My parents visit China (definitely was NOT on their bucket list ;)- before Beijing trip #2

On Sunday, May 5, my parents left the comforts of home and the US to fly out here and stay with us for a few weeks. We had been planning this trip for months- really since before we even came out here. My parents weren't overly thrilled to have their middle child off living in China, so it was important for me that they come out here and see where I live and meet my friends and realize that I live a safe and normal life here. Well, kinda normal. ;)
After delayed flights out of Chicago (no shocker there), they just barely made their connection in Toronto before heading on the 13 hour journey here. But they made it on time, landed Monday afternoon, and Ben was at the airport to greet them and bring them here.
The next morning we put the kids on their various buses and then headed around our development and little town. I showed them the various sites of my every day life- the gym, the pool, café du village, as well as many other places. We stopped for a coffee and then headed to Sophie's school for her class assembly. For the past several weeks her class had been working on a production to present to their parents and other classes. Sophie was a witch!

The best part was at the end when the whole class sings Jack Johnson's "I can tell that we are gonna be friends" from Curious George. SO CUTE!!!

 

That night we made the cupcakes that we were going to take to Cooper and Sophia's classes the next day to celebrate their birthdays. Mom had brought these adorable shark decorations for Coop's cupcakes- they were so cute! Soph got pink and purple sparkles- just what she wanted!

 



So, the next day was Sophie's 6th birthday! I made her French breakfast puffs, her favorite, for her birthday breakfast, she got to open a few presents and then it was off to school like normal. :)

Barbie in her pink shoes!!! I wish they would stop coming out with new Barbies every 2 seconds. ;)

We brought Cooper's cupcakes to his school first. We celebrated his birthday early as we were going to be traveling to Beijing on his actual birthday and wanted to make sure we got a little party in! We held a Dora-themed party for him there. I think we'll be having Dora-themed parties for a while. He still loves her like crazy!

Mom is taking pictures while Emma helps Coop with his cupcake. Sebastian and Sara, 2 of Coop's classmates, are also here.

Cooper absolutely loved being sung "Happy Birthday" to him! Femke, his main teacher, said they had been practicing for a week. He just watched Emma the whole time while she sung. He just loves her!! She has been such a gift to us. I pray God puts another amazing soul like her in his life next year! She will be very, very hard to replace.

Emma's present to Cooper- Dora filled with candy! His 2 favorite things. :)

The shark cupcakes went over very well. Just grab and shove it in. Mmmm :)

 

 

After Coop's school, we had a quick hour that we ran to the textile market. My parents were contemplating having some silk sheets made but we never found any silk! In the end, mom and I both bought quilts for super cheap (king size for $38!) and we ran home to grab some quick lunch and head to Sophie's school. Whew!

 

Sophie's class was in the middle of their music lesson when we arrived.

They all sang her 'Happy Birthday' in English and then in Mandarin. It was so cute! And the only time THAT will ever happen. ;)

 

The class had made her a birthday card with pictures from throughout the year and everyone had signed it. It was such a nice gesture. This school has just been so amazing. We're going to miss it!



The cupcakes went over well (again) and then I showed Mom and Dad around her school for a bit. Then it was back home to get ready for Sophie's soccer practice!

Soccer went well and then Sophie had chosen to eat at the clubhouse for her birthday meal (um, ok). She was playing well with other kids at the indoor play area and then we called her to the restaurant when her meal arrived. She sat down and just changed. She said she was really tired all of a sudden, really hot, sore throat, didn't want to eat. She opened her presents without really even seeing them. In the hour we were there she got progressively hotter and hotter and more tired. By the time we got home she had a fever of 103! Poor thing. Sick on her birthday. :(
Ben was kind enough to stay home from work the next day to take her in to the doctor as I had a day packed full of things to do downtown with my parents! Augh :/ Momma guilt... Anyway, turns out she had scarlet fever! It really does sound worse than it is. It's really just strep throat with a rash. If left unchecked it can be serious, but we had caught it very early and she was on antibiotics right away. The doc had told us not to go to Beijing the next day but I thought, nah, she'll be fine. :)

While Soph and Ben were hanging out at home together, Mom, Dad and I headed out to paint the town red. It was totally pouring out so we had a quick peak of the Bund and across the river and then we decided to do something I never thought I would do. We headed into the Bund sight-seeing tunnel. It's ridiculously over-priced, especially once you actually do it and realize you just paid how much for THAT?? :) It is literally a little gondola-type car on a track that brings you under the river from Puxi to Pudong. On the way there is music and lights and all sorts of weirdness!!!
Examples...

