Blake + Rachel

Blake and Rachel, we wish you many, many years!

This weekend we returned to Bellingham and Camp Firwood to celebrate with some of our closest friends. Blake was instrumental in getting Brian and me together and stood by our side in *both* of our weddings. Since then, he has been a constant friend -- the only non-family member to stay in all of our houses, including Beijing. We are just getting to know Rachel, but our family has already grown fond of her.

Brian was excited to give a toast to his friend. 

The quote of the night: "talked him off the monastic ledge"

I enjoyed catching up with dear friends throughout the entire weekend. 

The girls played and danced and got a first glimpse at the special place where their parents' relationship began. 

Origami Dogs from Around the World

Yay! The powers of the internet! Magnolia was very excited to have friends and family sent in pictures of their origami dogs after her instructional video.

Sent in by our friend Jemma in New Zealand

 Sent in by Maggie's Nana in Washington

Chess match: Maggie vs. Huxley

Friday, I arrive at Maggie's after-school care to be greeted by the usual disappointed "Aww (it's time to go already?)." This time she is in the middle of a chess game. We aren't in a hurry so I pull up a tiny chair to watch the future grandmasters.

It's clear that Huxley is much more experienced, reciting the finer points of pawn movement and promotion. The game draws several "experts." They spout out "one move to check!" and speak of fair trades and how many points they each had. Chess has points?!?

After a while I have flashbacks of the last time I played chess, as Huxley picks off Maggie's pieces with ease.

It was our honeymoon in Fiji. Brian was really, really into chess, but to coerce make it fair for his new bride, he would play without a rook or bishop and knight, or sometimes even his queen. In that fateful last game, I was ahead and felt like I had a shot at winning for the first time ever. Then, slowly, my pieces began to disappear and I was unable to help them. After the game, I marched to the bathroom and screamed at the top of my lungs. The soap in the shower was not spared my high-velocity wrath. Brian, my dear, sweet husband (except for his chess brutalities), fresh from our fairytale wedding, was mortified. We decided not to play chess any more.  

Seeing that same fate (okay, maybe not quite as bad) awaiting my daughter, I decide to step in and "help." I advise her to move her bishop to a spot. She trusts my advice and I say "Check." Both kids look at me strangely, incredulously. "That's not check." Still confident, I try to show them how it was indeed check. "You can only check the *king*." The piece I advised my daughter to "check" was his queen. Oops. Maggie's bishop is gone and I decide to keep my mouth shut.

Pretty soon, Huxley's dad arrives. Thankfully, he is willing to indulge their game and able to give knowledgable advice to both kids.

Maggie manages to survive and whittles Huxley down to his king and a few pawns. The two six-year-olds play a game of chase around the board. Huxley manages to take Maggie's last pawn in the process. At that point, Huxley's Dad informs them that once a player is down to one piece, the other player has 15 moves to checkmate or the game ends in a stalemate. Is that even a thing or is he just trying to end the game? 

Stalemate it is. As we walk to the car, Maggie is bashful. She wishes she could have won, has admiration for how good Huxley is, but proud of how many pieces she captured--a much better response to her game than her Mom's soap throwing.

A Visit (and train ride!) with Moses Moes

Our friends, Moses and James Moes came for a visit. While the dads worked, the kids and I took the Max or "train" to Catlin Gabel to play and visit Brian on caretaker duty.

The soggy day made everyone tired, so the Phil and Ted's double stroller was pushed to carry three.

Overall, fun times were had by all, and Moses got some good preparation for his new sister. 

Sauvie Island with the Parris Family

We decided we needed to do something touristy in our new hometown. So we headed out to a farm on Sauvie Island with our friends, the Parris family. 

Blake visits Hillsboro

Our good friend, Blake visits us wherever we live. Even Beijing. So we were all excited to him be our first guest -- before our boxes were unpacked -- at our newest home in Hillsboro.

