a million little pieces

Last night I dreamt of small playmobil pieces all over our house. I know where that came from as I put together a 250 piece Playmobil Zoo for our oldest son yesterday! Following step by step directions isn’t something I am known for!

Our vacation to the northwoods was wonderful. I love being up there and having the boys outside all day, everyday with our cousins and family. The Waboba ball was very fun for the lake once the adults got the hang of it! While we were there, I read Dreams of Joy on my Nook. It is by Lisa See who also wrote Shanghai Sisters (loved that one). You should read these in sequence if you can. I wasn’t gripped by Dreams of Joy, but I did like it and felt like I learned a lot about China and Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”.

While we were in Chicago, we celebrated my dad’s 70th birthday. Initially, my sisters and I thought we would take him to Mexico to celebrate- but my dad told us he would really just like to go to Wildfire instead (a local restaurant!). Glad he was honest! For his birthday gift, we sent his friends an email asking for birthday wishes or personal stories to share with him on his day. People wrote beautiful notes, included stories from the past, and sent pictures from their times together. I put them all on Shutterfly– they have a customized scrapbook that was pretty simple to use. It turned out great and my dad was touched!  So glad we did that. One of my friends here just did a similar book through Blurb and it turned out great as well.