Another Couch and Lantern Festival

This morning I woke up to Cameron putting another couch together.  When I went into the living room Cameron asked if I could help so it would go faster.  I put the pieces on the slide out section and that was it.  He did the rest again.  It went much faster today.  This couch went into the wii room.  The old futon in there went to my room.  It works.

Couch number 2 going together.

The packaging from the couches had some cardboard pieces that were perfect for NERF shields.  Manuel came over and him and Cameron had a NERF fight using the shields.  They had a blast.  I can say the cardboard makes it much louder to play though.  When the darts hit it it is loud.  Manuel played with Cameron from 11:00- 5:00.  They had fun.

Around 6 we went outside with all the Carrasco's, all the Hindman's, and Big Manuel and Little Manuel.  We let the kids throw the pop things we got in Longqing.  They had fun.  Cameron didn't think we would go through all of the boxes but we did in about 15 minutes.   When we got outside it sounded like a war zone.  Today is Lantern Festival which occurs 15 days after the Chinese New Year.  It is a HUGE day for fireworks.  They say this is the day the monster comes down from the hill so they let off fireworks to scare the evil spirit away.  It is incredible how many fireworks people let off.  Americans think the 4th of July is a big deal but we have nothing on the Chinese. The fireworks started early this morning and went the entire day and well into the night.  We had a great view of some cool fireworks from the couch in our apartment.  That is my kind of fireworks watching.

All the kids grabbed a box of pops and started throwing them.

Ryley, Cameron, and Tobias getting more from Todd and Manuel.

Some of the fireworks.

We skyped with both sets of parents and then went to bed.

Lazy Day

I did absolutely nothing today.  Todd did very little also but Cameron worked so hard at putting one of the couches together.  He played, worked on the couch, played some more, and then finished the couch.  He followed the instructions and put the whole thing together.  He needed a little help lifting pieces but that was about it.

Alfredo came over to help Cameron.

The boys working together.

Alfredo taking a turn putting screws in.

Cameron had to get in the storage space to tighten screws.

We put the couch in the living room. Luckily the space is big so with a little rearranging everything fits and actually looks alright. Cameron decided immediately after putting the couch in place he wanted to sleep on it. I knew he was going to say that. Watched some tv and then off to sleep. Cameron definitely looked comfortable.

Putting the last screw in.

Finally complete.

Cameron turned it into the bed.

Ready for bed.

Baby Shower and Birthday Party

Ileana, Heidi, and I went to body pump and got my muscles killed again.  Class was suppose to be over by 11:00 but by the time we made the 5 minute trip home it was 11:25.  I quickly called Jacky's to have them deliver 2 Chef Salads.  They said they would be at my apartment by 12.  I quickly got ready because I had to be at a baby shower for Annie at 12.  12:00 came and no Jacky's.  I finally called them at 12:15 and they said it was on its way.  I went down to the door to wait.  Jacky's is 5 minutes away.  At 12:25 the girl finally arrived.  Ileana was waiting for me too.  I ran up to put the salads in a bowl to take and we left for the shower. 

At the shower there was a lot of chatting going on.  Lots of people talking about their vacations which was nice to hear about all the different locations.  We had lunch, cut the cake, had a champagne toast to Annie, and then people started to leave.  It was just me, Joleen, Annie, her mom, and Heather left so Annie decided to open her presents.  She wouldn't do it when everyone was there.  She got some cute little girl stuff.  She already has Piper who will be 2 this week...on her due date actually.

Heather, the host, giving a speech to Annie.

We had to go to a birthday party for Hector.  They are also leaving to move to Coffeyville, Kansas so it was the last time we will see them too.  We dropped Cameron off at Carrasco's so he could stay with the kids and their ayi.  The 4 of us walked over to the new No. 7 Pub for the party.  Hector had all kinds of food and drinks for everyone.  We had a great time.  We also met a new family coming in March.  They seem super nice and they were happy to hear how apprehensive I was to move here but how much I have loved it.  They are scared to move here but it always helps to hear positive things.  Todd and I walked home around 11:30, grabbed Cameron, showered, and off to bed. 