Temple of Heaven

As our time in Beijing comes to a close, we are trying to at least see all the traditional sites near us. We took advantage of a BLUE SKY! Saturday and spent the morning exploring the Temple of Heaven and its surrounding park with our friends Julij and Prism. 

Kaleia, Prism, and Magnolia

More to follow the break...

Birthday Celebrations

Today was full of celebrations for this special girl's birthday. 

Click below to read the full story

Maggie Cam: Blake's visit

We're a little lonely for old friends here in Beijing, so we were very excited when Blake told us he was coming for a visit.  Brian asked the girls several times to "guess how many days till Blake comes!," before he realized most people were counting down till Christmas, which was a day earlier. 

We did a little sight-seeing and Blake, who lived in China several years ago, introduced us to some new  delicious Chinese dishes. After staying with us, he did some more traveling with a friend within China, then returned for a few days. We had our hands full with the girls most of the time. Pretty much our only pictures from his visit are Maggie's. You can read more about his visit and travels in China at his blog. Maybe he'll share some pictures soon too. Click below to see the whole post. 

Blake is here!

Clara's Birthday Party

Magnolia's friend Clara turned 4 this week and invited Magnolia to her birthday party. Clara is one of Magnolia's closest friends. Usually. I'm surprised how young the girl drama begins. The day they became friends Magnolia told me, "Clara said that I am pretty and now we are friends. We held hands on the playground." Since then, they've been on again, off again. Maggie will come home and say that Clara said something mean so they are not friends anymore. I figure that some of those times it was Maggie's bossy tendency that led to the rift when Clara wouldn't go along with her plans. Clara's mom shared at the party that Magnolia taught Clara to write her name. Clara is a bit competitive and needed to be able to do what Magnolia can do. Magnolia has to have a Hello Kitty cake, with pink frosting and strawberry ears, just like Clara did. Maggie doesn't even like Hello Kitty. Oy vey. 

A Year in Unpublished Pictures - 2011: Part 1

2011 was filled with many Rushcapades. Much is missing from our blog archive - like all of May through August. So this year's unpublished picture list grew to more than just the one or two per month I like to keep it to. I decided we needed a three part installment. Part 1 - The Lead Up. Part 2 - Travels, or Insanity. Part 3 - Intro to China. There are many more pictures on our flickr site if you are interested. Hope you enjoy! Make sure to click Read More to see the whole post.

January: 

Sisters love each other. 

Brian goes to California for his last Jan term and begins the final stretch to graduation. 

Shannon has her first skype interviews for international school jobs.

Maggie Cam: Summer Palace

This week our Bellingham friend, Kelsey came to Beijing to meet up with her sister, Sara, who is teaching English in Nanjing. We joined them for a day of sightseeing at the Summer Palace. Here is Maggie's documentation. (If you are reading at Rushcapades, be sure to click "Read more" below to see all of her pictures.) Look for more pictures from the rest of us on our flickr page soon.

Animal Pile Up Re-Creation - 2 Years Later

Our friend Josh took some pictures of Magnolia just after her first birthday. One of those pictures -- you can see it in the May section of this post -- hangs on our living room wall, amongst others, and always grabs the girls' attention. 

Today, they wanted to recreate the picture. I don't have Josh's skill or equipment, but we still had fun piling up all the animals. 

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Recently, I had the honor of throwing a bridal shower for my little sister, Allison.

Significant women from every stage of her life gathered to celebrate her upcoming wedding to her college sweetheart.

Alli loves tradition but she's also fashionable. So our party for her was themed around the old saying "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." She was s good sport, and wore my mom's heavy veil the entire day. We borrowed tea cups from many faithful friends and served traditional and trendy shower fare. There were several games that drew out information about Alli and Taylor as well as solicited advice for the new couple. But the most memorable activity was our Love themed sing off. See for yourself:

If you are interested in seeing all the pictures from the event, visit my flickr site. 

Silent Reading

Recently, our friend Ethan was over. While I was taking care of the girls, he decided to read a little on the couch. After observing him for a minute, Magnolia looks at me puzzled.

