March Happenings/Guangzhou

We are just over halfway through March and I feel like I am very behind in sharing what we have done.  It has been a bit rough getting back in the swing of things, but we are now firmly in our routine with our sights on the summer:) The weather has finally turned to the humid muggy Hong Kong that we are used to, but I am certainly not complaining...after being on the east coast for only a month and shoveling more snow than I had in MANY years.

Jet lag was as fun as always, and it was joined by a head cold. We took it easy the first weekend back, celebrating Josh's birthday, going to a friend's house for dinner...and then Andy left for Tokyo:) At least we saw each other three full days before he had to leave.

The following Thursday we took the kids out of school early and took a 2 hour train ride north to Guangzhou and stayed in a resort called Chimelong.  This place was amazing.  Andy's associate had been asking us to come and visit for awhile, and even pulled his 10 year old daughter out of school so she could practice her English.  It was perfect for Grace and Emma to practice their Mandarin.

We arrived at the train station around 5:30 in time to get a quick bite to eat, check-in at the hotel, and get to the circus. Yes, a circus.  This show was CRAZY.  I told Andy that some of the entertainers were not paid enough to do what they were doing.  The kids loved it and Sarah almost stayed awake to the end. The next morning, breakfast was next to the white tigers, than off to the resort's amusement park.  Since it was drizzling and a Friday, the park was not nearly as crowded as we were expecting...and we found it to be a very fun park! That night, Andy's associate went back to pick up the rest of his family and joined us for dinner.  We had a wonderful time hearing about cultural differences and watching our girls converse. Finally, the next day was the zoo, which was the best zoo I had ever seen.  We saw some amazing animals pretty up close, fed giraffes, ate lunch next to pandas and handled the crowds and the rain with few complaints.  Then we went into the city of Guangzhou (population...21million) and went to dinner with our hosts and enjoyed one of the tallest buildings in the world-the Canton Tower.  We left the next morning with lots of fun memories of a terrific family bonding experience.

Last week, I had my second tennis match AND my second sub-hour 10 K race.  The tennis matches started this spring when I decided to be a little more serious and practice in match situations.  The 10 K race was fun, even though training was nearly impossible.  It was the first race I was able to run with my running partner, Leslie...and we pushed each other to PR's...and had fun doing it...except maybe the last 2K:)

We also had our wonderful Aussie friend's surprise birthday party and Andy's parents arrived safely yesterday for the week. So it has been a packed March, and it's not even over!!! But I am so thankful to be together as a family and will deal with the schedule as long as we can be together:)

The Canton Tower

Kids playing games on the two hour train ride

There's tall...and then there's a giraffe

Just enjoyed a coaster with our tour guide

Emma and Josh accommodating their mother:)

Abby and Josh had fun, too!