NFL Experience

Every year, a little more of Americana moves it's way into Shanghai. This year, the NFL brought some to Shanghai. We went to Puxi to the Sports Center with Joe, Joey, and Matthew Taverna. The kids got to meet Tony Dorsett, the San Fransisco 49er cheerleaders, and participate in some different skill games. We also watched our local elementary and high school kids play football. Check out Joe and Kirk with the Coors Lady. Elizabeth wanted her pic taken also.

We took the cub scouts to the local Fire Station to see the trucks and meet the Firemen in JinQiao. The Firefighters are part of the People's Army. The station looked just like a station in the US. Many of the trucks were built in the US. The boys got to try on the special fireproof helmets. These were made in the US and cost $1000. The boys got to try out the fire pole and really enjoyed their visit.

Halloween is taking off in Shanghai. There were so many shops in the commodities market dealing with costumes and decorations and such this year. Also, two neighborhoods did trick or treating on two different nights so the kids got double duty trick or treating. Alex was a Beyblade Trainer and Elizabeth was the Disco Zombie from Plants vs Zombies. The adults had two parties this year. The first one Kirk dressed up as the Disco Priest and I was a Gypsy Fortune Teller. It's always so funny meeting people for the first time at Halloween parties because when they see you later, they have no idea who you are!! The second party had a music theme and we dressed up as the Blues Brothers. You can see in one picture, all of my girlfriends are dressed so cute and there I am as a fat, ugly, man! The other kids with Elizabeth and Alex are Alex and Jenna Gaylord and Rohin Hayes. The adults in the Rock party were Martin and Charu Hayes, Joe and Keri Taverna, Mark and Kim Gaylord. Same people in the last pic except the Hayes weren't there.

Cub Scouts

I am a cub scout leader (nice uniform right?)with another mom. Here is our Tiger Cub troop. We are missing two boys - Patrick and William. The other boys are Griffin, Jonathan, Alex, Andy, and Joey.

Alex Field Trip to Children's Marble Palace

Stevens Visit (Chicago)

How my Kindergarten Boy perceives me

I titled this as "how my kindergarten BOY perceives me" because I think Elizabeth had a much better perception of me when she was Alex's age.

Alex brought home my Mother's Day gift which was titled "My Mother's Biography". I am transposing word for word below, it is priceless. The teacher had standard sentences provided, the bold words were written by Alex.

My mother's name is Kathrin.She is 140 cm tall and weighs 90 kg. (For the Americans, that is about 4 1/2 ft tall and 198 lbs)
Her hair color is black and her eyes are blue.
The prettiest thing about my mother is her hair.
My mom is 39 years old and still looks great.
I love my mother because she is my mom.
She gets upset when I play in the sink.
When I am really good, she will let me go to the shop.
When I am at school, my mom watches TV.
I am glad she is my mother because she's my mom.

Now, let's clarify some things......

His spelling on my name was pretty close.
I'm a little taller than 4 1/2 feet (5'9" to be exact) and I only weigh 65 kgs although some days it feels like 90.
My hair is dark brown and my eyes are hazel.....could he be color-blind? Gotta check that out at the next doctor's appointment.
I am 39, he's right there.
He does make a mess when he plays in the sink, but I don't ever remember being really mad about that.
I do take him to the shop when he is good.
TV????? So much for thinking my career was getting in the way of things, apparently I was just watching TV :)

I am so glad he is my son!

Jetlagged

Jetlagged!

Michigan

After Florida, we went to Michigan. There was a ton of snow! We had a great time at the farm and even Ethan and Nolan and Allie came to enjoy the snow with us. We had fun snowmobiling and stayed the night at a hotel and went swimming.

Florida

After our great Christmas, we were a bit homesick, so we traveled to US for the Chinese New Year holiday. We started in Florida. The kids had a great time. Alex had a 100 day project due and was missing a few days of school during our trip. His idea was to find 100 shells. He did and made his name out of the shells.

Walking with Dinosaurs

A life size dinosaur show came to the Mercedez Benz arena in Shanghai. It had huge dinosaurs and was a show that was incredibly entertaining. We all loved it.

Snowing in Shanghai

While December was mild, January and February were not. Shanghai got a snowstorm and we got about 2 inches of snow. This may not seem like much but it is for Shanghai. The kids loved it and built a snowman.

Crazy Dress Day

The kids school has many school spirit days. This was crazy dress day and the kids wanted to wear wigs.

Tauranga/Rotorua, New Zealand