We found another fun winter spot! After our homeschool time this morning, I bundled up the kids and we headed off to taxi corner, getting to play in the beautiful snow on our 10-minute walk there (which of course turned into a 20-minute walk due to the number of "distractions" on the way!). It was snowing and gorgeous outside! The wind wasn't blowing, so in spite of the amount of snow and cold, it still felt really pleasant outside, and everything looked so clean with the layer of white dusting on top! We met Kevin as he finished up class at the big grocery store that is not too far away, E Mart, and let the kids play in this play area that they have there. It is the closes thing to a Galleria play date that we've had since arriving here in China! We had to pay the equivalent of about $5 for all three kids to go in, but it was so well worth it. They were able to run and play and spen
t about an hour and a half having a ball. Kevin and I were able to hang out and visit outside the area with Noah, practicing our lan
guage skills on the innocent passersby! (Who of course all wanted to visit about Noah and the rest of the kids--our usual topic of conversation!) It was a great time and a super-fun discovery that I am sure will be used regularly as we experiment with how to handle the cold weather!After the play area we ran to grab a few groceries at E Mart. We visited the crabs while in the food section, but were disappointed that the barrel of frogs was not there today!
After we got the kids home and the two little guys down for naps, I walked to our local market to get food for dinner. It felt so quiet and peaceful and I was enjoying myself so much that I almost walked right past our apartment on the way home! The Chinese people really have a fear of cold (thinking that temperature regulation is everything connected to health), so t
hey just don't get out much when the weather is cold or otherwise "bad". The lack of people out and about made me realize how much I am accustomed to seeing a ton of people everywhere we go--and honestly the lack of crowds was a little bit of a nice change from the norm!We had Joel over for dinner--which the kids especially loved! And I am really pumped that Kevin and I have a date night planned for today! Two sisters that we know here are willing to come over and babysit, so we're going to try a double-date with our friends Sara and Jason this evening. So looking forward to it!
And great news on the health of the Joseph fam--I got a great report from an orthopedic specialist friend in the US that we scanned and e-mailed my hand x-rays to. He says the break looks great, is in a really good spot for being "insignifcant" in the long-run, and doesn't need any other work done on it! PTL! So no big trips into Beijing this time! And Kevin is finally getting a little better with his cough, and no new fevers or other strange illnesses for the kiddos this week. So we are all on the mend for the moment! Now to just survive the cold weather with our warm Texas blood. . . :)
