Learning to Read

First Day of Preschool

Bryn started preschool last Monday. She was so excited she could hardly wait for the weekend to be over. Usually she doesn't like Mondays because it means we go back to work and she goes back to daycare but last weekend couldn't go fast enough for her. Girard told her to enjoy her last "free" weekend because for the next 60 years she'd either be in school or working. I think he's a bit jaded. :)

I signed up to be the helping parent for Bryn's first day. On the way to school she said "I don't need you to be there Mom, you can go to work. I'll be fine by myself, I don't need any help." (Sniff.) It took some convincing but I finally got her to believe I was going to assist the teacher, not her. Which wasn't entirely true because one of the reasons I volunteered for the first day was for me. :) I still can't believe she's old enough to be starting preschool. My baby isn't a baby anymore. Or even a toddler. She's a little girl. And I'm so proud of her and the little person she's growing up to be.

Bryn loved her first day and it was wonderful to see her having such a great time. Because I was the helping parent she got to be the teacher's special assistant -- she put the date up on the calendar, she led the way to gym, she got to take something for show and tell -- it was a very exciting day. She can't believe how many toys there are, she's amazed at the indoor sandbox and of course, she loves snack time. She likes her teacher and doesn't seem to mind she's the only girl in class with four little boys.

Here are some photos from her first official day of school, her orientation day (a week before actual classes began) and also her first day of dance class. She had a busy week!

Going into school for the very first time on Orientation Day.

So excited to have her very own locker.

The kids met their teacher and got to check out their class.

An indoor sandbox!

Yay! First day of school!

All ready to go.

Hurry up Mom, let's go!

My big girl. It was cold that day and she didn't want to pose for long.

Practicing her moves before dance class.

One final pose for the camera before the parents were shooed out the door. We were allowed to peek through a little window to watch for awhile but couldn't stay for the class. This dance stuff is serious business!

Summer (and Spring) in a Nutshell

When I first started this post I thought I was pretty much caught up except for the past couple of months. Then I looked back to check when I'd last done an update (other than our reunion posts) and I see I haven't posted since Bryn's birthday in February. Sheesh.

Let's just say we've been busy. Two reunions, a few road trips, family visits, a big anniversary, the Ex, FolkFest, a Sesame Street concert, plus the usual summer stuff — and now it's almost fall. Bryn will be in preschool in a couple of weeks. Oh. My. Lord. How did that happen???

She's so excited about school. She's excited about her new backpack and about having a teacher and about taking a snack to school (though with Bryn whenever there's food involved she's excited). She isn't too keen on not being home two mornings a week, or the fact that even though she's in school she still has to go to daycare in the afternoon. And she says she's not too excited about learning new things because she already knows everything she needs to know (imagine that).

This has been the summer Bryn finally become a little braver and more adventurous. She's trying to ride her balance bike, she's mastered the swings, she's climbing on things she never used to. She'll play downstairs by herself. She stuck a bead up her nose one day just "because." She's also become a lot more independent. The other day she decided she wants to pick out her own clothes and get dressed by herself. And just a few weeks ago she said "I don't need any help with that, I'm not a baby anymore, Mom." Sniff sniff. She's grown up an awful lot since she turned four.

She's still a deep thinker and still asks some of the toughest questions: What if we're really not real and we're actually a storybook? What do you mean, Bryn? Well, maybe we're in a book and people are looking at pictures of us and reading our story. Just like when we read a book. Those people aren't real, maybe we aren't either. (Sheesh. I think I'll tell her to ask her preschool teacher the answer to that one.)

Anyway, enough rambling. Here are a few photos from the past months that will hopefully get me all caught up. Till next time anyway.

Decorating eggs for Easter.

Our first "real" tea party — with fancy schmancy hats,

a real tea set and Auntie Catherine.

Happy Mother's Day!

Fun with Emmy and Mack.

Smiles for Jacey.

Swimming with Cara.

And being silly with Bretten.

Happy Father's Day!

Super Girl to the rescue on her new balance bike.

(Holy cow, have you ever seen so much pink?!!)

This was a breakthrough -- Bryn decided she wanted to

have her photo taken and she actually posed!

Happy 50th Anniversary to Dave and Rita,

parents/in-laws/grandparents extraordinaire.

The entire Hengen family together for the first time.

Bryn with all of her Hengen cousins. Katja, Bryn,

Ramey, Matt, Nick, Anna, Michael, Brianna and Kirsten.

Hangin' with the girls.

Bryn with Ramey.

And her oldest cousin Michael.

"Mom, look! I made Saturn!"

Summer fun with Caia.

On our way to Sesame Street with Adia.

