Made it to Shanghai

We made it! This will be a short note. It is now 6:28 pm on Wednesday (12 hours later than you in Michigan) and the kids have been napping for a couple hours. I need to wake them so that they can sleep tonight.

Our first full day consisted of Elizabeth and Alex waking up at 4 AM and wanting to play. (it's going to take a few days for our bodies to adjust). Elizabeth proceed to have at least 5 changes of clothes by 8 am!

We went to the local police station to register, went to Pizza Hut for lunch (tastes them same as in the states, don't want to get too crazy with the kids yet) and we ended up at the Carrefour to do some grocery shopping. The kids were losing it at the end which was okay because we weren't tempted to buy more. It is difficult enough with two kids and a stroller to get into the taxi, cannot add to many more bags to the mix. Thank goodness Kirk was with us. It will be a while until I venture out with E and A on my own in a taxi! Elizabeth loves not having to sit in a car seat. Makes me nervous.

That's it for today. I'll upload some pictures tomorrow.

Thomas the Tank Engine

We went with Kevin, Chrystal, Ethan, Grammy, and PopPop to Crossroads Village to see Thomas the Tank Engine. This was Elizabeth and Alex's 2nd time seeing him. Ethan is an official train freak now. We had a lot of fun taking a train ride, watching an electric train, doing arts, and going on the carousel. Of course we shopped and got gifts. In the picture is Chrystal holding Ethan (20 months) and Kirk holding Alex (16 months).

Bobby Crim 10 Mile Road Race

We did it!!! I talked Kirk's brother Kevin into running the 30th annual Crim road race on August 26th. 10 Miles. The farthest I'd ever run in my own lame training plan was 6 miles. My goal was to finish. My stretch goal was to finish in under 2 hours. Kevin stayed with me the whole time, when he probably could've beat the Kenyans. I think our official time was 1 hour and 44 minutes. It was awesome, we had so much fun. I can't believe I lived in Flint for all these years and never ran in it. Definitely have to do that again.

Minnesota Trip

The kids and I along with Bumpa and Gigi, took the S.S. Badger from Ludington across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, WI. From there, we made a 6 or so hour drive to Ramsey, MN to see Steve, Kim, and Nathan. We had a lot of fun on the trip. We went to a zoo, the Mall of America, and even a Minnesota Twins game where the Dufon's got to watch their Allendale neighbor pitch for the White Sox. Sarah and Elizabeth had a ball playing dress up. Too bad I didn't get pictures of them with the sparkles in their hair!

Sold the house

It's official. We have sold our house on 4401 Brighton. It's been a great house to us and I think it will be going to a nice family. I can't believe we lived her for 8 years. We close on August 20 (Josh's bday!) and then we'll move out starting September 18. Things are starting to move along. We'll leave for China around Sept 25th. More entries will come at that time.

We started Mandarin lessons. It is a difficult language to learn. I think we'll know enough to get us through daily life. Probably will do a lot of sign language.

I'm almost done working. My replacement starts Sept 1. I'll work some hours until the 15th to help the transition. I think I'll be sleeping a lot when I get to China at first!

Initial Entry

Last night, Suzanne Cronley showed us Boog's blog after we talked about the need for us to keep a journal of our adventures in China. I think it will be a fun way to keep everyone posted about what we see, do, experience while we are in Shanghai. I will also post pictures of the kids and/or links to the kodak website so that everyone can see updates.