The kids have been riding their bikes more and more lately in our apartment courtyard area. (And I should note that this is largely due to our unusually warm winter we've enjoyed! It has yet to really snow, and the temperatures have gotten above freezing most days, which is incredibly different from our last two year here.) So Kevin and I decided that the older two were ready for a real challenge, and we proposed the idea of riding bikes together to the McDonalds that is probably about 2 miles away from our home. The kids LOVED the idea, so on Saturday morning, we took off with the older two wearing their helmets and the little two boys on the backs of Kevin's and my bike. We sure didn't set any speed records on our journey, but made it across the railroad tracks, through some pretty hairy intersections, and the entire distance (with only one or two stops to rest our legs!) with everyone still alive at the end! I realized during our trek that Eli is definitely in need of a larger bike with bigger wheels. The poor thing had to peddle about 10 times for every 1 the rest of us had to make (even including Karis!), so his cheeks were quite flushed and he was sweating pretty much by the time we arrived to enjoy our chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers.
Besides our bike adventure, our week has been a slower-paced one than usual. We entertained some of our Chinese friends for dinner on Friday night. One of the funnier moments was when one friend asked another friend if she was pregnant. The girl being asked actually was, but very few people knew about it at that point! And we still can't figure out how the one asking knew about the pregnancy. She assured us she hadn't heard from anyone else, she could just "tell"! (And since the one pregnant is so early on, there are no outward signs yet at this point.) It was pretty funny, and pretty awkward, too! This let to some other interesting conversations. One being her sharing with me the ideas in Chinese medicine of why you have indigestion when you're pregnant--especially during your 3rd trimester. That is when the baby is growing hair on it's head, which is the direct cause of the mother's indigestion. Hmmmm....
The other thing that rocked my world was hearing this friend talk about another good friend of hers who is also pregnant. The friend is 39 weeks already, and is having a very difficult time eating much because her indigestion is so uncomfortable (nothing unusual there!)! What is unusual, is my friend's display of friendship to this girl. The pregnant friend feels like she can eat more and with less discomfort when our mutual friend is around. Therefore, my friend, who is a police officer and has an incredibly busy work schedule, on top of big family demands, etc., travels to Beijing two times a week simply to sit with her pregnant friend while she eats! (It's only a 40 minute train ride between our cities, but there's always additional travel time, including sub way, taxi, etc, which would probably make her travel time closer to 1 1/2 or 2 hours each way.) Talk about loyalty! The Chinese culture takes the loyalty amongst friends to a whole new level!
We've continued to enjoy my "running machine"--or my "big toy" as Noah refers to it. You can see his favorite way to exercise these days (normally right before bath time!) from the photo! (never mind--my husband just censored the half-nude shot from behind!) The other pics are of the kids' creations they made out of marshmellows and toothpicks (which turned in to part of their afternoon snack, as I'm sure you can imagine!) None of the structures actually could fit into the mugs of hot chocolate that went along with their afternoon treat, but that didn't seem to bother them in the least!
The rest of this week has been busy preparing to leave town. We head to Thailand in a few days and are counting down the time til we are in the sun, the clean air, and enjoying a brief break from our usual routine! Next post should have a slightly different background that the normal skyline of Tianjin... :)
