This week was National Holiday here. The kids were out of school from Friday until Thursday. Our city was strangely quiet. All of the factories, schools, and government offices were closed so that people could travel to see their families. Many people work in a city that is not their hometown and do not get to see their children/parents/other relatives except for this holiday and one other earlier in the year. The kids took advantage of this time to build a train tract in Benjamin's room. I was very impressed that they all worked together and made their masterpiece.
Last week was the last day of work for our househelper/babysitter for Lauren. We thought we had a new one coming to work for us, but it did not work out. So, we are still waiting to find the right person. The kids bought lolipops and Lauren was a mess. She decided this week that she wanted me to fix her hair. She would bring me the brush and hairbows and back up to me. So, she was sporting the pigtails this day. It keeps her hair out of her eyes, but it makes me laugh because she reminds me of the little sister on Phineas and Ferb :)
We also went shoe shopping for Lauren this week. She had waaaay outgrown her old shoes. She now has comfy ones that don't hurt her little feet. Also this week, my bike got stolen. We were told that our bikes would probably get stolen while we lived here, but I was still surprised when it was missing. I even brought the kids back down the elevator to look for me just in case I'm losing my eyesight. They said, "Your bike is gone!" I was a little relieved that my eyes are ok, but a little dissappointed that the bike had a new home :)
This is our Sunday tradition....McDonald's! When we were in the States, we ate at "the rice place" (as the kids call it) every Sunday. We were going to the same one every week, but now we are on the hunt for all the different McD's we can find :) I think this has got to be my favorite so far. It was a free standing (unheard of) 2 story building, open 24hrs, serves breakfast (really!), has a drive thru (also the 1st I have seen...but we don't have a car so it doesn't really matter) and has an indoor playground.
I think the kids really like to go there for the icecream. We ate our icecream outside this time. The kids spotted two kittens asleep in the bushes. They kept the kids attention. Benjamin made sure that we were clear that he wants a dog and not a cat :)
And the half eaten icecream cone....
We also went shoe shopping for Lauren this week. She had waaaay outgrown her old shoes. She now has comfy ones that don't hurt her little feet. Also this week, my bike got stolen. We were told that our bikes would probably get stolen while we lived here, but I was still surprised when it was missing. I even brought the kids back down the elevator to look for me just in case I'm losing my eyesight. They said, "Your bike is gone!" I was a little relieved that my eyes are ok, but a little dissappointed that the bike had a new home :)
This is our Sunday tradition....McDonald's! When we were in the States, we ate at "the rice place" (as the kids call it) every Sunday. We were going to the same one every week, but now we are on the hunt for all the different McD's we can find :) I think this has got to be my favorite so far. It was a free standing (unheard of) 2 story building, open 24hrs, serves breakfast (really!), has a drive thru (also the 1st I have seen...but we don't have a car so it doesn't really matter) and has an indoor playground.
I think the kids really like to go there for the icecream. We ate our icecream outside this time. The kids spotted two kittens asleep in the bushes. They kept the kids attention. Benjamin made sure that we were clear that he wants a dog and not a cat :)
And the half eaten icecream cone....After we ate, we were very adventurous and crossed the 7 lanes of traffic to explore the other side of the street. I only thought that was the dangerous part. We were walking along the sidewalk and there was a huge hole in the ground! I'm really glad we saw it because ouch, that would have hurt!
Just to give you the full effect....not a small hole. I really hope they find a bright orange cone to put nearby soon. You could lose a whole family in there :)
This is a little girl in our complex. If you look carefully, she is holding a dragonfly. The kids here catch them like we catch lightning bugs back in the States. I think it is much harder to catch dragonflies though. Regan has held one. It was actually an accident that she did. A lady picked it up and handed it to her. Regan (and the rest of us) thought it was dead. She brought it over and showed me. When she decided to put it down, it started flying around and scared us all :) We couldn't stop laughing!
A little altar outside a store. They will burn incense here. This is a familiar smell to us beacuse one of our neighbors has a similar thing outside of their apt door. We typically smell it when we are taking the kids to school, but do not smell it within our own apt.
Just to give you the full effect....not a small hole. I really hope they find a bright orange cone to put nearby soon. You could lose a whole family in there :)
This is a little girl in our complex. If you look carefully, she is holding a dragonfly. The kids here catch them like we catch lightning bugs back in the States. I think it is much harder to catch dragonflies though. Regan has held one. It was actually an accident that she did. A lady picked it up and handed it to her. Regan (and the rest of us) thought it was dead. She brought it over and showed me. When she decided to put it down, it started flying around and scared us all :) We couldn't stop laughing!
A little altar outside a store. They will burn incense here. This is a familiar smell to us beacuse one of our neighbors has a similar thing outside of their apt door. We typically smell it when we are taking the kids to school, but do not smell it within our own apt.So, that was our week. Lots of family time and time exploring the community.
