I am becoming my mother and mother in law

to some degree-we leave for China in the morning and I have wikipedia article printouts for all the things we are going to see!

3rd post of the day!

At least I don't have a whole suitcase of travel books, like my dear mother in law forced all of us "kids" to haul through Europe!  Just teasing, Bev!

I remember my mom talking about wishing that she had read/studied about where she was going before she and some of the Navy wives went to Europe following the ship and how she did read about all those places when she got back.  She loved that I had to go to EXTRA classes after school before our 7th grade Washington DC trip.

We have read the Magic Tree House book where Jack and Annie go to China.  Now we are halfway through a trailblazer book called Shanghaied to China about Hudson Taylor, the missionary.  We have studied maps, learned the names and order of cities we're visiting, learned a few phrases in Chinese-probably pronouncing them very badly, but we will try to be polite!  We have read my cousin and her husband's blog about their visits to the same sites.

Our bags are almost all packed, squeezed shut to the right measurements so now all you have to do is wait for the zillions of pictures that I will have to post after our trip!

Scott and I went on a dive trip

 Scott has now completed his 5 dives in the ocean and is an officially PADI certified Junior Open Water diver!  We had a great time diving with his instructor in Anilao about 2 hours away.

This is what Scott wants to do all the time-have his head underwater to see what is under there!

 On the first day we did 3 dives just off the shore at the beach club-mainly for Scott to demonstrate his skills.

 Though we did see some fish too.

 Scuba Diving does great things to your hair!

 Below is Scott with his instructor, Dexter

 The next day we went on a boat ride to another dive site where Greg and I had been before.

 Dexter brought bread down to feed the fish!

 Even Scott said that was a little intimidating with ALL those fish so close!

 These are giant clams and it is ok to put your hand inside them.  They close but this kind does not close its shell all the way.  It just feels like your hand is between 2 pillows.

 Scott would have played with these things all day or until he ran out of air!

It is fun to now have 3 divers in the family!

Scott's Junior Open Water Class

 Greg took his Advanced Open Water diving certification while the kids and I were home last summer.  He met a great instructor named Dexter and Scott is having a blast getting his junior certification-you have to be 16 to get a regular Open water certification.  Here they are on their first night of class

 Getting ready for a pool session

 Ryan and Ashley had to go check out what they were up to

 Underwater they go!  If there are windows in Heaven, Grandpa Allen has a HUGE smile on his face and wishes he could be here to dive with his oldest grandson!

First day of "summer"

After our celebration at the mall, Scott went to a friend's house to spend the night.  His friend's birthday is ALSO on May 29th.

So the next morning when we woke up, Ashley, Ryan, and I had a fun morning-just the 3 of us!  Greg said that it was very hard to get motivated to go to work that morning!

We started the day with a rousing game of "balloon tennis"

 Love this picture where Ryan has jumped nearly as high as the back of the sofa!

 Then I took the opportunity, which is rare, of the playroom being clean to take some pictures of one of our VERY favorite rooms in the house!  It is awesome.

 This is Ashley's toy kitchen

 the dress-up closet

 Lego city

 All the kids have a closet where they play inside sometimes

 The computer corner

 Scott's special place

 Ryan's other place for legos

 My personal favorite corner where I scrapbook!

 1 more shot of balloon tennis and a last shot of the room.  The red print sofa unfolds and the kids love to flip and tumble on it.  Ashley has another fold out sofa in her room and then we open the sofa bed for visiting APAC athletes from school to visit.  There is also a bathroom up there and a closet for our Christmas stuff.

We spent the rest of the morning playing games just the 3 of us-battleship, guess who, and mille bornes.  It was a fun relaxing morning!  Yeah for summer!