Brad's Birthday

Today was Brad Francois' birthday party.  It was suppose to be outside of Warner Building B at 10:30 but it was pouring down rain.  Carmen sent a message saying the party would be at her apartment instead. 

Ileana took the boys to the party and I ran errands.  First stop was the cold food warehouse.  On the way there I was thinking how dumb it was to be out in the pouring rain.  The streets were filling up with water again.  It wasn't as bad as the other day but there was still a lot of water.  I got everything I needed and then headed to the hardware store to buy pop.  Mr. Xue did a great job of getting me as close to doors as he could and using the umbrella to make sure I (the little Queen) didn't get wet.  It was pretty funny how hard he was trying.

Enjoying lunch.

Manuel and Cameron checking out whose turn it is.

Back at home I watched replays of the Olympics all day.  Ileana brought Cameron back home from the party for me too.  The boys had fun.  They had Nerf gun wars, played Wii, ate pizza, and went bowling.  Then back to Brad's to eat cake and finally home at 4:30. 

Cameron then went to Carrasco's to make cookies.  He was there long enough to make a moose and a snail.  He came back up when Todd got home.  Alfredo ran up the cookies when they were done baking.  Todd and Cameron thought they were really good.  We had a pizza cook off and then watched the first 3 episodes of the Simpsons.  Then off to bed.

Beach Fun

Cameron and I started the day by watching some Olympic events.  At 8:00 we went for a walk/run.  We walked a lap then ran a lap.  We did this twice (4 laps in all).  It was hot.  Actually it was humid, air was thick, and in the back of our apartments no breeze.  We survived and felt good afterwards.

At 9:00 he headed down to see what Alfredo was doing.  They were slow moving.  He needed to eat breakfast, make his bed, and brush his teeth before he could come up.  He arrived about 9:30.  They played until 11:30 when we headed for the beach.

On the way to the beach Mr. Xue sent me a text.  Obviously while he was driving.  It asked if we wanted to go in the free gate.  Free gate?  We didn't know there was a free gate.  Ileana and I discussed the free gate thing so I sent him a text back asking where it was.  He said "The VIP entrance".  Before we could even answer he went down a road we hadn't been on before, through a gate, and dropped us off right at the beach.  Wow!  He gained some brownie points with me.  We unloaded the van and walked a block or so down to where we usually sit.  It was on a nice path so it was no big deal...remember, it was free. 

Jessica sent me a text while we were driving telling me it was crowded.  I thought she was kidding but she wasn't.  The beach was packed with Chinese.  We couldn't believe it since it was Monday and not a holiday.  We found some of the others and set up camp.  Immediately 2 Chinese ladies came over and started "chatting" with us and the little ones.  Jessica was very annoyed and was trying to figure out how to nicely say "beat it" when all of a sudden they just left.  The rest of the day was just our group.  Jessica and her two kids, Erica and her two, Peter and his three, Ileana and her three, Carmen and her two, Astrid and her two, and Me and my one.  The kids had a blast while the adults chatted.

Kids playing, Chinese staring.

Cameron got buried alive.

Gross.

Next he was buried sitting up.

Now it's Alejandro's turn.

Alfredo took a turn and Cameron used him for a chair.

At 3:00 we packed up and headed towards TEDA.  Everyone showered to get the scum off from the beach.  Cameron went out to ride bikes with all the kids.   Around 4:45 Todd got home and all the kids were in our apartment playing.  It was time to make S'mores.  The Carrasco's had no idea what this was.  I had Carrie and Ainsley come up so they could join in the fun too. 

Each kid took a skewer and roasted their marshmallows over the stove.  Not quite the American way but we had to improvise.  Ileana and I had all the Graham Crackers laid out with Hershey's laid on top.  Each kid made their own S'more and then enjoyed it.  Except for Alejandro...he only liked the chocolate. 

The kids are all lined up to cook their marshmallows.

View from the front.

Ileana making her first ever S'more.

Nice face Cameron.

Alejandro and Alfredo trying them...Ale didn't like it.

No Ainsley, you don't have anything on your face.

After S'mores everyone went home except for Alfredo.  He spent the night.  They must have both been tired or something because they had a hard time figuring out what to do part of the time.  They played chess, pop ball game, Headbandz, and watched Muppets in Space.  Then it was off to bed.

Beijing Sunday

Up early and off to breakfast.  At 7:45 we packed up and went to the car.  Mr. Xue was there waiting for us.  He took us to Blue Zoo.  We paid and went in.  It isn't a very big place but it was nice.  A little pricey for what it is but at least it was something new to do.

Entering Blue Zoo.

