Gramma and Ye Ye and I believe all 3 had fun...especially when Gramma started the airplane-into-hangar trick to get Anyssa to finish her steak!
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| In for a perfect landing! |
Wow...looking back, we actually did a lot last week. Back to work for me on Monday, but off the following week again. That's the week that school starts so we'll see how THAT goes!!
We were planning on going to the Rennaissance Faire Saturday, but we woke up to rain and it can get a little muddy. SO...within the next couple of weeks, we'll head up there.
