Berry Picking Fun

We took advantage of the most beautiful weather to finally go to a farm to pick berries. Only the blackberries were in season, but we also picked peaches, carrots, lettuce, green peppers and a few tomatoes. This was Indigo's first time on a farm, and the first time for all of us to pick fruits or vegetables. We went to Hollin Farm near Paris, Virginia. This is some of the most picturesque parts of Virginia we have been too. We had so much fun that we definately will do this again!

Indigo's Belated Birthday Party

Better late than never! Since we went to England on the day of Indigo's birthday and then needed time to recover, we delayed her party until early July. It was also one of the first available dates to reserve a beach. Many months ago, Indigo indicated that she wanted a "ladybug" party. So we went with that theme and had a ladybug pinata (handmade by mom and dad), ladybug cupcakes and party favors of shirts with ladybugs and bug stickers! We have many more pics to post so we'll update this at a later date.

July 4th Celebrations and Family Visit

It was a busy July with Clare, Josh, Jacob and baby Sage coming for a visit. Lots of time spent at the beach and in the lake. A visit to the National Zoo was lots of fun. Later in the week Mom & Dad came up as well to join the fun. On July 4th we went to the Spy Museum and then over to the White House, where we had the excitment of a Presidential motorcade returning President Obama home. Before our adventure into the city, we participated in our community July 4th parade all in our red, white and blue. After the fireworks and a terrific barbeque, we had our own celebration of sparklers in our driveway. Indigo may turn out to be a pyro, no fear of the flames!

Click on the link below to view a slideshow:

http://picasaweb.google.com/brookesweiss/July4th?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzJt6K2xbXqVA#slideshow/5361470084201077042

Weekend fun and Purim

On Saturday we went to the stables to play with Dan. After he was all cleaned up Indigo did a couple of laps around the ring on him and then we went off to sushi with Jason, Allyson and their boys - yummy! We had a great afternoon together - the weather was glorious. We stayed outside and washed our cars together. After we got home I went to the fabric store to buy material in an effort to make a Queen Ester costume for Indigo for Purim - yes, I am not in my right mind! I stayed up until 1 a.m. (that is before moving the clock forward an hour) hand sewing this costume. On Sunday we went to Temple for a really fun Purim carnival. Indigo wore her Cinderella princess dress she had fun playing games and winning prizes and using her gragger when she heard the name "Haman". After an afternoon nap, it was so gorgeous out that we hit the playground. We took Egan too and after some serious play and doing the "big slide" we walked through the woods to the dog park so Egan could have a good run. We then walked back to the playground for a bit more play and then home (it was 7 p.m. - got to love daylight savings). Dinner, bath & bed followed thereafter. I was then up until 1 a.m. again working on the Purim costume. Monday was a day of work and after we got her off to bed I worked on the costume until it was finally completed around 12:30 a.m. Again, I think I am nuts. Let us just say that the costume has a huge hem and I intend to have her wear it until she is 20!

In her preschool on Tuesday we had a Purim party and her little class paraded all around the school showing off their costumes and then we joined her music class before taking her out for a nice lunch with mom and dad as a special treat (part of the negotiations of having an almost three year old wear her costume and give a smile or two for the camera :-). She was so excited about us being in her class room that it was almost impossible to get a photo - she was a jumping bean! By the time she stood still, the skirt was a little twisted but you get the basic idea. While her costume may not be haute couture, I don't think it's a bad effort for a hand sewn effort made by a mostly un-crafty mum.

A visit from Sage and a Snowy Day (last weekend of Feb 2009/Beginning March)

We were so excited to have a trip from Granny, Granddad, Clare and Sage! Mom & Dad drove up on Thursday with Clare and Sage (who turned six weeks on March 2). It was wonderful to have them all here. Sage is beautiful and lovely and such a good baby and Clare is doing an awesome job as a mom. The only downside was that we did not also have Josh and Jacob here but we're looking forward to a summer trip from them so that they can enjoy the lake. Given that we had a tiny baby here, the weekend was very mellow, which we needed after all our non-stop activities and my having been sick. The weather was not too charming so it was a good weekend to hole up. Indigo was enamoured of her baby cousin and was very sweet to her and would say "don't cry Baby Sage" and "it's okay sweetie" and she wanted to participate in every diaper change! She told us that Baby Sage "talks" as Sage is really starting to make a lot of cooing and wonderful baby noises, as well as starting to smile which is just to die for. We pretty much played "pass the baby" and Clare was very generous in letting us all have snuggle time with the little princess. Indigo also needed to be sure that she was held plenty and so frequently someone would have both "babies" on their laps. Indigo also loved to sing a lullabye to Sage - Rock a Bye Baby - after requesting each time to first hear the definition of a lullabye. Our family got to hear Indigo's latest favorite word which we have had almost non-stop the past month or so "WHY". However, when Clare turned the cards on her and said "Why", Indigo said, "no, no, no, don't ask why, I already told you". It was a wonderful family weekend. As you can see, Sparkle also thought the baby boppy was a wonderful spot of comfort! It's also cute how my mom was lying with Sage and Sparkle on her lap!

