Alex's School Field Trip with Grammy

Now that I am in the US, I am able to access the blog. Here come a bunch of postings and pictures from the spring. Grammy visited us this spring and stayed for about a month. She came in just before Alex's birthday and was able to help him celebrate. One of the activities she did with him was go on a school field trip. This was one of the preschoolers only field trips. They went to the gardens at the Shimao Riviera Apartment complex in Lujiazui. Looks like they had fun.

Grammy Visit's Alex's Class

Alex's School Birthday Party

Alex had his school bday celebration the Monday after his bday. Grammy brought some masks for the kids to make as crafts. Alex really got into his birthday this year.

Concordia Gala (Prom)

The evening of Alex's bday, Concordia held it's annual charity gala. Missy calls it the prom. We had a great time but had a little too much fun and stayed out way too late.

Alex's 4th Birthday

I am working backwards on the pictures. I figured I should put these up soon so that we don't lose any time seeing Alex turn 4. I cannot believe how fast this time has gone by!

We asked Alex who he wanted at his birthday. Thank goodness he doesn't have a million friends like Elizabeth that have to be included in everything. He asked for 2 classmates, Andy and Allison, as well as Joey and Matthew Taverna. He also wanted Mama, Daddy, Sissy, and Grammy as he knew we were shoe ins.

Kirk and I made the cake. Again, staying up way past midnight to finish it up, we constructed a car. Alex loves Transformers, and we had just been to the Shanghai Auto show and saw the yellow "Bumblebee" Chevy Camaro. My friend, Missy Mama, let me borrow her Wilton's cake deco kit again and the colors turned out great.

The kids came over around noon and they played with Alex's toys, ate pizza, fruit and cake. After cake, they played some traditional games like musical chairs and pop the balloon. Alex really understood Birthdays and Parties this year and he's had a big smile on his face ever since.

Grammy Arrives to Shanghai

Grammy made her annual pilgramage to see us. Alex and Kirk picked her up from the airport and they rode the Maglev home. That night, we all went to watch Elizabeth's friend Crystal Tan in the school production of the Sound of Music. She was a great Gretl.

AutoShanghai 2009

We took Alex and Elizabeth to the Shanghai Auto Show. I was able to get tickets for the preview day so the crowds were not too bad. The show was the biggest in Shanghai to date and had many international vehicle debuts.

Alex and Elizabeth had to sit in all of the cars. They especially liked to sit in the back of the cars. I guess that is where they are used to sitting. Alex's favorite was the Ferrari's and Elizabeth liked the VW Beetle.

They both loved the RV that was produced by one of the local automakers. They couldn't believe that it had a toilet. Sure enough it was Thetford. Kirk worked at this company as a co-op.

Sanya

I was looking at pictures on Facebook from my friend Thuy's recent trip to Sanya. The pictures were so beautiful and the weather in Shanghai had been dreadful for so long that I talked Kirk into going. Turned out to be a great long weekend and the kids had a great time swimming. You can see we stayed at a nice place and were blessed with great weather. Great bonding time for us.

Easter

Easter Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day. The kids were pretty excited to find their baskets and do their Easter Egg hunt. I took off around 9am to run the Jinqiao 8k and Kirk got the kids ready for church. I ran the race, then ran to church and met them. I was a little smelly but had a fun run.

Elizabeth wore her bonnet that Kirk brought back from Paris and looked like an angel.

Boat Ride in Century Park

Everyday I look out my window and see boats going up and down the stream that runs through Century Park. The kids and I are always trying to talk Kirk into going on a boat ride in the park but in the past two and a half years have been unsuccessful.

One day, the kids had a day off of school. The Romankski ladies and the kids and I went for a boat ride. It was fun but not as exciting as we had built it up to be. The kids like driving the boat but after 30 minutes, they were ready to get off the boat.

Elizabeth's Transportation Field Trip

Elizabeth's class was studying transportation. The kids studied maps of Shanghai and all the different methods that could be used to get around. The teachers set up field trips to coincide with these lessons.

First we took a bus to the Pudong airport. There we boarded the Maglev train (it was really fast) and took that to the Longyang Metro Station where we hopped on line 2. From there, we took Line 2 to the Shanghai Science and Technology museum. Here the kindergarteners and their parents were able to walk around outside for a bit and have a snack. We got back on a bus and took it to Puxi to People's Square and had a look around. We got back on the bus and took it to the ferry near YuYuan Garden. I think the ferry was the kid's favorite. This costs .5 yuan (7cents) to get from Puxi to Pudong or vice versa. Bikes, pedestrians can take this. From here we walked down to the riverside promenade and had lunch. We had a really good time. The last picture is of Elizabeth and her teacher Mrs. McKeough.