Water balloons and Magic shows

I've been woefully bad about posting since we returned home.  I am behind on taking pictures, as we exhausted the camera battery and somehow misplaced the charger.  Sigh.  But we should be back up and going now.  :)  Here are a few new pictures to enjoy.  The first is the morning after we arrived home.  It was pretty cool outside, but Lainie was excited to take Mei down the drive and see the neighbor's horses.  The latter is from this afternoon.  Lainie and Mei were out playing with water balloons on the porch.  As always, kids and water make for easy fun!

Down the drive we go!

2 Kids + water  balloons = lots of fun!

Yesterday, we wandered out to a local street fair.  The girls enjoyed it, particularly the magic show.  The act translated across languages well.  I really wish a small circus would come through the area.  We have a local zoo, but that is a lot of walking.  Mei doesn't like the idea of a stroller (big girl!), and reverts to asking to be carried when she gets tired.  That 42 pounds feels more like 70 pounds after a block or so!  Maybe we'll take the wagon next time.  

We did have a near catastrophe today...we ran out of Slim Jim beef sticks!  Luckily, Jad found a couple hidden in the pantry and I had some backup turkey sticks.  Kailee said the turkey will suffice, but definately not as good as Slim Jim.  Evidently, the fat content is too low.  Between Kailee and Mei, they could eat us out of house and home when it comes to meat.  Anyone have a spare cow ready for the packing house?

More characteristics of Mei:

- she is very tender headed.  She wants to wear pigtails and have long hair like the other girls, but complains loudly every time I brush her hair.  

- she refuses to use a Chinese word if she already knows the English word.  Her vocabulary grows each day.  We never seem to have issues understanding each other, even if the words are not in the same language.  

- Mei doesn't like cold food, but is trying to adapt.  She asks for ice in her water so she can be like her sisters.  She tries to eat ice cream, but it takes a really long time to consume a little scoop.  Mei tried shaved ice at the street fair.  She slowly chomped on the ice and managed to eat about half of a small cup before giving up and handing it back to us. 

- she loves sunglasses, and found several pair around the house.  Her Daddy bought her a bling pair at the street fair, but the color wore off on her when she sweated.  I need to figure out how to get these into the trash before she misses them.  

- if she gets tired before we are ready to tuck the kids into bed, Mei will put herself to sleep.  She just leaves the room and crawls into bed.  I'm not sure how to feel about that.  She is so confident and independent (at least on the outside).  Our other girls are snugglers, especially when tired.  Mei is not unless you ask her to hug you.  I guess she self-consoled too many times in the past.  I'll be looking for opportunities to play games that encourage lots of physical contact.
- Mei is obedient to Jad and I, but sometimes responds with "no" when the girls ask her to do things.  I think she is just figuring out the pecking order and testing boundaries with them.  This is pretty frustrating to the girls.  We are trying to back them up to reinforce what they are telling her.
- The light up tennis shoes are still her fav's.  These are the only ones she will wear now.  They don't match her Sunday dresses, but oh well.  I'll let this battle slide.

Mei's bonding with the family has been good.  But Lainie does feel a bit displaced as the baby of the family.  Jad's mom invited Lainie over for a special sleep over, just her and grandma.  We're also trying to give her some extra attention.  I know this is normal, and will pass in time.

There are surely challenges ahead of us, some emotional, some physical.  We can anticipate some of these, and will be surprised by others.  But we're thankful that this is the life God chose for us.  :)