Wallace's Wonderful Adventure: Shopping

I checked my e-mail this morning and I had a message from the John Hopkins testing people. It said "We are pleased to let you know that Cameron's scores qualify him for CTY Math and Science Humanities Summer courses." He did awesome on the tests. I read through the rest of the information and he can now take courses through John Hopkins through 7th grade. That is fantastic. We told Cameron after he got up and he was so thrilled. He said he thought he did well and sure enough he did. So proud of him. We are anxious to see what kind of classes he can take.

This morning I was going to go for a run but Sharla only wanted to walk so I did that instead. Mom and Aunt Sharon were feeling lazy and stayed back to watch Wipeout. As it turned out it was a good thing because the men came to turn the air on. I got back and they were still working. They had to borrow a flash light. Who doesn't carry their own tools? After 45 minutes and 3 guys they finally figured out we have something broken. They need to get a part and they are hoping to be back on Thursday. Great, we will continue to be hot a little longer. They finally left so I could get ready.

The blind leading the blind.

We jumped in a cab and headed to Tanggu Bund. It is right on the river. There was a nice breeze but it wasn't cold. As we were walking a man with a monkey on a leash came up to us. Yes, a monkey. He had the monkey do a few tricks. He motioned to me to give him money so I gave him 2 RMB (about 20 cents). He was happy as a clam. We walked around some more and we found a car thing I had mom and Aunt Sharon drive. It is electric and they had to steer with a little lever thing. They got in and started to go but then it was rocking. They started laughing. They never crashed but there was a whole lot of laughing going on the entire time they were in that thing. We walked around a little longer and then crossed the street to Walking Street.

River front fun.

The trained monkey looks a little sad.

Mom and Aunt Sharon wanted to ride this.

I got them to drive this instead.

They thought if they sat on this they would have to burn their clothes afterwards.

We went in one of the stores from the back. They could not believe how much stuff was in this place. It is made up of a ton of little booths. They sell everything. On the second floor is all clothes. The third floor is really what I wanted to show them. There are a million or so shoes. It is the craziest thing you have ever seen. I told the sellers we needed "da" which is "big". They all looked at our feet and laughed. They had one wall of tennis shoes in large sizes. We all got new shoes. I got a pair of yellow tennis shoes. I love them but I have never had colored shoes before so I need to get use to them. When I walk I can see the yellow reflecting up. I also got a pair of white tennis shoes. Mom and Aunt Sharon got the same pair of gray shoes. We were so excited to buy Chinese shoes. As we were going to the escalator to go back down we found some really cool flip flops. Mom, Cameron, and I now all have the same pair. They were 28 rmb ($4.44). They are so comfortable and can go in water, sand, or whatever. Great shoe shopping excursion.

Stopped in a bakery to look around.

These might look good but they don't taste very good.

Shoes everywhere. The most shoes we have ever seen.
There are 3 other sides at least this big.

Trying on new shoes.

Look at our new shoes.

Outside we decided to try KFC for lunch. It is a bit different than home but still ok. We all had popcorn chicken. It was a little spicy but not too bad. After lunch we walked the actual Walking Street. We stopped in the mall so I could show them the crazy chandeliers they have hanging from the ceiling. We continued walking and found a giant bull. Had to take a picture and then by the cool tree there too. Found a cab and headed back to TEDA.

KFC delivery man is off.

Look at that ceiling.

Picking his nose for him.

Huge tree.

Catching a cab.

They should have behaved while in China.

We were home for a little bit but then headed out again to walk all of 3rd Avenue. It is full of shops and restaurants. We went into Ren Ren Le. Mom bought a bracelet for 88 rmb (about $12). We then went to the grocery store part. We found a surprise for Grace and Griffin, bought some bread, and found Cameron's donuts. We continued down 3rd Avenue until we reached Cameron's school. We picked Cameron and Alfredo up and jumped in a cab to get back home.

The ladies found a new man.

Raise your hand if you like my shoes.

Chicken necks anyone?

These bushes are so cute.

These 4 have really been bad.

Wii dance party game. He was so excited. He went right in to play it. Aunt Sharon and mom joined in. Oh my goodness was that funny. I took a turn too to Beat It. Cameron asked me how I knew the words. Funny. We had dinner and then did more dancing.