Poor Ash! ... May 28, 2012

Ashley is quite sensitive to mosquito bites, as you can see!  This wasn't even as bad as it got.  I had to keep her home from school for 2 days because her left eye was swollen shut, and her right eye was half swollen shut.  Unfortunately the mosquitos in Shanghai are plentiful!

New Dresses ... May 27, 2012

I had some new white dresses made for the girls and me at the fabric market.  I am a sucker for girls in white dresses... they have far too many, but I couldn't resist this eyelet.  And I LOVE when Ryan wears his seersucker jacket, so today made for a good picture day!  If only I could get Ryan to keep his shirt tucked in for more than 3 minutes;)

Not sure what he is contemplating here, but I was glad I quickly got a smile out of him!

Ryan's 4th Birthday ... May 23, 2012

Ryan's big day began with the traditional birthday chocolate chip pancakes.  This was Ryan's first time in school on his birthday, and he quickly learned how fun it was to be the Birthday Boy in his class!!  I made lots of BLUE cupcakes for his friends and Miss Megan treated him very special as well!  And he got lots of Superhero presents!  He was a happy boy!

This is one of my favorite parts of the day.  Every morning, after we drop off his bag and books, we go to the front of the school and the kids play until the bell rings and they line up with their class.  Every morning Ryan get in the Peacocks line and he and Sophie have a very sweet goodbye hug and kiss.  I love it!

Aaron's Trip to ... May 22, 2012

Ashley's Sports Day ... May 21, 2012

Ash had a GREAT time at the Year 2 Sports Day.  They went up to the Main Campus pitch and Ash did a great job for Shackleton.  You can tell she had a great time because she is grinning from ear to ear in every picture!

Bathtime! ... May 21, 2012

Someday I will miss this!  I think I initially took this picture because there is such a dichotomy of Ryan and Sophie's coloring.  Sophie is so fair and Ryan is so brown... but this picture didn't really show that very clearly.  In looking at it again, it just makes me reflect on how quickly time goes by.  Katie and Ashley don't need help showering (although that is sometimes debatable), and soon Ryan will want to be independent too.  Bath toys will be a thing of the past and we will look back with a little relief, but with more of a longing for the time they were small... so I am grateful to be right in the middle of it right now.  My aching back and all.  

FOBISSEA Banquet ... May 20, 2012

What an amazing weekend!  We were so thrilled that Katie got to have such a wonderful experience competing in these games.  She came home with 12 medals and so much confidence!  We were so proud of these girls and all that they accomplished.  We were also so happy that all of the schools involved, the athletes, coaches and parents alike, had SUCH great sportsmanship.  I noticed from Katie's first race that the mom of a girl Katie just beat was one of the first to congratulate Katie.  It was that way all weekend.  The coaches were so supportive and positive.  The banquet was a great way to end the weekend.  The parents and families were encouraged to leave and the kids continued to party at a big dance!  

And below was the assembly at school where the FOBISSEA kids were able to bring in all of their medals and show them off:)

More of Ho Chi Minh City ... May 20, 2012

After a big day of soccer, we had some time before the banquet to see a few more things around town.  We went to the War Remnants Museum first.  Again, interesting the angle that the Vietnamese view the  "American War".  I am the first to admit we made a lot of poor choices, but this was a bit over the top.  There were also a number of rooms we didn't take Ashley and Ryan into because the pictures were too graphic.  

I thought a lot of my Uncle Tom while we were here.  He was a helicopter pilot during The Vietnam War.  He was shot down a few times and survived it well!  

We love to check out the local marketplaces... well, the tourist's marketplaces anyhow.  We are always searching for our picture and Christmas ornaments for the kids.

This is the entrance to one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants, Viet Nam House.  Each night we would order so much food that the waiters would have to tell us to stop ordering.  They had no idea how much we could put down.  Every night we cleared all our dishes clean!  The food was fabulous!!!!

The Opera House