Summer in NH

What an amazing summer we had!  The kids and I spent a busy 5 weeks in NH visiting with family and friends.  We started our NH summer with a weekend trip to North Conway.  The trip got off to a rocky start with a quick trip to the ER when Charlie fell from a highchair and hit his head hard on a cement floor.  I've never been so scared in my life!  Luckily he has a hard head and was fine after a bit.  It was the last time I put him in a highchair.  By the next day it was as if nothing had happened, his only reminder of the fall was a small bump on the back of his head.  The next morning we spent the day with Thomas.  Charlie was beyond excited to see Thomas and Sir Topham Hat in person. It was a little boys nirvana.  We climbed aboard an engine, took a ride on a railcar, and even got a ride on Thomas!  Charlie came home with a new Percy toy, and a few other goodies including a balloon almost as big as him.  Lily enjoyed herself too, sinking four hole in ones on the mini golf course and getting a butterfly painted on her face.

That afternoon and the whole following day we spent at Story Land.  This year Charlie was tall enough to go on all of the rides and was not about to miss even one.  We got soaked on Dr. Geyser's Raft ride, spun ourselves sick on the Turtle Twirl and screamed on the Polar coaster.  By the end of the day we were all exhausted.  The kids went home with my folks, while Lucas and I headed a bit farther north to the Mount Washington Resort for an anniversary getaway.  We had an amazing meal in the main dinning room with a view that over looked the mountains.  After dinner we sat out on the back terrace and enjoyed the sunset before exploring the historic hotel.  We checked out the Cave, which used to be a hidden prohibition speakeasy, and walked through what would have been private dinning rooms originally, and took in some of the historic photos that are all around the hotel.  We headed back to our room to enjoy the chocolate covered strawberries and champagne from my folks and some other yummy treats, a gift from the hotel, for celebrating our anniversary with them.  

Of course we also hit many of the "local" favorites while in NH, including Parker's Maple Barn, which has been around since I was a little kid, and has possibly the best breakfast in NH.  We also made a couple of stops to Hayward's for gigantic ice cream cones, another icon from my childhood.  Of course, what summer could be complete without trips to Silver Lake.  We made two trips to the lake.  The kids had a blast playing in the water, tracking fish, digging holes, and having picnic lunches.  We also spent plenty of time playing in the yard with bubbles, bikes, chalk, and their arrest me red mustang.  They even had fun helping Grammy mow the lawn and water her flowers. Mom and I also spent a day with the kids in Boston shopping at Faneuil Hall and eating at Quincy Market (I got my chowda fix!) and then taking a ride on the Duck boats.  We even swung by the Boston Aquarium to watch the sea lions swim for a bit, and made a quick detour to the North End for some Italian pastries before we headed home.

While my folks spent a weekend in the Hamptons for a friends wedding I kept the kids busy by taking them to see the Clydesdales at Anheuser Busch.  It was a much bigger hit than I thought it would be.  The kids were absolutely fascinated by the huge horses and got to watch two of them get bathed.  We even got to see some of the horses practice around the complex hitched to one of the wagons they use in parades.  We weren't alone for long though, that Sunday my sister and brother-in-law flew in for a few days to surprise Dad for his 60th birthday.  Dad was totally surprised by the unexpected visit and enjoyed a fantastic birthday dinner at The Bedford Village Inn and then dessert with the kids and good friends.  But, I think the highlight of the day was the box of letters from family and friends that Holly spent months putting together.  As he so eloquently put it, the gifts he was given were nice, but eventually they will either break or be tossed, but the letters he got from everyone will be with him forever.

A big thank you to my wonderful brother-in-law Steven for suggesting a day at Canobie Lake Park.  I can remember visiting this park as a kid and on school trips and I had forgotten how much they have for young kids to do.  The kiddie land has been expanded and they still have all the old favorites I remember as a kid, including the duck and fishing well games.  The kids had so much fun on the kiddie rides and I loved that I didn't have to go on the rides with them, such a nice reprieve!  We did a few of the "big kid" rides too, including the Boston Tea Party, a huge log ride that soaks you to the bone.  Steve and I spent the rest of the day trying to dry off, Uncle Steve gets a gold star for going with us!  We also enjoyed a few rounds of skee ball, a ride on the train, and of course we had the requisite ice cream and powdered fried dough.  By the time we left the park we were all exhausted, had tired feet, and two kids covered in powder sugar!

