LITTLE COMPTON

The trip goes on!

We got up on Monday and headed out to the airport again. Yes, now we were pointed towards Rhode Island to see my family for a beach family reunion. Taking two flights across the country seemed like child's play after our flight to the Orient. It went very well.

We landed in Rhode Island feeling like we'd just come in from Mars. Perhaps the 12 hour time change from Beijing was affecting us. I can't remember what happened, so I'll just post some photos. Let's go ahead and put it out there and admit we had fun in Rhode Island. It was a perfect place to do nothing whilst our wee child was chased by many adoring relatives.

Okay, okay, I do remember that, our first jet lagged night there, we all three got into the giant hot-tub-esque bathtub n our bathroom, at, like, 2 A.M.. At the time I felt certain we'd flipped our lids, but in retrospect I think it was a collective celebration of American plumbing.

While in Rhode Island Nessa learned to say many new words and new names. We spent many hours on the beach, and many more soaking up time with family. V-dog rode a Merry-go-Round for the first time and cried bitterly when we pulled her off. She also rode a tiny, indoor Ferris wheel, and a giant indoor bouncy house with a slide. She explored the Magic Aunt's garden and discovered a bunny rabbit, quite by accident. She loves hot dogs.

We ate as much American junk food as we could see - hot dogs, donuts, chips, ice cream, fried fish - you name it, we pounded it. I think I for one had been so conservative with my eating in China that I was starved for care-free indulgence. I thought I'd pass out with delight when we discovered a roadside stand in Tiverton, Rhode Island that served clam fritters. They are similar to hush puppies only they claim to have clams in them. I swear they don't. Imagine a donut without sugar or a hole. Jack ordered a lobster roll which is exactly that - chunked, steamed lobster plus a hot dog style bun - no mayonnaise or other pesky ingredients needed.

We had almost the entire family in Rhode Island. Uncle Tom - it was an historical event to have him join us in Rhode Island for five days - and Gramma came down from Vermont, Auntie Anne, Uncle Scott and all three of their children came from Connecticut. Abby just got her driver's license, Barry was just about to head off to college in Massachusetts, and Andy was home on leave from the U.S. Navy where he has been studying to be a medic. It was such a surprise to see Andy! His hair is the reddest ever seen, by the way. He ships off to Afghanistan to care for injured Marines in February.

We also got to see Auntie Cyndi and cousins Daniel and Matthew. Uncle David and cousins Matt and Andy couldn't make it because they were in northern Vermont. Neither could big cousins Sarah who just started grad skool, Meghan, who is in Atlanta teaching math, and Corey, who is in Argentina for the semester.

But Nanners did get to see cousin Des, who has just graduated from college. We were fortunate to see him between gigs. In my family, Des and Vanessa are the alpha and the omega, the first and the last (well, latest) in terms of grandchildren. Vanessa is like the second coming of Des, he made that big of an impression on our family. He was the first grandchild born to either side of the family and he was literally big - 10 lbs. of lead - and had red hair. Wow! We all made such a fuss over him and, well, we continue to see him as that giant, perfect baby.

Our flight back across the continent to San Francisco went smoothly. We crashed at Granny Ernestine's once again and got up at 5:00 A.M. to make the final 3 hour drive home. The car battery was dead and we had 2 parking tickets from our stint in Beijing. It took AAA 2 hours to arrive, but once we were on the road we were golden.

It felt good to arrive Home. We felt we'd been gone all summer, between Rhode Island, Beijing, Mt. Hermon, and the Olympic Trials in Eugene, let alone Jack's weeks here and there for the end of his collegiate track season. This month I've had a difficult time posting blogs [the photo adding and placement functions are messed up on this laptop]. We've hit the ground running, trying to catch up on our adoption duties. And Vanessa, the CHAMPION traveler that she is, is also exploring her old digs with new eyes. Nothing will ever look the same, we think.