Kayleigh's Potty Training Reward

We have been telling Kayleigh for months that if she would start using the potty she could ride the train that passes by our house several times a day. She had been on this train before at a friends birthday party and loved it. So after several days of successfully using the potty we decided that it was time to reward her and take her on the train. This train is a real passenger train in our city that you can ride for about 22 cents per person one way. We all had a great time riding the train. We rode it to the end of the line and watched the engine come around and attach itself to the other side of the train so we could ride back to where we started. The kids thought that was very interesting. Kayleigh's friends Bright and Zion joined us for the ride.

Here we are waiting for the train to arrive.

Hanging out on the tracks.

Not sure what kind of faces Zeb and Kayleigh are making here. They really did have a good time I promise!

Kayleigh Did It!!!

Kayleigh is successfully potty trained. Well at least for the most part. We still have a few accidents every now and then. However, we are going on our third week of no diapers and it is going great. She seems so much older now that she doesn't use diapers any more. We are so proud of her. I have to give a lot of credit to my friend Danielle. If you read my previous post about trying to potty train her then you know that my problem was that she was holding using the bathroom until she was in pain. Danielle suggested that I stick her hand in warm water to make her go while she was on the potty. It worked! This helped her to realize how to go on her own and the rest is history. Thanks Danielle!

Chinese New Year Celebration!

For Chinese New Year's day we had everyone that was left in the city over for some Mexican food! I guess if we should have had Chinese food! We had a great time and most of all survived all 8 kids that played in our house running like crazy. Kayleigh, of course, had a blast and loved having all her friends over. Zeb even had a friend too. Her name is Zoe and she was born two days after him. They mostly looked at each other and stole toys back and forth. Because there was so much craziness I only got one picture for the whole evening. I am so glad that everyone could come. We had a blast!

Thailand Trip Day 6

Our last and final day in Thailand consisted mostly of traveling back to Kunming. We started early, around 5:00am, which surprisingly, the kids did very well. Everyone was excited about flying back home. We had to change planes in Bangkok, so we had a 2 hour layover, just enough time to get in a little breakfast before leaving. There is a Burger King in the Bangkok airport so Kayleigh got to eat eggs and hash browns. Then a Dairy Queen blizzard for dessert! Life in China does not allow us to have these Western treats so we eat them any chance we have.

Right after this picture was taken, what we thought was a spit-up stain on his pants was actually the indication of a diaper that was totally blown out! Good thing our gate had a bathroom with a changing station in it! After Zeb's diaper was changed we walked right on the plane.

Thailand Trip Day 5

We tried to go to the airport museum this day but we could not get a hold of the manager to allow us access to the museum. The museum is located on the air force base in Chiang Mai and we need special permission to enter to see the old airplanes. So, after a valiant try, we decided the kids would like to play at the park down the street where we were staying. Below are the pictures from that time and the experience they had was exciting.

Kayleigh enjoying her favorite past time. We believe she would swing an entire 24 hours straight if we let her.

Zeb thoroughly enjoying the Thailand weather. It was about mid-70s while we where there during the day. Zeb also hates wearing socks, so it was perfect for him.

There was this cool little swing that could hold about 6 kids at a time and it resembled a bus or a train. Zeb wanted to participate with the big kids and he had a blast just looking at them from behind.

Zeb with his 2 front bottom teeth.

Kayleigh strutting around in a tree house.

Prepping for the pool! After everyone gets greased up, we're off!

Zeb is not sure what to think of the ice cold water he is playing in. Part of him wants to jump in and kick his little legs until he gets tired and part of him is saying "no way am I getting into that!"

Thailand Trip Day 4 part 2

Part 2 of day 4 in the Thailand Chronicles starts out with us going to the mall for shopping, food, and a little fun. As you can see below, the balls are Kayleigh's favorite place to go and have fun. Bright and Zion also had their share of laughs and fun. This whole place has slides, a ball pit, balloon room, and a moon walk. You pay $1 and you can stay for an hour. The dads had a lot of fun chucking balls at each other while the kids played. We were all exhausted after a big day at the mall. To this day we are still recovering from our Thailand trip!

