What was Daddy doing?

I took a nap one day and woke wondering why the kids were being so good. When I came into the kitchen I found them playing dominoes with Mark and eating peanuts. Needless to say, Mark was not showing great concern about where the shells fell. But I got a nice nap and that is all that matters.

The Buddist Temple instead of live chicken bait (see below)

Well, we decided to go to a Buddhist temple instead of the wildlife park. It was traditional chinese and probably more like what everyone expects China to be like. It was a real temple with people coming in to pray and light incense. It would have been tranquil, I suppose, if Ella hadn't picked that time to throw numerous fits. So as the monks ate she screamed, as they chanted down the hall she screamed, I think pretty much everytime we really wanted to watch something she had some drama. I'm thinking that a good bit of the praying that was going on in the temple was for us. Or atleast I hope it was. Is that selfish? Anyway, the Happy Buddha helped a little. It atleast brought some funny moments. Like Ella saying, "there's another fat guy" every time she saw one. It is a tourist trap though. They charge for everything you do. Some Buddhas you could look at for general admission others were extra and the coy food cost more than the general admission which you had to buy, if you wanted to take a picture. It was still a good day and at the end of it we stopped at a little pub by our house that welcomes children and met another couple from the US there. The wife had been here about as long as I and the husband as long as Mark so we hit it off and they had a daughter Ella's age. We may have made some new friends. Only in China can you go to a temple during the day and a bar at night (with your kids) and come home feeling satisfied. Is there something wrong with that?

Should we go?

We've seen most of the major tourist attractions and needed something to do so we went to the internet to find something. This was one of the options. It sounded intriguing at first and then we read the last part. Do you think we should go? That is the problem here. Aside from your day to day activities of school, work, school activities, social commitments (which should be enough)there is not much to do. Unless you want to shop everyday. Even our driver complains that there is "no play in Shanghai, only shopping." It is cold right now so getting out and exploring is kinda hard and even then you fight the ever present crowds of people. Many of the people we know have gone home for the holidays and with the kids out of school and Mark off work we are a bit stir crazy and maybe the reason for considering traumatizing our children with this park.



11. Shanghai Wild Animal Park (Shanghai Yesheng Dongwuyuan)
Description: drive-through "safari" wildlife park with ability to purchase live prey to feed animals
Address: Nan Hui San Zao Zhen, Pudong (near Pudong International Airport)
Opening hours: daily 8am-5pm
Admission: 80rmb, 40rmb for kids under 1.2m (4 ft)
Getting there: no metro stops
Comments: visitors take buses through the park. Children who may not be able to handle the sight of live chickens being tossed to hungry tigers may prefer the Shanghai Zoo (see next entry).

Merry Christmas from China

Well, what can I say. It is not home. But we are making the most of it. I always thought we were alone at Christmas because we chose to stay in Houston so the girls could get up Christmas morning in their own home but we always had our Church family to fill in the gaps when family was not there but this year it is just us. Not a sole insight (that we know anyway). So, in the spirit of "The Christmas Story" we ate chinese food on Christmas eve and it was really good. Here is the Christmas tree outside the Green Leasure Center where I spend most of my time becaue mostly westerners shop here and it just seems comfortable. I'll venture out to more local places later when I can speak the language. Then we got home and the girls opened one gift and off to bed they went. I was so full and sleepy that Mark took over the Santa duties and low and behold at 1:00 AM Ava came to get us up, telling us that Santa had been there. We told her we needed to sleep a while longer as it was the middle of the night but let her go back to sleep in the living room near the tree and as soon as light broke she was back in our room telling us to get up. I believe they were very pleased with their gifts. And I was very excited about my super duper foot massaging soaking machine. So me and the girls had "Tai Tai" time with our new lotions and potions of Christmas. (That translates to wife in chinese but most of us use it as a way of saying girl time). We ate blueberry pancakes and bacon for breakfast and I am getting ready to make Chinese spaghetti and meatballs. We'll see how it turns out. It is a Rachel Ray recipe so it can't be that bad, right? I'll let you know how it turns out. So overall we feel pretty blessed but nothing takes the place of family and friends at the holidays. All our love to ya'll.

Museum of Science and Technology

This was an awesome place. Very interactive for the girls. We spent about 4 hours there and the girls still did not want to leave. All of the animals are real stuffed ones posed in natural scenes. It was amazing. They even has the prey depicted actually (Do I need to go into gory detail?). There was a rain forest to explore, a robot and technology area with the original computer and the latest technology. The big face is a computer that can determine smell. Now whether has was accurate or not I do not know. It was all in Chinese and I haven't learned that yet. There is the big gem room with so many different precious stones and minerals in their raw state. And a television studio where the girls could see themselves on TV.

