Our Visitors, take 1- Danny and Jodi

Hello again, my friends. :)
Here is the next installment of our busy holiday season we've had. I probably should have done this one first, considering everyone got here on December 13th, but, well, too late. :) So I'm doing this one now. At least it's on here, people! Ben wants me to say I am the Quentin Tarantino of blogging bc I'm jumping around in time like in Pulp Fiction. I didn't get it.
Anyway, like I said, Danny, Jodi, Donna and Claude all arrived here on December 13th. Danny and Jodi from Arizona, Donna and Claude from Michigan. We got a lot of sight-seeing in before our trip to Beijing and then Christmas, so I wanted to get some of it on here for memory's sake.
They got here on a Thursday evening. On Friday Ben had to go to work so we had a chill day here. I showed them around our little town, we went and visited Sophie's school, we got some groceries...we also went to coffee with a dear friend who was moving back to the Netherlands. We have gotten to know Edmee, Theo and their sons, Casper and Stan and now consider them good friends. This was the last time I was able to see her and it was very bittersweet. We miss them dearly!

On Saturday, Dec 15, we took the development's shuttle to downtown and then grabbed a few taxis over to the Shanghai Museum. This was the first time I was really in charge with other people in a taxi. I really surprised myself at the amount I was able to understand the driver. We were able to hold a reasonable conversation! "Obama!" he said with a big smile and a thumbs up. :)

Here we are making our way to the museum entrance on the grounds-

 

Cooper was a happy boy that day :)

A few of the odd relics in the museum- this one has a warrior standing on a baby (??)

Some cool masks

 

 

A huge stone slab with 10,000 buddhas craved into it (somehow, I doubt that :)

After the museum we headed to XinTianDi (a trendy area of outdoor boutiques and restaurants) to check it out.

I can't even make up what this was. A bear? A lion, maybe? Soph was being purposefully grumpy bc she thought the pictures would be funnier (seriously!)

Lunch at Pizza Marzano's!! Mmmmm...dough balls... :)

 

 

The next day we introduced the family to HongMei Lu where we had some tasty brunch at Bastiaan's (a nice Dutch restaurant) and then headed to the Pearl Market- our "local" fake market. Donna, Jodi and I had way too much fun buying some fake bags and other fun bits. We were there way too long. :) Exhausting, but fun!

 

On Monday, Dec 17 it was just Donna, Claude, Danny, Jodi and I so we hired a driver and went down to Tai Kang Lu, also known as the art district. It's this old area of alleyways that was rebuilt with these tiny boutique shops and restaurants. I found our amazing picture of downtown Shanghai there. We also ran across this interesting store- old Communist propaganda.

 

Sophie in a Starbucks by Tai Kang Lu. No idea what the thing behind her is, but she found it very interesting!

 

For lunch we ate at Din Tai Fung, a famous restaurant that serves these Shanghai-style dumplings.

Everyone really liked the dumplings- although Donna and Claude really struggled with the chopsticks!

Donna was, at first, not too sure about the dumplings. Or maybe she was just really concentrating on picking up the dumpling with her chopsticks... Sophie was unimpressed as well. :)

That afternoon when we got home, Tai Ping had given Sophia a Christmas present- a new Barbie-ish doll with bright orange hair! She really liked it! Cooper was given a big plush monkey. She said she got that for him bc he likes to watch that show with the monkey in it (Dora :)

Dec 19 we headed back downtown to the YuYuan Gardens for a bit of culture. This was my 4th time here and, although it's pretty, I am getting a bit over it. :) However, it's not super easy to find some real Chinese culture in Shanghai as it is such a modern city so we keep coming back with our visitors to show them what it can be like here. :)

Here is the group in a shop bartering for a briefcase for Danny. The store clerk started at about 1800 rmb and I think they ended up buying it for about 400. :)

Inside the gardens- a cute picture of Ben and Sophie. Cooper was still in school this week hence no pictures of him.

The group checking things out. I really liked the dragon on the top of the wall to the left.

 

 

We went to another famous Shanghai dumpling place that day for lunch. Here is a picture of the workers in the kitchen making the dumplings. Yes, those are huge bowls of ground meat with herbs and veggies added in. Looks gross, actually pretty tasty. :)

Again, Donna struggling with the chopsticks. Here she is getting another lesson from Danny :)

We headed to the Fabric Market where Danny had a suit and some shirts made and Ben got a coat and blazer made. I still haven't had anything done but I'll get there eventually. :)

After our quick trip there, we headed to the Bund for a walk to enjoy the view. It was a gorgeous day, even though the air wasn't super clean.
Here's my girl checking things out. Again I watch her and think, will she remember any of this crazy adventure we took her on? Hopefully she will bc she really does enjoy it here!

Ben, Donna, Danny, Jodi and Soph.

Cheese! Donna and Claude with the Pearl Tower in the background

Cheese- take 2! Everyone needs this pic. :)

Danny in front of who we thought was Mao. It wasn't. Can't remember who it was, though... some general.

