I want Summer!

Last year I got to play outside all the time and swim in my panda pool. What happened to my summer? I'm pretty sure we had less than 2 weeks of hot sunny weather so far. But we managed to stay busy.

I moved into the Preschool 2 class in May because I'm a big girl now. I even wear underwear most of the time now. But mommy says I don't get to go to big girl school until next year. Here are my School Photos.


I got a new cousin named Lochlann. He's much smaller than me so I have to be very gentle with him. He's even smaller than my new Mei Mei will be.


I found out about my new MeiMei Elspeth who will be joining our family around New Year's. And we celebrated her first birthday in June.


Popo and GungGung came to visit me!


And I went to visit Popo and GungGung in Ottawa while Mom and Dad went to Montreal for a Science Fiction convention...well Dad went to the convention... Mom went shopping.


We snuck in a trip to Parliment Hill



One day we took a trip to the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory and a hike in the Niagara Glen. There were too many cars on the highway, so it was a LONG drive. The cold air in the car wasn't working very well so I got too hot and very frustrated. Mommy kept saying to be patient, but I don't know what she means. But I had tonnes of fun when we finally got there.

No I don't want to hold the millipede!

I learned how to play soccer




I got my face painted at the Busker Festival




I tried on some frames when mommy was shopping for new glasses.


And sometimes we just hung out.

She's going to be a great Jie Jie

We got this email from Maeve's daycare today:

Hi Patrick & Kathleen,

We just wanted to let you know how much we enjoy having Maeve here.

{Maeve's teacher} came to tell me what a great friend Maeve is. She told me a super cute story about what Maeve did this morning. One of her friends got dropped off this morning and was really sad. Maeve got out some markers, paper and pulled out a chair and invited her friend to colour with her. It was really sweet to see how she was trying to make her friend feel better. What a mother hen. :-) {Maeve's teacher} also mentioned that Maeve has been working very hard at tracing her name. We are all so very proud of her. It has been so great to see her grow and develop.

Have a great day
{Daycare Manager}

That's our girl! She is going to take great care of her Mei Mei Elspeth.

Family Fun

Earlier this month we had visits from Popo and GungGung, and Aunty Evelyn and Cousin Robyn. Maeve was thrilled to spend time with relatives whom she doesn't get to see very often.

We also took a road trip up to Caledon to help Robyn's Oma Renate celebrate her 70th birthday. Maeve was her usual shy self with Evelyn's family, but she had a great time playing with Robyn.

Her favorite game? Pulling Robyn around in a wagon. No wonder her foster family nicknamed her zhuang zhuang (which means strong; robust).


Maybe giving them big mallets wasn't a great idea...but at least they didn't hit any people with them.
Hanging out with Popo and Gunggung
Let's dig down to China to find my Mei Mei
Uhhhh, you're braver...you go first.
If you look closely, there are 2 rainbows in this photo. They appeared to help us celebrate Oma Renate's birthday.

Catching up with Eli

On July 4th we took a little road trip to Toronto for the annual FOI picnic. It was wonderful to see Yulin and Bob again and catch up with other friends. The biggest treat was meeting up with Maeve's Xinyu sister Elizabeth, her sister Katie, Aggie and Rob. Maeve was a little shy at first, but soon she was following Eli everywhere.

It was great to see you guys! Hope you enjoyed the rest of your vacation.

The girls check out a princess bride.
Maeve, Eli, Kaelin (a friend from Katie's adoption group), Katie
The Xinyu sisters sharing a moment
Say cheese girls!

Quiet Canada Day

Ok, I know this little late... Here are some photos from our quiet Canada Day. It rained in the morning and then was overcast all afternoon. The local Canada Day celebrations are in a grassy field, so we decided against checking them out in case it was all wet and muddy.

So we took a nice walk to the local park and then on to Starbucks for a treat.

That night PoPo and GungGung arrived for a visit. Maeve got to stay up late and watch the fireworks display, which we can see from her bedroom window.

Happy 3rd Canada Day Maevey!



Look there's a spot on this plane for my new MeiMei!

Thing 1 or Thing 2?

Maeve had her hair up in a pony tail on top of her head. When we took it down, this is how her hair looked.

I think the hair looks like the Things from Cat in the Hat. Hopefully she doesn't get that mischievous!

The bib might look familiar to some of you.

Maeve's Green Thumb

We had a mixed bag of weather this weekend. Cold and rainy on Saturday, but improving as the weekend progressed. Yesterday was cool but sunny so we pulled on our wellies and trouped outside to attack the jungle in our backyard.

I decided we needed to pull out all the forget-me-nots before they seeded into our lawn--even though our lawn is less than 50% grass already. Maeve was in her glory helping out!

"I be a good helper! I pick all da weeds and flowers for you."

"Mama, I need a bucket for me." Apparently putting them in the big grey bin wasn't good. They had to go in a Maeve sized bin first and then be dumped into the grey bin.

"I don't bend down like you. I need my chair. Mama may you get my chair for me please?"
I tend to garden in a squatting position that is uncomfortable for most people except my mom. She can be in this squat all day and not feel it. I had a slightly sore lower back and neck after 6 hours of it.

We gardened for a couple of hours in the morning (yes, she helped for the whole 2 hours). Then we went in for lunch and her nap. She was so tired and full of fresh air she actually asked for her nap--which lasted about 3 hours. As soon as she woke up she was raring to come out and help some more. I let her help a bit more but then sent her off to the park with her dad so that people wouldn't think I was endorsing child labour.

Here she is sitting on her pink Muskoka chair (Adirondack chair for those of you outside Ontario) picking the flowers and throwing them into her bucket.



And this is the face I get when I ask her to smile for the camera.

Thanks for all your help Maevey. You ARE the best helper.