When we'd walked around Boston Lily noticed the boats going on whale watches and really wanted to go.  Since we had already planned the Duck boat and Grammy and boats (on the open ocean) don't get along we had to pass.  So, Papa "volunteered" to take the kids with me on a whale watch out of Rye, NH. We headed up early and had a picnic lunch at Ordiorne State Park and then said goodbye to Grammy at the dock as two very excited kids headed out to see whales.  Before we even pulled away from the dock though Lily lost her second tooth.  Something she had been nursing for a month and a half!  The whale watch was a big hit, we saw a bunch of Minke whales and even saw two seals.  Just a tad bit disappointed we didn't see any Humpbacks though... maybe next summer?

We also got to squeeze in a visit with cousins Henry and Louisa, who came up from Queens to visit us.  Unfortunately we had a rainy day so after lunch we took the kids to see Despicable Me 2 and then to the hotel for some pool time!  The kids had such a good time together, it was as if they'd seen each other just the week before.  Thanks guys for making the trip!  Also squeezing in a visit to NH was my Dad's cousins Richie and Gail.  The kids loved seeing them again since we used to visit each other so much when we lived in NJ.  It was a great two days spent together.  Thanks for coming up Richie and Gail!

It was an awesome summer and we've taken many wonderful and amazing memories back to Shanghai with us.  Thank you to my folks for putting up with us for five weeks!  Thank you to all my family and friends for taking time to visit with us and helping to make the summer so special, as always it went by too fast.  We miss you all and can not wait for next summer!

Exploring the flower market

I have been to my local flower and fish market many times since moving here, but I have never taken much time to explore the second floor until now.  The second floor is full of shops with fake flowers, frame shops, and other odds and ends.  This shop had all shape and size wood shelves and stands.  The smaller stands are often used to display decorative carvings of semi precious stones, jade being a popular one here in China.  Since this seemed to be the shop's niche, they had a huge variety including large shelves carved in the traditional Chinese style of a circle.  I find these shelves so beautiful and I've seen them many times and even found a shop that will build custom ones, which I am considering having done before our move.  Beyond the shelf shop I passed by other traditional wood carved furniture shops, some with stone carvings or huge stones larger than a basketball, displayed on stands.  There were rows of fake flowers shops that had every kind of flower imaginable.  I even found bamboo and other long sticks for sale at one shop. Of course with all these flowers there are also shops with ceramic and glass vases in a dizzying array!

I also found some beautiful ceramic pots which I plan to buy after I get back from our trip to NH.  Anyone who has bought a ceramic pot at a garden shop know how expensive they can be.  Here, they are a fraction of the cost.  I may not be able to bring my plants to the US but I can bring the pots!
Walking around a corner I came across a shop selling framed art work, including the Mona Lisa.  Despite the temptation I managed to pass on it.  After getting the two paintings we bought in Hong Kong and the embroidered scene from the water village we visited framed I am out of wall space... oh well!  I did see that you could have a photo turned into a painting.  That may be worth looking into, it might be nice to have a painting of the kids, and I can only imagine how expensive it would be to have done the in US.  Gotta take advantage of the perks that come with living in China!

I will say, one of the big perks, aside from the travel, is the variety of food!  Shanghai is without a doubt a very diverse city with a large international community.  As any expat can attest to, having a meal of some of your favorites from home can help with homesickness.  Whether this is the reason there is such a variety of restaurants or not I can't say.  I do love going out and trying new places though.  This week Eric took me to a Korean barbecue place.  Here you order your meats and then they bring you a huge tray of leafy greens, which is what you use to wrap up the meat, and several appetizers.  They cook the meat in front of you at your table and use scissors to cut it up.  By the time we finished lunch we were both stuffed!
I'm spending the rest of the week getting ready for our trip to NH.  I can't wait to spend time with my family and friends.  I am not exactly looking forward to the flight over though.  Hopefully with a backpack full of books and toys and the TV the kids will happy and quiet.  Fingers crossed!

