Saturday, July 19, 2008

Order of the Arrow Weekend

It's always a bummer when you return from vacation. There's nothing thrilling about returning to the daily ins & outs of life. Not like getting up early, eating breakfast and heading to the beach for some sandcastle building. Yep, life at the beach is much different than life in the 'burbs.

With that said, the most exciting thing over the last week has been the "Extreme Home Makeover" was in our city this past week. It was very exciting, I even went up to the house one day with the girls. I did get to see Michael, one of the designers, but that was it. I just wasn't very motivated to stand out in the heat with two toddlers and hope to see someone famous. But at least I did go.

Tucker is at his Order of the Arrow Ordeal this weekend. It's the Boy Scouts of America's National Honor Society.

According to Wikipedia this is what the OA is:

The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Founded in 1915, it uses American Indian traditions and ceremonies to bestow recognition on Scouts selected by their peers as best exemplifying the Scout Oath and Scout Law in their daily lives. Inducted members are known as Arrowmen or brothers and are organized into local youth-led lodges for fellowship and the rendering of service to Boy Scout councils and their communities.

Any scout that has been through their "ordeal', is sworn to secrecy to not tell other scouts about the ceremonies etc. It's kind of like a secret society~think Free Masons or Knights of Templar.
;-). Tucker would just roll his eyes when I said stuff like that. But for me, it made it more exciting.

I dropped him off on Friday night and I'll pick him up Sunday morning. Before he left on Friday, he reviewed his packing list with me. I knew they would be working, so I asked him if he packed his hiking boots to work in. His comment to me was, "Mom, my "Chucks" are my workboots." Those of you who don't know what "Chucks" are, these are it....

Yep, good ole fashioned, high-topped, canvas tennis shoes. Not joking, wish I were. This is coming from my son that finished his freshman year with a 4+ GPA.



I did head to the garage to find the hiking boots, but they were no where to be found...hmmmm. When I asked where they were, "I don't know." was all I got...again...hmmmm.

So I'm excited to get him tomorrow and hear about this weekend. When I left on Friday, there was a bunch of teenage boys, standing underneath a shelter house, looking less than thrilled to be spending their Summer Friday night getting ready to work. I pulled out, with my radio blasting some oldie but good (my windows were rolled up, so they couldn't hear it!) Ah, it does a mother's heart good!
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Monday, July 14, 2008

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

The boys afternoon out...

The boys went parasailing the other evening. We couldn't watch them from the beach since we were not sure where they would be lifting off from. But we were able to get theses photos from the crew. It looks like the had fun 800 feet up in the air. They said it was awesome. I'm sure it was...

Click to play Parasailing
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Monday, July 07, 2008

First time to the beach...

Elise and Amelia are getting their first experience at the beach. Elise isn't so sure of it, but we're hoping that will change as time creeps on.


I don't want to get any closer!!!!

Then there's Amelia...she thinks the water is pretty cool. She walked right out into the surf. Now the sand is another story...she's not liking that on her hands


Yowsa...why's it coming so close????

Let's talk boys...they just jump in and keep going and going until my heart starts to beat frantically in my chest because they look like bobbers in the water!

Red bobba gone! Red bobba gone! (I'm cracking myself up!)
They thought if they sat closer, Elise might get in. HA!
We finally attempted a sand castle. It then turned into "Let's bury Tucker!" What can I say...I was in the spirit of things!
American and Chinese Engineers at work....
Elise helped mama bury Tucker


Life at the beach...doesn't get any better than this!

Elise's photo of Baba and Mama


Grapes and Sunglasses...what more can a girl ask for????
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Saturday, July 05, 2008

July 4th-Meeting Lisa and Ana Claire Young

I love cyberspace~it has granted me the ability to meet some of the most wonderful people. When we first started our adoption journey to Elise, I was blessed to meet some amazing families that were going through the same experience. We shared our highs and lows~good times and bad~successes and failures. Having this group of people has been more than I could hope for, but everything that I prayed for. Funny how that happens.

When I realized that we would be traveling through Alabama and spending the night on our vacation, I contacted my cyberfriend, Lisa, to see if it were possible to hook up. Needless to say, Lisa and Ana Claire spent the evening with us and it was fabulous. I wish our time together could have been longer, but I'm grateful for what we did have.

Thank you Lisa and Ana Claire for taking time out of your Independence Day to spend some time playing! You are both treasures! I'm sorry the photos are better, but I hope yours are! I promised to not post anything "bad" photos. I hope these are all O.K.

Click to play Meeting the Youngs
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This is very, special vacation for us. Lisa and Ana Claire made it extra special!

PS I'm getting ready to goggle the "rattail braid"!
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Thursday, July 03, 2008

Bubbles, piggy backs and beach toes

These are the Empresses bathing...it's rather unsettling. This is what I found when I stuck my head in the bathroom while folding laundry. Amelia seems to trust her Jei Jei. I'm not so sure that I do ;-)




Elise arranged for both of them to get piggy back rides on their whales while holding their Chengdu Pandas. I thought it was rather ingenious. She wanted to make sure her mei mei had the same thing she had...only smaller!

Finally, you can't go on vacation without getting your piggies painted. Poor Amelia has such stubby toe nails...I hope they eventually get longer but I don't think that's going to happen. We paint them anyway.

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