Kayleigh having the time of her life.

Climbing up to go down the slide again.

In the balloon pit.

Someone stepped on her toe in the Moon Walk.

Thailand Trip Day 4 part 1

On the fourth day of our trip we went to the zoo with our friends Bright and Zion. They absolutely loved to see all of the animals up close. We even were able to feed giraffes and an elephant their food. Kayleigh was really scared but still enjoyed watching them be fed from our hands. The zoo is built on the side of a mountain so the entire complex has many hills and valleys. The zoo recommends that we ride the trolley system to each part of the zoo where you can get off, look at animals and wait for the next trolley a few minutes away. The zoo also had a very nice aquarium that the kids also loved. 

Kayleigh, Zion, Kayla, and Bright on the trolley.

Kayleigh looking at the Ostriches first hand.

Daddy and Kayleigh sitting in the trolley together.

Near the Koala exhibit.

Kayleigh, Zion, and Bright hanging out waiting for the next trolley.

Thailand Trip Days 2 and 3

Not much happened our first day in Thailand. We spent most of the day at the hospital getting check ups done for the whole family. It mostly consisted of crying kids since they were recovering from all the hard traveling the day before. We put them to bed early that night and all the adults enjoyed a nice dinner from our favorite Mexican restaurant in Chaing Mai.

Day 3 of our trip was much more fun and eventful. We had well rested kids which made the day much more bearable. We rented a car for the week so we headed up the mountain in the car for a drive to see the sites. After lunch, naps, and a wonderful, long awaited haircut by me we took the Rupps to the Juniper Tree to show them where they would be living while they have their baby in Chaing Mai this summer. John and I lived there while we had Zeb and loved it. We would recommend it to anyone. Below are some great pictures from the day.

Here are Kayleigh and Bright at a overlook that we stopped at in the mountains.

Kayleigh on her favorite swing at the Juniper Tree. When we were there to have Zeb she basically wanted to swing night and day. She even chose to swing over going to the pool. I wish we could find a swing around here.

Thailand Trip Day 1

Well, we are back from Thailand and we had a blast. I plan to give you an update of each of our days there so you can get a feel for how are trip went. The first day was a travel day. Those days are never my favorite and for some reason never uneventful. So we began our travel last Thursday around 1:30pm. We headed to the airport only to find out that our flight was delayed by an hour and half. So instead of leaving at 3:20 we left at almost 5pm. When we first heard the news we were a little worried about missing our connecting flight at 7 out of Bangkok to Chiang Mai. However, the lady at the ticket counter assured John in these words "it is not possible for you to miss your flight". However, this did not really reassure us since we are pretty sure it is possible. So we were trying to figure out what to do with the kids while we waited. We decided to hit the new KFC inside the airport for a really really early dinner because we didn't know if we would have another chance to feed them. When we arrived in Bangkok we literally ran to the next gate to get on the plane. We arrived at the gate at 6:59. The flight was to take off at 7pm! After landing in Chiang Mai we waited for 30 minutes for our luggage to arrive only to find out that for some reason we had to go to the international terminal to pick it up. By the time the kids were placed in their beds it was 11pm to their bodies. They were all so tired and worn out from the trip. We were hoping for a better day after a good night of rest.

Kayleigh's First HairCut!

This past Saturday Kayleigh received her first haircut. I have been talking to her about getting one for quite some time. She seemed fine with it so I called up my friend Kayla and asked her to cut Kayleigh's hair. We decided it would be best for her to watch a movie while Kayla was cutting it so she would be still. She didn't even move until it came time to cut her bangs and they were tickling her face. She did great! It looks so cute and she has more curls now!

This is right before she started.

Here she is glued to the t.v. She doesn't even know what is happening.

Not sure what this face is for?