Kevin's Visit out West

Last weekend, while I still had my mom around to help me out with the kids, Kevin took off for the weekend to go to a city in one of the western most parts of China. He had gotten in contact through the internet with a young man who had started up a baseball league for minority kids. After talking baseball with this guy, Kevin found out that they were desperately low on equipment--something like only 25 gloves for all the kids in the entire league! Kevin wanted to help out, so he was able (with the help of a Stateside friend) to have a bunch of baseball gear donated that my mom brought over.

The youth baseball league just plays games every Saturday and Sunday for about a month, so Kevin wanted to get out there and see some of the action while it was still in process. Thus us quickly planned trip last weekend. It's a highly unstable area politically, so Kevin thought it wise to make the trip with a Chinese American friend (which of course, made it more fun for Kevin as well!).

The trip was fascinating for Kevin. It felt like he was out of China--at least the China that we know. I wish I could write more details, but think it is best to be a bit brief here. Ultimately, the youth were really excited to receive the equipment (the 50 lb. bag Kevin brought doubled what the league already had to use!), they were super thrilled to meet a former Major League player, and Kevin even got to step in to a quick pick-up game a pitch a few innings with some of the adults. He loved the food--which he says is really spicy and a lot of noodles, and he met a lot of interesting characters on the journey! I don't know that it will be a regular stopover place for him in the near future, but he was thrilled to get to make the trip, answer some of the questions he's had about the place, and be able to help out some young baseball fans all at the same time.

Yet Another Goodbye. . .

We had another sad goodbye this weekend when we took Nana into Beijing to go to the airport to fly back to the US. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I miss Nana!" spoken in our house over the last two days (and although Kevin misses her too, most of the comments have come from the three verbal kids in the house!). We finished up her time here with a bang, making the most of our time and a driver who took us the three-hours drive into Beijing. We went to the Temple of Heaven (tourist spot) then on to the Pearl Market, where you can buy everything "Chinese-ee" under the sun, and where I get to put my best-bargaining hat on. We got some more fun things for my mom to bring back home and had a great time seeing some of Beijing in the process. We spent the night in a hotel that has a swimming pool (which the kids LOVED!) and even serves a western breakfast. What a treat!

I don't have photos of our last weekend together because Kevin took the camera with him on his trip out west. He went to a far western city for the weekend with a friend to deliver some baseball equipment that was collected in the States and brought over by my mom. (Will dedicate the next blog entry to more details!) For now, the homework calls and dinner prep has yet to be done, so I'll sign off. The photos that I am including are of the kiddos with Nana in the apartment, and then one that Karis took of me with Nana.

Fun random note about Karis--Kevin let her sit with him at the computer and flip through some of the iTunes music selections to see some of the songs she liked. Her favorite, which she has been singing often ever since, was one by (I think?) Lindsey Lohan entitled "I'm Just a Little Bit Bossy"! Anyone who knows my daughter, who unfortunately takes after her mom in many ways (who incidentally scores high on the spiritual inventory test in the area of administration, which Kevin says is aka bossy-ness), will find the humor in this!!

Fun with Nana

We've had so much fun this past week doing our normal routine and adding a little bit of fun "play time" with Nana while she's here. We made it to a new spot on the Great Wall of China--at least new for us! We hired a driver to take us the two hour drive there to a small town named Ji Xian, then unloaded the car, loaded up some of the kids in backpacks, and began our journey. We hiked along the wall for about two hours, stopping for a picnic lunch in one of the watch towers--which was a great spot to stop, except for the fact that due to the strong smell of urine, it was obviously also the favorite pit stop for people along the way! The kids were troupers, and the hiking was intense! I had Noah on my back and Kevin had Hudson--who is definitely NOT the lightest kid in the Joseph family! He ended up also carrying Karis in his arms during some of the journey, as her ankle is still a little sore from a sprain she got on a trampoline about two weeks ago. My professional athlete husband has not lost any of his athletic ability even as his age increases! My mom and I were impressed, as were all the Chinese people stopping along the way to take our pictures!

At the base of the Wall there were all sorts of touristy things--like special gardens, temples, vendors, and even a maze that the kids had a blast exploring. We also got to see the Great Wall Marathon going on at the same time. We were fascinated by how many foreigners we saw, while sighting absolutely NO Chinese runners! We were later told that this marathon in particular focuses on pulling in foreigners, charging about $200 for signing up and then adding a bunch of stuff geared toward westerners and site-seers. We also heard that because of the steepness of the incline of the portion of the race that is actually run along the Wall, a runner should plan on increasing their expected marathon completion time by an hour and a half or two! That's some serious racing!

We had some rain yesterday, so we stayed closer to home than we would have otherwise. The photo of the kids by the window was them on their "fishing trip" with Nana--a game in which they used their fishing poles (also known as badminton rackets) to catch whatever Nana happened to attach to their poles on the other side of the sofa. It's amazing how long they can stay entertained by the games they create! After a light rain this morning, the sun came out, the skies cleared, and we enjoyed a picnic lunch at the Water Park here in Tianjin. The kids each picked an amusement park ride to go on, and then we walked around, played badminton in an open area, were told to get off of the grass (which is rare to find at all anywhere!), and watched some large schools of beautiful orange fish. It was a great day!