Cameron has a girl friend.

Yikes!

Watch Out Cameron!!

Why is there a snowman here?

Blue Zoo is an aquarium.  It had some interesting fish to look at and the big aquarium had a moving sidewalk that took us all the way around.  After 45 minutes we had been through the whole aquarium and saw everything we needed to see. 

Lots of red fish.

Not sure why they put this Sea Star in this case.  It looked horrible and it's just mean.

That's a big turtle.

This shark was in serious need of some dental work. 

View from the deck of the aquarium.  Pretty sure you wouldn't want to swim
in this water.  Disgusting looking.

Back to the van and off to the Friendship Store and Jenny Lou's for some groceries.  The most exciting thing was we found marshmallows and Hershey's chocolate candy bars so we can teach Carrasco's how to make S'mores.  We brought graham crackers from the states so we are set.  Can't wait. 

Cameron and Todd must have been exhausted from the aquarium because they both slept on the way home.  Back to TEDA by 11:15.  A little lunch and then Todd and Cameron went outside to play basketball.  It didn't last all that long because it was hot out.  When they came inside both of them were sweating really bad.  They were gross and smelly.  They cooled off and then went back outside to drive the remote control car.  Back inside because they were sweating to death again.  Cooled off and went back outside to play badminton.  Back inside again but this time Todd stayed in and Cameron took his bike out to ride with Alfredo.  They made it back from the Chinese wedding they had to go to.  Cameron was back inside at 4:00 and the boys started working on getting dinner prepped and cooked.  While they were outside I watched a lot of Olympic replays...women's volleyball, swimming, and gymnastics. 

Perfect little angel.

Sweat hogs.

While they were waiting for the coals to be ready they used the sling shot to shoot little crab apples off the deck aiming at the trailer by the golf course.  Cameron thought he was pretty cool.  I had to try a couple times and it was pretty fun.  Cameron ran out of ammunition so he went back outside to get more apples.  After the last wad of apples they were done shooting for the day.  They concentrated on dinner.

Taking aim with the sling shot.

We had a delicious dinner, cleaned up, and watched some cartoons before skyping with both sets of grandparents.  Off to bed.

Here is what the Wallace's cook for dinner.

Beijing

Up and ready to leave for Beijing. We watched some of the coverage of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Go team USA. 8:00 we were in the van and heading towards Beijing. It seemed to be a quick trip. At 10:00 we were walking into the terminal at the airport to find Todd. Mr. Xue took us to the wrong floor. Cameron and I were talking about how we thought we needed to be a floor down and Mr. Xue turned around and said sorry and pointed down. I knew we were right. In the elevator with 20 Chinese people. Finally in the correct spot. Found the board and Todd wasn't arriving until 10:30. Cameron and I went to McDonalds to get a pop and a shake. Back to wait for Todd. He arrived and we went to the car.

First stop was lunch. We went to Frank's Place. Cameron ordered steak and cheese sliders and we ordered a small nacho. We didn't want to eat too much because we were having an early dinner. The plate of nachos were pretty big but good. After lunch we went to the hotel to check in. Up to the room so Todd could change into shorts and then we were off again.

Next stop was U-Speed go carts. We thought there was going to be a huge problem because they said our card was expired. It is good for 6 months which is not a problem but we used up all the money from the first time so we put more money on it which was not 6 months ago. Todd went back and forth with them for at least 10 minutes and they finally gave in. Todd and Cameron drove 3 times. Then Cameron went one last time so that we could use up all but 30 rmb on the card. We were afraid we would have the same problem next time if we didn't use it.

The race is on.

Some scary looking racers.

We went to Ritan Park next. It is a nice little park. There is a lot for little kids to do but not for Cameron. There was a big rock climbing wall but he chose not to do it. We walked around the whole park and decided to go to Schindlers Restaurant. We buy meet from them in Shuyni but we wanted to see what their restaurant had to offer. We each had a beer and Cameron got a sparkling water because they didn't have regular bottled water. One sip and he hated it. He decided on a Sprite. We checked out the menu. There is a lot of good looking food. We saw they had pretzel rolls so we all caved and had one. They were fresh, hot, and delicious. We are planning on taking my parents back for dinner in October.  Can't wait.

Pretty Lotus garden.

What does this mean?

Neat door.

Checking out the map, of course.

Ritan Park is a nice little park.

Enjoying a drink at Schindlers.

Looks like a heart pretzel.

Back in the van and back to the hotel. We chilled out for about an hour before heading to dinner. We tried something new...hot pot.  We drove to the restaurant.  Todd found it while driving around the last time he was in Beijing so we don't know anything about it.  Luckily he didn't choose this one:

Yang Du Du Hot Pot--this could have been scary.

