Guangdong Gals reunion (day 2 ~ July 11)

One funny thing about having three families in a house is that not everyone is on the same sleep schedules. About 6:45 Friday morning I heard the pitter-patter of small feet running down the hall. I was still pretty wiped out from our rigorous DC touring schedule, but I decided that I could sleep at home. If I stayed in bed I might miss something so I threw on some clothes and headed out to see who was up. At that point it was just one adult from each family awake so we made a pot of coffee and headed to the sun room that provided breathtaking views of the Shenandoah Mountains.

As the mist slowly burned off, more and more folks started waking up and finally around 9:30 our group headed down to the main house to join the big party. First order of the day was riding horses. Several of the girls weren't too sure the first time they got up on a horse so we tried the buddy system. Kylie sat with Marisa, Caroline and Darby before she finally got comfortable. Thankfully Wendy's horses, Gypsy, Yoshi, Dolly and Fury were patient and eventually each of the seven girls took a ride.

Kylie wasn't too sure about sitting on Gypsy by herself.

Being with a friend like Darby makes every horse ride easier...

"But the helmet might mess up my hair!" Just in case you are keeping score, Ian and I won that battle...

"I LUHV helping to feed Dolly!"

While the horses were getting brushed out and rewarded for their hard work a canoe climbing session took place. Perhaps we have a group of future rock climbers?

Sarah, Kylie, Caroline, Darby

Who needs toys when there is a stack of canoes and kayaks?

The heat of the day began to take effect so we escaped indoors to beat the heat. While lunch was getting organized Mindy kept several of the little girls entertained with a make-up/nail polishing session.

Grace (Sarah's sister), Nellie, Sarah, Caroline, Mindy and Kylie enjoy a full blown "make-up party!"

Lunch was followed by a long nap (many of the parents ~ including Ian and I ~ took advantage of an afternoon siesta too)! Later in the day some of the crew went canoing down the James River, others learned to ride/drive a four wheeler, and some of us just sat around enjoying an afternoon with no schedule. Finally the last three families arrived and with the exception of Olivia's family (who was sorely missed) the group was complete. That gave us an opportunity to put Kylie's “special news” shirt on and share our joy about Caleb with the group. The exciting part is that Kylie wasn't the only one who had news of a little brother to share...

Darby checks out Kylie's shirt and seems say with her expressions, "So mommy and daddy were right, you are going to have a brother too!" The day after we got a call about Caleb Darby's family got a call about Henry. We received our PA's within a few days of each other so we are praying that we end up traveling back to China with Darby's family!

And just when it seemed like the day had been sweet enough, we finished the evening around the fire pit roasting marshmallows and letting most of our girls get their first taste of a campfire smore! What a day...and yet we had one more full day to come!