Nadia bringing Hector his cake.

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Hector happy to blow the candles out.

Nadia and I dancing.

Me dipping Nadia and hoping I didn't drop her.

Goodbye Nadia.



Busy Day--88 Weeks

88 weeks we have been in China.  Still loving it but we are definitely on the down side.  We will return home at 111 weeks.  Not much longer.

The day started with me running at 9:30.  I hate that the gym doesn't open until then because I would rather get it over right after dropping Cameron off at school but oh well.  I rushed home and got ready.  I met Claudia and Rachel at the Thai foot massage place at 10:30.  While I was waiting for them Mr. Xue called IKEA to see when my delivery would be made today.  They said 12.  Perfect.  The girls arrived and we went inside.  I finally had the best foot massage.  It was not painful at all and I felt wonderful when it was done.  I still find it funny that a foot massage is basically a full body massage with some cracking of bones.  At 11:15 my phone rang.  When I answered it it was a Chinese guy talking a mile a minute.  I asked one of the girls at the massage place if they spoke English so they could translate for me.  The manager came over and talked to him.  She told me the furniture was at my apartment.  WHAT?  I told her they told me 12.  They said they would wait until then.

Finished the massage and I dropped Rachel off at Ashanti for the luncheon.  I ran home with Mr. Xue.  Mr. Xue immediately took over.  The truck was out by the road.  He rolled the window down and told them to follow him.  Once at our apartment he helped direct the driver where to put the truck.  He was pointing to them telling them where to put the boxes in the elevator.  Then in our apartment he acted like he lived there.  It was pretty funny.  I love watching him act like he is the boss.  He gets things done though I will give him that.  All the boxes (12) were stacked in our room and the delivery guys were gone.  Mr. Xue and I rushed out so he could drop me off at Ashanti too.

I went to a small luncheon for Luz.  Her and Jose Luis leave on Thursday to head back to Mexico.  We had the great pleasure of meeting this couple.  We called them our kids since we were old enough to be their parents.  And now they are pregnant so we called the baby our grandchild.  We had a lot of great times with them while they were in TEDA.  They even braved the trip to Harbin with us last year.  I will definitely be following her on Facebook and email to see how the pregnancy progresses and will be waiting for the baby to be born (she's only 3 months along).   Goodbye Luz and Jose Luis.

Me, Megan, Marina, Yvonne, Nadia, Ileana, Luz, and Rachel
having lunch together.

Cameron and I met Michelle, Maddy, and Haley at Ashanti for dinner at 5:00.  Both our husbands were gone so we didn't have anyone to make us dinner.  We had a great dinner and then Anthony surprised the kids with his new dessert...smores.  He has been trying to find the right ingredients needed to make it taste like an American smore.  You can not find Graham Crackers in China so he had to use Digestive cookies instead.  Cameron said it was good just not as good as the real thing.  Back home and skyped with my parents.  Off to bed.

Back to TEDA

We got up and looked out the window.  We couldn't see anything.  Smog/fog was thick.  We were wondering if Mr. Xue would be able to get to Beijing to pick us up.  He was suppose to be at the hotel at 9:00.  We went to breakfast at 7:30.  Back to the room.  We watched a little tv.  Todd got a text from Mr. Xue at 8:30 saying "highway foggy".  Todd sent a message back asking when he would be at the hotel.  His response was 9:30. 

