Home--Saturday

Up early and picked Cameron up at 7:30.  We were headed to his friends baseball tournament even though it looked like rain.  On our way there I received a text saying they were going to be delayed.  Great.  Cameron and I went to IHOP for breakfast.  We each ordered a huge omelet.  Man, it was good.  While we were eating I got a text at 8:25 saying the boys would start at 8:30.  WHAT?  We finished eating and headed to the ball park.

That is a big omelet.

No pictures...must eat.

We missed the first inning but we watched the rest.  It wasn't too good of a game and Cameron's friends lost.  He was just happy to be at the park with them all.  After the game we stopped at home.  We then went to Todd's parents house.  Todd's sister and her family were also there.  It was great to see them all.  We had lunch and then chatted for a couple of hours.  We left for home around 2:00.

Grandma and Grandpa Wallace.

Aunt Pam, Allison, and Uncle Doug with Cameron.

We got home and asked Grandpa if he wanted to go to Uncle Doug's (Todd's sisters house) to shoot the BB gun and bow and arrow.  Grandpa said yes.  We ran to our house to get the "weapons" as Cameron calls them.  It was a little weird being in my house without our renters being home but they said we could.  I miss my house.

Our flowers at home.  A little overgrown but some of the flowers are so big and pretty.

Off to Uncle Doug's.  He had targets ready.  He was so patient and helpful.  It has been a long time since Cameron had used either of his "weapons" and Uncle Doug reminded Cameron how to use both of them.  Aunt Pam, Allison, and I watched for a little bit but then we went inside so I could see Allison's graduation scrap books.  Boy were they cool.  Back outside to check on Cameron.  He was getting very tired.  That is what happens when you stay up until 3:00 a.m.  We had 50 minutes before we had to meet my mom at church so Cameron decided to jump in the swimming pool with Allison.

Uncle Doug giving pointers.

The green mark at the top is Cameron's first shot.

Grandpa and Uncle Doug are Cameron's buddies.

Cameron's shots.

Bow and arrow time.

Jumping in.

Allison and Cameron enjoying the water.

Off to church.  After church we went home and had dinner.  My dad took the ham out of the oven and Cameron said "That is the biggest hot dog I have ever seen."  That is exactly what it looked like.  After dinner we skyped with Todd and packed for Wisconsin Dells.  Mom and I ran to the cemetery and the store.  Back home and off to bed.

Home--Friday

Thank goodness I checked my e-mail first thing this morning.  Todd told us he was having Manuel and Fredy over for dinner and they would be there when we skyped.  I jumped in the shower and got ready. Otherwise I would have had bed head and been in my pj's.  That would have been very embarrassing.  We talked to Todd.

Its fishing day at camp so Cameron asked Grandpa to take him outside to practice casting the fishing pole.  Cameron and Grandpa discussed the proper things to do while fishing.  Cameron did a great job casting.  I then ran Cameron to camp.  It started raining a little on the way.  On my way home it was lightening pretty bad and getting rather dark.  I was a little nervous about Cameron.  I received a text from Joanette telling me the kids were on the bus not able to fish because of lightening.  Bummer.  About 20 minutes later she sent me a picture of Cameron fishing so they were finally able to do it.

Cameron and Grandpa discussing fishing techniques.

Practicing casting.

Discussing the weight on the line and its purpose.

Sunset Marina fishing in the Mississippi River.

Looks like he is having fun.

No fish so sticks became more fun to play with.

I picked Cameron up at 11:30 and we stopped at Toys R Us to see if they had the new Lego Batman game.  They did but then we saw Skylanders.  This is a new game that you have to buy separate "guys" and put them on a portal so they can morf into the game.  The lady at the store got so excited telling us about it.  Then a random dad asked if we needed help because has Skylander and 3 kids so he knew what we needed.  It was so nice of those 2 people to help us.  Plus, they were on sale.  $213 later we were walking to the car.  Yikes.

We drove to McGuire's to hang out with them for the afternoon.  The kids played and Karen and I solved all the worlds problems.  2:45 we headed back into East Moline.  I dropped Cameron off at my parents and I went to the foot dr.  The pedicure lady in China said she wanted to cut my toenail off and put medicine on it but I decided I would see a dr. in America instead.  Don't quite trust her.