New Member of the Joseph Family!

We added one to our ranks last night. On our way walking to our local favorite Chinese food restaurant in our neighborhood, we passed by a vendor on the street. The man was selling some sort of melon, as well as a box that contained two small rabbits! The kids of course went nuts, since they've just been getting more and more accustomed to the long-eared hopping animals due to our neighbors having one as a pet. To make a long story short, we ended up coming home with only one of the little critters! (She has yet to be named!)

My favorite part of the evening was after I'd bargained some with the man selling the rabbits and we'd agreed on a price, his obvious plan for "packaging" the rabbit for me to take home. As he held the small animal dangling in the air by its ears, he pulled out one of the red plastic bags that he was giving the melons to people in after they'd made their purchases from him! I implored him quickly to "Deng yi xia!" ("wait a minute!") while I yelled for Kevin who was waiting behind a wall on the bridge above us. We had already purchased the cage for the rabbit across the street at a small pet store, but Kevin wisely pointed out that him walking up to the street vendor with an obviously-already-purchased cage would definitely NOT help my bargaining on the price! So we managed to bring our new family member home in her new cage rather than the plastic bag that was the alternate means of transportation! I'm thinking that it was probably a lot less traumatic than it could have been!

Outside Play

We've so been enjoying the beautiful spring weather! We've skipped the kids home school time the last several days to get as much play time in outdoors as we possibly can. All three of the kids are having a ball riding their new bikes, and we've discovered some new pets that our neighbors have--a rabbit and two ducklings! They keep them in crates on their patio and have allowed the kids to come over and visit whenever they like. We've all been shocked to find that ducklings go CRAZY over eating ants! As soon as we drop them into their pen, they literally fight to get to them first and gobble them up. The things we never knew. . .

Weekend Update

Nana is here! My mom arrived in Beijing last week on Tuesday, and the past week has been filled to the brim with birthday celebrations and sweet time playing catch up.

Last weekend was a busy one. It was Hud's third birthday on Sunday, so we had a family celebration of opening presents, then left him to go out on a date on Sunday night! (We weren't originally planning this, but we ran into some friends Sunday morning. The mom, a friend of mine named Audrey, suggested we do a double date that night. When I explained that it was Hud's birthday and we would be celebrating as a family, Hudson interrupted me, explaining that he would rather have Audrey's kids come over and babysit! We all laughed and agreed to grant his request to have the kids come over to watch ours that night. When we came back, the boys were in full swing, playing with Andrew, Audrey's 12 year old, who loves to rough house with our rowdy crew!

On our date night, Audrey and her husband Chris took us to a Thai restaurant that was the best meal out I've had here in China! The food was incredible, the atmosphere amazing, and it was in a really neat historic area downtown--the former British Concession from 150 years ago when the British were in control (at least that's the mini-history lesson I received during our trek around the area!). The photo of Kevin and me on the iron horse is from the British Concession, and the other one of Kevin and Chris standing in the street is just down the road from the house that Eric Liddel (the runner in Chariots of Fire) lived in for a time.

There was a national holiday on Monday, so since we didn't have school, we took the kids to a Chinese market to purchase bikes for them. It was a successful trip, and we eventually made it home with bikes for all three of the older kids! (Will get a picture attached of it soon!) Karis' bike does not have training wheels, so we're still in the process of learning how to balance. And Hudson can almost pedal forward the majority of the time, rather than backward. But we sure do draw a crowd as we get some exercise and fresh air out in our apartment courtyard!

As another update--Hudson's potty training is going great with very few accidents. Captain Underpants retains his title! And Eli's head is healing very nicely with the glue still intact, PTL!

My mom has done amazing here already--jumping right in to our normal routine as if she hasn't been away from our world for the last 7 months. When she arrived it was like Christmas. She had over one full suitcase filled with birthday presents for me and Hudson, along with other things for the kids and for some of my friends here that she had met when she came over with us in September. She was able to join a group of my closest girl friends here for a birthday tea that one of the girls threw in my honor on Wednesday--which was so special! She's helped me run carpool the last two days, with each of us biking around town with kids on the backs of our bikes going to pick them up from art class and go to and from our home school group. (Which, let me tell you, is no small feat! The traffic combined with the crazy driving "rules" coupled with the constant road construction makes maneuvering around town quite the challenge!) She watched the kids for over an hour at the park close by with a sandpit so I could do my huge grocery store run--all the while trying to figure out how to communicate with all of the other sweet Chinese grandparents who desperately wanted to know (by asking in Chinese of course!) all about her and all 4 of her grandkids!

Today, she has a massage planned with Kevin from our blind masseuse place and then shopping with me this afternoon to look for some souvenirs to bring back to the States. Tonight we're having a cook out with some friends at their house, and then my two teachers and their fiances are coming over to dinner tomorrow night. So we're making the most of introducing her to as much of our "new normal" as we can!