Our Stay-Cation

Have you heard of the stay-cation? We did one this week. I took some vacation days from work but we stayed at home. We got lots of stuff done :
- visited the Museum of Science & Industry
- painted the kids bathroom
- saw the movie Kung Fu Panda (family recommended)
- put in a new mailbox
- swam at the local pool
- went on a bike ride to our local park and had a picnic
- expanded my garden in the back by about 2/3
- went to a ceramics studio and each of the kids painted their own treasure which we will pick up in one week. This was fun because they loved the painting. Jiang Lei put about 7 coats on his rocket ship (needed 3 coats) and each coat was a different color because he couldn't make up his mind. It will be interesting to see after it has been fired. Nora was very meticulous with her pink bunny. Ji Ji used many pinks and purples to create designs on her princess crown. And I painted a Christmas candy dish.

It was very relaxing and I really got to enjoy my time everyday! Here are a few photos from our week. I love the last photo which is a home made pizza for 3 kids, each kid chose their own topping.

Ballet Show

The girls have their end of season ballet show this weekend in the theater at our local college, very professional. They have been practicing for months for this big show. Their first performance was Friday night and they will do the show again on Saturday afternoon when our family will attend. They really enjoyed it, though Ji Ji said she was very nervous when she saw all of the people in the audience. We are not allowed to take photos during the show but we can buy the DVD! Here are their professional photos from the event plus some we took of them on their way to the show. Last, Daddy brought them both bouquets after their Friday show.

Having Boys

Boys are different than girls! Our son constantly looks like he has been in a fight with something. His legs are all bruised up and he is always healing from some type of bump on his head. Last night he dove into his bed and hit his head on the headboard. We put ice on it right away but his eye is still all swollen and purple. He was sent to the nurse and we got a call from school asking how it happened. Hmm...

Nora's school production

Nora was a dancer in her 3rd grade show. In this photo is all the way to the right - she was fabulous! Can't wait to see the ballet show next weekend.

Ji Ji's 7th Birthday

Happy Birthday Ji Ji ! She had a High School Musical birthday cake with a kids party at Chuck E Cheese and then a party for the family and friends back at our house.
Here is Ji Ji playing games with her cousins.

Ji Ji loves Chuck E !

Even cousin Zoe had something to eat at the party.

Jane Brown's Adoption Playgroup

We signed Nora up for the Adoption Playgroup put on by Jane Brown who is well known in the adoption community. I have to confess, one of the main reasons was that it was in the next town, so I would felt kind of guilty not signing her up. I thought that we would see how it went for Nora this year and could decide if we wanted to send Ji Ji and Jiang Lei next year.

There wa a parents meeting on Friday night and Nora had her 2 hour playgroup on Sunday afternoon.

I have to say, the experience was great for both Nora and I. Nora was very nervous as she didn't know what to expect and I didn't know what to tell her to expect. However she saw a girl from her school there and that made things much easier.

While Nora was in her playgroup, they showed a video to the adults titled "Unlocking the Heart of Adoption". It focused mainly on domestic adoptions but it included discussions with adult adoptees, birthparents and parents who adopted. It was quite moving and really made me think.

I don't know all of what went on in the playgroup, though I do know they had volunteers who were adult adoptees and adult birthmothers. Nora told me afterward that one of the things they did was to draw a picture of themselves with their birthmother. Also, they learned some techniques to use if kids are teasing them for being different.

I am sorry that I didn't send Ji Ji and Jiang Lei, but hope to send them next year. Some of the feedback from the parents who had sent their kids in previous years was very inspirational.

One thing I learned from this experience is that even though our kids are not talking about their adoption or asking questions, they are definately thinking about it alot. It is our responsibility to get them to express their feelings, whether they want to or not.

What's New

Ok, its true we haven't posted much - mostly because of the great weather. If I find 5 minutes I am out in the garden, not at the computer. I think this summer we will definately see a slow down in blogging.

All 3 kids had their school Open House and we visited their classrooms. Jiang Lei had his show, which was a chorus production. He spent a lot of the time on stage pulling at his crotch - don't know why, he doesn't usually do that.




The 150+ bulbs bloomed this summer and it was amazing. I didn't get a photo at their peak but here is one that shows a little. it was a great warm up for summer.




Here are the kids jammed into the back of my Prius as we drive to Milwaukee. Gas prices, well you know!


Here is Mark as the godfather for his new niece Zoe. Didn't know he still had that Catholic stuff in him.

Trip to Shanghai - Spring Break 2008

We had computer problems during our trip - my new US work computer wouldn't pick up an open wireless signal in China! I have posted all of the photos and links below. It was a great trip!