Todd got a message at 9:30 saying Mr. Xue had arrived.  We went down.  Todd checked out and Cameron and I went out to the van.  We loaded our bags in and got in.  When Todd came out Mr. Xue got out of the van and said something to Todd.  They then walked around to the passenger side and were looking at the van.  I heard Todd ask "Is it ok to drive?"  Oh no.  Something happened.  Cameron and I jumped out of the van to see what they were talking about.  The back had a ding, scratches all the way down the side, and then the front was the worst.  It wasn't terrible or anything and he said it was ok to drive.  I asked what happened.  Through motions and some words I figured out the fog was bad.  Another car came over and made him hit the barrier down the middle of the interstate and then he swirved back.  Poor van.  Luckily Mr. Xue was ok and the damage wasn't too bad to the van. 

Back of the van.

Front of the van.

We hit Jenny Lou's to grab a few groceries and then headed to TEDA.  The smog/fog had lifted quite a bit so the visibility was better.  Finally arrived home around 12:30.  We unloaded everything out of the van because Mr. Xue said he was going to switch out the van.  Up to the apartment.  Laundry and cooking filled the rest of our day while Cameron played with Hindman's.  We created a scavenger hunt for Cameron to find his Valentines Day present.  Problem was he saw two of the clues earlier.  Oh well.  He went from clue to clue until he finally found his present.  It was an Xbox game but luckily it is an educational one.  He has to think and create. We skyped with my parents and went to bed.  Great vacation but it was good to be home.

His last clue led him to the gift.

The Create game.  He had never heard of it.

Leaving the Philippines

Our last few hours in Cebu. We went to breakfast and then Cameron swam in the pool for awhile and then we went down to the beach. The tide was to low for him to do any water sports so he just played in the water a little bit. Him and Todd checked out the view from the island over look before we went to the other pool for a little bit. Cameron was finally done doing all his last things so we went back to the room.

Last minute pool fun.

I hung out but didn't swim.

This picture looks like Cameron's head is photo shopped on.

A little last minute basketball.

One last walk on the beach.

Last time in the Ocean Wing pool.

We all showered. Todd and I got everything packed up while Cameron watched Myth busters. At 12:00 we went down to the lounge because we had to be out of our room. We waited until 12:30 to catch the shuttle to the airport. We said goodbye to Clyde. He was a super nice guy. Though, for the record, we didn't have him do too much for us. He booked a couple dinners, arranged a car for us, and bought drinks twice. Other than that we only saw him when he checked in. It was fun knowing we had someone there for our every need if necessary though. We pulled out of the resort onto a back road. Todd said they must have been finally having the fiesta down the road where we saw all the colorful flags hanging. That's why we were by passing that part of the road.

Myth Busters on Netflix.

Going through the back roads we saw all kinds of different "houses" where the locals lived. It was quite interesting. Cameron said he would not like to live in any of them. We got back up to the main road and it was packed. Cars, buses, and people every where.  Fiesta 2013 for one of the leaders...I saw it on a sign, was going on. At the stage area there were hundreds of Filipino people standing around. There were vendors all over along side of the road. It looked like it would have been interesting to check out.

Finally at the airport. It's small. Got our tickets and the only thing they had available was two exit row seats and a seat 3 rows up in the middle seat. Well, Cameron can't sit in an exit row so that means he had to sit by himself. He said he was fine with that. While we waited at the airport Cameron decided to have a Dunkin Donut. He said it was really good. We boarded the plane and Cameron took his seat. I was watching him the whole time. I thought about asking one of the other two people to switch with me but decided not to since it was only an hour flight. Todd checked on Cameron once and he was fine. The flight went fast but then we had to circle for 10 minutes because Manila airport was busy.

Delicious donut.

On the ground (it felt like we came down like a ton of bricks) and found where we needed to be. We had to pay another ticket fee in Manila. We already paid one in Cebu. This was 550 pesos per person. Todd had 1500 because no one told him we had to pay 2 ticket fees. He purposely got rid of the extra money so we didn't take it home with us. He had to go exchange 14 RMB in order for us to have enough to get through. What a pain. Oh well. Finally through passport control, security, and found our gate. The boys looked for food. Not a lot of choices so we ended up getting food from the Tinder Box.

