Fun at the Orange County Fair

I have never really liked the fair; it's expensive, crowded, hot, dirty, the rides are broken, and the employees are surly. HOWEVER... this year, our friend Dana helped Frances to make blueberry jam and they entered it in the fair, so we had to go. We went at night, and it was actually really fun! We didn't go near the rides, but looked at the exhibits in which we knew people who entered things, we saw the animals, and wandered through the crafter's village. Abigail was thrilled with all of the farm animals! She wanted to touch all of them (but they didn't all want to be touched).


The animals were close to the fair entrance, so we saw the animals first. When we went to the exhibit halls, Frances was thrilled to see that she had received a red ribbon for her jam. It was really tasty... Our friend Dana was awarded a first place ribbon for her cranberry sauce, and a "Judge's Choice" ribbon for her key lime curd.

I had reconciled myself to spending a fortune on food, so it didn't bother me when we bought snacks (popcorn, chicken strips, funnel cake).

The adults in our group wanted to see the hypnotist, but we missed the first half of the show. When it ended, the announcer reminded the audience that the Beijing Acrobats would be coming up next on that same stage. Frances and I had seen acrobats in Beijing before we got Abigail, so I wanted to take advantage of seeing them for free at the fair. We moved toward the front of the audience, so that the girls could see better.


Abigail was mesmerized by the acrobats. I have never seen her so attentive! I whispered in her ear that the acrobats are from China, just like she is. Abigail pointed to the stage, and told me, "I can do that." Yeah, right! My favorite part was when the acrobats were all balanced on the bicycle (we saw a similar act when we were in China).
So... I have learned that the fair at night can be quite different than the fair during the day. We had a great time, but got home really late at night. The next day, Abigail was so tired that she didn't eat or sleep the whole next day!

The superhero is tired

Frances (Abby's superhero) is tired these past few nights. She has moved up in gymnastics to level 4, which means she will be competing in gym meets September through November. Her practice schedule has really increased, to four nights a week, but she is thrilled. She began the more intense program a few days ago, and last night, fell asleep in the car on the way home from gymnastics! But she is gaining new skills almost daily, and is loving every minute of it. The heat makes practice less than pleasant; the gym is not air-conditioned. It would be like trying to air-condition a barn! I make sure that she has plenty of water and/or gatorade, as well as a few snacks, when I drop her off for practice. Then, Abigail and I look for something to do. If it wasn't so hot, I would take Abby to a park to play. We run errands, do some grocery shopping... there is a possibility of Abby taking swim lessons just down the street from Fran's gym. We'll see. And Abigail has her own preschool gymnastic class once a week. I would love to post pictures of the superhero in action, but we can't use a flash in the gym, and my camera isn't fancy enough to be able to do much without the flash indoors. But I promise that if I get any pictures at all of gymnastigirl, I'll let you see them!

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall....

Actually, on the inside of the closet door! Abigail loves to see her own reflection at any opportunity (the side of the car, a store window, etc.). With a bit of her leftover birthday money, I bought her a full-length mirror for the inside of her closet door, just like Frances has. I installed it the other night while she sat in the bathtub (a straight shot down the hall) looking on. When I was done, I got her out of the tub and had her come and take a look. Abigail was enchanted, and stood looking at her reflection, grinning and giggling for a few minutes before I prompted her to put pajamas on and get ready for bed. I'm sure that once I get out her dress-up clothes, that closet door will be open all the time for her to check herself out!

Family Camp, 2010

As has become our family tradition, we went to Family Camp on Catalina Island this summer. This year, because school districts seemed to all run a little bit longer than before, we couldn't go during week 1. Then week 2 was out, because Abigail was a flower girl in Amy's wedding. Finally, we arrived at Campus By The Sea on July 4th. Southern California's "June gloom" stretched into July, so most of the week was overcast and cool. Frances decided to take the swim test on Monday, so that if the weather improved, she could go into the water without a life jacket. You can see in the photos that the kids all look apprehensive and chilly!


But Frances braved the icy waters, and swam out to the dive float, was able to tread water and "take the oath," and then returned to the beach where I was waiting to wrap her up in a towel! She and her buddies did, in fact, spend more time in the water during the week. They swam, played with innertubes, and even went kayaking. When Frances was younger, I used to make her go out in a kayak with me. Now that Abigail has come along, many afternoons I was trapped in our cabin with the napping princess. Frances is now old enough to kayak solo, and she loves it.

Frances, James, and Colby (and sometimes their younger siblings) played "rock bombs," an activity that involves picking up the largest rock you can carry and heaving it off the left side of the pier (where rock-throwing is permitted) to see how big the splash will be! I was so grateful for the Lindfors and Waite families, because they took Frances along with them on hikes and kayak trips while Abigail napped. It's good to have such accommodating friends! And the Lindfors family took care of Abby for a while each evening, while I met with the small group leaders and camp directors. I was surprised to have been chosen as a small group leader this year, but it was a lot of fun, and our little group of women (single, widowed, divorced, and husband-stayed-home-because-son-had-summer-school) learned so much from one another.

Abigail did not hike or swim, but she sure loved the play yard! That's where her class began and ended each day, and where she wanted to be every waking moment. This year she liked the swings, and she also learned to climb up a rope net to the top of the climber.