Departing for Shanghai

Saturday in Shanghai

Easter in Shanghai

Easter in Shanghai (con't)

Monday in Suzhou - Tiger Hill

Monday in Suzhou - Silk Factory

Tuesday at Yu Yuan - Part I

Tuesday at Yu Yuang - Part II

Wednesday at the Children's Market and Jin Mao Tower

Thursday at the Cloth Market and Acrobat Show

Friday at the Foreign Language Bookstore and Swimming

Saturday Last Minute Shopping

Saturday last minute shopping

We went to the Fake Market one more time for some last minute items, like 25 T-shirts, silver jewelry and a silk duvet cover. We shopped up a storm.

The kids were very sad after having a great week with their best friends and 9 nights of sleep overs! They really didn't want to go home.

Friday at the Foreign Language Bookstore and Swimming

Mark and I spent the morning getting some last few errands done before we leave. This morning we headed to the Foreign Language Bookstore to do some power shopping - the kids stayed home. Mark got his Chinese textbooks for his next few classes plus the workbooks and CDs that go with it. He paid a fraction of what they cost in the US. I bought the first book in case I take the 1st Chinese class for credit plus a picture book on Shanghai and some other fun books about China. Our purchases were very heavy but didn't cost very much.

When we got back to the house we took the kids swimming at the housing complex. The pool is beautiful and it was empty. Of course since it was China, the kids had to wear swim caps and they all thought that was hilarious. We dried off while seated on these tile seats which were heated, very nice.


















For dinner, we tried a restaurant which had been recommended to Sarah by a friend. It was all you can eat Teppanyaki and drink for 150Y or under $22 for adults, $11 for the kids. We tested this theory as we ate a lot. They had flames while cooking a few of the courses which really sent the kids running. It was fun.

Thursday at Cloth Market and the Acrobat Show

Today everyone was tired so it was a relaxing day. The kids stayed home and played. A side note, Ji Ji and Noah have decided on this trip that they will be getting married when they grow up. Noah will own a Pokeman store and Ji Ji will be a famous scientist a few hours a week as she doesn't want to work so much!

Mark and I went to the Cloth Market to pick up the shirts and pants which he had ordered. Here is a photo of him trying on one of his new silk shirts. I also bought 2 table runners, 4 pillow covers, some green suede material to cover some chairs at home (its on my list of projects) and some purple silk to make something for the girls (its also on my list). A funny shopping story, as we went back to one vendor that our friends had bought a few things from the week before. I wanted some table runners and I had been given a price of 35Y. Well this time I showed up and the first price given was 680Y. I just laughed. As I was walking away (I wasn't even going to bargain, wasn't worth it to me), the guy saw us and recognized us from before. I got the table runners at 35Y and he apologized to me.

While we were waiting out front for the driver I took some photos of the street vendors making lunch. It really looked good but we went with the safe option and went back to the dumpling restaurant we were at the day before.

That night we went to see an acrobat show, "Era, Intersection of Timne". It was very well done. Many of the acts we had seen before but the presentation was done better than most. Jiang Lei and Ji Ji fell asleep and missed the big finale.

Wednesday at the Children's Market and Jin Mao Tower

Wednesday morning we headed to the Children's clothes market on Pu' An Yu. It is an underground market which has too many to visit stalls of clothing. I got 2 pairs of pants for Nora (which is a huge victory, since she can't find pants slim enough in the US). We also got fake crocks for Ji Ji and Jiang Lei (less than $5 each). I get so into shopping and bargaining that I end up walking away from some good deals because I don't get the discount that I want. There was a cool Spiderman 3 T-shirt for Jiang Lei and the lady wouldn't go below $5 so I walked away (should have bought it). There were also toys and hair stuff for the girls. It was lots of fun for me, not so much for Mark or the kids!


















After the children's market we went to the observation tower on the 88th floor of Jin Mao Tower, the 5th tallest building in the world and China's tallest. The observatory is 340.1 m / 1,115.8 ft high. Visibility was ok, much clearer than other days. Lots of the tourists wanted to take photos of our kids and they were getting quite tired of it.


















Here are some photos of a new skyscraper being constructed next to Jin Mao, the World Financial Center, which will become the world's tallest building at 460m. You can see the open section toward the bottom of the photo. There were people standing there and one guy was pulling on a rope to manually raise some beams up toward the top of the tower. Open to the wind that high? And manually raising the beams? Scary!



















After the observatory we went up to the 54th floor to the Grand Hyatt to have a drink in the hotel and enjoy the view. I was thinking about Jiang Lei, drinking in the Jin Mao Tower Hyatt and how different his life was one year ago. That night the "boys" went to a World Cup qualifying match between North Korea and South Korea.