Sofas, Sinks, and floors, oh my!

To celebrate the start of the summer and the end to his potty training, Charlie and I took a trip to the aquarium.  We had some fun checking out fish and other aquatic creatures from around the world.  He seemed to really enjoy running around from exhibit to exhibit peering into each tank.  It's not often its just the two of us and we had the added bonus of it being a really quiet morning at the aquarium.  He made me super proud when he asked to go to the potty, fingers crossed, we haven't had any accidents!  After we finished with the fish, we walked past the Oriental Pearl Tower to the Super Brand Mall, 13 floors of shops and restaurants, to pick up Charlie's reward for potty training.  Unfortunately, the little man was coming down with a cold and became a bit of a zombie following me around, not even the least bit excited about his prize.  We headed home for lunch, which he actually passed on, asking instead to go to bed.  Luckily he was 100% in just a few days.



Having finally had it with my rock hard Chinese sofa, for the life of me I can not figure that one out, I have been looking around for replacements. Last week I took a trip to Macalline.  Wow, is the only way to describe it.  This is 8 floors of shops that have absolutely everything you need to finish a house once it's built.  It was mostly broken up by floors, lighting, flooring, bathrooms, kitchens, and different styles of furniture.  I thought to start at the top and work my way down, so I took the 7 story escalator up and wandered around.  I'm continually amazed that the Chinese seem to prefer to have shops of the same kind grouped together.  So, I walked past shop after shop of light fixtures on one floor, hardwood flooring and windows on another, even staircases.

There were also a lot of furniture stores, but most of them were very asian in style, or Donald Trump, with gaudy being the theme!  Past all the gaudy furnishing, I made it to the floor with traditional wood Chinese furniture, which is all hand carved and truly beautiful works of art.  Lucas and I hope to bring home a few pieces with us, but have no room for them in our apartment right now.  Finally, on the lowest level I found shops with leather sofas and some fabric ones in a more Western style.   Unfortunately, nothing really impressed me.  By this time I was so done walking around this monster furniture store.  Should I have found myself hungry I could have stopped in at the cafeteria or picked up a quick snack at the convenince store.  I just headed home instead to rest my feet!

Graduation Day!

After being pulled out of two schools for relocations, Lily was finally able to finish out an entire year at one school.  During her time at Children's Montessori Lily has learned so much and grown in confidence.  This past friday parents were invited to the school to watch the children sing and dance and demonstrate some of the things they'd learned at school.  We were treated to two songs in Chinese and a Chinese style dance.  Lily may not have much of an interest in learning to speak or understand Chinese but she does love to sing in Chinese, as we heard the songs constantly around the apartment.

After the kids finished their songs and dance we had some snacks and tea while we waited for the other class to join us for the graduation ceremony.  After receiving their diploma both classes sang a song (in English) about all the things they could do now that they are graduating.  Lily and her fellow graduates were all given a personalized album with a class picture, pictures of their time at the school, and a drawing from each of her classmates.  They were also given a hand carved stamp with her name in both English and Chinese.  Both wonderful mementos of her time at Children's Montessori.  There were lots of hugs and pictures with her teachers and friends, but luckily it's only good bye for the weekend as most of her classmates will spend the next three weeks at summer school with Lily.  And, no, I'm not the meanest mom ever.  Summer school is a lot more like camp than school.  She'll get to spend time with her friends and keep busy instead of being bored at home with me and will be taking trips to the pool twice a week!

Not to be outdone by his sister, Charlie managed to potty train in just a week!  We had a few accidents our first two days, but once he fully grasped the concept of using the potty he hasn't had an accident since.  I do have to thank a fellow potty training mom for her inspirational idea of using Hot Wheels to motivate.  Between stickers, candy, and Hot Wheels, it was actually easy.  I know they say boys are harder, but not only was Charlie much easier than Lily, he also potty trained earlier than she did.  We've done a few outings in undies and managed to use public potties too.  We may be completely out of diapers soon as he's also waking up dry in the morning and using the potty without help!  For the first time in over five and half years I will not have to worry about carrying diapers with me when we travel, wonder where I might change my child, or if I have enough wipes on me.  Do you know how much space diapers a week of diapers take up in a suit case?!  To say I am happy about Charlie learning to use the potty would be an understatement.  I am doing a no more diaper dance as I type!

