YueYang Reunion Day 1

My Darling is from YueYang China

AND

on the day she was adopted we were with 17 other families adopting through Bethany Christian Services from the same area in China.

18 girls were adopted that day -- 12 from the city orphanage and 6 from the county orphanage.

Ages 9 months to 23 months old.

My Darling was from the city orphanage. All 12 shared the same crib room!

Thankfully, over the last 7 years we have all stayed in touch.  

AND

We have a reunion every year.  

Each family takes turns hosting it.

AND yes, we have gone to all but 1 -- we missed the San Diego reunion due to our 2nd adoption.   

This year we traveled to St. Louis Missouri.

We drove -- all 7 of us -- in a Honda Odyssey van -- 8 hours

ACTUALLY, it was a great drive.  NO issues :)

Small issue when we arrived at the hotel -- no suite for us!  YIKES!!!  We are all in a regular room!  

We all made a commitment to Choose Joy!

13 families were able to make the trip.

FUN!!!

My Darling and I always come up with some kind of gift to give each of the girls.

This year we did tie dyed wristlets that say 'YueYang Sister Forever'

My Darling but them in baggies with a message to each of the girls ---

I'm so thankful YOU are one of my YueYang Sisters

The first morning we passed them out to each of the girls.

We originally were scheduled to go to the zoo BUT due to the extreme heat, 104 degrees, we changed our plans and went to the City Museum.

This place was AMAZING!!!  

We had so much fun!

Enjoy the pictures.

The girls in the group -- more then JUST the YueYang girls :)

 LOVE this of MD and Elizabeth!

 There was some WEIRD things!!!!

GROSS!!

 Our 3 plus one of the YueYang sisters -- O.

 Yes, something else WEIRD!!!

 Elizabeth does a monkey dance and 'look' -- so, perfect picture of her as a monkey :)

 The old pinball machines AND they worked!!  I LOVE playing these and YES, I played a few!

 There was a small train to ride and Elizabeth couldn't wait!!!

 My Darling on the train.

  Elizabeth LOVING it!!

There was TONS of things to climb.  AND Elizabeth was always up for the challenge!!

I could NOT fit in this one.  So, she did it with just a tad bit of help from My Darling.

 Elizabeth climbing!

 All 5 kids!

 Elizabeth WANTED to kiss the cheek :)

 Ropes to swing on -- BaJabs, JM, MD and My Darling did this.  

 Cool slides -- 

You had to climb UP and of course slide down -- E. needed some help but the other 2 could get up on their own.

There was a small circus.

 This slide was 3 floors high -- ALL of us did it!!

Even -- MOM!!!

 Next, we went outside -- and LOTS of climbing and sliding.

MD taking his way :)

 The girls and I taking a safer way -- still a bit hard :)

 Walking across to the boys!

 The boys climbing up!

 The dragon slide.

 Up high!  This is on top of the dragon slide -- we are up about 3 stories.

 MD!

 Going down 1 level.

Going down the dragon slide -- we ALL did this!!

The girls taking a snack break as the boys climb higher!

All 3 boys at the top on the airplane -- 4 stories up!

 JM (in the red) going across -- HIGHER!

 MD

Daddy doing it, too!

 The girls wanted to do the dragon slide WITH daddy!

 Under the sea -- this is on the bottom floor --- HUGE!!!

 Going through the caverns -- 

 Our 5 plus O.

 This is an HUGE whale you can walk in and it looks like you are being pooped out the back.

Really, this was a FUN, FUN time!!!

We stayed much longer then the agenda allowed for :)

AND

Really, wanted to say -- this is Elizabeth's 2nd day with a LONG leg. 

Can you believe it???

She LOVES it!!!

We went back to the hotel for a small nap.

Dinner at The Pasta House -- gluten-free menu!!!  

YUM!!

Back to swim and then off to bed!!!