Christmas in China

We got our air shipment this week that has all of Santa's gifts in it so we are ready for Christmas. Christmas seems to be a big deal here. There are lights and decorations and Christmas music in the stores but it is the commercial side only. We would normally go to candle light service on Christmas eve but wont this year due to having only 2 churches in Shanghai and the crowds being absolutely enormous. They say it is standing room only. As much as I would love to go we will have to wait for a regular service. There is a really old church downtown in People's Square that looks beautiful and a newer more modern church near the house. There is a sad side to this story. It is my understanding that the Christian churches can only be attended by foriegn passport holders and they do tend to check your passport at the door. This is a Chinese government regulation. The general population of China is denied the opportunity to know the story of Christ's birth. So as you attend your Christmas services this year think of the people who are denied the right to worship as they please and give thanks that you live in a country that allows you the opportunity to know God and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Ava's Christmas Program

We went to Ava's Christmas program this week and despite only being at the school for a week and a half I think she did pretty good. We did have the music forwarded to us before we got to Shanghai for her to practice so that helped. We like her school. It is the only Christian private school in Shanghai and pretty tough to get into but so far so good. I just wish they had room for Ella. Ella will attend another private school until there is an opening at Concordia where Ava attends. I went to enroll Ella today but she wont start till February. I hope the two of us can make it that long. Trying to get thru a crowded market with a 4 year old in tow is not my cup of tea.

Shanghai Aquarium

We had a good time at the Shanghai Aquarium on Sunday. We've been to a few in the States but this one seemed to have really exotic stuff. Overall I would recommend it as a tourist attraction. I ran out of film but at the end they had an area similar to and a smaller version of Chuck E Cheese. They also have "squatty potties". I had heard but this was my first experience. There is not toilet. Just what looks like a toilet seat over a hole in the floor and you have to hover over it like you do when you go camping. Now, trying to get a four year old to do this without having to disrobe and stand on the public restroom floor barefoot was a bit of a challenge but we did it and sanitized our selves afterward.

Our Subway Adventure

Here we are on the subway. It is a crazy crouded mess. And dirty too. When we got home I had to strip the girls down and bath them. But they did make a new friend.

Here it is. Our first week in China. We are going out today to sight see so will have more to share. My only complaint. Grocery shopping takes entirely to long. It is not one stop shopping here and it takes most of the day and then you have to go back several times a week because they don't sell things in large portions. But overall it is great.




Well, I need to get going but my slideshow will not give a description. You are looking at our plane ride and then Ava's school. Did you see the school bus. It is like a charter bus you take to the casinos! Anyway, we did up a Christmas tree with chinese decorations and I found a tree skirt that looks like traditional Chinese dress. Mom, I found a bullet here and got it. I thought you would be so proud. The flowers - I got them from a flower vendor for $10.00. I would have had to pay atleast $40 at home. We put the picture of "success" in there for a good laugh. We wondered what success looked like in China and now you can see it, too. Finally, The full moon in our backyard on Friday night. It is not like the bay but pretty nice. I think we can enjoy this place for a while.

We Made It!!

We are here in Shanghai and it is really neat. The plane ride was relatively uneventful. The girls got plenty of attention from flight attendants and slept quite a bit so we were able to relax a bit. Our house is wonderful and we live near some good friends from Baytown so we have instant neighbors. We've already gone out for a night on the town and it was wonderful food and good dancing!! We took the kids on the subway sunday and that was pretty freightning. There are a lot of people in this town. By far the most freightening was the cab driver who stopped on the off ramp of the highway because he was mad at another driver and did not want to let him over so we sat at a dead stop while the highway traffic rushed all around us with no car seats for the kids and no seat belts either. I was about to come unglued but he finally gave in and BACKED UP on the highway and off we went. Oh, I told you my posts would get livlier. I've found my usb cord for the camera so I should be posting pictures soon.

Ava's Birthday Weekend

We had a fun filled weekend. On Saturday, we went to the Barbers Hill Fall Festival. We took my sister Whitney and her daughters Katelyn and Brooklyn. Then we had some of Ava's friends over for Ava's 7th birthday party. It was a pumpkin theme and we decorated pumpkins, hunted for pumpkins and broke a pumpkin pinata. I think a good time was had by all despite the way Ava looks at the Fall Festival. And by the end of it all Ella just pooped out.







We had a fun filled weekend. On Saturday, we went to the Barbers Hill Fall Festival. We took my sister Whitney and her daughters Katelyn and Brooklyn. Then we had some of Ava's friends over for Ava's 7th birthday party. It was a pumpkin theme and we decorated pumpkins, hunted for pumpkins and broke a pumpkin pinata. I think a good time was had by all despite the way Ava looks at the Fall Festival. And by the end of it all Ella just pooped out.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mark came home from China and brought us some pictures and the camera back. So now I can do a little updating on what has been going on. Here is a little slide show of our new home. Our actual house is the last few frames.

Ella's Pre K Open House

Tonight we went to Ella's Pre K Open House and she was really proud to show off her stuff. The did a couple of songs for the parents and Ella was on her best behavior.

Barbers Hill Tail Gate party

We went to the annual Tail Gate Party at the school parking lot last Friday and on to the game. The girls seem to like all things football but the game. We made to half time then went home. I took this picture at the Tail Gate Party. They weren't really in the mood for pictures.

Ava's First Day of School

Here is Ava's first day of school picture. Doesn't she look big.