I love running into my children at school. Yesterday was field day and the 3-5 graders were outside together. That meant....yeah!!! I saw my daughter quite frequently. She even came running up to me and wanted to hold my hand and stay with me. I had to coax her to play even though I would have loved to just walk with her...to hold her hand forever...
She is growing up so fast. Nine years old. When she graduates at age 18, she will probably move out. Yikes! That means my time with her is HALF over. I thought of that yesterday and I watched her play. It made me tear up. Being a mother is certainly bitter-sweet. I love watching my children grow, yet I want to keep them small forever. That is probably why I take so many pictures. I just want to hold on to every moment.
I want to make every moment count. I love you, Rachel Bug! I love you too, Erin Joy! (I just didn't see you because you were with the K-2 graders so I have no pictures of you for this post.) I love being a mom to the best children in the world! It is the biggest blessing in my life.
In between dance classes, we went to Alki Beach to enjoy the -2 ft tide. It was so fun! The rain and cold didn't even bother us. We saw huge chiton, anemone, hermit crabs, sea snails, moon jellies, sea cucumbers, and a lot of sea stars. (We know they aren't starfish because they aren't fish. We were educated by marine biologists once at the zoo or aquarium that they are really "sea stars".) Somebody saw moon snails and a small octopus, but we didn't. There were several naturalists from the Seattle Aquarium there answering questions and pointing out sea life. It was really fun to learn from experts and we even got a 2 for 1 coupon for the aquarium. We meant to go with a group of single adoptive parents, but we were at the wrong beach. We only saw them briefly when they stopped for fish & chips.
Sure can't wait until school is finally out so we can play ALL the time...
We had a picnic by our river tonight with a few neighbors and friends. It was really fun. Check out these cute ladybug cupcakes my neighbor made! I had to take a picture so I can make them sometime!
Here is Rachel's new trick....
We have been listening to music from the Mary Poppins Musical in the car. Rachel really enjoys this song and is really proud of herself for being able to spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and I'm proud that I was able to type it just now!
Rachel and Erin Joy each have a special cooking day where they get to cook something of their choice. Usually we have macaroni and cheese, Top Ramen, or some other such food. On her special cooking day this week, Rachel wanted to cook lasagna. She cooked the noodles by herself and layered them in the pan with spaghetti sauce. That's it. She didn't want cheese. She didn't want meat. Nothing but noodles and sauce. Nasty. Really nasty. She was proud and she liked it so I guess that's all that matters.
We had a great time on Camano Island for the first grade field trip. The group I was with played in the driftwood house for a really long time. I loved listening and watching to their play. In addition to playing house and collecting shells, the kids did a great job of keeping the vampires and monsters off of the beach. It's a good thing. I would hate to meet a vampire on the beach!
They played for so long that they missed seeing the sea stars, eel, and blowfish that other groups saw in the tide-pools. However, they did see crab, chiton, clams, and barnacles.
I was grateful the rain that was pouring down on the way to Camano stopped as soon as we got on the island. The rain continued as soon as the field trip was over. Perfect!!! Couldn't have timed it better. I am so glad I get to enjoy field trips with my girls!! And so glad the rain stayed away!!
My girls have Chinese Dance and Language class every Saturday. They each go to a separate class. While Erin Joy was in class today, Rachel and I went to the beach. While Rachel was in class, Erin Joy and I went grocery shopping. We usually alternate each week.
Today was a beautiful day even though the sun didn't shine...it didn't rain! It was overcast and just a little bit cool. Perfect!! While exploring and walking around the beach, we discovered roses floating on the water. It took awhile, but eventually we found 12 roses. Why would somebody throw a dozen roses into the water? Where did they come from? We had a lot of fun making up stories behind the mysterious roses. Here are a few:
An eager high school graduate living on Whidbey Island buys herself a dozen roses and throws them into the water one at a time representing the 12 years she spent working so hard in school.