I picked my mom up at 4:00 and we ran to my cousin Deb's house.  Her son had a baby girl 3 months ago and they were in town.  Jaylee is really cute.  We stayed there for about 45 minutes and then had to get home to get ready to go out to dinner.

We dropped Cameron off at my brothers so him, Grace, and Griffin could hang out.  Dane and Taylor ended up being there as well.  Scott, Kelly, Me, and my parents went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  It was really good.  While we were in the restaurant a storm blew in.  We had already paid the bill but we decided to have another drink to wait the rain out.  We then stopped at Doc Inn's for a drink then headed home.  It was about 11:30 when we got back to my brothers.  The kids were still up.  They put a movie in at 1:30 and stayed up until 3 is what Cameron said.

Scott and Kelly.

Waiting for our table.

My parents, brother, and sister in law.

Having a few drinks to celebrate 19 years for Scott and Kelly.

Scott getting off the saddle and Kelly has the dessert.

Awww, isn't this sweet?

Home to bed.

Home--Thursday

Dropped Cameron off at camp and I went home.  Mom, Dad, and I went for a walk.  I ran back out to get Cameron.  I ended up bringing Caleb and Ian home too.  We got back to my parents and the boys went to play wii.  They grabbed a Whitey's Chipper for a snack and we were off to Caleb's house.

Caleb, Ian, and Cameron playing Wii.

The boys are enjoying their ice cream treat.

We met Bryant and Jennie there and then headed to Short Hills Country Club to go swimming.  It was very hot out.  I couldn't believe that the pool was not packed.  There was no more than 20 people in the pool at once.  The 4 boys had so much fun together.  It was like they had never been apart.  Love these boys.

The boys being goofy.  Mrs. Fox, a teacher at Seton, is in the background.

Caleb, Ian, Cameron, and Bryant posing for me.

At 3:00 I ran to the dentist.  It was short and sweet.  I was back at the pool by 3:45.  We hung out for another hour and then went back to Caleb's.  The boys played and Jennie, Laura, and I chatted.  It was great to catch up with the other moms.  The boys were playing video games but then they went outside to play cops and robbers.  Caleb's neighbor has a club house the boys were using and they called it the electric oven.  It was so hot inside.  They boys didn't seem to mind but when they came in they were all soaking wet and dripping sweat. 

What a bunch of silly boys.

Nice hat Cameron.

They cleaned up and we ate pizza.  The kids had Happy Joes and the adults had Fields of Pizza.  Everyone was very happy.  The boys played for about 30 more minutes and then we headed home.  Cleaned up and went to bed.  What a great day with great friends.

Home-Wednesday

Everyone was awake and out of bed at 5:30 a.m. Grandpa made Cameron pancakes which made for one happy boy.  Off to Cub Scout Camp.  Dropped Cameron off and I stopped at Kmart in Rock Island for a few minutes then had to go to the dr. Luckily she is so nice and I don't mind seeing her.  Good report but I have to go for a mammogram...ick!

Stopped at home to pick up my mom and then went to get Aunt Sharon.  Breanne was there and she looks so cute with her little pregnant belly.  Laycee, Nora, and Kyler arrived and then we were off to go see Aubree's house in Davenport.  It is really nice.  Off to lunch at LaFlama.  It was some good Mexican food.  We chatted and had a lot of laughs. These cousins of mine sure are funny girls.  Their husbands would all die if they knew what some of our conversations were.

Breanne, Laycee, Mom, Aunt Sharon, Aubree, and Nora.

Kyler.

Nora.

Kyler and I were too excited to keep our eyes open.

We said our goodbyes and I dropped Aunt Sharon and Breanne back off at home.  Mom and I met dad and Cameron at the dr. office.  Dad picked Cameron up at Scout Camp early for me since he had a dr. appointment.  Mom and Dad left and we saw the dr.  Everything is good except Cameron has a little bit of a curved spine which the dr. said we do not need to worry about because it will hopefully fix itself.  He also stands weird so his lower back has a curve which will lead to a sore back when he is a little older.  He told him an exercise to do while he is brushing his teeth. He just needs to lean on a wall and suck his belly in to get his back to go flat.  You can bet I'll be making him do that daily.  Then he still (or maybe again) has fluid in his ear.  I told the dr. about the ruptured membrane a few months ago so he decided to put him on a Z pack to clear it up.  We have to go back in 12-15 days to get checked.

