All twelve students with their chaperons
We had a great time being a host family. What a fun two weeks! Jared already asked if we can do it again next year:-) I have been so busy, but it is a good busy. This might be a long post, but I'm going to put it all together since I've not kept up daily...I have some other "normal" posts to catch up with too!
So, we picked Hadley up 9:30 Wed evening (July 21). We generally had breakfast at 7 and he was to be at school at 8:30. Thankfully some other moms were car pooling and that made the load a lot lighter! He came home around 4:30 but a few nights he was out late. The kids schedules were busy and we were not supposed to do anything specific with them, just the "All American family" stuff:-)
Thurs night we just hung out at home. Doing things like bike riding and showing Hadley around.
Friday night was a picnic with all the families, teachers and students.
Saturday our races were canceled because of the heat. Gregg took the boys down to the waterfall at the mill to cool off. They went to a real race in the evening. Hadley liked it while there was action but got board quickly.
Sunday was spent at church and resting. We taught Hadley how to play I Spy Go Fish. He really wanted a nap so he slept a little and we all enjoyed brownies and ice cream before church!
Monday was another day hanging out at home. We took him to the neighbors to feed the sheep.
Tuesday Hadley went to an amusement park and got home late.
Wednesday we went to prayer meeting.
Thursday we had a chicken and rice dish that Hadley ate like crazy:-) More bike riding and even a pillow fight.
Friday Hadley had a camping sleepover so we didn't see him from Friday morning until Saturday morning.
Saturday we went racing. I normally pack both lunch and supper but today we stopped at McDonald's on our way home. We all showered when we got home and enjoyed a campfire with
S'mores after dark. I think Hadley ate half a bag of marshmallows!
Sunday was church. We played a game again this week but this time Hadley taught us a Chinese game. It is kind of like chess. He left the game with us as a gift.
Monday we hung out at home making up games to play with some really bouncy balls. All 6 boys had way too much energy to be inside.
Tuesday night Hadley went to a baseball game so we had him for the afternoon. We went to the park and played tag and basketball. We stopped on the way home for ice cream cones! The older boys watched a movie while the little ones slept and I cleaned. It was the only time our
tv was on in those two weeks. (Actually I think I let the boys watch a movie one afternoon while Hadley was gone).
This morning the students all headed out to the Dulles airport for a flight to California. They will tour the west for a week before heading home.
Other things to remember:
- Hadley's thoughts on cauliflower... "this is not delicious"
- He has a major sweet tooth... not for baked goods but candy... although he loved angel food cake
- If he didn't understand you and didn't want to... he would say "maybe" when you asked him a question.
- His Chinese name is Tao Zhong Yi. He lives in the city where his mother works at a bank and we don't know about his father. He didn't know the English word. His father drives him to school because it is too far and unsafe to ride bike.
- Chinese make a lot of noise when they eat...
- It took a few days, but Hadley would come home, ask what was for supper, tell me what he did that day and then go play with the family. For not having siblings, he did very well adjusting.
- Hadley was very helpful. He looked for ways to be a help.
- He tried calling home for a week before he finally got through. When he did finally talk to his parents he said "I am very good!" with a big smile.
- Our dogs did not adjust well. We kept them away from Hadley.
This month she learned how to drink from a straw and she started eating food. She is really, really picky. She likes any kind of bread/cracker/pretzel thing but doesn't like any veggies and it is hard to get her to eat fruit. I am not sure how to handle this... my boys ate EVERYTHING. Any tips you'd like to share are greatly appreciated:-)
Her personality is really starting to show. She is a real tease. She copies things and learns quickly. She still sticks her tongue out all the time. She has her four front teeth and it looks like some more are coming in. She had a really cranky few days and one sleepless night getting her teeth but overall, she didn't do too bad.
Gregg and I had our first date since she was born... and of course she came along. She did really well. She likes french fries.
Kiersten was on the floor in the kitchen when I was cleaning up and she found some applesauce. She poked her two front teeth through the foil lid and was sucking out the juice. She was kicking her feet and giggling so I looked to see what she was in to! Haha! She was really mad when I took it away but wouldn't eat it.
She loves to play with her brothers toys. I have to watch her because she puts everything in her mouth... I think she is getting better at not doing that or at least she spits it out when I tell her to.