Yup. SO worth every Jiao (not). :) But, now I can say I've done it. I've always wanted to and now I have. And now I never have to do it again. ;)

After the tunnel we headed to the South Bund Fabric Market. Dad wanted to get a suit tailor-made and mom was looking for some fabric and maybe a dress. I'd never had anything made, either, and was hoping to find a few things. We were so successful! Dad had a suit made and then also had 3 or 4 dress shirts made. Mom had a dress made and found a gorgeous scarf. I had 2 dresses and a top made. Whew! We were all pretty stoked with our success.
We then headed to Xintiandi and I introduced them to traditional Shanghainese dumplings- xiolongbon. You've heard about these before- they're the soup-and-tiny-meatball-filled dumplings that you poke a hole into, suck out the soup, then dip the rest into some fresh ginger, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar and munch away. I am only so-so on them but it's such an experience to have them because they are unlike anything else in the world. Of course they loved them and all the other weird things we ate with them (weird ramen-noodle thingy, egg fried rice and a veg).
Once their tummies were filled we walked through Xintiandi a bit and I happily got my traditional Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Vanilla Ceylon tea latte. Yummmm!!! Dare I say that is one of the few food things I'll miss when we move back home? A really good tea latte. They just don't know how to do it right in MI yet. Here's hoping times have changed.
I digress. :)
Anywho, after my latte (did I mention it was yummy scrummy??), we went into a little Chinese museum that replicated old traditional Chinese housing from way back when. They're called Shakumen Houses. It was so funny, however, bc there were many items set in the rooms that my parents had as children! A fan, a fold-up bedside clock, and more. It was a hoot. :)
After all that it was time to head home to get ready for dinner.
Are you wondering why there are no pictures of all our adventures that day? I know you are. :) That would be because, besides the tunnel, NONE OF US TOOK A SINGLE PICTURE THAT DAY! Seriously. There was so much we saw and did and you'd never know cause we were too busy yapping and not busy picture-taking.  Ugh! So disappointed in myself.
Well, don't worry. We really really made up for it in the next 3 days that we were in Beijing. ;)
That's next so hold tight!

Some fun parts of our daily life

I wanted to get down some every day fun things we have been doing around here.
So, I guess here's the place to do it. :)
I'm going to cover some random stuff from March and April. All this took place before and after Guilin and Thailand but I couldn't possibly add another stinkin' picture to those blogs- they were already novels!

The first thing, and most important in my book, is Sophia losing her first 2 teeth! Mercy. My baby is old enough to lose teeth. Someone please stop time bc I am NOT ready for all this! Next week she'll be having "changes" and then the week after she'll be married and leaving me. *sob!!* ;)
Anyway, her bottom 2 teeth in the middle had been wiggly since December. I thought for sure they'd come out when my in-laws were here for 8 weeks. But, nope, instead her 2 adult teeth fully came in behind her baby teeth and hung out forever. Let me tell you, this looks SO weird!!
Here is a picture of Soph the night before the first tooth ended up coming out. I know, she's making the most bizarre face but it's the only picture I have of her bending that tooth ALL the way down (gag!).
side note- Everyone was advising Ben and I to just yank it out, have her bite a towel and pull, use tweezers and yank, etc, etc. Let me tell you something. There will N.E.V.E.R. be a time when we do those things. Just watching her bend it had us fully keeling over almost vomiting and fainting. Give me any birthing scene with whatever fluids and solids- don't care- but don't make me yank a bloody tooth out of my kid. Even typing it makes me queasy and fidgety...

The next night, Sunday, March 3, 2013. After she had brushed her teeth, she was fussing with her tooth and we were reminding her about the tooth fairy and the present we had gotten for her, yadda yadda yadda... and she just yanked it out. (gag!!)
She was so proud of herself (as were her momma and daddy :)!!