Helping pick strawberries at the u-pick ranch.

Peace, out.

I'm not quite sure what to say about this one!

We had a wonderful visit with our friends from Ontario.

Here are Emma and Kira with Adia and Bryn. Thanks for the

visit Janice and Scott, we love seeing you guys!

Even though Bryn is much braver than she used to be

she still didn't want go to on any rides at the Ex.

She did have tons of fun on the pony ride though

(so did I, trying to dodge the mud and other stuff.)

She was brave enough to do the bumper boats.

And she was so happy to meet Olivia!!

Bryn begged me to buy her this Viking hat she saw at FolkFest.

I thought since there's Norwegian blood on my side of the family

it was quite fitting. Next year we'll get hats to honor the rest

of her grandparents' heritage and complete the collection.

A walk along the river with ice cream at the end is a perfect way

to spend a summer evening.

Bryn and her best buddy who she now calls "Tinies".

Jiangxi Girls Together Again

A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to be able to spend a few days with 5 of the 10 families we travelled with to China. It was the most amazing time. We're fortunate to live in the same city as one of these families and close enough to two of the others to have visited with them a few times over the past 3 1/2 years, but we hadn't seen two of the families (one from each coast of Canada) since China and it was wonderful to see them again.

Our Jiangxi girls: Bryn, Roshandra, Ava, Claire, Caia and Elizabeth. The girls are all 4 years old with Bryn the oldest and Caia the youngest, 2-1/2 months apart.

We only had 2 1/2 days together so we had a lot of visiting and catching up to do in a short time. It really is hard to explain how amazing it was to see the girls together again and how, despite the fact we spent less than two weeks together in China, we were all able to pick up where we left off -- it was like visiting with old and dear friends we've known forever. It's a bond we'll have for a lifetime and we're so very blessed to have such an amazing group of people in our lives. To see how much all the girls have grown and watch all the little personalities interact was pretty awesome.

The kids are at the age where they don't need a lot of planned activities to keep them busy, they had a blast just playing and being together. They got along famously with each other and all their siblings. Our hosts went above and beyond to make our reunion special. The kids did crafts, had an indoor picnic and a party at Build-A-Bear. We had the best smoked brisket ever -- Paul would come out on top at any Texas barbecue challenge -- and the pizza baked in a clay oven in Beth and James' backyard was the best I've ever had.

I took hundreds of photos and still didn't manage to get all the shots I wanted. Between visiting and just watching the kids interact it was impossible to capture all the special moments but here are some (I did steal some photos from the other shutterbug moms, thanks ladies!)

Catching up on the past 3 years.

Bryn and Roshandra checking out Claire and Ren's loot.

Claire, Caia and Roshandra having a tea party with Roshandra's sister Kaio.

Since our hotel was only about six blocks from West Ed we made a side trip to show Bryn the big mall. She was most impressed with the Disney Store and thrilled to find her favorite guy, Nemo.

The kids watching their Canada Day shrinky dinks melt before they

turned them into necklaces.

Craft time!

Ava and Claire discuss the finer points of jewellery design.

Our proud little Canadians.

Caia making sure she's not missing anything.

Claire's brother Ren is a brave little man hanging out with all these girls!

Busy playing house.

Canada Day picnic.

The beautiful (and delicious) reunion cake.

Build-A-Bear was a huge hit with all the kids.

Bryn concentrating very hard on making sure her new stuffy

has a happy heart full of love.

That was fun!

Bryn and Kate, Elizabeth's sister.

Roshandra's brother Luca had a very important job.

Ava's sister Helena and Kate, two of the three Jie Jies.

No reunion is complete without the kids being weighed and measured.

Dress up time!

Bryn and Elizabeth.

"Mom, this is so good I can hardly stop tasting it."

Bryn and Eli have a special bond -- they lived together in the same foster home in China and I'm sure, on some level, they remember each other. It tugged at my heartstrings when Bryn grabbed her foster sister for a huge bear hug and happily posed for photos.

I'll help you, girlfriend!

One big happy family.

Our last day together.

The days flew by much too fast and saying goodbye again was hard to say the least. Thanks to Monica, Paul, Beth and James and their kiddies for all the planning and the delicious meals and letting us invade your homes, and to Kevin and Catherine and Rob and Aggie and their families for travelling so far. And also to Shea, Caia and Grandma Dar for being our Jiangxi family-in-residence, we'd be very lonely without you here. We had tons of fun and we miss everyone!

We especially miss the families who weren't able to make it to this reunion but look forward to our next one and seeing everyone there. Vancouver 2012 anyone? Maybe Nanchang 2013?

Friends forever!!