Friends from the old country

Two weeks ago, we got together with some of the families who traveled to China with us. Here's a group shot of the Ba babies:

From the left: Leanna, Bella, Ting Ting, Dani, Chloe, Shelbi and Tabitha.

Eight of our 11 families attended the picnic, but one had to leave before we could manage to corral all the kids. Why do you suppose it was so hard to get seven almost-3-year-olds to sit down together for a photo?


Oh, yeah.

Once we lined them up and stepped out of the way, though, the paparazzi (and mamarazzi) had a field day. You should have seen it -- all the little ones sitting in a line with cameras flashing at them constantly as parents waved their hands and shouted out individual names. I was standing to the side watching it and found myself starting to feel sorry for Brittney Spears.

But I got over that.

Afterward, someone suggested a game of Ring Around the Rosie. I loved these shots:


Every time they would fall down, several little voices would exclaim "again!"


And once the little girls started playing together, the big brothers and sisters got into the act.

Here's Bella attacking Dani's brother, Matt. And a certain someone is right on her heels.

Dani's sister Alexa was getting it from all sides (Ting Ting, Bella, Shelbi). Looks like Leanna was thinking of grabbing her right arm, too.

It was a beautiful day with great food and even better company. We can hardly wait for the next one.