Splish Splash

Yesterday we took the kids swimming, though Mollie and Emma had just gone the previous day.  Normally when the Foster Home takes the Forever Home girls on field trips, our family does a trip ourselves.  It's the one day a month that we get off and can spend some quality time just doing something fun together.  However, that particular day, there were no vans available (as we have 5 people now and too big for a regular car) for us to go.  So we planned it for the next day instead.  Since we couldn't go pick up Mollie and Emma from preschool as normal at 11:15, we just took them with us.  Shawna said she didn't want to go without them anyway.  They had got to go swimming twice in the same week!!  It was quite a sacrifice, but they willingly made it just for us :)

Just the day before, it was Emma's first swimming trip.  I'd asked her swim companion to take it slow as she wasn't terribly crazy about the water.  When we first got Emma and I put her in a tub of water at bath time, she'd scream--so we went to showers--only to still have her cry, but at least it was less. She really hates to get her head wet!! Though it's taken months to get to the point of Emma not crying at bath time, it still happens once in awhile yet.  Upon their return from their big day of swimming, I asked her swimming buddy how things went. She said she was a bit afraid in the beginning, but then warmed right up to it being able to fully immerse her in the water.  I was surely glad to hear it since we planned another swim trip the next day.  This time, Emma got right in the water and seemed to love it and had a great time! She gives me a wave as I take her picture with big sister, Elise :)

Wow, Elizabeth, how light you are in the water Shawna says! Yes, in nearly every pool here in China, they require swim caps!  We certainly don't wear them for fun/fashion!!  In fact, we hate to wear them, but if we want to swim, there's no choice!

Mollie also had a little trouble with bathing when we first got her, but she got over hers pretty quickly and soon we had no difficulties in the shower.  So you can imagine my surprise when she refused to get in the water at the pool!  She was not the one I thought would have a problem with it, but boy was I surprised! I think perhaps it was the amount of water that seemed to overwhelm her.  She sat here at the edge most of the time and no amount of pleading or convincing was about to get her into that pool!  She sat there at the edge for most of the time, splashing every now and then, when about 3/4 of the way through our 2 hour pool time, she up and decided it was time to get in!!  

Now that's more like it Mollie!  Aren't you glad you decided to take the plunge?!

After a couple of hours in the pool, we headed over to McDonalds!  Now, most of you Westerners probably think, yeck McDonalds, but I can assure you after living here in China for any amount of time, you come to LOVE McDonalds as there just aren't many Western restaurants here.  Basically we have McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut--perhaps a very few others here and there in the huge cities.  Living here in the village---we have NONE of those either!  So we don't get such things very often at all. When we do, it is a REAL treat!!

Emma thought the chicken nuggets and fries were pretty great, though she really would have just liked to have made a meal out of the french fries only if we'd let her :)

Diggin' right in and really enjoying it!  This is as much a treat for us as the swimming is!!

Mollie also enjoyed both fries and chicken nuggets equally!

Can't forget dessert!  Right Emma?!  

Mollie thinks this was the best part!  She's lookin' cute in her new glasses isn't she?!  She's doing surprisingly well in them too.  I'd asked for a good sturdy pair as she seemed to break every pair of sunglasses these days :)