As I was sitting waiting for the boys to bring food a Chinese tour group came and sat all around me. Let the staring begin again. The noise level got about 5 times louder too. Boys came back with burgers, waters, Gatorade, and a pop for Todd. Actually the chef carried 3 hamburgers out on a tray to where we were sitting. He wouldn't let Todd carry them for some reason. About 5 minutes later he brought us our meat and cheese tray too. It was all pretty good.

Our burger lunch.

We caused quite a stir with the Chinese when we started speaking a little to them. There was one overly excited girl who was about 10. The more excited she got trying to talk to us the louder she became and the closer she got to us. We had adults and kids huddled around us laughing. The little girl had two 1 RMB bills. Todd pulled out a dollar bill and asked if she wanted to trade. She finally understood and traded. She had a huge smile and was so excited. She ran down a couple rows of seats to show someone. Ten minutes later I looked at her again and she was still jumping up and down holding the dollar.

These two kids were by far the most interested in us.

They finally left us alone. Cameron took out the Ipad and 3 of the kids were watching over his shoulder breathing down his neck. We finally told Cameron to go for a walk with Todd so we could put the Ipad away and get rid of the kids. I put it in my purse. About 3 minutes later I took it back out so I could type on the blog. One of the boys immediately sat down beside me to see what I was doing. I typed "We caused quite a stir with the Chinese..." But as I was typing he started saying "Chinese, Chinese". Oh great, he could read at least parts. I immediately put the Ipad away again. We made Cameron wait awhile to get it back out. The boys came back 2 more times and each time Cameron would shut it off until they were gone again. It wouldn't have been a problem if they watched but the kids were breathing on him and coughing on him and one kid had a bunch of ointment all over his hand. Who knows what that was for.

Here come the kids again.

These two are like twins.

3 of the Chinese ladies started talking to Todd again. They had 3 one dollar bills. They were trying to get Todd to trade more money with them. He told them he only had RMB. He took out his wallet and showed them...no American money. They made sounds like "ohh" and so sad. A white guy walked by and they asked if he was our "pengyou"... Friend. We told them no. We think they wanted to ask him for money. We both had 100 dollar bills but we weren't about to let them know that. The whole thing was pretty comical.

We moved seats so that we were sitting right in front of where we had to board. Loaded the plane and in the air. Cameron and I watched some episodes of Ridiculousness. Funny stuff.  We both fell asleep for awhile.  We landed and there were people everywhere.  We got to passport control and the lines were huge.  Todd decided we would try to go through the International Transfer line.  There was only 3 people in that line.  He sent Cameron through first.  It worked with no problem.  We got outside and waited about 5 minutes for the Hilton shuttle bus.  Boarded it and took off for the hotel.  It was already 1:25 a.m.  We checked in, headed to the room, got ready for bed, and laid down.  Everyone was out in about 30 seconds.  It was after 2:00 by this time.

Last Day in Cebu

Breakfast and then off to the beach. At breakfast we were sitting outside. There was a table next to us where the people sat their food down but then went back inside. While they were gone birds swarmed their table and were eating the food. One of the guys from the restaurant ran over and shewed the birds away but didn't tell the people about them eating the food. I couldn't stand it. I walked over and told the people. They said thank you but ate the food anyway. GROSS. Oh well. At least I told them.

At the beach Todd and I sat in the cabana watching Cameron build a sandcastle in the rain. It would drizzle, stop, pour, stop, drizzle some more. He did not care. We were kind of happy the sun was staying hidden for awhile. We were on sun overload. Todd decided to go to the gym and Cameron decided to go to the Adventure zone.

Waiting for the elevator to go to the beach.

Not a care in the world.

Awesome castle.

Cameron always had to go through the pool instead of around it.

