Bay Area Rennaissance Festival

 

We took Saiya to the Tampa Bay Rennaissance Festival this weekend.  She had a great time!  Within the first 20 minutes, she had a tail, wings, and a pet dragon.  She even got to ride an elephant and duel an expert swordsman.  The swordsman immediately fell in love with her and said anytime she came back, he would teach her for free!  We came out covered in renn-dirt from head to toe, but had an awesome time.

 

Happy Birthday Saiya

 

Saiya's 7th birthday was last thursday.  On friday we took her out to the Melting Pot for Fondue and Saturday we took her and her cousin to SeaWorld!  She is now just barely tall enough to ride a few of the rides there (minus the two larger roller coasters).  Her first ride was the journey to Atlantis ride.  It is a water based ride with a big drop/splash.  She HATED it.  The whole ride she was crying and wanted to get off.  Poor kid.  Not nearly as fearless as  her cousin who was screaming for joy the entire time.  After Atlantis, we hopped on the simulator ride for the trip to the Polar Bear area.  That ride wasnt so bad, but I have to admit, it made me a little nauseous.  We had a great day.  She even got to spend some of her birthday money all by herself.

Happy birthday, baby!

Boston for Chinese New Year

Saiya had a great time in Boston for the CAWLI Chinese New Year Party.  We went on a trolly tour and saw the USS Constitution.  We also met up with Wei Ying's parents and all five girls had a blast at the aquarium.  The Chinese new year party was awesome.  There was a traditional lion dance and the food was great!  We got to see Lillian.  She was so thrilled that Wen Wen and Saiya flew in to Boston for the weekend to see her and attend the party.  We met another little girl who was adopted from the same orphanage as Saiya and Wen Wen.  All four girls are close in age (although Saiya is the oldest).  I asked Saiya if she remembered her and she said a little bit.  Sunday it snowed and Saiya got to play in the snow a little bit before we had to head to the airport.  I am looking forward to Wen Wen and her family coming to Florida for a visit.  Boston was nice, but super cold (and sometimes windy).  Warmer weather would be appreciated by all, I'm sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saiya the Engineer

We took Saiya to Downtown Disney yesterday.  We ate at the T-Rex Restaurant and Saiya got to make a Dinasaur at the build a dino store.  At the Lego Store, Saiya went right to the Lego build center and started putting things together.  She has a very logical mind.  It was fun to watch her little wheels spin.  Enjoy the pictures from an awesome day!

Lost Tooth!

 

Thursday night Saiya lost her first tooth!  She was so happy that the Tooth Fairy came and gave her a quarter for her bank.  I asked her if she was going to put the money in her piggy bank (which is a nice ceramic sculpture of a chinese girl standing next to a pagoda), this was her response:

"Mommy, I dont have a piggy bank because its not a pig.  Its a people bank, 'cause its a people."

Silly girl.  She takes things so literally...  Tempted to buy her a pig so i can call it a "piggy bank"  HAHAHA!

Last night she lost another one.  That money went into her people bank.  :D

A Night at the Stables

Saiya has been begging me to let her ride when we go to the stables every week.  So yesterday after practicing over and over how to ask Ashley in sign language if she could ride, she managed to win her over with a smile and her newfound sign language skills.  :)  Saiya was given a helmet and we brought Doc out so she could brush him.  Ashley let her brush his tail and even showed her how to clean out his hooves.  After that, Ashley brought out her old saddle and we geared up Doc for an easy meander around the larger ring.  Saiya was all smiles!  She loves horses and yesterday I think she fell in love even more.  So now, we have to decide if she wants to continue with Kung Fu or if we want to switch her to horse lessons.  I really like her being in Kung Fu, but even Ashley said she's never seen Saiya smile so wide!  Its going to be a long conversation for sure.

Making Sugar Cookies for the New Year

It was just Saiya and I for New Year's eve, so we put on a movie and made sugar cookies.  I've never made sugar cookies from scratch before, so this was a lot of fun for both of us.  We even made icing from scratch for the cookies!

Happy New Year!