More parties! Xing Xing's birthday in Storyland!

Last week Leilei woke up and told me "I dream about Xing Xing last night. I dream I see her."

"That must have been a happy dream," I said.

"It was--a happy, smiling dream," she beamed.

Last Saturday was Xing Xing's birthday, and her family was celebrating in Storyland, a child's paradise in New Hampshire, so of course, we went too.

I got a zipcar (all the zipcars are named, and this one was a Scion named Bennett), and Libby and Leilei and I set out at the ungodly hour of 7:30 a.m. The girls slept most of the way . . . it was a lovely ride.

When we got there we walked around a bit, and I was flooded with memories. I had been there as a child and some of the things I had loved were still there--repainted and refurbished, but still the same. It was an odd feeling--I could never have described these things, or even remembered them consciously, but I KNEW them. The spouting whale, the old woman's shoe.

We paged Leilei and met up with her family, and had so much fun all day! I hated to leave, but the zipcar had to be back. As it was, I returned Bennett about three hours late, so am probably kicked out of the zipcar club for good. But it was worth it.

On the ride home Leilei said, "I dream I saw Xing Xing, and today I did!!!" So nice when dreams come true.

Parties continued . . .

Not exactly a party but a few Sundays ago, June 9, I went with Libby and Leilie to the Dragon Boat Festival on the Charles River.



This is something I love to do, because it is outside, free, entertaining, and a great place to hang out with friends.



I met up with my friend Liehar, who surprised me by having secretly adopted a new daughter! (I mean, she kept it a secret from me; it was a completely above-board adoption!)

Congratulations Liehar and Lily, who I can tell is an awesome big sister already, and love to Natalie!



Then I found my friend Tina, and her daughter Ling Le, who shared my first trip to China to adopt Libby. Ling Le has the same birthday as me, and it shows, because she is full of irrepressible energy, sometimes in need of re-directing, which her parents do with great imagination and tact. Libby and Leilei were in awe of her, and ran after her as she pursued various adventures, including getting leftover snacks from dragon boat teams, and re-gifting them to passers-by!

It was great seeing them!



Ok, who wants to race a dragon boat next year? We could do it as a fundraiser for Dumplings!

Or for Acorn Preschool! Let me know if you're interested, I really want to do it!

Feline Serial Killer in the Family

Last summer, after I went back to work, Kit and Leilei discovered a kitten who was living under a building at the Little League field at the end of our street. They started off giving him food and water, and after a few days, though I had DISTINCTLY told them no more pets! they lured him home, and he became part of the menagerie. Jackie is very cute, as you can see.

Though you'll have to turn your head sideways.

However, he's a killer. Not just a hunter. Diana (our cat, named after the goddess, for good reason) is a hunter. Jackie routinely kills at least one baby bird or mouse every night, and he does it slowly, so that we're forced to endure their screams of pain. We run out of the house and try to rescue whatever it is, sometimes with good outcomes (chipmunk), sometimes with sad (many baby birds) and confine Jackie to the basement. We belled him. We had him fixed. Nothing has altered his murderous nature.

Last night he was driving us all insane with his incessant caterwauling to be let out. I got the idea of fastening these year of the pig bell shaker wand things to his collar. But they were too big. "I know", I said brightly, "I'll just go outside and shake these things to scare any birds or little animals away!" So I went out to the front yard and started shaking the pig things and jumping around and calling out "go away little animals!" This was about 10:00 p.m., so I wasn't too inhibited. Then I looked across the street and saw the normal people who live there staring impassively out their window.

As I slunk back inside, I hoped they thought I was celebrating an early midsummer's eve. That's Thursday--everyone get those flower wreaths and bonfires ready!

Parties

Whenever I have an official party, count on rain. Leilei's Jungle Book birthday party was no exception, which meant that jungle croquet, jungle treasure hunt, and other fabulous games had to be played in my miniature living room. Nevertheless, as always, a good time was had by all.

That's the back of Leilei's head (no longer flat as a board) on the left. Neighbors Katie, Shania, and friends Maeve and Gioia also at the table. Note lovely jungle-themed cake from Donna's Cakes in West Roxbury. http://www.donnas-cakes.com/

And totally elegant and delicious homemade cake by Kit Spy, big sister extraordinaire at the top right.

As fun as the kid party was, the adult After Party was even better. Highlights included the debut of the Leilei cocktail: Recipe is top secret, but it is imperative that ingredients and equipment be borrowed, to reinforce the team effort that went into my being able to adopt Leilei. For example, the blender was borrowed from Auntie Sarah, who wrote one of the letters saying we'd be good parents, the rum was provided by Lisa, who with Ed wrote another supporting letter, and the next batch of rum was donated by Godmom Gail, who took care of Leilei when I had to return to work.

Another highlight: the official unveiling of Mary Newel Depalma's lovely picture from her book Now it is Winter. Since it is the most wonderful picture, I thought long and hard about where it should be placed in the house. Finally, I decided it belonged with Leilei in her room, where she can see it every morning when she wakes up.

Happy Birthday to Leilei!

My Behai baby is five today!
What a beautiful day, for a beautiful girl.
My darling girl,
It's been only a little over a year since you joined our family, and we transported you halfway around the globe. From the moment you walked into the room in Nanning, I have been amazed and impressed and filled with love for you.

Amazed because you are so lovely. Although I did have a moment of panic when I placed my hand on your head and realized that the back of your head was totally flat. It isn't anymore, though.

Impressed because you walked into the room, carrying nothing, wearing little yellow pajamas (now safely tucked away forever) and pink plastic Mickey Mouse sandals, obviously brand new. (which you refused to take off for several days.

Did they tell you when you got in the van for the three hour trip from Behai to Nanning that you were saying goodby forever to everyone and everything you had known in your life?
What did your ayah talk to you about on that long ride? That you were going to meet a new family? That you and she and the other ayahs who came along to see you off would be separated forever in the time it took for a hotel room door to close? Could your little mind and heart understand what that might feel like?

I have a perfect mental photograph of your expression when you walked in. You looked wary, but willing to have an adventure.
Until the ayahs said goodby, and you realized the adventure involved breaking your little heart.
So . . . your courage impressed me from the start.

You didn't understand what we said, you didn't know us from Adam, we looked totally unlike anyone else you'd ever met . . . but you overcame your fear. You bravely sat at restaurant tables, you climbed into a bathtub and a swimming pool, you trekked through airports, and rode on airplanes. Every experience was new, but you rose to every occasion.
Could I have done the same? I doubt it very much.

Leilei, your referral document says you were found under a tree on the grounds of the Behai SWI, which would become your first home. I hope that at one day old you weren't able to feel afraid. I hope you didn't lie under the tree too long, though Behai is a beautiful tropical place, and you wouldn't have been cold. I am glad you lived in the Behai SWI, where you were obviously loved and well cared for.

Today it is inconceivable that there was ever a time you weren't part of our family. You laugh and tease and boss us all around, you call me "my mushroom" and tell me "you so mean" or sometimes you say "I like you. and I love you." Today your courage only has to be applied to meeting new people, which you do with aplomb, or learning to ride a bike.
But I'll never forget how much you impressed me those first few days.
Happy Birthday, my brave girl.
I admire you, and I love you.

My water babies

Libby and Leilei enjoyed the pool at the Josiah Quincy School one warm evening--our friends Callie and her mom Kathy told us about this very good deal--free swim for one dollar. No one else was there, so the girls had the pool (actually two pools) all to themselves. Woohoo!

Callie and Kathy also turned us on to the Chinatown Cafe, which had fabulous food very cheap!