Turn the Whole Thing Upside Down 221/365

I've been watching LeeLee this week, and I have determined that she spends half of her life upside down.  Whether on land.......

 or in water, she just likes being upside down.  She always has.  One of her favorite songs is Jack Johnson's Upside Down.  The song kept ringing through my head today as I watched her.

Hunter has been my big helper this week, and I so appreciate him.  He is tough and he will brain storm and figure out solutions to any problem, except for how to get us back into the house after he locked us out today.  No worries, it only took me about 30 minutes to break in.  Good thing I have a conscience, because I can get into just about any house if you give me a little time.

I try to be so diligent with Noelle's sunscreen.  I try hard to stay out of the sun, as I just don't really think wrinkled is attractive.  Today, she spent some good time with Pippa and I under the umbrella.

Paul surprised everyone when he showed up to the pool in the afternoon.  They were even more excited when he jumped directly into the pool and became an instant jungle gym.  He made yesterday's stunt seem so easy.

 Maybe tomorrow he can stack three kids on his shoulders.  It sure is nice to have him here!

Hope has really come a long way with her swimming this summer.  I think it helps that one of the baby sitters they had while I was in China was a swimmer for the University of Kentucky.  I am so proud of her being able to swim all over the deep end with no problems.  I don't think I'll ever truly relax when the kids are swimming, but it helps tons to know she can swim across the pool now.

Simple Fun 220/365

So, there they are, my four kiddos.  We stopped off at the pool after a fun filled day on the beach.  Glad we did, because they kept me laughing.

I wonder how many more times she will fall for, "Hey Hope, hold this up to your face."  At first she always seems surprised, but then she always laughs, so she may never learn.

Then there was LeeLee who says, "Mom get your camera ready, because this is gonna be great." Oh yes LeeLee this is great.....

but to me, this is greater!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Day 219/365

 Hunter and I headed out first thing for our favorite spot on the Cape, the bay.  We both love nature, and nature abounds in the bay.  We were excited to see that we were going to be all alone on our adventure.

However, it didn't take us long to realize that you are never really quite alone here.  Four beautiful deer came down to the waters edge.  We were surprised to see that all four of them were bucks.

Then it didn't take long for us to realize that we were again surrounded by sting rays.  This has become a theme on our outings.  We found tons of sand dollars, but most of them were alive, so we only walked away with two beautiful ones that were already dead.

As soon as we got back, the girls were ready to hit the beach.  The waves were great today, so there was lots of fun to be had by all.

 When they wanted a rest from the waves, they covered themselves with sand.  I truly can't imagine anything any worse!

 This little one wants to do everything that this big girl does.  After some encouragement.....

she decided to sand surf on her own.  In fact, she made it look so fun that the others joined her.  Way to go Hope for coming up with something fun to do on your own.  I'm proud of you!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Much Needed 218/365

In an attempt to get caught up, I am going to go ahead and get back on schedule of doing the current day.  I will still be making up the missed days, so if you want to read, then you will just have to back up past this post to see what I have added.  The flu was an unexpected misery that consumed my life.  Today is the first day I haven't fallen asleep before 5 p.m. only to wake up and be miserable later.  Thanks for all the prayers and the sweet calls and messages of encouragement while I was sick.  I haven't fully recovered, but today I am counting my sweet blessings!

After hearing Noelle say, "Mom, it's like your home, but your really not,"  I got determined to try and make up my absent weeks from their lives.  Generally when I get home from China, I am refreshed, but not this time.  I was wiped out from the flu. I kept trying hard to make it just one day without needing an extra three to four hours sleep in the middle of the day.  I had to think, what would make all of this better...well of course the beach.  After all, I could rest, Pippa could get refreshed, and the kids could have fun.  I was nervous about driving down here with the kids and dogs considering how tired I have been, but I made it.  Pippa has already been surfing in the ocean and catching the breeze that so desperately helps her old bones.

The kids have been catching the waves and swimming in the pool.  They are thrilled to be back!  On the way down here Hope asked, "Mommy, where is your favorite place?"  I answered her with China of course, and she replied, "Hopey's favorite place is the beach!"  I'm glad it's her favorite place because we are here to stay for a while.

A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.  Proverbs 7:22

The Never Ending Day 205/365

He headed out of Hong Kong early.  We traveled for over 14 hours, and arrived back in the US just two hours after we left Hong Kong.  It is crazy how gaining 13 hours back works.  This picture has turned out to be one of the favorites from the trip.  They think it looks like an album cover.  I think they look tired.  We wondered around all trying to get something familiar and good for lunch.  I opted for Chili's chips and queso.  Oh, it was so good!

 Once we sat down at our gate in the Detroit airport, we started losing them.  While they caught a nap, Blake and I skype called Hong Kong to see if we could begin the recovery process of his cell phone that he had left in the safe.  We had success.

Once we landed in Atlanta, we headed to a good ole southern place....The Chick Fil A Dwarf House.  Hopey even came along to greet us.  As much as I hated leaving China, it felt good to be home.

Well Hello Hong Kong 204/365

Morning sure did come early!  We jumped up and dressed quickly then headed out the door.  We had some goodbyes that we didn't want to say.  As our luggage was being loaded, I asked all the students to make sure they had their hands on their passports.

That is when James says, "Oh, we need those?"  Why yes James, we do.  We are leaving China so it's kinda important.  (He has a different version of what he said, but I have witnesses.)  Anyway, he flips open his suitcase and starts to dig through it right there in the parking lot.  There wasn't much in his suitcase, so I'm thinking he maybe should've taken us up on packing offer.  Anyway, he and I went back to his room, and we found it.  We were late to the airport then had issues with ticketing.  I wasn't about to give up, and finally got our tickets issued, and we barely made our plane to Hong Kong.  Once we arrived in Hong Kong the girls saw the ad for Disneyland and it was all over from there.

 Since I love Disney, I was more than happy to go along with this plan.

 It was neat to go there.  It kinda lifted our depressed spirits.  Somehow Disney has a way of doing that.

Disneyland Hong Kong has the exclusive Toy Story Land, and it was neat!  It wore me out though.  I was too tired to venture out and take them to the harbor.  We went back to the hotel and skyped with camp.  We were already missing our friends.  I turned in early so I could have the energy to get us all home.

A Day for Rest 203/365

After our emotional Friday, I really just wanted to rest.  We all went to eat lunch and dinner together.

By this time, the other volunteers are your family.  This girl, Laura, was super special to me.  She was adopted from China as an infant.  She came back to China for three weeks of camp and was such an amazing young lady.  She had tons of spunk and reminds me tons of my LeeLee.

After dinner, we hit the street food again.  If it wasn't for the street food, I think me may have all perished.  Now that I am on this side of China, I can tell you that I lost five pounds.  That has seriously never happened before in China, the food was just that bad.

We checked in on James to make sure he was packing.  He was not, we offered to help, but he didn't want it.  He had gotten sick from the food, and it really wasn't pretty.  To spice things up a bit, the girls blew up lots of rocket balloons and put them in his dark room and let them fly around.  We thought it was really funny....he did not.

We stayed up and talked with our friends and packed.  Everyone was dreading to departure.  No one wanted to go home to their soft beds, good food, or the comforts of their former lives.  It made my heart smile.  China has that affect on me, and it was nice to see it in the others.

After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn't let him return home. And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. 1 Samuel 18:1-3