Noah's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe that our baby has just turned one year old! Yesterday, June 3rd, was Noah's first birthday, and we had a great time celebrating as a family. He ate his first cupcake (not his first "sweet", however, as he's discovered how much fun it can be when our family walks to the local market store to buy icecream after dinner!), opened a few gifts, and had a party paper chain made in his honor by his older siblings.

This past week Kevin and I both walked into the room at different times to discover Noah dribbling a plastic soccer ball across the living room floor! Yes, I said, DRIBBLING with his feet! At first, I was pretty sure that I just happened to see him accidentally kick the ball and then walk quickly behind it. But as I watched for another minute, he was truly kicking the ball then following up behind it to kick it again--dribbling almost on par with any World Cup player. (Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration!). What can I say, those are definitely Joseph genes rather than the ones on his mom's side!!

First Chinese Wedding

We got to experience another first this weekend--our first Chinese wedding! We were invited to attend one of Kevin's former teacher's weddings on Sunday afternoon, and it was quite an experience! We learned a ton. . .

For starters, you don't show up to a wedding "on time". While the invitation said the wedding was to begin at 3:18pm, it didn't actually begin until well after 4:15pm! (Luckily, we had been warned about this beforehand, so rather than just hanging out there waiting with everyone in tow, we arrived with the kids closer to 3:45 as suggested by our friends.) Secondly, weddings are usually (almost always) held in restaurants. Which makes the food aspect much more convenient than dealing with a caterer, for sure! Before the bride walked down the aisle, she waited in a sheer covered canopy at the back of the restaurant. Then, as the Rocky-style music began to play, the groom walked down the carpeted path to the bride and escorted her to the front of the restaurant. Everyone is chatting during this time, snacking some on the nuts and drinks that are at the round tables at which we were seated (except for Kevin, who was following Noah around as he explored at the back of the restaurant, being entertained by about a dozen Chinese restaurant workers who were all in love with him!) After the intro, there were a few other Chinese-ee things--like bubbles coming out of a bubble machine right next to the bride and groom's heads and a few flaming torches (rather than our typical unity candle). But then the pastor delivered the message (who happened to be a western friend of ours from the language school), which was pretty much what we're used to (except in Mandarin, of course!).

One of the other differences is that they serve the cake before the meal comes out. And then the food just keeps on coming! The servers just kept piling plate upon plate onto our table, stacking them three to four dishes high! There was a great deal of seafood, which is considered "fine dining" in China (even though the heads, scales, and shells are still left on!), and a lot of new dishes that we had never had before.

The bride wore a traditional white wedding dress, but then changed into a different bright pink dress for her "reception" afterward--where she and the groom went from table to table while their guests were toasting them. The Chinese culture also finds pale skin the most attractive--so they do everything they can both to protect their skin from the sun as well as using products to make their faces especially more fair. So we've noticed that brides put a LOT of heavy whitening make-up on their faces for weddings (and photos, in particular). This was no exception! Oh, and rather than bringing gifts, everyone brings these red envelopes that you put cash into for the bride and groom. Guess it makes bringing the presents home a lot easier!

We stuck around for about 3 hours and then left as the kids were reaching melt-down point. It was really fun, even though the kids were disappointed that there was no dancing. We had had a busy Saturday, trekking to Beijing in order to meet with a US friend for lunch. We laughed that we traveled for three hours--including two taxi rides, one high speed train, and three subways, just to go one-way there in order to have a lunch meeting for two hours! I don't know that we would have done that necessarily in the States! Our trip was a success, except maybe for the moment I looked down on the subway where we were all crowded around one pole to hold our balance as it moved along, only to find Hudson LICKING the pole. That's right. Licking it with his tongue. And this is after I think I'd already gone through a whole package of anti-bacterial wipes on their hands trying to keep the kids as germ-free as possible in such a dirty environment! I considered trying one on his tongue, but figured it would probably be counter-productive (or maybe worse?!). What goes through the mind of a three-year old, I guess we'll just never know!

The photos I'm including are of our family with the bride and groom, the table we sat at which was covered with food, the bride and groom with the bubbles and the flaming torches blazing, and me with my teacher this semester who has become such a dear friend.

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. . .