Potty Training

It's that time!  Mothers everywhere love/hate this time.  While I am thrilled at the idea of no more diapers, I do not look forward to the accidents and arguments about the potty.  Up to this point Charlie has not shown a lot of interest in learning to potty train, but with school this fall it has become a necessity.  I'm hoping to give him plenty of time to potty train so that it is not a stressful experience.  So, after talking to another mom about ideas, I've posted a chart on the bathroom door.  Each time he uses the potty he gets a Skittle and a sticker for his chart.  When he gets seven stickers he gets a Matchbox car.  Once fully potty trained he gets a Matchbox car holder.  He really wants the cars, so I'm hoping once he gets a couple of stickers he'll be more motivated.  In the interest in keeping him on the potty I've put it in front of the TV.  Once I think he's got the hang of using the potty I'll move it back to the bathroom.  I would love to be able to not travel with diapers this summer!  Fingers crossed!

We made a trip to Puxi this weekend to check out the Avocado Lady.  A bit of a Shanghai legend, she has a small market, and I do mean small, in a tiny Puxi neighborhood.  Although I've seen most of her import goods at City Shop, a chain that specializes in import foods, her prices are very good.  Probably not good enough for me to go on a regular basis with gas prices, but certainly worth a stop when I'm in Puxi.  Many were surprised to hear we hadn't been to the Avocado Lady after being in Shanghai for over a year and I'm glad we finally made the trip.

After our stop at the Avocado Lady we went to Xintandi and had lunch at the Pauliner, a German restaurant.  This is my second time going and definitely the last.  The food was only okay and for the four of us it was $100, and that's with the kids sharing a meal!  The only thing they do that is worth the expense is the Bavarian style pretzels.  With literally thousands of restaurants in Shanghai its not worth out time or money.

Charlie's 3rd Birthday!

I know its cliche but, where has the time gone?  It's hard believe that my baby is already 3! We had a wonderful weekend, starting with a family bike ride on Saturday morning and some final prep work for Sunday's big party.  Sunday just flew by!  Thank God for Ayi, with her cleaning up breakfast and making beds, I was able to focus on getting everything set up for Charlie's Thomas the Tank Engine themed party.  It seemed like I had trains everywhere, coloring pages, books, decorations, toys, balloons, and of course Thomas on the TV!  Charlie seemed to be in his element!  He was very much aware that it was his birthday, and his friends coming over to play.

We kept it short and sweet, just two hours.  I don't think I could handle 7 toddlers much longer than that... Charlie and his friends bounced back and forth between his room and the family room with a pit stop for train shaped ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit, and even some train shaped macaroni salad, with Thomas cupcakes and train shaped cookies for dessert.  He ripped into his presents before I could even get the camera, and I've gotta say, he got some really great gifts.  From mommy and daddy he got a balance bike and a couple of books, and big sister Lily, got him Belle, and really useful engine!  There were other gifts from family, and Charlie says thank you very much.  Being a mom is amazing, and by far the best thing I've done besides marrying my best friend.  Charlie is such an amazing little boy, funny, sweet, and so smart.  I could not ask for more, just watching my kids grow up and learn about the world is amazing, and I'm thankful that I get to be here with them everyday!

Hong Kong

We finally made it to Hong Kong, well, Lucas has been several times, but for Mom, the kids and I, it was a new and exciting trip!  We got in around lunch time, and after a quick bite to eat at McDonalds, which we seem to eat at a lot more when traveling, we got settled in at our hotel and relaxed for a bit before our evening tour.  To start off our HK trip we took a guided tour that brought us to the famous Temple Street night market for some souvenir shopping, and drove us around on a open-top bus to see the hustle and bustle, not to mention the many shopping opportunities HK has to offer.  Then it was off to a harbor tour on the Bauhinia with a dinner buffet and dancing.  We were also supposed to see the Symphony of Lights show, which is in the Guinness World Records, from the boat, but the weather did not cooperate.  The kids really loved the harbor tour, especially the music and dancing.  It was not easy to pull Lily off the dance floor once she decided to get her groove thang on!

