Reindeer and Ice Skating at the San Francisco Zoo

Sunday we went to the city to the Zoo. It's been a long time since we've been to the zoo, more than a year to be exact...

Sunday had the opening of the holiday festivities, complete with 4 reindeer and an ice skating rink.

We met up with Anna, Steven and Norah for a fun afternoon. Of course the afternoon ended at the Beach Chalet, a most fantastic place right across from Ocean Beach..we had a table by the window watching the crazy 20ft. waves crashing and a gorgeous sunset...

a little girl chat on the ice...this picture cracks me up as one tushie is covered in ice...

Catie can't get her legs under her..and I'm trying to keep her from falling...

Meigan and Norah tearing up the ice...they were so funny pushing these orange buckets around...which I have to say is a genious idea..more ice rinks should do that for little skaters...it spares the parents backs from breaking, and it keeps the little ones from getting tangled up in grownup skates...

Catie posing on the eagle board...

There were 4 female reindeer here...poor gals needed some snow...

Long time..no posting...

Well, here it is a few days after Turkey Day......Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and didn't eat too much turkey and fixings....We behaved...just the 4 of us were here, so not a whole lot of food...besides, we just got home the night before Turkey Day from 10 days in Cabo San Lucas...it was our yearly jaunt to Baja for sun, swimming, dolphin rides, and tequila.....and we tacked on 3 extra days to our trip this year which was really great!

I am putting at the bottom of this picture fest, the pictures from Halloween...since I was so bad and didn't post anything on here since October 11th.....I swear..time goes by so fast and I don't even know how it happens...

Soccer came and went for both girls...they had a great season...Catie played her first year of Under 10girls..and her team finished 2nd in the league, one point out of first place, and sadly they lost in the league playoffs...it was a great experience for her and more competitive than last year..she really learned how to play and hold her position and she was inches from a goal in one game...it was lot for her to become aggressive and really want that ball and go after it..but once it clicked, she really did fantastic!!

Meig played Under 6 co-ed...which was a riot...she was always running up and down the field and always had that smile on her face...even got a goal in one game...she was a riot to watch...

so, no activities until after the Christmas break when Catie will start basketball....then that'll end and swimming will start in March...and on it goes again....

enjoy the pictures...


Meig getting her hair braided....Catie did hers too...they looked very cute!

fun in the warm Sea of Cortez with Daddy....

highlight of the trip....swimming with the dolphins.....

henna tatoos.....

cute balloon animals from the clown guy at Mi Casa..

caught sneaking some of Mommy's margarita.....

and by the 9th night...this is how Meig finished dinner...

HALLOWEEN:

Dorothy and the Wicked Witch ready to trick or treat....

Catie and her friends in the big parade at school...

Meigan in her first Halloween Parade in school. The kinders had their own parade separate from the big kids one that took place earlier in the day...

at the pumpkin patch she picked the biggest pumpkin....

Meig's first ride on a school bus...kindergarten field trip to the Pumpkin Patch...

GO RED SOX!!!! GO RED SOX!!!! GO RED SOX!!!!

Yes, it's been almost 2 months since my last blog post...how that happened, I"m not sure...

but I'll update later on...for now...

GO RED SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is a giant double sized Red Sox towel that my parents found for us...it's hanging on my front porch for every Sox game!!!!!!!!!

Officially a Kindergartener

well, today it happened...Meig is officially a school girl...first day of kindergarten...BIG STUFF!

she was SO excited this morning...up and dressed by 7am..so funny...off she went at 11:30am backpack and lunchbox in hand...she had a great day.... can't believe she's in kindergarten...didn't we just bring her home???

7 Years Ago today........

We met this stunningly gorgeous 1yrs. old in the Swan Room at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China. She took our breaths away...We arrived at the hotel childless and within an hour we were parents to this gorgeous girl... 7 years...how did that go by so fast?? In those 7 years, Catie you have become this amazing child...you are funny, sweet, stubborn, smart, you LOVE to read, love swimteam, soccer and are a wonderful, mostly patient big sister. We are so proud of you Catie and we love you so very much!!!

4 Years Ago Today....

Our Meigan became part of our family forever!!!

It is hard to believe that 4 years have gone by...we hardly remember that tiny 16lb. one year old who came into the room smiling....but boy has she grown and changed in 4 years...she's a bright light in our lives, always smiling...fiesty as can be, naughty and still cuddly and loves to be held....she's funny as can be and she can irritate Catie to the ends of the earth..... We love you so our Meig...

here are some pictures from that amazing day...August 10, 2004...Guangzhou, China

Brian, Catie and I see Meigan coming in to the room towards us.....

here she is being carried to us by the Nanny...
I'd just taken Meigan from the orphanage nanny...

and that Nanny was present in Aug 2001 when we got Catie...

Catie gets to hold her little sister for the first time....(look how little Catie looks....she was just 4yrs. old)
poor little Meig..she's not too sure about things now....


and our big 5 year old....ready to start kindergarten on Aug. 20th.....

Saturday Aug. 2 - Group 93 Reunion

On Saturday we went down to Santa Cruz to Seabright Beach to meet up with old friends and most of our travel group from when we went to China in 2004 for Meigan. It was a BLAST! Soooo much fun to see everyone and see how the girls have grown. We haven't had a reunion in almost 2yrs. so this was impromptu and just fantastic!! Catie and Zoe who are the same age and came home a few months apart and have been buds for years, picked up like they'd seen each other last weekend. It was all Harry Potter talk for the 2 of them and they just reconnected brilliantly. Meigan and Mae are G93 babies (Meig from Maoming and Mae from Ningdu) and you'd have thought that these 2 had seen each other a week ago as well...running in and out of the waves...It was just FUN!!

Catie's the older "Maoming Sister" and Meigan, Grace, Nora, Emma and Claire are the little "Maoming sisters" Mae, and Emily Holguin are the Ningdu girls from Jiangxi Province, and Zoe is the ChaoHu girl from Anhui Prov.

Here's hoping that the next gathering of these girls isn't so far away!!

Here are the G93 girls Aug 2008 at the ages of 5, or close to 5..and their siblings...

and here are the G93 girls in August 2004 at the ages of 13mos. or younger......

(hint..Meig is the first one on the left)

Grace Smith (left) and Meigan are buried in sand.....

Mae and Gracie buried....

Meigan and Mae posing....

The Moms...

the Dads.....

and the one parent who just couldn't leave the kids toys alone.....Lisa.......

Summertime fun on HOT HOT HOT days

The temps have been well into the 100's this week here...so Catie, Meigan and Norah have been having some fun in our pool....