Sophie displaying her "only for the first tooth- this won't happen with every tooth" present. ;) A new scooter!

As I had been totally unprepared (bc this came out of nowhere, right??), we ended up putting her tooth in, yes, A BAGGIE (I know, mother of the year right here) and putting it under her pillow for the tooth fairy. She couldn't wait!

Hopefully she won't read this for many years...
So, after she went to bed I ran downstairs and hopped onto Pinterest, hoping to be saved by some awesome "pinner". Seriously, if this were 10 years ago, I would've been screwed. However, bless the internet, there it was. A letter I could print out and I fished through her craft stuff and found some glitter. Yayyyy!!!

So, upstairs I went with my letter, bottle of glitter and 20 RMB (the equivalent of a bit over $3). The money replaced the tooth and the letter and glitter went on the bedside table. She was ecstatic the next morning!

I know this is a picture from Guilin but I wanted to put it here bc it showed her "shark teeth" really well. Her one tooth is out (on the right), the other still in, the the 2 adult teeth fully in behind. :) And yes, she was also chewing gum. And it was bright so she has a weird expression on her face. Moving on...

Sophie wrote this story at school. Her rendition of Snow White. :) LOVE this!!!

The weekend after we got back from Guilin (March 16) Sophia had another birthday party for one of her classmates, Victoria. Back we went to Play World, a place not for the faint of heart. ;)
A few pics of the 3 very very long hours...

 

The birthday girl is the 2nd one in from the left- she is of Chinese and American descent, as is Ciana, the girl between Sophie and Victoria. All 3 of these girls are moving to the US this summer- us to Michigan, Victoria to New York, and Ciana to San Diego.

We were in this party room as part of the celebration. There was enough food to feed the five thousand and then this clown. That only spoke Chinese. So only the birthday girl, Victoria, and Ciana knew what he was saying. It was hilarious to watch. 13 kids sitting there staring at this guy that's trying to tell jokes and only 2 people are laughing at them....

Finally the end arrived when the Barbie cake came out with Minnie Mouse. Good grief.
Needless to say, the boys didn't want their picture taken with her, but Floortje, Ciana's sister, Ciana, Sophie, Victoria, Rachael, Betty and Jenna did. :)

Oh yeah! During the party Sophie came running up to me with a slightly bloody grin and a tooth in her hand. She had been crawling through a tunnel and one of the boys scared her and she whacked her mouth on her knee and, pop, out came that other wiggly front bottom tooth! Just under 2 weeks from the 1st one! (I wish they all came out like that)

A few days later, on March 19, Sophie had her drama production of The Gruffalo. For the past 8 weeks, every Tuesday after school, for 45 minutes, she and about 20 other students practiced their lines, learned dances and songs, made props and costumes and today was their day to show their hard work.
Sophie was the butterfly, a narrator. :) Isn't she gorgeous??

Part of the scene. It takes place in a forest with mice, owls, ants, birds, snakes, butterflies and, of course, the Gruffalo!

Sophie with the other 2 narrators- her China bff, Rachael, was also in the production- next to Soph.

Sophie's friend, Betty, being a mouse on the left, talking with an owl, on the right. Soph is down on the left.

The Gruffalo!

That Saturday night, March 23, while out with friends, my sister called to say that my Gram had taken a turn for the worse and was likely to pass soon. Gram was 95. She lived on her own until 2 years ago and then she moved in with my aunt, my mom's sister. 2 weeks before this she had become unable to get out of bed, basically stopped eating and was in and out of consciousness. Ben and I had decided I would go home for the funeral, if possible. GE was kind enough to pay for me to go, so it all depended on timing. We were due to go to Thailand on the 30th. That night, with the encouragement of friends, we decided I would go the next day and come back to Shanghai the day before flying to Thailand! Sure, why not, right? :)
So, the next day, on March 24, I flew from Shanghai to Philadelphia. At the moment I touched down in Phili, my Gram passed away. I felt bad about the fact that my parents had missed her passing bc they were picking me up, but there was no way of knowing it'd happen then.
I was able to be see her, in her bed, an hour after she had passed. She looked so peaceful. Like my Gram. My mom and I bathed her, we sang a few songs and got her ready for the funeral home. I felt like it was a very special gift God gave to just me- that time. It was decided the funeral would be the following Saturday as every grandchild wanted to come- even some from Hawaii! However, I had to fly out Thursday and would miss it. God knew this and so he gave me that time. With just her and my mom and my aunt. It filled me with such joy!

