We've gotten to do lots of celebrating these past 2 weeks. On September 4th, our family celebrated our 3rd anniversary of living in China! I let the kids decide what they wanted to do to celebrate, and they chose a day at the zoo with a picnic lunch, followed by getting to play the Wii in the afternoon and tacos for dinner. We had a ball! The weather has changed and a cool breeze has blown in. We're loving the clear skies (most days!) and the fact that the temperature is just right--and trying not to feel a little bit apprehensive about the cold winter that is definitely impending with the fall weather that has arrived. Our day at the zoo was made even more special by one of the kids favorite people, Ms. Barbara, joining us.
The following week we got to celebrate Eli's 7th birthday. I can't believe that I'm actually the Mom of an 8-year old and now a 7-year old, too! I just don't know where the time goes... Elis' original thought was that he could have a party with all his favorite friends invited. But when we started counting them up, we realized that they not only spanned quite a few different cities, but even several continents! He wanted to invite Will (in Seattle, WA), Chris (Poland), Kevin (Korea), and Jason and Jojo here in China. As a compromise, Eli ended up deciding to have his 2 best friends from school come over for a mini-birthday party. It was perfect because his bday was on a Monday, and we all happened to have a day off from school then. Unfortunately, one of the kids' moms forgot about the party, and their family was out and about and unable to be reached by phone, so Eli's bday party was really just our family and his one friend, Jason. But thankfully, Eli and Jason had a fantastic time together (playing a water gun game outside and then soccer, concluding with Eli's favorite brownie and pudding birthday dessert). One funny aspect I had to think through was how to get the invitation to Jason. His mom doesn't speak any English, and I don't think she speaks Chinese either (which I'm still trying to figure out, as she is Korean, but I'm pretty sure that Jason's dad is Chinese...Not really sure how communication works in that marriage???). So rather than calling to let her know about the party, I made up a VERY simple invitation in English so that Jason could read it to his mom to let her know that Eli wanted him to come over that day. I tell you what, we are definitely getting some practice in communicating cross-culturally on multiple levels!
Last weekend, I hosted a wedding shower for my best friend here, Ying Ying, who is getting married next month. We had a great time, but the preparation was more overwhelming than I was anticipating! Our guest list somehow grew to 26 before I knew it, and I was the only one hostessing--which meant a LOT of preparation! The day of the shower, I'd only heard back from one person that they weren't coming, so I literally had no idea if I should expect 25 or a lot fewer. So I had quite a spread out, just in case. Oh, and the bride had asked that i include that people NOT come with gifts, which meant the usual shower entertainment of gift-opening was not something I could count on to fill the time! Thus, I found quite a few on-line resources that had lots of good game ideas for wedding showers, and I think the afternoon went off with everyone enjoying the time and Ying Ying feeling loved and celebrated (and there only ended up being about 15 of us there--so much more manageable numbers!) The photo of the girls is one of the games we played--dress up the bride and bridesmaids with toilet paper dresses.As far as other updates, we are loving having the mini-van. The drive to school during traffic hour is definitely more stressful than would be considered ideal, but the family time is priceless and the flexibility MUCH appreciated. I've had several firsts--my first "talk your way out of a ticket" with a police officer (in Chinese!) when I was pulled over for making an "illegal" turn (along with the other 48 cars around me who were also doing so), and my first parking ticket (for parking along with another 100 cars in a location not marked as "no parking," resulting in a $35 fine! ugh! [no one to try to sweet talk at that point--just the ticket on the windshield]). It is truly a blessing to be able to get around more easily and "redeem" some of our travel time as family time, too.
Our newest pets, the 2 hamsters, are still around. Well, at least one of the originals and one new one are! Within the first several days, Snowball bit the dust (not sure what happened, but Karis was able to say a tearful goodbye before the end). She happened to die the same day that Karis lost a tooth (I know what you're thinking....Where in the world am I going with this?). Well, I decided it would be fun to have the tooth fairy visit that night, but with a new pet hamster instead of cash. I made it to the pet store that day, picked out a new one, and Kevin help me strategically place the new pet in an exercise ball next to her pillow (a little risky, as she's on the top bunk!) along with a note from the tooth fairy explaining that she was short on cash and hoped Karis would accept the hamster instead. She did, and the new pet (whose name keeps on changing still) is getting along splendidly with Obi. The bunny, Bo, does seem a bit jealous, but I've encouraged the kids to keep all their furry rodents in one room together and make sure they split time so that no one gets too neglected. Some days feels a little like what I have to remind myself about my 4 little critters and their needs, too!
