{September}

Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area

Kendall County, IL

September 2011

September Saturday

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Mooncakes and Memories

China celebrated it's Mid-Autumn festival earlier this week. It's a time of coming together with family, gazing at the moon at remembering loved ones both far and near.

Sunday night at The Bungalow we unwrapped the boxed mooncakes we bought @ Chinese School and brewed a micro pot of chrysanthemum tea. (The Three love to watch the tightly packed dried flower blossom in the hot water). We sipped the fragrant tea out of tiny cups, the mismatched cups of varying styles that the girls picked out themselves at the tea shop along along the Nan Shan market in QD.

The night was flooded with memories ...

With thoughts of friends on the other side of the globe ...

With comments on how we celebrated last year, in our QD garden, gazing at the full moon over the yellow sea ... with moon cakes (of course) and possibly Tsingtao pijiu for the adults. Last year at this time we had just discovered that our time in China was ending. We had just found out, but we didn't know yet where we would end up. That Mooncake Festival was especially poignant. We ended by releasing a paper lantern from the back yard, and watched as it's flame illuminated the thin red paper and the wind carried it out across the water.

This year we went out on the front porch of The Bungalow, gazed at the full moon and named people we knew and loved on the other side of the world.

We ate the moon cakes, even though we don't really like them, and then Bei Bei adding a new tradition of her own, asked if she could howl at the moon.

Related Post from last year:

http://thejohnsonsinchina.blogspot.com/2010/09/mid-autumn-festival.html

Kicking and Screaming ...

The fall footie season is upon us.

MGJ is lacing up cleats with the boys team at school, as there is not girls league at their school.

The Three are also participating in a eight week soccer academy with a foot skills/drills practice midweek and scrimmages on Saturday mornings.

Three tangents:

1.} our weekends are officially claimed from the autumn equinox onwards
{Weekend Chinese School swallows up Sunday afternoons, and now soccer on Saturday mornings.}

2.} That building across the street is the K-8 that The Three attend. Location. Location. Location. {Only thing that could be closer is if you had a second floor walk up directly behind an international school, and you could gaze from your kitchen into your child's class ala BW}

3.} I am officially a soccer mom ... but you won't find a vinyl soccer ball sticker clinging to the back window of my wagon.

Our Little Town ...

Our little Midwestern town boasts two four-way stop intersections, a small church, a small school, a meat locker and a volunteer fire department. Our Little Town doesn't even have its own zip code.

But, once a year they out do themselves. On Labor Day the population of Our Little Town triples. Kids line up to ride their bikes in the parade, old fashioned tractors and prancing ponies join the mix. Veterans, local politicians, and fireman joining the ranks. After the parade there are games for the kids, BBQ and concessions, and a general milling about catching up with others.

It's a homecoming of sorts, and this year it truly was for The Johnson's, once of China. We sat on the front porch of The Bungalow with our coffees and hot chocolates, watching the pre-parade events.

Bei Bei got caught up in the excitement, and in the last minute decide to ride in the parade. She proudly pedaled her folding Chinese bike along the short parade route, reinforcing every Chinese stereotype with her bicycle bedecked with small Chinese lanterns, a pair of chopsticks in the handle bars, a cheesy computer generated sign and a stuffed panda wire tied to the back. She wore her traditional Chinese yi fu, and the kind of bamboo hat that is popular and practical in Southern China. (Although the one she wore, we actually picked up in Vietnam! I won't tell if you won't!)

Our little 3CK made the local paper, and we think she might have been the cutest thing on two wheels this Labor Day in Our Little Town.

In my little town

I grew up believing

God keeps his eye on us all

And he used to lean upon me

As I pledged allegiance to the wall

Lord I recall

My little town

Coming home after school

Flying my bike past the gates

Of the factories

My mom doing the laundry

Hanging our shirts

In the dirty breeze*

- Simon & Garfunkel "My Little Town"

* disclaimer, we have neither factories nor a dirty breeze

EHJ's Nature Camp {what I did on my summer vacay continued)

EHJ emailed another 9 year old friend this description of her Bug Out Camp :

Bug camp is a camp I went to from nine to noon on Monday , Tuesday , Thursday , and Friday. On Wednesday I went to a different place from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. We had a campout. We roasted marshmallows and hot dogs.
(All three of my marshmallows caught fire:-))
























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How I spent my summer vacation ...

The Three have been back in school for two full weeks. Even though it feels as though summer is still very much with us (a heat index today of 100 F will bring the girlies home at noon), summer really is drawing to a close.



This weekend will mark the end.



And so, with so many pictures yet to post of our summer holidays yet to post, I thought I'd make a mad dash and effort in these fleeting (and hot) moments before Labor Day.

Confession

We sunk to a new low tonight when we had cereal & brownies for dinner. This week is full with three soccer games (M, Tu, Th) the open house @ school (W) and the First Grader's first spelling test (F).

We are all looking forward to the Labor Day Weekend.


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