Thrilling Thursday

Took Cameron to school and we all walked home again. This time we took a little detour past some port a pottys at a construction site. They looked like they have fancy doors. I have laughed at them every time I go by them. I made Mom and Dad get there picture taken by them. Then we opened the door to see what the inside looked like. Hmmm, a squatty potty port a potty. And filthy.

Don't these look fancy?

Squatty potty?  Interesting.  And disgusting.

We continued on a different route so my parents could see another neighborhood in TEDA. Not too impressive. We finally ended up back at home.

Nobody asked if they could use my dad on a sign.
Rich Daddy.  Wonder if it is a store.

We got ready. Mr. Xue picked us up at 10:15. I told him we wanted to go to the beach. He drove out there but then drove by where we usually go. I told my parents I had no idea where he was taking us. He turned a few blocks further at Memorial Park. He drove down the road until there was a barrier. He just parked right there. There were parking spaces lining both sides of the road but he parked right in the middle. He got out so I did. There were 3 people sitting there. One guy started saying something to Mr. Xue but he waved him off and continued walking. He waved my parents to come on. The other guy started in on Mr. Xue but again he said some things but didn't stop. Finally a lady stood up and started in on him. We are guessing they were telling him he couldn't park there. For some reason Mr. Xue thinks he is overly cool and can do what he wants. The conversation was getting more heated so Mom, Dad, and I just continued walking.

The park is new and really nice. They have lots of trees and flowers. There are boardwalks along the ocean. Big ships carrying containers and tons of other boats were in the ocean. The water was actually a pretty color blue. There were people fishing. We walked around for about 20 minutes. My Dad actually said it was a nice place in China. However, we walked to another section where they had a dam type thing built with funky square blocks. We looked down into the water and a huge pile of garbage was there. I looked at Dad and said "welcome to China". We laughed. So most of the area is nice with some garbage thrown in.

Entering Memorial Park.

Greenery, Ocean, and big ships.

Mom was freezing.

Hello China.

No idea why they used these but they looked kind of cool.

Cool monuments.

Mom trying to read in Chinese.

We walked back to the car and Mr. Xue was still standing there and it looked like him and one of the guys were still in a heated conversation with arms flying. The van was moved into a spot though. Back in the van and we went to the beach.

I was going to try and get in without paying since I knew we weren't staying or playing. We got caught by the little guard girl. Back to the ticket booth. Mr. Xue was standing there and we are not sure what he was talking to the girls about but they were rolling their eyes at him. I paid and we went in. As we were walking towards the beach a group of what looked like college kids were walking towards us.  All of a sudden they were taking pictures of us.  We stopped and smiled for them which opened a huge can of worms.  They all proceeded to want their picture with us.  I jumped out so I could take pictures.  Mom and Dad now felt what we go through all of the time. They felt like the paparazzi was around. They all said thank you and walked away. Mom had to check and see what shirt my Dad was wearing. She said "oh it's a car show shirt". I'm guessing they didn't want to take a picture because of our clothes. Finally at the beach. Again Mom and Dad commented on how nice this area was. The beach looked so much nicer without all the people around. The water actually looked pretty too. In the summer it wasn't so pretty. It is a nice beach though and and least it is something fun for us to do when it is nice out. We walked in the sand for awhile and then went back to the van.

The King and Queen of America.

More kids take their turn.

A beautiful, sunny day.

Mom liked the sign.

We saw lots of shipping containers.

Back to TEDA. The new refrigerator was suppose to come in the afternoon so we wanted to be home so it could be delivered. At 12:30 I sent my second message asking when the fridge was coming. The response was 2. We sat around and 2:00 came and went. At 2:30 I left to pick up Melisa, Manuel, Alejandro, Marcela, Alfredo, and Cameron. I had a full van. I sent another message asking about the fridge. This response said after 4:00.

Cameron found one of Alfredo's old glue sticks in
his classroom.  He pulled the sticker off and wore it
on his forehead.

Cameron and Melisa waiting for the other kids.

Cameron about to get Melisa and Alejandro.

A whole van full of kids.

I got all the kids to their homes and we went home. Guess what? 4:00 came and went too. At 4:30 Linda and her husband showed up at my door with a receipt for me to give the men when they showed up. She said it would be a half hour. Yeah right. 5:15 finally our door bell rang. I let them in downstairs and went out to get the elevator for them. One of the guys ran up the steps and snuck up behind me. We looked at each other and laughed then he asked me something in Chinese. I told him "Bu mingbai" which means "I don't understand". Again he laughed. I went back in the apartment and got the receipt. When they were at the door I held it up to the guy I talked to before. He looked and said yes then laughed again. I think that is what he was asking me for. Nice, happy guy at least.

Cleaning the floor before the new fridge arrives.

Cameron and Grandpa pumping up the tires.

They unpacked our beautiful new side by side fridge and took it in the apartment. It was way bigger than our other one which was awesome. In a flash they were gone. Plugged it in. Everyone started tearing off the plastic and getting the filthy hand prints off. Mom and I ran to Will's to get the frozen food.  Dropped them off then ran to Ileana's to get the fridge stuff.  Back to our apartment. We took a break to eat the pizzas Todd made. They were really good. He really should have been a chef the way he can just whip anything up and make it taste good.

Here she comes.

Everyone working to get the plastic off.

I was trying to get black hand prints off.

We had to let the fridge cool down for two hours before putting anything in it. All of our stuff had to sit out for a bit but there wasn't anything that this would hurt. As we waited we started playing Monopoly. I was quickly reminded why I dislike this game so much. Every time I buy a property Todd would buy the same color right after me. The game went on for 2 hours before I finally went bankrupt and was out. My Mom was the next one out. My Dad was a lucky little booger the whole game until the end when he finally lost all his money. Todd called it a tie for him and Cameron because it was 9:45 and Cameron usually goes to bed at 8:30. Monopoly is a very long game. I have to admit it was pretty fun playing with the whole family though.

A hot game of Monopoly.

Cameron went to bed and Mom and I did the dishes and got the fridge stuff put away. Off to bed.