We're going Chinese!

A few weeks ago, some friends & I went out to Huanglongxi. It's a town set up to look old with a man-made river running through it. We did some shopping and just walked around and looked at everything.  The highlight of the day was when we decided to dress in old Chinese clothes and get our pictures taken.

First, we picked out our clothes. I wanted to dress like a ninja, but unfortunately this shop had no ninja clothes. After we picked out our fancy clothes, the shop girls started on our hair. We got so much fake hair, both big black rolls and lots of little braids.

After they pinned the fake hair on, they started shoving flowers, pins, and combs and anything with rhinestones into our hair. It didn't matter if it matched or not. The more, the better.

This is the dress I chose when I realized I couldn't dress like a ninja. I'm still a little disappointed that I didn't get to be a ninja! And check out the hair: flowers, berries, pins, loopy braids, and that huge gold thing.  I'm just glad I didn't live when this was in fashion. Wait, was it ever in fashion?!

The always gorgeous Missy tried out a Chinese pose. Oh wait, she's got fur in her hair.

Missy, Bev, & Ali   Seriously, the hair astounds me every time I look at it.

Jo & Ali, As Jo says, this picture is romantic. I think they kinda look like they're dancing.

Ali, looking super sweet with red flowers in her hair, shades her lovely fair skin with a perfect pink parasol.

Gorgeous Jo striking another Chinese pose, tugging a leaf from the tree.

All 5 of us in our finery.  All in all, it was totally fun and totally worth the 10 kuai we paid to do it.

Mckinzie Rayne

Ok, I realized how lame I was at taking pictures of the little darling while I was there. I fully intended to set up a photo shoot one day and take a bazillion pictures but somehow that never happened. So I just picked 3 pictures from her very first hours to share with you. The first one was moments after she was born. The original shows just how red and splotchy she was right after birth, but I changed it to black and white and now it's one of my favorite pictures of her.  It makes me want to tell her that really, the world's much nicer than her first impression of it, there are flowers and sunshine and mountains and oceans and so many totally amazing things for her to see. And once she gets used to it, she'll be just fine.  What do you think, do you like the black and white or the soft colored version best?

These were taken when she was a few hours old and looking a lot more peaceful. By this time she's had a million hugs and kisses and is on the brink of a nap. I think she's adorable!

 I miss her like crazy! By the time I see her again, she'll be around 4 months old!


Coming up next, pictures of our girls day out to Huanglongxi, where we dressed in ancient Chinese clothing.