Day two in HK started with another guided tour which took us up Victoria Peak on the Peak Tram, which is over 100 years old!  It was pretty obvious as we climbed that we weren't going to get much of a view with all the clouds and fog.  Our mantra for the trip was, "at least it's not raining!"  After saying goodbye to the clouds we headed to the Aberdeen fishing village, which turned out to be a bit of a misnomer.  The "village" was a collection of fishing boats tied together, and while many do live on the boats, it was not exactly the village we had expected.  Still, it was a nice boat ride, and the kids loved it.  Next we headed to the Tse Sui Luen Jewelry factory, but with it being the weekend we mostly saw empty work stations.  Still, the tour did end in a huge shop, big surprise there!  Mom found a gorgeous ruby and diamond ring and with some persuasion on my part and a few back and forth texts with Dad she bought herself the ring to celebrate her upcoming 40th wedding anniversary.  I figure I saved Dad from having to go shopping!  I too came away with some bling, a Chinese zodiac charm, which is something I've been wanting to get.  Our final stop on the tour was the Stanley Market, which is a lot like the markets in Shanghai, we didn't expect to find much, after all, if I can get it in Shanghai for less money, why would I buy it in HK?  While we didn't buy souvenirs at the market I did find and fall in love with a painting of a HK street scene, we actually ended up getting two.  A large on that will eventually go over our fireplace in NJ, and a smaller one for our bedroom.  We paid just over $100 for both and had them both framed here in Shanghai for about $60.  Finally back at the hotel, the adults relaxed while the kids napped.  Mom and I took the kids to the pool for about 30 minutes after the nap, it was an outdoor pool, and although heated, it was NOT warm!  Lucas and I ended the day with dinner and Iron Man 3, thank you mom for watching the kids!

Day 3 we headed out to see an old and much loved friend, Mickey!  The kids were super excited to see Disney and I have to admit, so were we.  We took the metro, which goes straight to the park.  You get off at the end of the line and transfer to a Disney train which brings you to the park's very own train station.  We got lucky with the weather, it was overcast and not too hot, and since it was a Monday, the park wasn't too crowded either.  Since we only had the one day at the park we decided to pass on meeting characters and the shows and head straight for the rides.  It was fun to see many of our favorites and compare notes on the differences. In HK, they have Tarzan's tree house instead of the Swiss Family Robinson's, the Jungle Boat is the Jungle River Cruise and is offered in 3 languages.  Fantasyland had the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups, Dumbo, Cinderella's Carousel, Winnie the Pooh, and of course It's a Small World.  I loved It's a Small World in HK.  First, the boats were bigger and much more comfortable to sit in, and second, they had Disney characters placed throughout the ride.  It became a game to see how many we could find.  We all had such a good time, even the "mainlanders" couldn't ruin it with their line cutting and out right gawking and picture taking of the the kids.  Disney has and always will be a "magical" place for us.  I am so glad we went.

Our final day in HK we headed to the Po Lin Monastery which is home to the world's largest outdoor bronze Buddha.  Unfortunately, the fog and clouds made seeing the Buddha a bit like a game of peek-a-boo.  We only got a few glimpses of the giant Buddha and with poor weather we decided it wouldn't be worth climbing to the top to say "hi".  Instead we grabbed a bus and headed back down the mountain to catch our flight home.  Little did I know that our flight was going to be delayed endlessly due to weather.  Our original flight arrival in Shanghai was 9:00pm.  Our actual flight arrival was 2:00am.  And, just to make it more fun, we got to go through security twice when we changed to an "earlier" flight and sit on the plane at the gate for two and a half hours.  Thank you China Eastern, you suck!  The worst part is, the employees all speak English, I use that phrase very loosely, but always look at me like I have two heads whenever I ask a question.  So frustrating when you have two tired kids and three tires adults who just want to get home!  It was not exactly the way I wanted to end our trip, but, it didn't rain, and we did make it home in one piece.