This was a picture of Gram with Cooper, back in Aug 2011. The only time they met!

My grandparent's wedding picture. :)

This was where my Pop-Pop and Gram are buried. They used to manage this cemetery while my mom was growing up and then my aunt and her husband took over until they recently retired. When I was little we would come here and visit, often playing laser tag at night using the headstones as shields. :) I love cemeteries. I love walking around, reading the names, the birth and death dates, imagining the lives those people led.

While here it was also a great place to go for a relaxing run. Up and down the rows... :) I know I'm weird. :)

As I was in New Jersey for 3 full days I got to see some of my family history that I never knew before. Like, my Pop-Pop was born and raised in this town of Bridgeton, New Jersey. As was my Gram and my mom. My aunt still lives there.
For the first time I got to see my mom's childhood home (see below). It was a funeral home (yup) on the bottom floor and they lived on the top 2 floors. Mom remembers going to the basement and watching my Gram put make-up on the deceased cause that's where the mortuary was. Yup. Weird family history here. I love it, though! Now it's a law office.

This was where my Pop-Pop's mom lived (so my great-grandma, Nana). Just across the back parking lot of the house above. Talk about living close to grandma!

Anyway, it was a lovely 3 days in New Jersey, remembering Gram, getting to know her better from her children, seeing old pictures and letters written. I was so blessed by my aunt's tireless work for her mother and everything she had put into organizing family pictures, stories, and memories. I loved hearing every one. We discovered things she had hidden her whole life- she slept with a handkerchief of my Pop-Pops from when he died 25 yrs ago until when she died. It was old and tattered. Full of the love she had for him even long after he'd gone. We found love letters they had written each other just before they were married that my mom and aunt had never before seen. There are no words to describe the peace and joy I have knowing they are together again.
I am so glad I went and had that time. We were able to see her dressed and ready for the funeral on Wednesday night before I left. I was so glad to have seen her that first night. They never truly look the same all full of make-up in a casket. They're just a shell at that point. I saw my Gram that first night and she had never looked more beautiful and peaceful.

*sniff*
Ok, back to less sad things. :)
While I was gone, Sophia had International Day at school and got to wear some clothes that represented the USA. I had tried to recommend various outfits to Ben in the few hours I had to prepare him for all the day-to-day tasks of snack boxes, PE kits, swim kits and the like. He seemed overwhelmed at it all but handled himself just fine.
Except for this outfit. :)
This was what was chosen to represent the good ole' USA.

I was actually ok with it, for the most part, but had a hard time getting past the white tights with striped shorts...he was worried she was going to be cold, you see. Thoughtful dad that's worried about function, not fashion! ;)
The kids got to parade through the school's courtyard representing their various countries. My friends said it was so amazing to see all the countries represented. Just what we'd always wanted our kids to have- diversity in their school!

Soph sitting with her friend, Victoria, while watching the other countries go by.

 

 

On Monday, April 15, the year 1 students took a walk around their local area to see what surrounds them in their day to day lives. They had to make a list of things they liked (flowers, trees, etc) and a list of things that they disliked (trash, graffiti, etc). 

It was so cute to see them all lined up writing and drawing. :)

Here Mr Jones is pointing out the electrical wires- how they provide a good service but look bad. It was interesting to see who put them on the 'good' list and who put them on the 'bad' list. :)

Mr Jones keeping them in line (not really, he's a total kid himself :)

The whole class back from their walk outside their school

I can't remember which day in April this was, but it was a fairly hot day and Coop was bored so we decided to bust out the hose on the patio.

Cooper LOVES water. Here he is just splashing it onto himself. :)

Soph decided it looked fun and wanted in...

