May Fun in Shanghai with Gram & Coach!

This month we were lucky to have Chris’s parents return for their second trip to China from the U.S.  

3 weeks of jam packed activities starting off with the 4th grade Track and Field day!  

I am pretty convinced now that "the tongue" is here to stay.  There are very few pictures I get with her playing sports without having it dangling out of her mouth.  It has become her trademark...

We had a great cheering section!!!

Ayden and I had a field trip one afternoon… and found ourselves at the bund.  I miss having my pals with me during the day... 

We are counting down the days for our trip to Charleston, SC for the summer!    We are starting to get some wicked beach fever!!  

April Update 2013!

I absolutely love my notes left throughout the house by my kids.   To walk into a room to pick up while they are at school and notice that there is a note addressed to you just fills my heart.  These are the things you want to keep forever…

Translation:

“Dear Mom, I love you.  You are the BEST mom ever in the whole tire world.   Love: Ayden   Jordan

I love you

I love you”

There are also those notes that you get that you can’t help laugh at…  sometimes saying sorry is easier to write then it is to say!

Translation:

“Mom:  I am sorry bekus I had a promble on the bus”

“Mom:  I am sorry because I had a problem on the bus” 

Translation:

“Mom I am sorry because I had a problem on the bus…”

The weather while isn’t consistent yet, is starting to periodically warm up.   It is nice to not have to bundle up when leaving the house and with the sun poking its head through the clouds our spirits are beginning to rise!!!!  Ayden is thrilled to have access to her girly sandals… it’s all about fashion. 

While dad was traveling in the states, we decided to do some touristy things in our city.  Today we walked on the bund… 

And took some pictures…   It sure is nice to have these kids when Chris is gone.  They are full of entertainment and provide me with a great deal of comic relief.   They are the best pals! 

 Just had to post this picture of Ayden running… In two dimension she actually looks coordinated when running… 

In starting to plan for our home summer leave, I have talked lately about how much I miss my sister.  It seems at this age you have to remind them how lucky they are to have each other.  SISTERS ROCK!!!!  

Spring Break (March) ... Shanghai, China

Happy St. Patricks Day!   We celebrated our Irish heritage much like we would at in the states…  among friends and a lot of beer.   

This spring break we decided to stay local in Shanghai…  I wanted to share with the kids something that I have been doing this year that was very meaningful to me.   And also show them that not every school break is going to take us to some exotic Asian resort.   So on their second day off they each sat in an orientation for a local orphanage called The Healing Home.   This is an orphanage about 20 minutes from our apartment that houses over 50 children from various provinces around China.  The children are brought to this orphanage because they suffer from some sort of correctable medical condition.    (Varying heart conditions, cleft lip/palate, hydrocephalus etc.)  I was not totally sure how the kids were going to respond to some of the physical deformities some of the children in the orphanage had…   Prior to our visit, we spent a lot of time looking at pictures online and discussing why children are born with defects…   I am not going to lie when I admit that my kids definitely needed a large dose of “you should be grateful serum” but, what we got out of it was SO much more!!!!

At first seeing so many children was very overwhelming for them.  Particularly when they all spoke only Chinese!  It was a bit slow at first getting the kids to warm up to them…  I found it surprising to see that the children in the orphanage opened up to Jordan, Garrett & Ayden much more quickly then they did to me!

I also found it surprising that never once did any of my kids ever make the connection that a place like this is where we got them…  Garrett spent his time with a little boy named Henry…  He was obsessed with cars and used the sign language for car constantly!  

Jordan immediately made a bond with a little boy named Johnny.  Without a doubt this kid was the most energetic and demanded the most attention.  The connection was made over a ball.  (Of course) and they were fast friends playing catch.

Ayden gravitated to the girls and was juggling the attention of two…   They spent considerable time taking on and off their shoes and collecting any shoes that were laying around…  It is amazing what the kids can find to play with when there aren’t a lot of toys.  

When it was finally time to leave… the kids begged me to return the next day to play.  I never thought that they would embrace going as much as I do and I think they appreciate what they do have a little more…