Family Day Out!

Last Saturday, March 20th, the weather was gorgeous so we went out on the town with the kids. We went to an "old town" area of the city where you can check out how things may have looked like in our city in previous years. (I'm positive there are parts of China that still look like this but in our city they are building one high rise after another- pretty much only new construction around us).

A shot of the kids as we waited for our turn at the taxi stand. Buses on Saturdays are CRAZY crowded, so taxis are the preferred mode of transportation for this family!


While at the "old town" we saw a man doing some really neat stuff with cotton candy. CJ chose a multi colored flower. Miriam and space ship.




A picture of Eliza as she pollishes off her cotton candy.


Here is a picture of the walking street BEFORE it got crowded later that afternoon. It was fun to see the various little knick knacks that were sold in the shops on either side of the street. On the way out we could hardly move because of the crowd. (Note to self: make sure to visit this place again early in the morning or on a weekday).


I'm not really sure what type of food these two men were pounding with their mallets- it reminded me a bit of what a tortilla looks like. I didn't taste any- just thought it was fun to watch.


After walking a while we wandered to the back of the "old town". It was quiet and relaxing and a little more realistic of what life was probably like in these type of neighborhoods. There were lots of little shops that were connected to the families living quarters. One shop sold eggs, another sold tea, another shop various pig parts... you would look behind the counter and see a family enjoying their noon day meal. I loved that it was slow paced and informal. (Miriam is NOT wearing a helmet- she is wearing a new purchase- mask of a cartoon character).

St. Patrick's Day Fun!

Last weekend we had a couple of friends over to help celebrate St. Patrick's Day. It was a GREAT GREEN Day. The kids and I dressed in green (various shades), we made green shamrock cookies, played games and talked about the story of St. Patrick. It was a fun evening for all.
(You may notice the children holding up their fingers. It is not a special hand shake or anything like that. They are trying to be like our Chinese friends and hold up a "peace" symbol for the picture.)

How big a crowd?

OK... so I've always wondered how fast we can draw a crowd and how many people gather to see us at a given time. Well, I think today beat all records. After buying some train tickets the kids expressed that they wanted a little snack before we headed to the grocery store. I gave into the plea for french fries and since the weather was nice we ate outside on a little bench. Ok, we've lived in China for 4 years now and I should have known better but I actually thought that we could eat our fries in peace. WRONG! Within seconds, and I mean about 20 seconds we had a small crowd of about 20 people watching my children eat fries. The crowd continued to grow and they were getting closer and closer with every breath. CJ was up and out of there before he could be poked of prodded (he's learned the art of avoidance in a crowd). Miriam was quick to follow. But poor Eliza couldn't escape (since she was in the stroller). I pulled down the sun shade on the stroller, slid her stroller next to the bench, barricaded her in from the other side and translated her grunts "She doesn't like it when you touch her"). I tried to be kind, said the all- desired "Hello" in English, and excused ourselves. At that point I pushed the stroller through the quite large crowd and gave CJ & Miriam a holler that we were headed to the grocery store.

Will we ever NOT draw a crowd? Is there a certain age at which point my kids won't be so cute that we don't draw such a crowd?

I really am curious as to how many spectators we had during our 'French Fry Affair' today, hmm?

He's 7!

Wow! It's hard to believe that my baby is 7 years old. Almost on a daily basis I'm reminded that my little guy isn't so little anymore. Sometimes it's a hug/ tackle that sends me to the floor. Sometimes it's a request for allowance or permission to walk to the arcade by himself. Other times it's a heart to heart conversation about his relationship with our Father. "I just want to love J more. I want think about Him more and more. I want my J buttons to talk louder than my toy buttons". (This was from a conversation we had the other night when he was trying to explain how he was struggling to make decisions that honored the Father. He shared with me that there were different parts of his brain that were allocated for different things. He shared how the right side of his brain was for his toys and how J had the area above his right eyebrow. He went on to say that he wanted there to be more J buttons and wanted those buttons to talk louder then the toy buttons. CJ said that when that happened he could make better choices and do the things that J wanted him to do.) I thought that he articulated his struggle very well. I shared about my similar struggles. I was so proud of him. Thank you Father for this gift that you've given us for this time.

