Daisy Camping Trip

Elizabeth was a Daisy this year. This is the youngest group in Girl Scouts. This year they planned an overnight camping trip at a ranch just outside of the city limits. Da Qian Ranch was the name. We boarded buses at Concordia with other groups of girls from all of the participating Pudong area troops. There were 4 bus loads of girls and moms.

The Daisies had to bring a mom while the older girls (brownies, juniors) were assigned chaperones. The Daisies and moms got private cabins. You can see they were nice cabins that slept 3 people and had private bathrooms. More on the bathroom later.

ELizabeth met a lot of nice girls from another troop from YCIS (Yew Chung International School). They did lots of activities ranging from learning how to tie a knot in a rope, making an edible campfire, treasure hunt, singing songs, horseback riding, a boat ride, and a bonfire.

At night after the bonfire, we went back to our cabin. As Elizabeth was going to the bathroom, I heard a scream ...very loud one. I ran in to find her completely freaked out by the huge COCKROACHES on the floor. If you know me, you know that I don't care for bugs. However, since Kirk wasn't there to rescue us, I had to. I killed one and the other one scampered away. Where to, only God knows but we didn't see him for the rest of the night.

Great time!

Yu Yuan (Garden)

Yes, it is touristy, but Yu Yuan Garden (Yu Garden) is one of my favorite places in Shanghai. I love taking visitiors here.

Elizabeth's Music Program

They did the spring music programs for Elizabeth's class a little different this year. This year, each class did a performance during their normal morning class. Elizabeth's teacher, Mr. Nurre, is truly one of the most talented teachers I've ever seen. He really did a nice job teaching these kids about rhythm and sounds. Great program, made us proud of Elizabeth.

Trip to Hangzhou

We decided to take a weekend trip via train to Hangzhou. Chinese people call Hangzhou "Heaven on Earth". The train ride there was nice, nice train, fast. We walked around the West Lake the first day. I was not convinced after this that it was heaven. There were about a million people and half of them were zooming around on bike and golf carts almost running us over! I just didn't get why people thought it was so great.

The next day, I got it. We went to the Lingyin Temple. This place was completely amazing. Hundreds of Buddhas, very spiritual.

Dinner on Huangpu River

We went to dinner with Grammy, Romanskis and Tavernas at the Paulander on on the River. The night was very nice so we were able to get some good pictures of the kids and the Shanghai lights at night.

Trip to Nanjing

Grammy and I mirrored the Nanjing trip I did with my Delphi group. We took the train there and back in one day and really enjoyed it. We especially enjoyed the park area where Dr Sun Yat Sen's mausoleum is.

Alex's Chapel Music Program

The Ladybugs and Butterflies were leading a chapel. Alex had line and we practiced and practiced with him but he ended up having stage fright. He's so cute.

Peking Opera

Keep reading and watching. I have 15 more of these posts!

This one is about the Peking Opera that Julie, Grammy, and I went to. Grammy wanted to go to one and Julie is always up for Chinese culture so I asked some of my friends and they suggested this traditional opera. It was really interesting and the costumes were beautiful. I think the way Elizabeth sings, she could do this.

Hong Kong Disneyland

After spending a few days in the Hong Kong, we went out to Hong Kong Disneyland. We have been there once before but we really enjoyed it as it is not very busy and there are not the long lines like in Florida.

Alex's favorite ride was the Small World or "Little World" as he called it. I think he went on it about 10 times and I'm not exaggerating. He also really enjoyed the car ride.

Elizabeth went on Space Mountain with Kirk and I and held on to Kirk for life the first time. Then she proceeded to love the ride and dragged us on again about 8 more times.

The Romanski girls were also with us and we had a lot of fun with them as usual. We all stayed right at the resort which was really nice. We went to a character breakfast and saw Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, and Daisy. The kids love that. We also saw lots of princesses.

Hong Kong

We had a holiday in May and so decided to take Grammy to see Hong Kong. The Romanskis joined us. Kirk did an awesome job planning a full itinerary for the long weekend. First we jumped on one of the Big Red Buses and toured the Kowloon island where we were staying. There are some great pictures of the harbor and Hong Kong Island. Of course we made the trip to Outback and had a bloomin onion. Hong Kong is a way for us to get our Western food fix. To end the night, we watched the light show over the harbor.

The next day was a packed day. We took the Star Ferry over to the Hong Kong Island and boarded the Big Red Bus again. We went all over the city and was able to have a bird's eye view. We hopped off the bus at lunch time and had lunch at a decent Mexican place. We rode the world's longest elevator. Now the kids were getting tired of walking so Kirk and Mike took the kids back to the hotel for some swimming before dinner and Grammy, Julie, and I went to the Stanley market.

There is a large market in the Stanley area of Hong Kong. It's mostly junk but you can pick up some clothes, art, jewelry, etc. We didn't buy much, although we did see an exact picture like one we bought in the city and found out that we paid too much for it! After the market, we walked out by the beach area. There is a line of restaurants and bars along here. It reminded me of the beach town that Kirk and I visted in Bpain. We stopped for a beer as it was pretty hot.

We took a taxi direct from here to the Peak where we met Kirk, Mike, Maddie, Allie, Elizabeth,and Alex. They took the Peak tram up. There are amazing views from this very touristy area. There is a shopping mall and restaurants. We had dinner at the Deco Cafe and had a great view of the harbor.

The next day, all the girls packed up and went to Hong Kong Disneyland. Kirk and Mike went to see a big Buddha. Mike went back to Shanghai after this and Kirk met us in Disneyland.