Another random day- Coop needed some compression to chill out and the only thing we have at the moment is his life jacket so, on it went. I can't remember why he was only in a diaper. But when he decided he needed my rain boots on, that's when the camera came out. He trapsed around for about 30 minutes with this gettup on, happy as a clam. :) I love this kid. :)

Some Saturday morning Ben and I were watching some sporting event being played live here (almost never happens!!) and Sophie was nicely coloring pictures. Or so we thought. Then she came up to us with this-

It's her "attention sign". She said that when she holds it up we needed to pay more attention to her. Ha! We thought it was brilliant. :)

A sunny Saturday afternoon- we decided to tuk tuk over to a local park, like LOCAL, and do some inline skating. Here I am helping Soph get her gear on. In the 3 minutes it took to put her stuff on, we had a lovely crowd observing our every move. :)

 

We were walking by a pond and we saw 3 or 4 of these groups. Looking closer, we realized they were tadpoles! There must have been thousands of them!! Now I know why the frogs are always so loud around here. :)

 

For the months of April and May, every Wednesday after school Sophie and a bunch of her friends had soccer camp. She was by far the oldest and biggest, but being that this was her first experience with doing soccer, and the only class with some other girls in it, we thought it was a good fit for her. She liked it a lot!
Here she is doing some warmup exercises with Willow and Quentin.

I think there's some natural talent there. :)

She loves defense- just like her momma. :)

Oh! This is why I need to do these blogs more often. Again, I can't remember what day this was but Coop was in a foul mood, wandering around whining and complaining. He had gone upstairs and was continuing his rants. Soph had gotten out the iPad and had turned on Dora. Suddenly, the house was quiet. I came out of the kitchen to see what was up and I looked up at the top of the stairs. :) He was watching Dora through the glass at the top of the stairs. So cute!!!

Ah, yes, Sports Day. On Monday, April 22 BISS had their Sports Day for the Key Stage 1 group. It's an afternoon of varying outdoor athletic activities that the kids participate in. It encourages friendly competition with the winners gaining extra free play time and such. :)
Each child is placed in a house when they first enter the school (I know- SO like Harry Potter but without the sorting hat ;). Soph was put in the yellow house. That's her down there sitting in front of her bf, Rachael. Here they are lining up for their first event- a 100m dash. :)

Run, Sophie, run!! :)

Water balloon toss :)

Throw the balls into the umbrella- how many can you get in in one minute??

Fill the sponge on one end, run across and squeeze it empty in the other. Which team fills it up the fastest in 3 minutes? Here's Rachael doing her part.

Kicking the soccer ball into the goal. Check out that girl's form! :)

The last even- walk across the bench, hop over the bars, run to the hula hoop and pull it up over your head and then run back and tag the next person. Whew!

Our class- 1S! Such a great group of kids. Each one is so unique and lovely!

Soph with her other bf, Ciana. Their other friend, Joanna, is next to them.

Ha! Another random pic but I loved it and wanted to have it here so I could look at it every time I went through these posts. I got to babysit Riley one afternoon and loved it! What a sweet boy. I put him in Cooper's Michigan camping chair and he played and played with this music table. Oh, I could just smooch on this little boy daily!



On Saturday, April 27, Cooper's school had another family day where we got to go there, see the school and hang out with the other families. Sophie had remembered that last year there was a woman that painted her nails and when we walked through the doors she made a beeline straight to the same lady and said "I was hoping you'd be here!" :)

Sophie with her nails done and "tattoo" on her arm. She loved them!

Sophie decorated and ate about 3 cupcakes with Coop's main teacher, Femke. Yeah, she doesn't have kids yet but I plan to fly to Holland when she has them and feed them endless sugar... :)

After a bit, both kids needed some downtime so we headed inside to one of the OT ball pits. :)

Coop looooved the bouncy slide thing!

Coop with one of his classmates, Sara. She's the oldest in the class at 4 1/2, but the smallest due to her chromosomal differences and the only girl! She is so smart and so sweet!

Soph needed her own downtime and found the school library and a rocking chair...

The back area of Coop's school

Cooper with his aide, Emma. He was in such a bad mood until her saw her! I think he was feeling overwhelmed at what was going on at his school- who are these people, why is there so much noise, etc...She was helping him decorate a cupcake here and he just sat there and smiled at her the whole time. It was adorable!

 

 

Ok! That was a bit of what happened around our place in March and April. I'll get on May soon. I need to cause in a minute we'll be moving home! So much to write still. :)

Thanks for sticking with me!