It's a beautiful day!!

Easter Morning dawned bright and clear. What a wonderful day! We don't get to use our deck very much because it is so cold in the winter and usually too hot during the summer. Days like these are few and far between so we use them to our advantage when they come along! I bet this was the kind of beautiful day that welcomed Jesus back too!

This morning was perfect to have brunch out. The girls enjoyed the fresh air and I even gave them a beautiful centerpiece to enjoy! Actually, our one and only house plant needed some R&R and a good soaking, so it went out to catch a few rays too!

Then we had work to do!! It was time to color Easter eggs! My bad!! I only hard boiled two dozen eggs...what was I thinking?!? Well, we made do with what we had and used two different kinds of dyeing kits. It was thumbs down for the "Bright and Shiny" kit. First you dye the eggs then wait for them to dry and then after smearing around glue until it was "tacky" then you were supposed to be able to stick a color leaf/shiny stuff to the egg. We were pretty disappointed that all we accomplished was sticky fingers! The other kit was easy and fun, but I obviously didn't have enough eggs to do! So you live and learn and Mom will make a mental note to do many more eggs next year! There were only two casualties of the process. Kendalan dropped two eggs splat on the floor!

Then it was time to eat the eggs! The Easter Bunny had left baskets for the girls and they found them first thing in the morning. We didn't do a "hunt" at our house..we worked hard on the eggs and then even harder peeling and eating them! It was the first time to peel eggs for a couple of the girls and very interesting to watch them try!

Alexis did an updo on our blog!

This is what the header did look like. I am amazed at how much they have grown!!

It has been quite a while since the photos on the header have been updated. I contacted Alexis at Blog designs by Alexis and sent her our updated photos and she did a great job! Now all seven of us are in the family photo and the girls have their pretty new updated photos on the Header. Alexis does a wonderful job and it just down right amazes me...she is in high school and does this to help raise money to donate to organizations in China to help those left behind. I would highly recommend Alexis if you want any changes done to your blog!!

A view out our door.

The last couple of days our windows and doors have been open. Not so much because we like fresh air, cuz we do, but because our air conditioner decided that it was just not going to make it through the summer. I guess it is a good thing that it broke down before our summer has officially started. We have had a couple of windy, warm days and one long hot night since the AC passed. After our long, cold winter it has been kind of like saying, "out with the old air and in with the new!"

As the doors have been open I have had more time to stand in front of them and gaze out. We are very blessed to have a nice view. Neighbors far enough away that they can't hear us breathing! A nice mix of critters...far enough away to enjoy and not close enough to smell!





Since it was the weekend...that means the girls have been home from school. Sunday afternoon I hear the familiar sound of the Ice Cream man coming down our street. A couple of the girls were watching TV and the others were downstairs playing Wii. It didn't take long for them to come running when I yelled "The ice cream truck is here!" He had already pulled into the neighbors driveway, so the girls waited patiently in our driveway for him.






Tonight we had a break from the warm weather teaser we have been having. It wasn't enough of one to stop the girls from going out to play after supper. But it did chase them back in to get jackets and put socks and shoes on! It was also cold enough that our windows and doors will be closed tonight.

Play hard, sleep hard

Our last full day in Branson found us doing a little more shopping. Since the pool was closed, we had five unhappy campers on our hands. After scoring cotton candy at WalM@rt we headed down to the Landing where the critters were properly outfitted!! Then we ended the day at the Crab Shack!!





I guess all the fresh air and exercise walking on the Landing did them in. But then it could have been sugar induced?? It was probably just all the fun we had while on spring break that did them in.

New Shanghai Circus

After doing a little shopping at the Tanger Outlet Shops in the morning, Monday afternoon we attended the 3pm Acrobats show. Our family went to this two years ago for the Chinese Children's Reunion. They told us that the show is brand new this year. It does have some of the same things that we have seen before. I was disappointed that they have taken the drummers out of the show, but the show was still great!






It was over way too soon and it was time for L. and her family to head back home. We decided that it was time for some home cooking. After a quick stop at the grocery store, we were back at our home away from home and I cooked supper. The girls wanted to go swimming after we ate and were very unhappy that the pool was closed!! What?!?! And it doesn't reopen until we leave Wednesday!! I bet the management could feel the wrath of my angry girls!!

~~Spring break~~

We have been waiting for this since Christmas time. Spring break!! Time for a change of scenery! We packed early Saturday morning, dropped the dog off at the kennel and drove to Branson!



We are not only getting a break, we are getting a chance to see L. and her family! L. was adopted the same day, from the same place Tessa was. We spent a lot of our time in China with L. and her family and we are so excited to get to spend time with them now!





Everyone came over to our digs last night. While the kids became reacquainted, we adults caught up.





Bright and early this morning we headed to Silver Dollar City! (Or as we now fondly think of it "Steal your Dollar City" ouch...it is expensive!!) Our first time there. The kids had a total blast riding the rides. You can tell from the smiles on their faces that the kids were excited!! It was hard to get them to break for lunch! Then we moved on to another area of the park. It was a beautiful day to be there. Sunny, warm almost hot and the perfect weather for enjoying friends and a fun place to be. The kids really enjoyed the rides!






The last couple of rides that we did were water related. It was a good thing too as my face was getting sunburned and I needed some cooling off! Of course, the most popular ride at the park requires the longest waiting time...90 minutes later we were on the boat and away we went! Funny how fast the girls forgot how bored they were in line and all the moaning and groaning about having to wait so long turned into "can we ride that again?"

The day flew by and before we knew it the park was closing. After dinner our family came back to our home away from home and four of the girls decided they needed a bath in the big tub. It was more of a party than a bath!




The major frustration of our trip so far....internet access has been fickle. Who'd of thunk that of all the international travel that we do and here we are in Missouri and I can't upload photos to the blog!! Stay tuned for photos!!!

Always something unexpected!

It began like any other school day. The bus pulls away from the house and a sudden quiet settles over the house. Then the phone rings....school nurse says that Kendalan is in her office with a low grade temperature. So Daddy picks her up and brings her home. Mom rechecks her temp and now it is one degree higher than the nurse reported. I start with the Mommy interrogation...do you hurt anywhere? Is your throat sore? She admits that her tummy "kind of" hurts. After poking around I narrow the area down to the right lower portion. Then I check her temp again....it is now almost 1 degree higher than it was about 30 minutes ago. I holler at Daddy to have him call the peds nurse. It wasn't long before we had the call.."Take her to the emergency room."

It was a very (very, very!) long wait once we arrived at noon, but at 7:30 p.m. she was wheeled off to the operating table to have her appendix removed.



Even though she was feeling pretty bad at this minute after the IV was started..my girl can still manage a weak smile when the camera comes out!!!

She was checked into her room after 9:30 p.m. Needless to say, Mom did not get much sleep last night! Daddy came in this morning to relieve Mom so she could run home and have a shower....and I thought grab a nap.

Then another call from the nurse...Tessa has a temp!! So off to the school to bring home a very sleepy Tessa, who other than a little fever and her "legs aching" has been okay since she arrived home. Mommy and Tessa did get about a 90 minute nap and off to the hospital we went. We switch...Daddy takes Tessa back home while Mommy stays with Kendalan to bring her home. It is now 8:30 p.m. and all the girls are tucked into their beds.

Just another day at the VanCamp house!!


Daddy gets a free "cat scan" at our house...too bad insurance doesn't pay for this!!