First Backpacking Trip!

This year, Elvin decided to take Eliana backpacking to have some quality daddy-daughter time.  It has been over 10 years since Elvin has gone backpacking and Eliana had never been.  Both had a great time!

We drove to a trailhead on Mt. Hood, about 1.5 hours away.  On the way, we stopped at Dairy Queen for a blizzard.  We couldn't think of a better way of starting out the hike!

Here we are at the trailhead for the Twin Lakes trail.  Even though Elvin is carrying the tent, sleeping mats, sleeping bags, etc for both of them, Eliana's backpack did have some weight to is as she carried her own clothes, snacks, some water, and her stuffed cat!

And we set out!  It was about a 3 mile hike up to the site, with a little bit of elevation gain.

 The day was nice and cool--perfect weather for hiking.

Eliana carried an emergency whistle just in case.  And she wanted really badly to blow on it, which Daddy didn't really want.

 We found an interesting looking beetle while out there...

After hiking two miles, we reached the closer of the two lakes.  We stopped to fish.  Eliana learned how to cast in to the water.  It's definitely a learning curve as she got the hooks caught in the trees overhead twice!  Lucky that Daddy brought extra stuff!  We didn't catch anything and actually didn't see any fish of any size in the water...

We finally reached the site at about 3pm.  It took us less than 2 hours to hike 3 miles even with lots of stops.  Once we got there, we started setting up the tent.  Eliana helped out with the poles.

Then she decided to be a circus performer and pretend the log was a tightrope.

One of the highlights of the trip, according to Eliana, was the campfire.  Elvin let her stir the fire with a stick and she was amazed that she could create sparks.

Once the fire got going, we roasted hot dogs for dinner.

And then Eliana got to eat a bowl of instant ramen for the main course.

We then went back to the lake to filter water for drinking--there was no wind and the forested hills were reflecting off of the water.

We then went back to the campsite and had more dinner.  (Dinner was less than a sit down meal and more of a drawn out series of snacks.)  Elvin brought a beef jerky type of snack that was made from bacon.  So we warmed these over the fire and they tasted delicious.

It started to get pretty chilly pretty quickly because we were at about 4,000 feet elevation.  It was probably in the 50's and it would get to the 30's at night.  But our down sleeping bags kept us toasty warm.

Even at dusk, the lake was beautiful.

The next morning, we stoked the fire and had breakfast, which included more roasted marshmallows! These are the special treats one gets to eat during a backpacking trip.

Then we decided to hike the trail that surrounds the lake.  It was nice to hike around without our packs.

Then we broke camp and it was time to start the hike back down.  Eliana was sad to leave the campfire--it was one of her favorite parts of backpacking.

A mile later, we were back down to the Lower Twin Lake.

It was a good 3 mile hike down to the car.  Here is Eliana pretending to sleep.

And we made it!  It was a great weekend where Eliana and Daddy got to spend quality "alone" time together, and enjoying the beautiful Mt. Hood National Forest at the same time!

Visit to the doctor...

Yesterday, Gabey had a regular check-up with our pediatrician.

Besides the fact that he didn't want to cooperate at all, it went well.  He got two shots and didn't even cry this time.  This is in contrast with last time, when he was thrashing around like a rabid tasmanian devil and Emily had to pin him down for his shots.

With school being out, Emily had to drag the other three kids to the doctor's visit as well.  This must have inspired them... because today they are now playing doctor.

Or rather, veterinarian--but still in the health field right?

Karina is the vet and Xiao Yu is the doggie on the table waiting examination.

Here she is taking his blood pressure.  Later on, she checked his teeth, listened to his lungs, and declared him to be in excellent health!

Eliana later on became a dentist.  She is examining Ruffy's teeth and even brushing them for him (with a mallet.)

Now Karina has stuffed her pockets full of toy balls.  They are "candy" to give to kids in case they get upset in the doctor's office.

Books on tape...

Books on tape are getting to be very popular in our household.  Ever since Eliana was little, she enjoyed listening to books.  Although instead of being on tape, these books are downloaded to an iPod. (While cleaning out the house, Emily recently left a walkman on the counter.  When Gabriel saw it, he said, "Whats THAT?")  Eliana carries the iPod around in a little pouch slung across the shoulder while doing other things.

Karina has been less interested in listening to stories but recently has become more.  And so she grabbed a little pouch that she had, put Elvin's phone inside and went outside to listen to her book-on-tape.

We wonder if Gabey will ever be as interested in books on tape as the girls are...

People from Xiao Yu's past...

This is a picture of one of our guides that worked with our group when we were in China last year, to adopt Xiao Yu.  We had a different sets of guides in each of the three cities we traveled through and she was in the city where Xiao Yu's orphanage and foster home was.  Whenever she takes a group of families through, she shepherds them through the whole process--from visiting Walmart to buy diapers and formula to giving up a pep talk on the bus ride to the actual place were we met Xiao Yu.

