Independence is Coming Fast!

Well, today Sarah Jane hit milestone of kiddom, riding on 2-wheels! Once she set her mind to it, it didn't take her long.








Her comment to Samantha after a successful run around the cul-de-sac was "Yeah, I just figured out how to do it myself...once Daddy took off the training wheels" Obviously we had been holding her back.




Her other self discovery this week was pulling out her own tooth! She had a loose tooth and wasn't satisified with the answer that it might take a few days to come out. So, she worked on it and wiggled it relentlessly the entire evening and by bedtime she had pulled it out herself.
(Of course the next day she dropped it down the drain while cleaning it which made for some extra fun for Dan!)

A Great Day at the Park

Spring has finally sprung here in Shanghai and so Samantha took the girls to a large park called Century Park, that is near our house to enjoy some sunshine and the rides.

The four person bicycle buggies are fun...especially if your feet don't reach the pedals so all you have to do is ride!

The girls enjoyed the bumper cars but said it would have been more fun if the other people hadn't been ramming into them the whole time...yeah...but it's bumper cars.

They had a merry- go-round which as you can read below, entertains the kids alot.

The roller coaster was a big hit!

And the day ended with everyone's favorite...feed the pigeons!??

"A View From Here" - April 6th, 2009

Almost everyday here in China we see something that you would not typically see on a average day back home.
We've started getting used to it and so before we get too caloussed (if that's possible) we wanted to start sharing some of them with you. So, when you see "A View From Here" that's what we are talking about.
So, here we go:

Fishing on the canal, this canal runs behind our neighborhood and everyday there are several fishermen out with these bamboo poles and nets.

They pull on the rope to raise them up to see if they have caught anything.

Bamboo scaffolding, you see it everywhere. Here they are painting a house in our neighborhood. No metal at all, this is completely bamboo!

Here is where you can get a fresh chicken for dinner-tonight! He will get it all ready for you while you wait-dresses it on top of a plastic shopping bag, right there by his moped.

Street scene- Samantha caught this gentlemen cleaning out the manhole in the middle of a fairly busy street. No orange cones, no "Men at Work" sign...just a cart.

Spring is here and this is the yard crew trimming the bushes out front.

The Stryofoam Man!

We have been trying to get a picture of this for months, but never have our camera out at the right time. This is an average load. We have seen a few that are much larger! They remind us of the "Grinch Who Stole Christmas!"

OIC-Only in China!

Sydney is Double 1's!!!

First, as bad as this may look that we took almost a month to post our daughter's birthday pictures, things have been a little crazy around here! All things have worked out well and we will post some more pictures soon, but between a trip to the States, Boompa coming to visit and catching pneumonia and our computer crashing- things have gotta a little backed up!!!

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sydney! It's hard to believe that our oldest is now 11! She celebrated by taking a few of her friends to a Chinese acrobat show and then they had a sleep over.

The day began with our family tradition of breakfast in bed on your birthday.

Then opening gifts...

Cake...

And ended with a night at the acrobat show. By the way, if you are wondering who the blue gumby looking guy is, he's the mascot for the upcoming 2010 World Expo that will be hosted in Shanghai. The Expo is a year away and you see him all over the city, as Shanghai builds up the anticipation.