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It was a really fun weekend at Kalahari Resorts in the Dells, seeing all the girls and watching them interact. In one year they’ve grown so much. There were fourteen families in total. Only three families were not able to make it. Our group were the families that travelled to Wuhan plus two families from the Guangzhou group and one family that went to Nanchang. The water park was the perfect venue for the reunion. There was lots to do and plenty of time to visit with everyone. The water park was huge. The hotel had both an indoor park:
and an outdoor park:
On Friday, it took us about four hours to get there, including lunch. The girls quickly found their own means of transportation to the room once we registered at the hotel:
and then it was off to check the water park:
Our first meeting with all the families was for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in the Dells.
Hua Mei reconnected with a friend from her orphanage in Wu Xue City.
The next day we spent almost entirely in the waterpark.
In the evening we had a pizza dinner and then there was bowling at the Amusement Center which was also connected to the hotel.
On Sunday it was time to say, “Goodbye and see you next year.” We had to leave in the morning to get Hua Mei to a birthday party in the afternoon. It was a great weekend. We were all tired but happy from a fun time. It was a fun road trip too.
Last weekend we drove up to Crane Lake for the wedding of our friend Candace. She is a good friend of Karen’s and the guardian for both Hua Mei and Xia Mei. Crane Lake is a five and a half hour drive north near the Canadian border. Coincidently, the town of Buyck which is just south of Crane Lake is also the home town of one of our babysitters. Just before we got there, we made a pit stop at a rest area. As I was looking at the map of the area I saw how close we were to Voyageurs National Park. I pointed this out to Karen and we quickly decided that we needed to make a quick trip to the park.
Since we’ve had Hua Mei, we have taken a vacation to a National Park. In 2006 we drove to the Badlands and the Black Hills. We bought a National Park Passport book that year and started collecting rubber stamp cancellations for each park and monument that she would visit.
In 2007 we went to Joshua Tree and in 2008 we visited Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Each of those years we met Laurel and Abby. This year because of the basement remodel and Laurel’s commitments, we did not have a trip planned. Karen and I were thinking of taking a trip to St Louis to visit the Arch (to get a stamp) and see some Cardinals games but that was very tentative. Now we had our chance to get a passport book for Xia Mei and a stamp cancellation for Hua Mei.
On Saturday, before the wedding we left Nelson’s Resort and drove an hour and a half to visit two Visitor’s Centers: the Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center and the Ash Lake Visitor Center. We got stamp cancellations at each center for both girls. They were able to pet a beaver pelt and we watched an video about the parks. We also got a refrigerator magnet for Grace who we have forced to become a collector of National Park refrigerator magnets. 
Just outside the park entrance there was a fish statue that we had fun with:
It was a fun side visit and we had an extra treat when we left for our excursion: a large bald eagle flew overhead in front of our car and then landed on the road in front of us. Before it flew off, we had a great glimpse of it. We were all thrilled.
We also had a great time at the wedding. Hua Mei was a flower girl and Xia Mei had a great time dancing at the reception. It did rain that day so the wedding was held inside at the resort. This might have been a blessing since the mosquitoes and black flies were terrible. It was a fun weekend jaunt up north, logging about 14 hours in the car though.
While I was away this past week at the TWI Summit, Karen and the kids took the opportunity to come visit me during the end of the week. They flew into Cincinnati Wednesday evening and they spent Thu and Fri with me. The Summit was held at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio which is about a half hour north of Cincinnati. Even though I was taking classes, there was plenty of things for them to do. The Great Wolf Lodge is very family oriented and they have a large water park.
The water park had a wading pool, wave pool, and some fountains that Xia Mei could enjoy. Hua Mei played a lot with Xia Mei but also took advantage of the slides. There was also a lazy river loop that we rode along on inner tubes. We spent a few hours at the water park on both days.
They also had other activities such as a craft club and an animatronic show that the kids enjoyed.
Friday evening Karen took advantage of the spa and got a massage.
The lodge also had a live action role-playing game called MagiQuest that took place on the second, third and fourth floors. Hua Mei got a wand that interacts with various items such as treasure chests, paintings, and video screens. Hua Mei and Karen had a great time running around the three floors performing quests.
Hua Mei got up to the rank of Junior Magi in the couple of days we were there. Karen enjoyed the game so much that she went off finish the rest of the quests that got Hua Mei to the rank of Magi. Hua Mei got to keep the wand and it can be used at other MagiQuest sites and her status is saved. There are other locations around the country and the original one is in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
We had a great time. There is also a Great Wolf Lodge located at the Wisconsin Dells. Several of the others also have MagiQuest. Karen and I were really impressed at how family friendly the place was and it is a place we’ll definitely consider taking the kids to again.
Xia Mei is motoring pretty well now throughout the house. It’s kind of a waddle. Karen says she walks like a cowboy. That’s true too. She is a bit bowlegged.
It’s a bit of a different style than Hua Mei. Hua Mei was more like Frankenstein with her arms out and a bit straight legged. Here’s a video when she was just a little bit more proficient.
