More photos of the Miller's visit

The Miller family comes for a visit!

Last Sunday the Miller's came to visit us. Kim and Scott were one of our travel families on our last trip to China. They were getting their son Drew from Urumqi while we were picking up Luke. Pictured above is Drew, their son Riley, Lily and Luke. We were so happy when they informed us that they were going to vacation in Springfield. We met up with them on Sunday and all went out to a Japanese Steak house for some good food. Lily really dislikes the flare up of fire that takes place during the cooking presentation so she hides under the table. Everyone came over to our house after that to play in the backyard. The kids seemed to blend together really well. I had to leave town that evening for a two day seminar but John was able to meet up with the Miller's everyday for some playtime. I got back on Tuesday and we had a cookout at our house. On their last day we went down to ride the Branson Belle on Tablerock lake. We had an enjoyable meal, roamed around the boat (all three levels) and then watched a great show. At one point during the show Drew kept putting his arm around Miss Lily and she would pick his arm up and unwrap it from her shoulder. It didn't discourage Drew as he tried it several times. The kids all went for one last round of swimming at the Miller's hotel and then it was good-byes all around. The next day when I picked up Miss Lily from school, her first question was, "where is Kimber and Scott?" We are already making plans for a camping trip down their direction in a couple of months. They live close to the beautiful Current River and it is only a 3-4 hour drive away.
Drew just celebrated his 5th birthday and is doing very well. He pronounces his words very clearly and speaks in the third person, it is kind of funny to listen too. John tried to talk to him in Chinese but he pretended not to understand. I think this is a common occurrence of older children after they get immersed in English. John still continues to talk to Luke in Chinese and every once in awhile he gets a response in Chinese but not often. "Ba Ba" is now called "Daddy." It is kind of sad to see the Chinese go but we hope to get Luke in Chinese class with Linda Sun this Fall after camp Panda. Right now his brain is making the transition to English and his speech gets better with every passing day.

North Caroline Trip

Ok, this got put into three different posts, still have a hard time figuring out the order. Anyway, the next post has pictures of our trip to North Caroline to visit Grandma and the final post talks about John's connection to North Carolina.
While we kept our visits to grandma short each day as she gets worn out quickly and it does not take two 4 year olds very long to wear anyone out! (Believe me) we spent a lot of time taking in the local sites. One day we visited Tweetsie, the local amusement park. It is geared towards younger kids so no scary rides and it is a perfect way to spend the day in the mountains. Tweetsie is actually the name of the train that runs through the park and at one time it was a working coal burning train. Poor John got a cinder in his eye from the experience and we spent some time getting it washed out. It started raining pretty heavy in the afternoon so we headed back to the house. Later that evening we went to the outdoor drama, "Horn in the West,". John and his entire family acted in it at one time or another. The same people run it so John has a good time playing catch up with past cast members. We always make it through the first act and by that time it is 9:30 and the kids are ready for bed. (me too)
The next day we spent time hiking around price lake and then took a trip to Blowing Rock and let the kids play on the playground. We also made a trip to the Mast General Store. It is an old timey kind of store with a little bit of everything. The kids enjoyed some NEHI sodie pop while listening to a pickin party going on.
We headed home on Sunday. Unfortunatly I-40 was closed down due to a chemical spill and we were rerouted about 1.5 hours out of our way but finally made it home after 14 hours in the car. We were all getting a little punchy by that time. I'm ready to stay put for awhile. Today is my catch up day: catch up on laundry, cleaning, dog washing.....etc. but tomorrow is back to the work routine. Hope you enjoyed the trip.

More North Carolina photos

Tilta world workout at Tweetsie

Ready to ride into the cheese mine at Tweetsie

Lily practices her jumping rope at the park in Blowing Rock

Lily and the can can girls at Tweetsie

There was in informal pickin party going on at the Mast general store

Luke and Lily enjoy a sodie pop while sitting on the back porch of the Mast general store.

Dinner on the deck at Grandma's where the deck hangs out over the river.

Luke and Lily await gunfire at Tweetsie park

North Carolina Trip

Last Wednesday at 2am we loaded up the van and headed for the mountains of North Carolina. John and his Mom co-own a two bedroom cabin in the mountains around the blowing rock and Boone area of NC. The subdivision used to be a ski resort so you can imagine there is a big hill involved, but our cabin sits at the bottom right next to the Watagua river, in fact the back deck literally hangs out over the river! John spent his childhood summers in North Carolina which is where his Mom is originally from. The whole family acted in the outdoor drame, "Horn in the West," at one time or another. John's Mom spends the entire summer up in the mountains but now that she is disabled there is no room for us to stay in the cabin since her caregiver takes up one bedroom and she has the other. Luckily the family has wonderful long time friends who always manage to find a place for us to stay. This trip we stayed with Carroll Keller. He lives alone and the upstairs of his house has four bedrooms and two baths and we had the place to ourselves. The resort has a swimming pool, several ponds and streams running through it and hiking trails. This first photo is of the four of us at the covered bridge, one of Logan's favorite places to go. Logan is taking the photo so missed being in the picture.