As Cameron and I got off the elevator we heard someone yelling "f-ing B" but obviously the real words. We both stopped and an Asian couple with 3 little kids came around a corner with a white guy, but not American, yelling at the dad calling him the f-ing b over and over. The Asian guy was on the phone trying to call security. The white guy pushed him once and was telling him to call security. The only thing we caught was something about the white guy had friends that said they saw the Asian guy do it and something about waking up a sleeping man. No idea what happened but the white guy was out of line yelling at the Dad like that in front of those kids. We stood there to make sure the kids and wife were ok and then the white guy walked back to his room. Cameron and I went to our room then.

Cameron changed out of his suit into regular clothes so he could go to the Adventure Zone. When we walked out of the room there was a ton of security and resort managers around. The Asian couple were standing there with them. We went on our way. Cameron was playing in the zone when the Asian family came in with their 3 kids. When Cameron was done we walked past them and I stopped and asked if everything was ok. The Dad said not really. I said I was sorry that the guy did that in front of his kids and he said that guy really scared his kids. He then said something about if the guy doesn't like Asians then why was he here. Not sure what that was about but at least they knew we were watching out for them and we thought the white guy was out of line. The Asian Dad also apologized to Cameron for having to hear and see it. Cameron just thought the white guy was crazy but he wasn't scared or anything.

Back to our room for about 30 minutes and then headed back to the beach. It rained on and off all day. It didn't bother us though. We first rode the banana boat again. Todd decided not to go so it was just me and Cameron. We got out in the water and I realized quickly it was much rougher. I tried to take some pictures but only got a few. Riding the banana was like being on a bucking bronco...not that I have ever done that. It was wild. At one point my suit bottoms were half way off but luckily no one was behind me. Cameron rode one handed again but fell on to his belly about 4 times. I held the handle in front of me with my left hand and the handle behind me with my right. I was trying to keep myself from sliding all over the place. By the time we were done my arms and legs were sore from being so tight trying to hold on.

We are ready to ride the banana.

And we are off.

In from the wild ride and riding back to the dock.

We ordered drinks on our way back to the cabana. We took a 5 minute break while we had a drink and then went snorkeling. By this point it was raining pretty hard. Again it didn't matter since we were in the water anyway. We had a bottle of food with us this time. We swam out and the first thing Todd pointed out was a lion fish. They are cool but you don't want to get to close to them. We went to the protected reef part and there were fish every where. Todd started squirting the food to make them come by us. We went through the whole reef part but then decided to swim back up so we could float down through it one last time. This time Cameron was in charge of the food. He had fish all around him. It was cool. We could hear the fish munching on the coral at the bottom too which is kind of freaky.

Todd would squirt food in Cameron's hand and then the fish
would go to him.

So many fish.

The fish really like the food that is for sure.

The snorkel boys

Back to the cabana for some water.  Cameron played in the sand a little and was trying to see how far he could run through the water before wiping out. He ever got very far but he was having fun trying. We decided to head back to the room to get cleaned up.

Cameron trying to run on water.  Didn't work.

Running back to try again.

Such a cute beach babe.

We all showered and relaxed for awhile. It stopped raining so we went to dinner at the beach bar again. Another perfect dinner on the beach. While we were talking Cameron all of a sudden said "mom, if you gave up wheat for lent isn't that a lot of things you cant eat?". I was confused at first but then realized he thought I said wheat instead of sweets. We all had a big laugh. Sweets and Facebook...that's what I gave up. Cameron gave up video games except the educational ones (Stack the States, Stack the Countries, etc) and Todd gave up smoking. No, he doesn't smoke nor has he ever. Last year he gave up pancakes which he has never eaten.

We took a few pictures and then hit the lounge on the way back to the room just to see if they had anything we couldn't live without. They didn't. Back to the room.

Cameron squirted smoothie on his face.

My favorite little guy.

We have had a great vacation.

Cameron played a few games of Go Fish on the deck.  Todd downloaded a bunch of the Ridiculousness shows that we watched. Man, those had some funny video clips and other that looked like they hurt really bad. There were a lot of laughs between all of us. Off to bed.

Cameron lounging on his Murphy bed.

Serious card game going on.