Dec 20 (Thurs) was Cooper's last day of school before the Christmas break. The school was holding a party so we all piled into some taxis and made our way there.
Here's Cooper with this 1:1 aide, Emma. She is such a blessing to us! She works so hard with Cooper every day- puts up with every tantrum and celebrates every milestone reached. She never gets impatient with him. That day she told me- I don't know what I would do without him! Makes me feel bad (kinda) that we're leaving this summer. I wonder if anyone back home will be this invested in our boy. She really is wonderful.

We did this dance they had been learning. There was jumping, turning around, wiggling, etc. Cooper was feeling a bit overwhelmed but was able to enjoy it while I was holding him. :)

Shirts they had made. On the front it says- "I am from America" (yes, the flag is backwards)

On the back- "And I am also from the Sprouts". This is the name of their class. On the bottom is a picture of the whole class. I love this shirt! Too bad it mostly came apart in the wash. :/

We took up a lot of space at the school gathering. :) Coop doing his usual "I will take your hat off" trick. He thinks it's hilarious. :)

The class dancing around!

Here we are performing the dance again for the whole school!

At the end of the party I went around giving Cooper's teachers their gifts and then I couldn't find Soph. Ah, yes, here she is, in the library, perfectly happy to spend the day here... :)

 

 

Ok, insert time break here. On the day after Cooper's last day we left for Beijing and were there from Dec 21-24. Yes, we came home on Christmas Eve. Not ideal but it's what had to happen to fit the trip in before Danny and Jodi left. Then we had Christmas Day here, very low key.

 

On the day after Christmas, Donna, Jodi and I had a bit of a girl's day and went for head and shoulder massages and then coffee. So nice!

That night Donna, Danny and Ben went to a concert downtown. Ben's co-worker gave him 2 tickets and then they bought one more so they could all go together.

Here's Danny outside the concert hall-



 

Dec 27- powering through! We tried to see as much as possible! On this day we headed to the Jing An Temple downtown. It's an active, working temple with monks. On this day is was really rainy so I spent a lot of time under the awnings of the temple with Coop while the others looked around. :)

Soph at the temple-

 

Danny by a buddha-

 

I do love this picture- old meets new. It is amazing to see such an old temple in the middle of this vibrant bustling city.

After the temple we headed to somewhere I have been dying to go to- California Pizza Kitchen!!! I hadn't been to one since we lived in LA. It definitely wasn't like the one in California, but it was still very very tasty!
Here's Soph loading on the cheese..

The group enjoying lunch- esp my tortilla soup!

We had a little extra time before we had to get back home, so we headed to the Science and Tech Museum to kill a little time.
Coop loved it!

It was a bit disappointing this time. A lot of the stuff was broken or ripped. Kinda what we have come to expect from some places here. They use cheap materials to build and then don't maintain so they break down easily. Then they take forever to fix something.

These egg things were fun for the kids- they roll around and twirl. Good times!

Coop in the nest/ladder/slide thing. He LOVED it!

Jodi finding her own style in the glowing tree... :)

Coop would have stayed here all day. He went down this slide, just like this- laying down, probably 15 times before we finally had to drag him away.

Gigantic lite brite wall- Danny and his creation. :)

The wild animal section. Very graphic...

Jodi getting into the action

Mirror Maze. So hilarious. They actually give you foam sticks to help you find your way around. It was hard!! We let Cooper free and he literally ran straight into a mirror in 1 second. Poor buddy. :)

Soph hanging out with a walrus. Drinking peach milk. It had gelatinous chunks in it. Ugh. She loved it. Everyone else but Ben thought it was so gross!

That night Danny, Jodi, Ben and I went out together. We took a taxi far north and ended up at Era. It was a cirque de soleil type of thing. Acrobatics and amazing balancing acts. Of course, no photography was allowed, so, no pics. Was fun though!

Dec 29 was our last day with everyone here. All the grownups went out together for dinner at Lost Heaven. SO good!
It was raining so we got a cool picture of the highway lit up.

Yummy dinner!

I am convinced this is where PF Changs stole their recipe for lettuce wraps from. Tasted exactly like them! So good!

Danny and Jodi finishing up the Gongbao chicken and the crab cakes.

After dinner we headed to the Char Bar for one more drink before heading home. Jodi and I were having fun making faces for the camera. Donna didn't catch on for a while... :)

Our rainy night turned into this huge snow storm! We could barely make out the other side of the river to see the buildings.

There was so much snow this young girl actually was making a snow tower!

You will almost never see this in Shanghai-

Blowing like mad!

Cute pic of Danny and Jodi in the snow 30 floors up!

In the lobby at the bottom of the hotel where the bar was. Odd seats...

The next morning- a snow covered ground! Palm trees and snow- who knew?

Soph was so excited to play in it. :)

 

The next day, on Dec 30, Danny and Jodi took off for the airport and headed back home to Arizona. It was so sad to see them go, esp knowing the next time we see them won't be till summer!

Ok, I'll post this one then move on to the rest of Donna and Claude's stay. Still so behind... sorry!!