the visit: everyday 'round here

Of course we had down-time too. We wanted to show our folks our regular life so that included hanging out at home and showing them some of the local sights. The sights also included the latest greatest grandchild!

I love this picture that Boppa (Alan) took, aptly naming it "the two Cuties" How true. Hannah is not hurting for food, she almost eclipses Dana!

I love the grandparent shots with the newest grandchild, so I included one of each. Nana was excited and soon remembered her baby-burping skills without any coaching.

Hannah's favourite spit-up target was Boppa. It hardly ever failed, I would hand Hannah over to him to hold and 4 seconds later she would have a productive burp all over him. But her smiles made it all worthwhile right Alan?

And Babi too, took a shining to little Hannah. I love both of their expressions here, equally enamoured with one another.

This is the closest thing we have to a farm: one rabbit which Dana loves to feed our fruit and vegetable scraps too,

and two ducks that have miserable living quarters as far as I can tell.

When you don't have a backyard, this is what you learn to do in your house. We are looking into gymnastics for this little monkey, but may do a stint of diving in the meantime as it incorporates trampolines and swimming for a reasonable rate. If you remember how China did in the diving at the last summer Olympics, you'll know the coaching is decent.

Eli and Dana's bedroom. Eli was delighted to receive some Lego from Boppa, Nana and Babi.

On our date night, Scott and I got to go for an evening riverside walk with our folks, while Eli, Dana and Hannah were babysat.

One day we went for a horse-drawn carriage ride along five historical streets that featured (mainly) European architecture. We also saw the former residence of Eric Liddell. If you don't know who that is, watch Chariots of Fire or, better, read a biography about him. He was a remarkable man.

The sleeping slug. Hard to believe this little man could ever get into trouble isn't it? Hah!

Reading stories, and/or watching world cup soccer on the couch. We also played our share of games in the evenings with Scott's parents. My mom preferred to turn in early and get up early the next day to, buy fruit at the market, or play ping pong/go for runs with the locals.

We rode in the Tianjin Eye on a somewhat clear day. The whole rotation took about 20 minutes and there was lots to see from the 12 o' clock position especially. Eli opted to be at his friends house.

So, all said and done, it was a tremendous visit. I must admit I was a little worried about how it would go because I wanted to figure out things to do and see that would be interesting for our parents and fun for our kids too. Also, it was the first visit for my mom and so I viewed it as a "make or breaker" for any subsequent visits. I daresay that based on how it went, my mom might very well be back again, I know Scott's parents will. I felt very blessed to have them and the fact that they made the effort and incurred the cost to come means a lot to us. Thank you!

the visit: Great Wall

There's a good shot of Hannah, completely unaware that we were on our way to the Great Wall. She was also blissfully unaware of Eli getting carsick on the way there too. Lucky her...but lucky me too (I had an extra shirt).


Here we are setting out. Little do we know how tired we will be by the time this day is done...

We were ambitious and did decide to "try to the whole route" but at least we did not leave "evening into the scenic".

Gorgeous weather and even a breeze!

Dana and Eli walked a lot of the way on their own, I'm sure I sprouted more than a few gray hairs as they navigated the stairs (especially going down!).

And here's Speedy Brimacombe. He reminds me of Dash from the movie "The Incredibles".

This is the view at the end of the climb, just cross the bridge and go through a maze to get to the parking lot where we were picked up. My mom and I (with Hannah) decided to walk the rest of the wall that you could see beyond the bridge. There were three more towers to get to and where it ended there was still a trail which we did not reach the end of.

I was sore for at least 5 days afterwards, hobbling around like a lame sheep and wincing if the kids so much as touched my legs. My mom was just fine though, a regular mountain goat! I hope I can be like her when I grow up! She's 68 for goodness sake!

the visit: Qingdao

After one day of rest at home, we took off again, this time to Qingdao, a coastal "town" (only a few million people) about 6 hours southeast.

Besides going to the beach we saw an old Lutheran church (circa 1907) and a naval museum.

Dana just knew how to look cute as she climbed the dark green contraptions.

Eli, however, meant business and wanted to use what the tanks had to offer. He was disappointed that they didn't really shoot.

Babi (my mom) and Dana in front of a plane that my brother Albert probably knows how to fix by now. Isn't that right Albert?

And heading out to go get some lunch. The kids and I had a rest in the afternoon while Scott walked around and scouted out some famous authors' former residences.

That evening, we walked down the pier and bought some shells and other souvenirs and gifts. Then we had kebabs for dinner. Alas, a lot of seafood is lost on me, I much preferred the lamb kebabs over the shrimp or squid, a true land-lubber am I.

This "beach" was just across the street from our hotel. We didn't swim here, but just leaped on the rocks and played in the sand. This was shortly before Boppa (Alan) accidentally threw Eli right into the water. He meant to throw him clear to the shore as it was already too far for Eli to jump it with the tide coming in, but Eli landed on his bottom right in the water. We all had a good laugh about that as the locals wondered what on earth we were trying to do.

Aha, a rare Hannah sighting! She was often in the back of the stroller, hidden under my nursing cover being fed, or in this carrier with a hat on.

Dana liked picking up the green "rocks". Sad to say that they were actually pieces of broken glass whose sharp edges had been worn down by the sand and waves. She picked up a neat collection of them at any rate.

the visit: Tiananmen and Forbidden City

Scott's parents agreed to watch Eli and Dana and take them swimming while my mom, Hannah, Scott and I did a rush job of seeing Tiananmen Square. So many people, and I couldn't believe how long the queue to see Chairman Mao's body there was.


Here was another neat dragon on a mural as we entered the Forbidden City which is quite near to Tiananmen Square.

And a picture of Scott and I as we were leaving. We had to hurry so that we could check out of the hotel on time, and me stopping to feed Hannah meant that we really couldn't do justice to even the few parts we saw in the Forbidden City.

I guess it just means we will have to go again sometime, that's all, right mom?.

the visit: Summer Palace

Another necessary sight to see in Beijing is the Summer Palace. We found that if we climbed (and carried a stroller up) a few hundred stairs, there were less people, and more nature to enjoy.

Colourful, ornate, and detailed architecture in the buildings. Gold and red are favourite colours it seemed to me.

Here we walked along a path that went around a man-made lake. There were a few people fishing as well.

This is one of the views on our way up the stairs. We were thankful for a relatively clear day and for the fact that the rain that fell earlier cooled us down somewhat.

the visit: Temple of Heaven

What an exciting time to be alive! We were so happy to host my mom and Scott's parents for two weeks in July. It was a hot time to come, but they were all real troopers and up for anything we had planned. So on day 3 of their visit, we packed up and went to Beijing for two days in order to catch some of the tourist sights there.

A group shot. Eli still hasn't warmed up to cameras, because living here and being blonde means he gets more than his fair share of complete strangers wanting a picture of him, or with him. I don't blame him for his annoyance.

I gathered that this dragon is a bit of a rogue and prone to flying off, so putting a chain net over him was deemed necessary...

Our pace was regulated by little Hannah's clockwork feedings. How pleasant to travel with such patient people, large and small. Oh and it also helped to have snacks and water on hand.

After seeing the Temple of Heaven, we had lunch and then took the kids to the pool.