We were excited to finally get to have an outing with the church we have been attending. They have tried a couple of times and all had to be cancelled previously for different reasons. Apparently, we were not the only ones who had the idea to get out of the city...there was a lot of traffic!
Driving to the lake for a picnic
The bus had to let us out early and we walked the rest of the way because the bus was not allowed to go over this bridge.
Walking across the bridge...always have to stop for a photo!
Regan and Katherine
So, I really should have taken this picture with my hand as a reference. This was the biggest blow flower I have ever seen. It was the size of my hand!
Still walking to the picnic area
We made it to the lakeside where we would be having our picnic. It wasn't exactly as I pictured. It was beautiful, but there was little to no shade and we were there for many hours.
This was our little group to cook with! From left to right...Hudson, Ah Zhen, Lauren, Dou Dou, Regan, Jonathan, Katherine, Kevin, Le Le, and Benjamin (I am taking the photo)
We love Chinese style BBQ's! a little beef, chicken wings, shrimp, squid, green beans, tofu, etc.
One of the nai nai's from another little cooking group gave us each a handful of these. They are peanuts covered with a flavored "cracker" each color had a different flavor.
Round 1 of food!
THIS is something we never dreamed we would see. ALL of our Chinese friends were begging for ice! They carried around a big bag and gave everyone a cup. I've never seen such excitement (and I was thoroughly confused because on mainland China NO ONE eats ice)
This was from another little grilling station and was soooo good! I really need to find out what spices they used because the flavor was definitely Chinese.
One of the master chefs who brought too much food so we all got to enjoy a little extra
Ah Zhen needed to get away from the sun and heat for a minute. There was one little shady spot nearby but you had to buy a drink to sit there...so she got a coffee and I got a COLD coke!
Jonathan enjoying some grilled squid
Ah Zhen did a lot of the grilling. She got to enjoy some of the others as well.
The 5 of us girls went for a little walk before returning to the bus. This ws just a random group of flowers and seemed like a good picture spot.
Katherine 14, Lauren 13, Regan 18, Kelly ?? ;)
Katherine pretending to drink some very green water.
These two! So dramatic! :)
Sisters
Katherine exploring the rock
The girls enjoying the rock
Yes, we got quite a bit more sun than I intended! We didn't bring sunscreen because I had in my head a shaded area with lots of trees near a lake...not the case...lots of fun but we have some fantastic farmers' tans
walking back to the bus and over the precarious bridge.
I happened to see her reflection in my window and turned around to get this shot.
THat's when I realized EVERYONE on the bus was asleep.
I couldn't sleep because I was too interested in the views as we drove by.
Benjman helped cook a lot of the food as well. He ended up with quite the sunburn on those white little arms! I tried to help but I think I was banned after I dropped one of the shrimp skewers into the fire because the stick was hotter than I thought and burned my hand. :)
Ah Zhen, Pan Yi Min, and Kelly...I'm glad I had a hat in my bag...it was a lifesaver even if it was a little deformed and crooked :)