Two studs...Cameron and Grandpa. 

While we were chatting with the dr. I told him about my ears hurting and the fluid so he checked them for me.  Then he did a pressure check with some kind of instrument I had never seen before.  He said my left ear is better than my right but he thought I needed to be on a Z pack too.  Awesome.  I love Cameron's dr.  I'm so glad I said something to him.

First time ever swallowing a pill.

After the dr. we went home.  Cameron helped Grandpa put new screws in the down spouts and smashed "a million cans paper thin" as Cameron told me.  He loves helping Grandpa out.  He was hot and exhausted when he went inside.  Mom and I ran to the Dollar Store to get some treats for the Troops that Cub Scouts are collecting for.  We also ran to Kmart in Moline.  Back home and skyped with Todd.

Cameron loves helping his Grandpa.

We have a can crusher but a rubber mallet is much more fun.

Such a good worker.

We had HUGE T-bone steaks for dinner that Dad grilled.  Mom made home grown green beans too.  Needless to say it was an awesome dinner.

Now these are some steaks.

Cameron couldn't wait to dig in.

Showered and in bed early.  Cameron said his good-nights and went to bed at 7:00.  He was exhausted.  At 7:30 he was back out telling me "I must have just needed a rest.  I'm not tired anymore".  We played 3 games on the pinball machine and then played Aggravation with Grandma.  At 8:15 he was back in bed watching tv.  I went in at 9:00 and he was sleeping.

Home--Tuesday

We got up at 6:35.  We had a great nights sleep, just what we needed.  I had to be at the beauty shop at 7:30 and I couldn't wait.  I have been hating my hair for quite awhile.  I walked in and Lynette wasn't sure what she wanted to do or what color she wanted it.  I said I didn't care but I wanted it short.  She started cutting and got it to a length she was pretty happy with.  Then she colored it.  Then she decided to cut it shorter to try and cut some of the bad hair off that the Chinese had ruined.  As it turned out it was not as short as I wanted but shorter than what Lynette wanted.  Either way I am much happier and feel so much better.

Ah, much better.

9:30 I took Cameron to see Dr. Egger to get his teeth checked.  Everything looks great.  No signs of cavities or anything.  Next stop was Hy-Vee to buy Lunchables for Cameron's lunch.  We then headed to Black Hawk State Park to drop Cameron off at Cub Scout Camp.

We checked in and found where his friends were.  As we walked across the bridge Caleb and Ian came running over yelling Cameron's name.  They all had a group hug.  They were all so happy to see each other.  It was so cute.  Cameron went right off to shooting water rockets with the boys.  We then went to lunch.  I stayed awhile chatting with Joanette and Todd Castel.  At lunch the boys put a blanket down and sat down.  There was 7 of them sitting and eating and they were all asking Cameron's questions about life in China.  I could have sat and listened to the conversation all day.  Such a good group of boys.

Cameron back with a couple of his best buddies...Ian and Caleb.

Mom and I went for a walk and then ran to Target to look around before picking Cameron up.  I got two pairs of adorable flip flops.  I have missed Target.  Back to the park, found Cameron, and went home.  Cameron and Grandma finished their game of Chess from earlier.  Then grandpa and Cameron fixed his television so he could watch it.

We had chicken and noodles for dinner and then Cameron and I headed to McGuire's so we could go watch Brenna play softball.  On the way down the driveway Cameron asked if we could roll all the windows down.  Sure.  Then he asked to change the radio station.  He had me stop on a channel that was playing rock songs.  Then he asked me turn it up.  He had the hugest smile driving down the road, wind blowing in his face, and jamming out.  Funny kid.  It was so great to see them.  We have missed them really bad.  Out to the ball park in Geneseo to watch Breanna play.   Her team is kid pitch now and how boring the game was.  They played 3 innings in 2 hours.  There is no action what so ever because the pitchers can't pitch.  Cameron and I left before the game was over and headed back home.  I had just asked Cameron if he was tired and he answered no.  2 minutes later I look in my mirror at him and he was asleep in the back seat.  At 9:00 Cameron showered and went to bed.