Maggie: "Mama, why Ethan not know the words?"

Me: "He knows the words."

Maggie: "But he is not saying them."

Whoa. Didn't anticipate that one. How does one explain silent reading?

Me: "Um, He is reading the words in his head? Do you ever read the words in your head?"

Maggie: "No, I always say them loud."

And she returned to play. I am glad my simplistic answers are all she needs at this point.

Growing Up, or The Babysat Babysits the Babysitter's Babies (and Gets Married!)

Every few pages, I pause and hope for silence. The little voices in this dark tent have been seriously debating critical choices for over an hour now. Should we go down that abandoned mine shaft? Or not? Now, after a long, fun day with my little buddies I'm ready to leave the world of children and return to the adults. As a teen whose parents' friends all have younger kids, I find myself straddling these two worlds often.

Now, after waiting a few moments to make sure their sleep is sound, I tiptoe over sleeping bags and do my best to silence the obnoxiously loud tent zipper. The river rushes nearby and I successfully escape to the nearby cabin where the Clark parents, whom we’re vacationing with, and my parents, are playing cards.

My teen years, like most people’s, weren’t always the best of times, but I get nostalgic for those summer nights in the tent and cabin. The Clark kids—Sarah, Peter, Becky and Daniel—who made many memories with us at my Grandpa’s river cabin are all grown up now.

The youngest, Sarah, the one I call Little Fred, just graduated from high school. Are those little hands that could barely help make the solar system mural on the back fence during my self-run summer camp, really off to Gonzaga this fall?

Peter, or Pedro -- a nickname I gave him because he always wanted to help with my Spanish homework -- is now a junior at SPU, my alma mater, and a Peer Advisor, just like I was.

Becky, who loved the Pocahontas sound track and candy salad just graduated from Pepperdine and married a Brian of her own!

And I can still see the eldest, Daniel, trying out his favorite Power Ranger moves, a show he made me watch more times than I'd like to admit. Now he lives on his own with his new puppy and works as a bartender and server. I guess it shouldn't surprise me so much...He is 24.

But this summer I have been surprised by how much they all have grown up as I've attended a graduation party, a shower and a wedding. On a couple of occasions these kids also babysat my kids. It all brought so many memories flooding back.

Clark kids, you all have a very special place in my heart. I sure wish we could find that time capsule we buried at Grandpa's cabin. I bet it would bring back even more memories....

Celebrating 2 Years

Saturday, March 6th we celebrated Magnolia's birthday.

Our little girl LOVES cooking, so we made that the theme for the day.

In the morning the Graceys and Rushes came over for brunch, which consisted of Magnolia favorites: Pancakes with "hiding blueberries", Congo Bacon, Fruit Salad, and Juice.

Then we opened presents. Magnolia still doesn't quite have the idea.

So older cousins Noah and Ella stepped in to help.

After opening lots of play-food presents, she pulled off blankets to reveal her very own kitchen!

She has been making us boiled bread and jelly bean pizza ever since.

After naps, we invited some friends over to play in our *new* family room.

The kitchen was a hit.

So was decorating aprons.

We paused to enjoy cupcakes.

Then returned to playing with the kitchen.

Overall, it was a great day. Thank you to all who helped make it special!

Celebrating Ten and Seven

Yesterday Brian and I returned to the place we first met, Camp Firwood, for a reunion with fellow '99 counselors. Firwood always reminds us of our unfavorable first impressions of each other.
Today, we're celebrating our seventh anniversary. :)

Dee-doe-ee-aa!

Our friends Matt and Amber posted a funny little anecdote about their son, Justin, and Magnolia that some of you might enjoy.  Check it out.

Magnolia's One Year Shoot

We hired our friend, Josh Durias to take Magnolia's "One Year" photos (more like 13-month photos--close enough). The photo shoot was a blast and we think they turned out great! Check out more of his work and info here.