CJ's birthday started with a breakfast of Lucky Charms while in bed. It was followed by the opening of presents and shopping with money from grandparents. He loved it & as you can see in the pictures- I don't think he'll ever tire of cars.




The celebration continued a few days later with a trip to McDonalds and a nearby play area with Eliza and his best pal Leo (Miriam couldn't make it because of illness).


And finally the Rocket Cake that he requested. He asked for a red cake but (after tons of red dye) he was content with a pink USA Rocket Cake with "CJ" printed in the middle.



We hope to make a trip to a nearby bowling alley to celebrate as a whole family in the near future. He really wanted to have a party with more friends and the family but for various reasons it didn't work out this year. But I don't think he'll mind celebrating for weeks on end. :)

Vacation in Thailand!

Our family has been on the road for 3 weeks- from the end of January till February 12 (home just in time for CJ's 7th Birthday on the 13th). One week of meetings, one week at a Home School Conference and just shy of a week for family vacation. Not till we were home did Chris point out that this was the first time that we've ever vacationed just US... no friends, no family, just the 5 of us. Chris admitted, after the fact, that he was a little nervous. He just didn't know what to expect of our time together: would the kids miss friends that they just spent time with?, would we have a hard time in such an isolated area without friends or family around us? He was needlessly concerned. Our vacation was great!

We spent everyday by the water. We swam in the pool, read books/ napped by the pool, ate meals by the pool. When we got tired of that we walked a few feet to play in the sand. We built sand castles, caught a gazillion crabs, caught sand dollars, and CJ snorkeled. At night we went Gecko hunting (thanks for fun memories Uncle Robert) and made a trip into town for ice cream, watched some Discovery Channel, and were usually all in bed by 8:00. It was AWESOME!

Forgot to mention miniature golf.

CJ & Eliza at our yummy breakfast buffet:

Kids by the pool- I love CJ's face :)

Some of the gazillion baby hermit crabs we caught- they brought us hours of entertainment.
I love this shot of the kids. Sun-kissed and so cute.
I took this picture our last morning at the resort. I'll miss breakfast, lunch and dinner by the pool.

What will she wear?

So, if you give Miriam the option to wear whatever she wants what will she choose... here's the winning outfit:



... don't forget the Michael Jackson glove (and she doesn't even have any idea of who he is- it's her own look and she's been wearing it for weeks now- she just couldn't find the matching glove this day :) Oh yeah, she had a pair of patch work shorts over top of the pants but I nixed that when we were walking out the door. (We already stick out like sore thumbs -5 blondies in a sea of black hair- I wasn't in the mood for any other comments.

The Zoo

Last month we made a trip to a nearby Zoo with a few friends. It was great! The Zoo's grounds were gorgeous- we actually felt like we were in a tropical paradise and not in an ENORMOUS city for a little while. The trees were abundant, the grounds were extensive and it was so QUIET. We had fun running for exhibit to exhibit and sharing our little bits of useless knowledge with our friends. (CJ loves to read about animals :)

Anyhow, here are a few clips of our time at the zoo!

CJ strikes a pose!


Miriam up close with a Lion- how cool is that!


Eliza and her Daddy.


OK- so this shot is not all that exciting but I couldn't get over how close the giraffe exhibit was to the neighboring apartment complex. Can you imagine looking out your window every morning and seeing your really tall neighbors?


The first attraction at this Zoo is the Panda cage. From the time we got there till hours later the pandas were sitting on their little pedestal eating bamboo. Now these pandas may have moved at some point during our visit... but I kinda doubt it. Why would they... I think I would love to lounge around too and have someone pamper me a hand fed meal.