Hard to take a picture from the front seat but look at that smile.

Cameron and Gavin watching Brenna.

Out like a light.

Home

3:30 am and we were up getting ready to start our journey home.  Mr. Xue was at the hotel at 4:10 to get us.  We loaded up and headed to the airport.  We were on the wrong road so Todd told Mr. Xue to turn around.  He did and we got on a different road.  Still not the correct road.  Todd didn't think we would end up on the right road but luckily we did.  At the airport Todd walked us in and took us to our first stop.  We said our goodbyes and Cameron and I walked through the doors.  Todd headed back to TEDA to go to work.

Once through the doors we went to the Delta desk to get our tickets.  Then rounded the corner to go through passport control.  Finally through security and to the lounge.  We had a little food and then headed to our gate.  We were literally the first people on the plane.  Cameron said "Dad would be so proud".  Found our seats and got comfy for the 11 1/2 hour flight.  Talked to Todd one last time then up in the air we went.

Toast and apple danish.

On the plane we both watched movies, played some games (Ipad and Ds), I slept a little but Cameron never did, and ate 3 different times (not very tasty).  Once in Detroit we hustled off the plane to get through customs, passport control, get our luggage, recheck our luggage, and security.  We had a few hours to kill so we walked around the airport to find our gate so we knew right where we needed to be (we did not want to miss our flight).  We then went to a restaurant for some real food.  Cameron had a huge plate of french toast and I had an omelet.  We both were very happy when we walked out of the restaurant.

Cameron learning Spanish on the plane.

Huge pile of french toast.

Down to the gate.  The whole time in Detroit I was trying to get internet access and couldn't. Finally got some.  It was pretty annoying though because it kept kicking in and out.  My China phone only works in China so we had no way to communicate with others.  What did we ever do without cell phones before?  Cameron commented on how nice it was to be in a place where nobody was staring at us like we were freaks.  We also agreed how nice it was to be able to understand every conversation.  We love America.

Finally on the plane for Moline.  Quick 58 minute flight.  Thank goodness since the two little boys behind us were singing along to their favorite nursery rhymes video (according to their dad) with no headphones on their Ipad.  It was annoying and cute at the same time.

Once on the ground we walked out to find Mom, Dad, Griffin, and Aunt Sharon waiting for us.  It was so good to see them. Grabbed the luggage and headed for home.  As soon as Cameron saw Grandpa he handed him his Fathers Day present he was carrying in his back pack.  Dad said they were both cool.

We're Back!!

So happy to see each other.

A Harley motorcycle we bought in Bali, Indonesia.

Harley shirt from Bali.

Once at home we walked in and Cameron said there was an Angel Food Cake. And home grown green beans. YUM!  Mom and I enjoyed both of those while the boys played wii.  We then watched Griffin and Cameron have a water gun fight.  They were running around the yard laughing up a storm.  I told Cameron to ask grandpa if he had a blue tarp to make a slip n slide.  Dad said he did but I decided just to run to the Dollar Store to buy one so we can throw it away when we are done.  Mom and I jumped in the car and went to the store.  They didn't have one.  We drove to Kmart.  Bought a $7.99 Slip n Slide.  Back home we set it up and poured liquid soap on it so they boys would go faster.  They had a blast.

Cameron chasing Griffin.

What?  I'm not doing anything.

Head to head competition.

FIRE!!

Cameron sliding.

Griffin sliding.

Grandma wouldn't let them in the house to go to the bathroom.

Our version of a Chinese bathroom attendant.

Having fun making the water squirt.

Scott, Kelly, and Grace came over and we had hamburgers and corn on the cob for dinner.  They left and we cleaned up and went to bed.  Cameron was to the point of delirious he was so tired.  It was GREAT being home.

Love my family.

One exhausted boy.