Our Golden Week...

This past week was the National Holiday Week. The kids were off of school for the whole week and Chad was in India until Thursday afternoon. So, with no ayi or school it was up to me to keep them occupied :) Also, with a lot of our friends away on vacation we had a challenge, but I think we succeeded!

We started the week off at a new indoor playground in the French Concession called BB Gym. We met up with some friends from the other side of the river for a full day of fun! Will definitely be coming back here once it starts getting cooler out.. The best part was.... We pretty much had the entire place all to ourselves (which NEVER happens here)!!!

Tuesday, we gave Mr. Hou the day off and walked around our compound. Rilynn rode her bike and I pushed Brady in the stroller. Was a BEAUTIFUL day out!! One of the great things about living here is that you never know what you will see when you walk out that door :)

Check out this lovely outfit :) The fashion police would have a fit here!!!

Have absolutely no idea what this man was doing with this snapping turtle on a stick, but wasn't going to find out! LOL

Wednesday, I organized a playdate at the place we had been the week before for the bike outting. We had 7 families join us for a full day of playing, eating, and bike riding... Was an awesome day!!

Look!!!! An empty street :P

Good friends from Hudson.. The kids had fun seeing them twice this week :)

Rilynn found out her friend was a monkey just like her! Will be sad to see them repatriate to the US in December :(

Lauren and Brady really getting into following all the catepillars at the park :)

Brady making friends with the locals. He is definitely the social butterfly :)

Hard to tell but his pants and shoes were soaked. He took a nice little dip in some water. He was having so much fun that he didn't want to leave!

Finally Thursday came and Chad was back! We stayed at home and let him relax :)

Friday we went to check out a new park, called Zhongshan Park. It's always fun checking out the locals in the early mornings at the park. You see a lot of people practicing Tai Chi, walking backwards, kids flying kites, old men playing board games, and so much more... Like this guy balancing a stick on his head! Lol

We opted to pass on the bumper boats, but at times our boats turned into them anyways :)

Our boat :)

What are the chances we are all going to fit through this little tunnel?!?

This man was right off shore playing a very unique instrument..

Inside this park there was an indoor park, called Fundazzle. It was a huge area for the kids to burn off some steam! 2 new indoor parks this week.. SCORE!

All in all, it was a GREAT week! Best part of it was I *think* that Brady is finally fully potty trained!! We have been struggling with the poop part and he did really good at home. We'll see how he does at school this week! Fingers crossed :)

We had Chad home for a few days, but now he is off again to the US. I'm ok with this trip as he is bringing back with him some very important luggage.... My dad and sister!!!! The 23rd can't come soon enough, but we can't wait :)

PLUS- Great news from my youngest sister Valerie (the one who will be visiting).... Jeremy proposed to her last week and she said YES :) Congrats!!!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 7th Anniversary to us!! Time flies when you are having fun :) I am so grateful and fortunate to have found the love of my life and for what experiences and memories we have created and for 2 amazing children, who make us smile and laugh everyday. I really couldn't ask for anything more!

I love you Chad and I am so lucky to have found you!!

October 2, 2004

Chad left this morning to head off to India until Thursday so we celebrated yesterday. Susan came over at 2:00 and we first went grocery shopping (very romantic, I know! LOL), then massages, dinner at Morton's Steakhouse (awesome steaks!), then checked out the Snow Bar for a couple shot.

Fun filled day!

Pearl Tower in background. Morton's had a great view of it.

 Snow Bar- This place sounded cool so we thought we'd check it out. They give you each a jacket and then you enter the bar (which is -5 degrees), bartendar followed us in and we were able to pick a vodka shot. They only serve Vodka shots and have a selection of 150 kinds. I went with a rasberry and mint. Chad went with rasberry and a banana. Problem was each shot was $10! So we managed to go through $40 in a matter of 5 minutes :) Pretty much paying for the novelty of the place, but it was cool. Felt like being home in Minnesota. LOL

 Couple pics from last week... Rilynn with her gymnastics class.

Last weekend we went to a Bikes, Brunch, and Bubba's (restaurant) event. There was a nice and quiet area behind the restaurant where the kids were able to play and ride their bikes. We loved the area so much we are going back on Wednesday with a bunch of friends since there is no school this week for National Holiday here.

I went out last week for a foot massage with some new friends that just moved here. One of the ladies brought some OJ and vodka for some mommy morning drinks :) One of the ladies put these pics together.. Ha

Rilynn had their first school curriculum assembly last week. They went on stage and performed 2 songs, one in English and the other in Chinese. She continues to impress us with how fast she is picking up the language!

 

It is going to be a long week with no school, but I'm sure we'll manage to stay busy. Definitely will be looking forward to Chad coming back on Thursday though :)