On Wednesday, we opted to go into the small city of Avalon. Camp packed sack lunches for us, and we ate them in a park that had a cool playground. We also played miniature golf with the Lindfors family. Frances and James were much more interested that Emily and Abigail, but all enjoyed it. Big Olaf's was a great place to stop for ice cream, and the flavors of ice cream that they offered were astounding! It was really hard to decide on just one (or two...). We took "Christmas pictures" at the waterfront, and Frances did handstands, while the little girls had heaps of fun sitting together and giggling.



I think that Abigail's favorite part of camp was the music. This year, she was able to understand the songs and do the hand movements. She sings with gusto (often using creative lyrics) and this year, she became the queen of the "sprinkler." There was one song (based upon Luke 9:23) that incorporates the sprinkler movement during the last line. Abigail was like an automatic sprinkler system gone awry! She sprinklered her way through all of the rest of the worship songs one morning! It fills my heart with joy to see my little girl, born in a country where mentioning God's name can get you jailed (or worse), singing and dancing for the Lord! Who said that motherhood isn't a mission field?



Because of the weather, we actually came home with lots of clean shorts, a few clean t-shirts, and some really dirty blue jeans and jackets! We were in a cabin adjacent to the Waites, and Carrie shared with us her solar-powered star-shaped lights, as a night light for our dark cabin. We had to borrow extra blankets from camp to keep us warm at night in our open-air cabin! Frances was very independent this year; half the time I had no idea where she was...but I knew that she would show up when she heard the bell for mealtimes! She even went fishing on the pier, with the help of some of the dads, and caught a 13-inch bass (or perch?). Frances tried out a new nickname this year: Frankie. I had told her that our friend Kathleen's mom was named Frances, and everyone called her Frankie. My Fran decided to try it out at camp. I think she is considering it, because of her tomboy image.
Once again, we had a great time at camp. Our memory verse (I don't know which translation, sorry) is Lamentations 3: 22-23. "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

Camping at Shaver Lake

The day after Amy's wedding, the girls and I loaded up the car and drove about 6 hours north, to Shaver Lake. We joined Linda & Ralph, Heather & Scott, and most of Ralph's extended family at Camp Edison. Southern California Edison (the major supplier of electricity for much of the state) owns a large chunk of forest and a campground.

We borrowed Linda & Ralph's tent, and the girls got to spend time playing in the forest, hanging out with lots of adults and dogs, and swimming in the lake. One of the coolest things was the huge pine cones. We'd all be sitting around the campsite when a crashing noise could be heard in the trees. Everyone would run for cover, because one of the enormous, 18-inch pine cones would be on its way to the ground!

We had a good time in the lake. Abigail kept wading in, up to her chin (while I held her hand tightly), saying, "Look, Mom, I know how to swim." Both girls got to ride on wave runners. Abigail went with Uncle Ralph. She was eager to go, but upon returning, her face shows that she is not sure how much fun it was!

Frances, on the other hand, was the queen of the wave runners! She went out on one of those things with anyone who would take her. Her favorite partner was James, because Fran enjoyed the hot doggin' wild ride! On her last ride of the day, James let Franny sit in front, and she got to drive! She had it up to 47 knots, and was heading for all the waves and wakes so she could make it jump!

I learned that I prefer a cabin to a tent... but we had a great time. Everyone was so kind to us, and they were all so patient with the girls. Frances and Abigail were the only little kids in our group (besides two infants), but the adults played with them, talked to them, spent money on them! Good friends, good food, good fun!

Abigail the Flower Girl

On the last weekend in June, the oldest daughter of Abigail's fabulous babysitter was married. Amy's wedding was at the Richard Nixon Library, and it was spectacular. Abigail was one of four flower girls, in an absolutely darling green gingham dress with matching satin ballet flats.

The grounds of the library are beautiful. Amy was married in a rose garden, and the reception was in a ballroom with four enormous fireplaces and crystal chandeliers. The reception was "the best one we've ever been to," in the words of seasoned wedding-guest Frances. Along with your response card, there was another card asking, "When you say, 'They're playing our song, what song are they playing?'" The DJ played the songs during the reception, and if it was "your song," you had to dance to it. Because I am still single, I wrote down Steven Curtis Chapman's "When Love Takes You In," which is about adoption, because it is a love song for my little family. It was one of the first songs that was played at the reception! Frances was busy with the other young girls, but I held Abigail and we danced together. Everyone in the room danced (and sang) to many of the songs.

The food was delicious, the cakes were divine, and there was even a table of candy! You can see that Abigail was amazed and delighted!

We had planned to get an early start the next morning on a road trip, but the girls and I had so much fun at Amy's reception that we stayed until the party closed up at 11 p.m. My girls were so wound up that neither of them fell asleep on the drive home. Needless to say, we got a rather late start the next morning on our road trip... but it was worth it!

The big recital

Frances participated in her piano teacher's annual benefit concert once again. It was on June 12th, and Frances played a Bach and a Mozart, both with the orchestra. Abigail stayed at home with four fun adults to play with! Frances and I did not stay for the whole concert; we snuck out during the raffle. Frances does a very nice job playing the piano. She likes being able to play, but does not like to practice! When she gets to her weekly lesson, she is amazing... and saves all of the stress, attitude and eye rolling for Mom. Lucky me! She has asked if she can quit, but I won't let her. Not yet. And Abigail will start piano lessons this fall...