We were lucky to enjoy a Sunday afternoon visit from Cousin Ruth and Anna and Sarah Grace. Late on Sunday we got some serious snow which came down all through the night and was still coming on Monday morning.

The family had planned to leave early Monday morning when we went to work but our roads were a mess and with the snow still coming down it seemed best to wait. As the snow stopped, Dad went out and shoveled our entire driveway - no mean feat! It's long and steep. Thanks Dad - no wonder your muscles look so good in the muscle shirt! The plough had come down the street again by this point and the road seemed relatively safe and so they were in the car and back home to SC by around 12:30 p.m. We look forward to our next family visit and miss having Sage to hold already. After Indigo's nap, she and Daddy made a snowman and then we had a nice cup of hot chocolate - don't you love her grinning with her chocolate mustache!

Great Wolf Lodge FUN - February 20-22nd

Well, no rest for the weary. On Friday morning we were up and packing and getting ready for the next trip. We left Friday and picked up Ellen and Sarah on our way south for our long awaited for visit to Great Wolf Lodge. We were there with a conference being held by OCDF - Our Chinese Daughters Foundation. Great Wolf lodge is a fantastic venue with lodging and a massive indoor water park - what could not be fun about that? Toni, Tom & Erica also came for the weekend, as did Pam, Robert, Elizabeth, Catherine and Peter. It was a great weekend. We had so much fun in the water park, sharing meals together, a little late night Walmart shopping, late night talking, and Chinese market shopping (put on by OCDF) and then some lectures we went to on Saturday given by Jane of OCDF. Thanks to Uncle Rick who watched Indigo and Sarah while they slept so that Ellen, David and I could attend the lectures. We did have a great time - especially on the crazy raft ride! We arrived home late on Sunday afternoon, when I promptly fell ill with what turned out to be sinus infection - oh well, at least it did not wreck the weekend.

Milwaukee, Madison & Jiangxi Girl Reunion (Feb 14-19, 2009)

I had a request to go to our Madison office to conduct some training (Wisconsin in February, who does not want to go there then?). After looking at the calendar, we realized that we had a long weekend in mid-February and so we thought we could take advantage of my needing to go for work, to make it a little fun family trip combined with the work effort). We caught a 7 a.m. flight to Milwaukee on Valentine's Day (got Indigo up when the taxi arrived at 5 a.m. and she talked non-stop from that moment onward, including the entire flight to Milwaukee). We rented a car and drove to our friends, Jennelle & Craig who live in Occonomowoc. They have children Ean and Kaylee and Indigo and Kaylee are just a few weeks apart in age. We had a most marvelous time. After having a chance to rest and relax and catch up a bit, in the afternoon we went to a little local lake and walked out on the frozen lake - very exciting. There were people out there ice fishing - very Fargo. Not quite sure what the allure is of being out in the freezing cold watching over an ice hole but we have heard the fish fry afterwards is really tasty. Ean and Kaylee did wonderful snow angels - Indigo was suspect of that activity.

On Sunday we went to the Domes, which are these incredible glass atrium type things in which there are the most beautiful gardens, a show garden in which they were having a legoland and train display, a wonderful dessert garden and a tropical rain forest type garden - quite remarkable considering the weather outside. Sunday was David's birthday and he was treated like the king he is - amazing steaks from the local butcher and Jennelle baked him a cake. On Monday, which was a work holiday for us, we took Indigo into Milwaukee to visit the folks we work with in the Milwaukee office (no holiday for them). Indigo had a lot of fun and enjoyed all the attention. On Tuesday, Jennelle looked after Indigo while both David and I went to work for the day in our Milwaukee office. On Tuesday night, we had one final spectacular meal created by Jennelle and then around 8ish left for Madison. Indigo chatted the entire to Madison. The roads were a bit dicy as there was some sleet but we made it to Madison safe (and still married). David and Indigo took me to the Madison office on Wednesday where I conducted training all day. David and Indigo visited the people David knows in the office and went to lunch with one of his colleagues at a fun place called Ella's Deli which apparently has a ton of fun mechanical toys for kids to see. David & Indigo picked me up from the office and we drove to meet friends, Chad & Jennifer who had driven to the Madison that day for some training that Jennifer was going to be doing for her company. We met Chad & Jennifer in China and we were together in the same room when we each received our daughters that hot July 1st day in Nanchang, the capitol city of Jiangxi, Indigo's province. They live in Minnasota, so the Madison weather was practically balmy for them. Despite the 360 spin we did on the road (I am not joking) on the way to meet them, everything was wonderful. It was so special to see the girls together again and to have all that catching up to do. We hung out in their hotel room for a while, then went out for dinner and then came back and let the girls bath together and get into their jammies. Elyana is just a delight and it's just wonderful to know that we'll have this lifelong connection to these families with whom we shared this momentous moment - it's like all being in a delivery room together and having multiple births. The next day, while I was training again, David took Indigo back to their hotel and the girls got to play again. David picked me up around 4 p.m. and we headed back to the Milwaukee airport. We flew out after 7 p.m. and arrived safely in Virginia around 10ish). We were home by 11 and off to bed to be ready for the adventures that the Friday would bring. It was a great trip and I just have to say that Indigo was so great about all the travel, all the changes in sleeping arrangements etc. she just took them all in stride.