social weekend

First, a picture of my two beautiful girls. They were riding a fish at the kids museum in Madison.

We came home from Madison on Wednesday evening and we saw lots of friends this weekend. On Friday, Julia and I went to the Indy kids musuem with a few of our China friends. Jen and Marin, and Angie, Lindsey, and Chloe met us and it was great to see the girls. Marin and Chloe have grown so much, Lindsey was lovely, and it was great trading stories with Jen and Angie. I look forward to seeing more of our China families at the July reunion.


Robin and kids were also in town and we go to see them twice during the week. This will probably be our last convenient visit. Robin comes to visit family and we usually get to do some visiting as well. From now on, trips to see eachother will need to be made.

On Saturday, Marcia had us and the Manns over, and then on Sunday, she hosted a party for us. We got to see people that are so dear to us and that we will miss so much. I am so grateful that Marcia did this because I don't know whether we would have seen everyone before we left.

On the home front, the deal with our house is finally done. We close on the 22nd. We are still waiting to find out what will happen with the little brick house in Madison. We sent a response to the inspection report that we expect them to reject. There is too much work to be done in the house -- on the outside of the house -- for the price we have offered. We want them to lower the price or let us out of the agreement. I hope we reach the conclusion quickly, so we can move or move on.

I decided to grow out Julia's bangs. It is time to cut them and I pulled them back one day after a bath. It was sweet to see her forehead. Julia still loves her clips and pigtail holders, and I will use plenty this summer.

Julia is spreading out her toys all over the living room as I try packing up and putting some order in to all of our stuff. Is she trying to fill the holes, shore up the emptiness that I am creating? Behavior is not always good. We've had to bring the naughty chair up to the kitchen. She shows her temper, she doesn't listen. I try to keep her on some schedule and try to keep her in line, but I understand how hard the transition is for her.

On Friday, before we went to the kids museum, I explained to her that we were going to see some of our China friends. Julia grabbed my arm and said, "Mommy, I not go China." My baby is scared. I reassure her all I can. This time will pass, and I hope we are stronger for it.