She is very committed to her job and role--you get the sense that this is a vocation for her.  We learned that she has been doing this for almost 20 years, and so must have coached thousands of families through their first days of adoption.  She also happened to have a special little place in her heart for Xiao Yu.  For some reason, he caught her eye back when he was a baby and she kept track of him until he joined our family.  The only reason we have baby pictures of him is because she took some on her phone during one of her visits to the orphanage, a couple of years ago, and later emailed them to us.

Fast forward 1 and a half years later...  One of the families we traveled with in China is now back in China picking up their second adopted daughter in the same province and orphanage that Xiao Yu was from.  Knowing this, we printed a half dozen picture of Xiao Yu so that they could hand carry this to the orphanage, so that the orphanage workers could pass them along to Xiao Yu's foster parents.  (We thought they would appreciate getting an update about how Xiao Yu is doing and see pictures of him.)

This guide was again the guide for this family and they asked her for help on getting these pictures to the foster family.  The guide took the opportunity to see the pictures for herself and we are told started crying when she saw them.  She was so happy that he seemed to have settled in with his new family.  It was touching to know that she not only remembered Xiao Yu but still cared for him even after all these months...

Gabey is growing up!

Our Gabey is growing up very quickly!  Both physically and also in his personality and his abilities.  He is finishing up his first year in preschool and whereas in the beginning of the year, he would cry when being dropped off, now he walks right in, loves his teacher Ms. Nuce, and says he LOOOVES preschool!

The preschool classroom has a tablet with games on it.  Of course, our electronics-loving boy likes to play it.

He also had a quirky side to him.  When it was time for the class to go into the gym for some structured physical activity, Gabey refused to participate and sat himself on a chair the whole time.

There is Gabey sitting in the front during story time.  This is the seat of honor for whoever's parent was the Helping Parent that day.

The Helping Parent's kid also gets to stand at the front when it's time to recite the days of the week.

And lastly, but certainly not least, the Helping Parent's kid gets to bring something for show & tell.  What did Gabriel bring?  His frying pan!  Which happens to be an old, but real frying pan.

He is into artwork and can actually draw recognizable things now.  The other day, he actually drew a cat and then colored it!  We were very impressed.

He can also write out his name.  At first, he would follow the outline written in yellow but now he can write his name freehand.  Although more often than not, he writes "Ruffy" instead, since he preferred being called Ruffy.

Writing "Ruffy" in large letters!  He is still working how making sure there is enough space for all the letters.  And also working on the left-to-right thing.

Our funny boy still has "unique" dietary habits.  Such as piling kalamata olives onto his pizzas.

He has other funny habits, such as taking his blanket that he sleeps with and using it as a placemat.

Green and orange are his favorite colors; so this drink needed to be drunk with double straws.

Gabey has somehow picked up the habit of pointing at things with him middle finger.  So don't be offended if in the middle of telling you a story, he does THIS to you!

He is our touchy-feely kid, who likes to give lots of hugs and kisses.  He also likes to manhandle and  give huge bear hugs, but in the process tackle others; and we are trying to teach him the difference between appropriate and not so appropriate physical touch.  Such as all during dinner, he likes leaning, touching, and otherwise somehow be physically touching Emily much to her annoyance as she's trying to eat a meal.

He is also very fond of his favorite sibling, Karina, and expresses it by snuggling with her or holding her hair.  And she takes it all in stride; she is a very patient big sister.

He doesn't do this as much, but still enjoys being in the kitchen and helping out.    Here he is "helping" to wash his favorite veggies--bok choi.  (Although he'll only eat the dark green part.)

Here he is lining up cookie cutters.

He has gotten very creative with his toys and plays with them in novel ways.  He built a big construction site with these pegs.

We're not really sure what he is doing here.  Well, he is trying to get to the watermelon--one of his favorite fruits, but is it really easier to cut through the saran wrap with a pair of scissors instead of just unwrapping it?

Something else that make us scratch our heads was when we entered Gabriel's room to find all the diapers spread out like this.  When asked, Gabriel said he wanted to spread them out, because they were steaks that he was grilling!

All the kids like to use the head lamps and go out at night.  Amazingly the headlamp fits his head just fine, even though they are designed for adults--because his head is so big.

Here is Gabey wearing his Darth Vader PJs.  Elvin made him wear it on the opening night of The Force Awakens.

And as tradition in our family, a few months ago, we celebrated his 3 and a half birthday.  Here is the cake, ready for some decorations...

We just cut a slice and Karina helped put in candles and some green and orange frosting.

"Happy birthday to you!!!!"

He wasn't able to get all three candles to blow out, so Mommy helped out.

And Xiao Yu was happy about getting his piece of cake as well.

So that's our Gabey--growing up so quickly.  He is already thinking about his upcoming birthday in June and wants to invite lots of people, he says.  We will see how that turns out!