A birthmother in China thinking about the baby she had to abandon because she was unable to care for her sent 12 roses floating in the Pacific Ocean wondering if her baby in Washington state would understand the meaning of the roses.
Rachel's favorite story is the one she made up. Her pen-pal, Lucy, who happens to be from England went to the royal wedding and threw roses into the Atlantic Ocean so her pen-pal, Rachel, living on the Pacific Ocean coast would know that she was thinking about her.
Because the roses were in pretty good shape considering they were in sandy salt water and covered with seaweed, the story that is probably closest to the truth is the one we made up about a boy proposing marriage to a girl. The girl starts to cry because she knows she shouldn't marry him. She throws the dozen roses he offers her into Puget Sound at Carkeek Park and leaves him standing bewildered on the beach.
We ended up taking the mysterious roses home with us and the girls continued to play with them at our house. The roses really stink, but it doesn't seem to bother them. My favorite game that they played with the roses was "graduation". You will see it at the end of the video.
After shopping with me today, my little shopping buddy, Erin Joy, got to play in a park for a few minutes while we waited for Rachel. I'm not sure why she felt it was appropriate to drop her pants and urinate in the wood chips. I was mortified. Especially knowing the restroom was right next to the playground. Sheesh!
To end our day, tonight we buried a St. Joseph statue in our yard. I didn't know about this Catholic tradition. I'm certainly not Catholic and I really don't believe burying a silly statue can really help sell a house, but nothing else has seemed to work. New paint, new carpet....that was a waste. I should have just buried the statue over a year ago when I first placed my house on the market!!
Erin Joy also buried the tooth she lost last night. According to Chinese tradition, when a bottom tooth is lost, it is thrown on the roof so the permanent tooth grows in straight and tall. When a top tooth is lost, it is buried so the permanent tooth grows in straight toward the ground. We made our own new tradition of burying St. Joseph with a tooth and making a wish. We figured it couldn't hurt!!
I took so many pictures today. I decided to just make a movie and use the music from the band that our cousins introduced us to last night, Hey Marseilles.
I had a fun birthday! We went to a park with our cousin and good friend. We enjoyed a great band, Hey Marseilles, wonderful garden displays, and fun times playing in the park. My friend bought me their CD and gave it to Rachel to give to me. Very sweet. I really do enjoy their music.
The video above gives a little sampling of the music which is different from any I have heard before. A viola, cello, trumpet, and accordion joined by drums and electric guitars...very interesting and very good. They are going to perform with the Seattle Symphony in October and I'd love to hear them. After the music, you will see the new trick with whipping cream that our cousins taught us. Following the whipping cream trick, you will see video of my girls jumping out of the swings at the same time...they thought that was neat and wanted a video. The last video clip is the sprinkler I want when I have $200 that I can't think of how to spend. I will never have $200 to blow on a sprinkler so I'm hoping my brother can figure out how to make one for less than that. I'm going to make him watch the video.
There were a lot of beautiful garden displays.
I loved all the bonsai displays. What a great use for a Barbie!
Had to go to the park once in a while in between looking at garden displays....
Our cousins watching the band.
There's the expensive sprinkler I want:)
Ideas for my father who loves bonsai gardens:
This is what you should do to your childhood wagon, Dad!
My birthday cake! Yummy strawberry shortcake! Thanks Dan and Crystal!
Five kids all alone on the swings...we discovered we were all alone because the park closed 30 minutes before we left. Ooops. We were having fun:)
These are flowers given to me by my neighbor. What a great birthday surprise!! Happy birthday to me! I'm getting closer to 100 every day (Erin Joy announced my age in her first grade class and then said that my age was very close to 100!)
One of my sweet students gave me a Chinese gong too! I should have taken a picture! I will another day. I'm going to use it to get my student's attention! What a great gift:) Another friend gave me chocolate and perfume. It was a fabulous day indeed:)
