New Jersey Visit

Gabriella loved this "jack in the box" toy

Isabelle being silly

David Dine-- such a sweetie!

Gabriella and Isabelle's second cousin

Isabelle and David playing

Jeff (David's dad) is helping mediate

Shakespeare Book

Apparently, Trav's Polish Great Grandfather 

read this plowing the fields 

Isabelle and David having some snacks

This was a cool "learning tower" thing David eats his food on

We drove to New Jersey on June 25th to see Trav's cousin (Deborah Dine) and her lovely family (husband Jeff and son David). We stayed for about two days... It was so nice to catch-up and they have a gorgeous house in this really neat area of New Jersey that's close by everything. Highlights include... going to the community pool that had a slide (gabby loved that slide!), eating some yummy deli and bbq'd food, and watching a procession of some Italian saint where you pin a dollar to it for blessings or something like that. This happened down the street. Kind of random but an interesting cultural event for Gabby to witness-- lots of "Soprano" type Italians... We obviously don't see a lot of Italians in China or in Washington. The best part is getting re-connected with family and for the girls to meet their second cousin, David. Good times. :)

Washington DC Trip

Silly girls! 

First Day in DC... We did it!

Isabelle

Dancing to Michael Jackson

from the "Glee" Episode

Cheese!

Sisters

Havin' a Laugh with Sister

Cliff, Rachel, Travis, and the Girls

Restaurant at the National Zoo

The Whole Gang

Cliff Pushed the Stroller Most of the Time,

Since Isabelle was being Fussy. He was a pro!

Washing Hands after the Petting Zoo

Love my Family!

Looking at Animals

Mama and Her Girls at the White House

Grumpy Gabby!

The Tebo Family

Tebo Girls

Rainy Day in DC

We took Isabelle to the doctor for pink eye

Georgetown Cupcakes

from the "DC Cakes" TV Show. They were okay. 

I walked my hot pregnant booty by myself to find this!

Gabriella at the Strawberry Festival

Isabelle- the croquet Expert now

Gabby met some friends

at the Strawberry Festival

Cherry, Travis, Gabriella, Cara

lil boy, Santi and a sleepy Isabelle

Reunion of Friends after 26 Years!

Jennifer Trabosh and Cara

The Tebo family LOVES Washington DC but holy cow it's hot and humid... Luckily, Trav's friend from elementary school, Cari Munro, let him and the girls stay at her house (an entire basement!) while I attended a college counseling conference at Georgetown. He is so awesome for doing that and the girls had a good time and finally got over their jet-lag.

As with all of my time off from being a mom and wife... I miss my family! Now off on our east coast road trip!

Gabriella's 5th Birthday Party

Birthday Invitation

Gluten Free "Barbie Mermaid" Cupcakes

"Barbie Mermaid" Party Favors

Yummy Food

Almost everything was GF, except for the cinnamon rolls

Lots of Pressies!

The Birthday Girl!

Gabriella and her BFF Emily

Bracelet/Necklace Making Table

Coloring and Glitter Project Table

"Barbie Mermaid" Pinata!

Waiting patiently for her Birthday Cupcake

You can see the chocolate in her teeth. Ha!

I cant believe she'll be 5 soon!

Blowing out the Candles

Reagan, Gabriella, and Kate

The Whole Gang! 23 Kids!

Sophia and Gabriella

We met her parents at childbirth class!

It's awesome watching these guys grow up together.

Wow- the Birthday girl really made out!

Every year, since Gabriella has a summer birthday (June 28th), she gets to choose where she wants her birthday-- either in China or in Washington State. At Christmas time, she still wanted to have it in the States, which suits me fine. Much easier and it'd be just family. As with most four-year-olds, she changed her mind because she wanted her friends to be there. Fair enough. This typically isn't a big deal but I wasn't prepared and didn't bring any GF cupcake mix, party favors, etc. from the States. Luckily, my awesome friend Carolyn Kurtzig, was going back for a wedding and brought me back a bunch of stuff. Thank the Lord! Anyhoo, Gabby really wanted the theme Barbie Mermaid, so I got some pictures from the internet and had some students make me cupcake, pinata, and party favor decorations... We had the party at the PreK-4 playground at ISB. Travis made a mix of Barbie songs and other music Gabby loves (like Lady Gaga) and we had the cupcake/birthday song shin-dig in another room. Good thing we did that because it was SUPER hot and everything would have melted... All in all, a ton of work but the kiddies had fun so it was totally worth it!

Isabelle is 16 Months

"Oo, Oo, Oo" Face

We make this face to her all the time and she's copying yet

It totally cracks us up!

16 Months Old 

Close-up Shot

She LOVES playing with this camera lens cover

I cant believe I haven't lost it yet.

Daddy and his girls

Just a tad hot at the BIBA Spring Fair

If I didn't realize this already, I sure do now. We are in full blown toddler-mode. The best part is watching her language develop... She says, "Cheese," and "Xie Xie" (Thank you in Chinese). This is the age where they comprehend more then they can speak... the coolest part is watching her understand in two different languages. Chen ayi will tell her that it's time to go and to put her shows on (in Chinese) and she does this... the same when I talk to her in English. The more challenging part of this age is that we rarely go out to eat, unless there's a play area.

Some other developments:

- She's eating lost of different things and is becoming a master with biting, even though she doesn't have all her teeth. Cheese, bread, blueberries, and hotdogs seem to be her favorite. 

- Her hair is getting a little bit longer and there's a slight curl now.

- She loves being around kids and is very social, just like Gabriella was at her age

- When she wants something she goes for it... she literally pushed and shoved Gabriella on the way to get on my lap