Cameron and I were a little nervous because this was all new.  Todd has had Hot pot once.  We found the restaurant and walked upstairs.  Not one other customer in the place.  They pointed to where we could sit.  We sat down and a guy brought a menu...all in Chinese.  Todd asked if they had an English menu, nope.  He asked if they had one with pictures, nope.  Todd took the guy back downstairs where there was a big picture on the wall.  Todd pointed to what we wanted.  That was hilarious.  By this time we were all nervous because we weren't sure what we were getting.

Cameron is wearing his Juice Williams shirt.

Pots Hot Pot Restaurant.

Todd trying to show the man what we want.

Not sure if Todd's Chinglish is working.

The guy started bringing out all kinds of stuff.  The pot with charcoal, some "spices" to throw in the water like ginger, scallions, parsley, garlic, etc., a bowl full of we don't know what but it looked like poop, a basket full of green stuff and veggies, two plates full of meat, and a tray of shrimp balls. 
Todd threw a little of this and a little of that into the water and then we waited for it to get really hot. Finally it was time to start throwing in food. Lettuce went in first and then the meat went on top of that. That way the meat didn't sink. Genius plan. Todd was in the middle of taking a bite when our guy came over and stirred up his bowl of who knows what and put some on his plate. Todd was a little shocked but then tried it. He said it was alright but it was heavy on a peanut taste. It is safe to say the bowl of whatever it was looked even worse when it was all mixed together. The guy looked at me and I said "BU, NO WAY". He laughed. Overall, Hot pot was pretty fun to cook and good to eat. We were all glad we tried it.

Pouring in more water.

Garlic...Uncle Scott would die if he saw this on our table.

A watched pot never boils.

What could this be?

Cameron's chop sticks were smoking.

Waiting to give this a try.

The boys said the shrimp balls were good.

This is what we ordered for a total bill of 280 rmb ($43).

Back to the hotel and down to the lounge for a few drinks and a couple of games of Skip Bo.  Back to the room to watch The Three Stooges.  The boys said it was good but I fell asleep.

Puke, Puke, and More Puke

Here is the funniest thing that has happened in China...

We went to Forest Park today with Carrasco's and Hindman's. It was HOT! The kids played, ate watermelon, and played some more. It started to cool off a little bit because it looked like a storm was coming again. We left there about 3:45.

Alejandro and Cameron on the trampolines.

Hard to get all the kids to sit still and look.

The kids had the park to themselves.

They were sweating from all the running and climbing.

The ladies...Me, Ileana, Carrie, and Becky.

I thought for sure someone was going to get sick on this.

Two cute kids.  Look how sweaty Cameron's shirt is.

Here comes the funny part...we get in the parking lot of our apartment and are waiting for cars to get out of the way to get up to get out. We are in my van. All of a sudden we hear a noise. Ileana turns her head and looks in the back. Alejandro is behind my seat and he started puking. Cameron and Alfredo were trapped. Ale stood up and is major barfing. All red puke from watermelon.  I can't get the door open because Mr. Xue doesn't have it in park. I'm yelling at him to put it in park which he finally does. It seemed like it took forever to get the door open. Ileana is standing between the seats catching puke. She yelled "HELP" so I reached in and grabbed Ale and yanked him out of the car. Ileana is standing there with watermelon puke in her hands, puke in Todd's work boots, puke in his hard hat (only a little), puke all over the van. I was helping Ale and I could not stop laughing. Mr. Xue finally realized what was going on. Ileana was cleaning up the best she could, Mr. Xue is laughing thank goodness and said "No problem"...though I'm sure he didn't mean it, and I grabbed my video camera and regular camera and started taking pictures. Of course this was blog worthy material. So we ended up walking up the driveway...Ileana with one shoe because the other was covered in puke, me carrying Todd's work boots with puke, and poor Alejandro with a puke face and puke shirt. I'm sure it was a funny site to all. Hindman's just happened to be getting out of their van and they couldn't help but laugh. Alejandro wasn't sick, he just gets car sick.

Little Puker Boy.  Check out all the watermelon on the ground.

Mental note--Alejandro is never sitting in the back seat again. Poor Ileana just kept apologizing but it really wasn't a problem. Mainly because I have people to clean it up. She felt terrible though.  I continue to laugh every time I think about it or get a visual.

After everyone showered the Carrasco's came up to watch a short movie with Cameron.  Carrasco's went home and Cameron and I had dinner, relaxed, and went to bed.

Just chillin'.