A Slice of Life in April

Wow - April flew by! Here's a glimpse of what went on around here (travels included) in April:

At the Panda Preserve in Chengdu, China

Michael is trying to convince the duck that he comes in peace by pretending to be one of them!

Jake and I pausing for a moment on the Great Wall.

I WILL write more about our trip to China soon - I promise!

Many hours were spent in April holding, walking, petting, wiping up the floor and working on training Peaches. This was a common sight...

...as you can see, loving on Peaches went on all the time!

Everybody loves her! And the best part is...she loves everybody too! I think we have a keeper this time!

Jake raced in the Cub Scout Soap Box Derby again this year. After being disqualified last year for crashing twice, it took an ENORMOUS amount of guts and determination to just back into a car this year. He did, and we are so very, very proud of him for that. AND not only that, he took 3RD PLACE in his division.

That's our boy!

Another Soap Box Derby picture. That's Jake in the green car. In this particular heat, the kid in the other car lost his wheel - it's laying in the middle of the road by the white line. They don't actually race each other. They are separately timed and the winners have the best average time. (this is starting to sound like a calculus problem I was just working on....)

Enjoying some fabulous Chinese food in Beijing. Even the worst meal we had there was better than the best Chinese we can find around here.

And finally...just one of my favorite pictures taken recently around here. This was a camel herder and his flock (?) in the middle of the desert. We were digging up sand roses in the middle of no where (more about that to come) and was greeted by this sight. Check out the pile of blankets he is using as his saddle...