We received the “Going Home Barbie” from the White Swan Hotel today. The hotel was really great. Even though they didn’t have any dolls when we were in China, they followed up and sent us one when Mattel did ship them more. The doll was gratis although I covered shipping. It was worth the wait and trouble since now both Hua Mei and Xia Mei each have one. This is what Xia Mei’s Barbie looks like:
I got a call midday at work today from Karen. Xia Mei had taken her first steps! She stood up and took four steps in her squeaky shoes. This afternoon when I got home, Xia Mei has been standing up a lot now and trying to take steps. It won’t be long before she is running around the house, chasing Hua Mei. Oh, my.
We’ve been pleasantly surprised how little sibling rivalry there has been between Hua Mei and Xia Mei. The three year difference in age seems to be a perfect gap. However, one way in which a sibling rivalry has manifested is in their eating habits. This has been a really good thing.
The two girls eat like birds, but in different ways. Hua Mei eats like a bird in that she does not eat very much. It actually can be an ordeal to get her to eat. She’ll put food in her mouth and then she’ll just sit there with it. We have to watch her and tell her to chew and swallow her food. It can take over an hour to get her to eat a meal. Xia Mei on the other hand will eat almost anything. She has a great appetite. She eats like a bird the way baby birds in the nest take food from their mothers.
She loves rice, noodles, pumpkin, hummus, guacamole, almost anything we put in front of her. Karen likes to say that in the month that we’ve had Xia Mei, she’s eaten more vegetables than Hua Mei has eaten in her entire life. She can be positively voracious and it is fun feeding her. In fact, Hua Mei enjoys feeding Xia Mei. The great benefit of all this is that now Hua Mei is eating better. She follows Xia Mei’s example and eats all of her dinner. In fact she often finishes her meal before the rest of us. It has been a really surprising and happy byproduct of their sibling rivalry.
Not only is it the first day of the new year but it’s also the first day of a new era. Today, Xia Mei was standing up without any assistance. We were playing in the living room and Xia Mei got up off the floor by holding onto the end table and then held her self up on her two feet. Without any prompting, she let go of the end table and stood in place, taking in the scenery. She then sat down and crawled over to me. That was pretty cool. It won’t be long before she starts walking.
Xia Mei has made terrific progress in the five weeks since we’ve gotten her. A month ago, when she was twelve months old, she could not rollover. Over the past month, she has learned to sit up, crawl, pull herself up to stand on her two feet, and take steps while being supported by two hands. It’s great to see how quickly she’s developed. Hua Mei was walking when she was eleven months. I don’t think that Xia Mei will be too far behind that. I may be singing a different tune though in a few months when the girls take off in different directions.
AKA the Five Days of Xmas
Yesterday Hua Mei asked me if Christmas was over yet. She wanted it to go on forever. For her, it has been five days of gift receiving and merriment. It started on Christmas Eve when we went to our friend Dave’s house for his traditional “Feast of the Seven Fishes.” Being Polish and raised Catholic, this is a tradition from his youth and Dave has been continuing it for years. We’ve been lucky to consider it a tradition with our family now. We did good this year. We actually made it through six courses (okay, the sixth course we brought home for left overs). I’m sure the last course was great when Dave cooked it the following day. Gluttony is a terrible thing. I also blame Dave for forever ruining crab cakes for me. His are so good that all others pale by comparison. I can never think of ordering them at a restaurant. Such a pity. To continue in his enabling ways, Dave and Nicole gave Hua Mei a cooking set that makes desserts. She absolutely loves it. Let’s see, that will put weight loss on my list of “New Year’s resolutions I will not keep” yet again.
On Christmas morning the kids rose fairly late. It took a little while for Hua Mei to realize the importance of the day and she turned to ask, “Oh, should we go downstairs to see what Santa brought?” Santa brought us all stocking stuffers and none of us got coal this year. My dad and sister, and Candace and Jerry came over later that morning to share a Christmas brunch of cioppino that I made. Again with the fish theme. Santa brought me slippers. I also got a cold.
On the 26th, it was the Linner Christmas. Laurel and Abby flew into town Christmas night after celebrating Christmas at her folks in Ohio. Karen picked them up at the airport and they stayed the night with us. I left for work early. A trip to China will do that when you have only been working a few months and not quite accumulated enough vacation days. New Years Eve day and Jan 2 will be other productive days at work for me. Anyway, the others went to Stillwater for the day. With my cough and headache kicking in, it was nice to come home to a quiet house. They came home later that night with a car load of presents. I got a nice pair of slippers from Karen’s mom. This has been a great Dad Xmas.
Yesterday, Karen took the kids to Stillwater again and I was able to call it a very early evening. Hua Mei had a cousin sleepover at her Aunt Kris’ so today we’ve had a quiet day with Xia Mei. Karen will meet the others later at the MOA to rendezvous with Hua Mei and do rides. I continue to hack. Soon Hua Mei’s Christmas will draw to a close. It was nice and quiet for me. Hua Mei on the other hand has already begun her Christmas list for next year. I think we have another couple of years before Xia Mei reaches Christmas sentience.
