As if I didn't know he was amazing before, this past weekend Kevin set some new records in "Dad amazing-ness!" I'm going to be very un-Chinese-ee here for a minute and brag on my hubby (in Chinese culture, you're actually supposed to talk more negatively about your spouse rather than positively, because talking positively about them comes across as being braggadocios; who says you have to acculturate to all aspects of Chinese culture?!). So this past weekend I spent in Beijing--without kids or Kevin! Talk about a total break from the norm....
On Friday I had a girls' day of shopping! I played hooky from class and went with 5 other western friends in a van with a hired driver into Beijing. One of my best friends here, after living in Tianjin for 19 years, is moving back to the States this summer indefinitely. Our family is heartbroken! For those of you who look at our blog regularly, you'll probably know about the Thorpe family, whose 4 kids look like and act like older siblings to my 4 little ones. Their kids range in age from 10 to 16 and are absolutely amazing, and my kids' favorite people in China. So needless to say, our family is grieving their moving back to the States, and our group of foreign women have several things planned to do together this spring in preparation for the Thorpes leaving. So my friend Audrey put together this shopping trip, into Beijing and some of her favorite places--an antique furniture warehouse, a large import grocery store, a floral market (that also sells other houseware and decor items), and the biggest Starbucks I've seen in China (by far!). We ladies had a day of fun, and I even made a few purchases myself! (I'm including a pic of one of the tables I got for our living room so you can see some of the fun finds we get here--neat Chinese antiques at a steal of a deal compared to US prices!)
So while I was gone on Friday, the older two kids were at school, but Kevin had an amazing adventure planned for all of them upon their return from the bus stop. He planned a GI Joe adventure, complete with toy helicopters that had "crash landed" in the courtyard area tress close to our apartment building. The kids each had specific tasks they had to accomplish in order to progress to the next phase of the adventure. They absolutely loved every minute! Then on Saturday, the second adventure began. This one's theme was Transformers, and it took Kevin to the zoo with all 4 kiddos (and his friend Sam, who also didn't want to miss out on the adventure:). When I asked Kevin what they did for lunch, he explained that he had packed a picnic lunch, complete with pb and jelly sandwiches for everyone except himself, as he ended up one short somehow! He scavenged the kids' leftovers, and therefore was able to hold off on his own lunch til their afternoon return home. He also had purchased small tablets of paper for each of the kids for them to record what they saw. When I got home on Saturday night I had an entire stack of pictures to go through that was their handiwork from their time exploring at the zoo! Talk about precious! They were all clamoring to talk at once, eager to share their adventures of the weekend.
My Saturday was spent with my precious Chinese friends, Ying Ying and Shan Shan. We had a friend coming in from the States to do a teaching seminar on parenting and cultural differences that was to last all day Saturday. Rather than coming home late on Friday evening and then turning around a leaving again on Saturday morning, Kevin suggested that I stay in a hotel on Friday night. And then Charis, one of my dear friends here who was also going shopping with our group of ladies on Friday, thought she too would love a night in Beijing and even had her dad willing to use some of his frequent flyer miles to make it possible for us to do so. We even were upgraded to "executive status" (which is not the norm, for me!). Talk about a fun weekend of being spoiled. Great time with friends and a lot of learning on Saturday, as well.
Ying Ying, Shan Shan and I took the train back into Tianjin on Saturday. In order to get to the train station, we rode the subway--which was total insanity! I've never been so crowded in my life. I tried to capture it on film, thus the photo of the tops of heads (mostly dark-haired!), as I held up my camera while moving along one of the subway lines.
The kids' favorite part of me being gone for the weekend--besides Kevin's adventures, that is--was the box that one of the chairs I purchased came in! It was huge, and has been all sorts of things--a cave, a spaceship, a new home for Bo the bunny--you name it. We'll see how long it lasts in our living room, but for now, it is getting much love!
