Weekend at the farmhouse with Lei Mei

Mama was in a really good mood on Friday, so I decided to ask her if I could bring a friend with me to the farmhouse. Usually I don't get to invite a friend because my cousins are there, but I asked Mama if Lei Mei could come with us.

Lei Mei is one of my best friends and she lives only three houses from me! She is only seven years old. Even though I'm 11, I don't mind playing with Lei Mei, because she is really cute and funny. Lei Mei moved here from China only two years ago, so sometimes she helps me learn Chinese and I help her learn English.

Annnyyyyywwwwaayyy, Mama said it would be okay to bring her. Lei Mei's been to the farmhouse a few times before, and she LOVES it, just like me! We brought our dolls and played outside when the weather was good. We took lots of walks, explored a lot, and even enjoyed the lilacs that were in bloom. It was a very fun weekend.

Lei Mei and I climbed on top of the fence to play dolls for a little while. Nobody could get us, we were too high!
And then I showed her my secret fort that I showed Anna Lee last winter, remember?
Mama said we were looking so cute, she wanted a photo of us together. "Cheese!"
The next day we went on a walk to see the lilacs.
Soooo pretty!
And they come in purple! This bunch matches my outfit.

Road trip to Eureka

Yesterday the weather was really good so Mama, Daddy and I decided to take a family road trip to some ghost towns. We packed a lunch and left around 11. It took a really long time to get to Eureka but the drive was really pretty. When we were almost there Mama said we should take a different road and we found a really neat ghost town called Mammoth. Mammoth was an old mining town that now has only a few people living there. Eureka wasn't much of a ghost town anymore, though, because the mine has re-opened and lots of people have moved into town again.

But, on the way back we stopped near Warm Water Springs and looked at the old Tintic Refinery. The springs fill a big field and birds and fish live there, we even saw a blue heron. Across the field we saw a big refinery that was abandoned! It was so neat. Once we came home we did some research on the location, and I learned a lot about mining in Utah. They were able to refine metal there in the 1920s! Wow!

Can you see the refinery behind me? Up on the mountain? It looks like a castle!
See? It is really big.
And there was an abandoned train track there, which was neat to explore.

Mother's Day weekend and hike

It has finally stopped raining in Utah. The good news is everything is green and the tulips are still in bloom, the bad news is Kirsten didn't get to see much, too much rain!

BUT, on Mother's Day it was beautiful! Daddy and I planned a little hike to a waterfall for Mother's Day, and I got to spend Saturday alone with Mama all day, we went to the doll show! We met some of Mama's friends there and then went and got Mexican for lunch after. It was a very good Mother's Day weekend.

I love to go hiking. I can hike a long ways all by myself.
Isn't the trail pretty? I might want to show Mari this trail soon.
And look at the waterfall at the end!
And everything is so green! Mama and I decided to pretend we were fairies. Her name was Fairy of the Glen and my name was Waterfall Dancing Fairy.

Goodbye Kirsten!

Kirsten and I had so much fun in April. We didn't do a lot outside though, because it rained and rained and rained! Bummer! We mostly worked on school work and played in my room. Kirsten has the funnest ideas for games, and she is really smart too, so working on school work with her was fun. I will miss her!

Here we are playing games in my room.
Goodbye Kirsten! Enjoy your travels!