trace

picincing (xi gua!)
being silly

this weekend was memorial day, which both children enjoyed (how can a 3 year old not love having candy thrown at them?). we had a picnic with some friends later, and that was also well received.

sorry this is all the pictures i have for this week, but it has been warm this week. this means that the children don't seem to want to wear clothes... as much as we try to make sure they are dressed when they go outside, rarely are they still dressed when they return to the house :). (although, admittedly, skin cleans a lot easier than fabric...) trace did find a forever-favorite shirt the other day: it has a motorcycle on it. even though it is also a dark color and long sleeved so he roasts... but he roasts in style, you see, and don't dare suggest he wear a more weather appropriate garment.

until next time---

ready...

candy!

checking over the loot

(apparently i liked this one so well i added it twice!)

today we moved the pool and filled it with clean water

maybe someday jade will fit into a size 8 flip-flop. but at the rate she's going, i highly doubt it :)

the weather is warmer these last few days, which means trace and jade have totally abandoned the tv. they spend hours upon hours outside: riding their bikes, jumping on the trampoline and playing in the dirt. this is prime baseball season, so almost nightly, they get to go to either trevor or trent's games which they LOVE. it was kind of funny, last week we had a very bad storm. everyone had just arrived at trent's game when they learned of a tornado warning and cancelled it. trace and jade (who didn't get the whole "dangerous weather phenomenon" thing) started to cry at the idea of leaving the baseball field without watching a game!

today the temperture peaked around 90, so we got out the wading pool (hopefully we can get the big pool opened this weekend). they loved it. they loved throwing dirt in it. they loved pouring the water into and out of various recepticles. it was hard to get good pictures for the blog, though, because apparently clothing (even a bathing suit) was not required for this activity. so, you will notice, that all pictures are chest and up. there is a reason for this :). but they had an excellent time, and i know they will sleep well tonight :).

i bought a watermelong (xi gua!) at the grocery store yesterday. trace loved it :).

trace's english is coming right along. he didn't go from nothing to a few words, to sentences; he's basically jumped in with complete sentences/phrases. there's a lot less chinese these days, although rumor has it that all of trent's friends now say 'hao bu hao' to each other in the hallway at school. 'hao bu hao' literally means 'good bad', kind of like saying, 'ok?'. we say it alot around our house; you know, is orange juice ok to drink this meal, hao bu hao?, etc. and our linguistics have caught on in greater edwardsburg :).
enjoy the pictures!

jade was so busy pouring that this was the lone photo op
yes the water is muddy. guess who decided they wanted it that way?

(hint: they think as a unit)

i love these last two pictures!!!

even more fun than swimming and sliding is pouring
and pouring...
...and splashing...
...and pondering the finer points of life as we know it...

sometimes the balls go beyond the retrieving retriever, so father and trace went to seek them out

off into the sunset
jade is pondering other athletic persuits :)

trace has amazing concentration, and hits the ball just about every pitch
the happy, baseball retrieving... retriever :)
father & son

trace is learning baseball from only the best :)

jade with a bucket on her head really doesn't have a lot to do with baseball, besides the fact that she did this while playing...

the trampoline is an especially fun place to pound on someone

even father couldn't resist the allure of the trampoline on a pleasant evening :).