Is summer here yet?

Silly Easter fun.

So summer is still so many weeks away, despite me willing it to be here sooner. It's been a few weeks and we've been trying to keep busy, but it's hard to not be distracted by the change in weather and the excitement of the school year drawing to a close. 

Scootin' about.

Easter passed with little excitement. Paul and I met up with some families from work for an Easter egg hunt at one of the apartment complexes near by. It was fun, lots of food, kids, running around I didn't get any pictures because it took all of my efforts to keep track of Paul in his excitement. I was worn out after a couple of hours, so we headed home to hang out and relax.

The weeks sort of blur together after that, the routine of daily life and no outstanding events. Interrupting the onward march of time was Honey's birthday last week.

C'mon Honey!!

Delish food at The Top

We decided to skip quiz night and have a night out in Shekou. It was lovely. We started with happy hour at a new Spanish bar in Sea World and enjoyed the patio weather. It was refreshing to sit and chat and not have to rush off to anywhere or distracted by anything. From there we ventured over to another area in Shekou called NH-Cool. We crossed paths with some strangely-costumed people and I couldn't resist taking a picture with them. ;) When we arrived in NH-Cool, we went to an Italian restaurant called The Top. It was delicious and we again sat outside and enjoyed the view. It was mostly of a construction sight near by, but it was nice to be above the fray and secluded on patio. Dinner ended too soon, so we continued the celebration at a bar called The Village. I had gone there with Honey and the girls on our wine and cheese night, and thought the cover band was so fun! So we took the boys, and they agreed that the music was delightful and the company enjoyable. From there we parted ways and luckily it was only one more day until the weekend.

A few pics from the night...in no particular order:

Awesome band.

Great way to start the evening

China Moment.

Adorable.

The Top

The weekend was welcomed by a trip back out to the Baolilai (the airport hotel from a few weeks ago). We gathered up our stuff, headed into the taxi and luxuriated in the huge suite again for as long as possible. It included multiple trips to the pool, lots of room service, dance parties and waking up at 4:30 am to watch a heartbreaking Spurs game. It was a great time, and a perfect end to the long week.

This kid makes me smile. Selfies in the taxi cab.

SPURS! With lots of coffee.

This week has been fast. We have a holiday for the next two days, so we're flying to Beijing to meet the Bates family for a short trip around the city. I'm looking forward to seeing them! I know Paul is excited to see his pals Alex and Ariana. I am also excited to visit the Forbidden City and see the Great Wall!! I have always dreamed of going there, and I hope it lives up to expectation. :) We'll see...

Only 6 more weeks of school! And that means 6 more weeks until we get to travel to SA and then Munich!  Summer is almost here...

Perfectly Timed Fatherly Visit

Dad is back! :)

 So the week after our beach trip, Dad flew in from Shanghai on a Wednesday afternoon. We met him at the ferry and then all went over to our favorite Mexican food restaurant in Seaworld. Just like the last time, it was so good to see him. I feel so lucky that his job and our jobs have brought us to the same place. I get to see him more often than when we lived in TX!

He brought us lots of Apple goodies, including a super cute shirt for Paul, which he insisted on putting on right that moment.  But catching up with him in person is really what I look forward to when he comes to town.

Quite a view, quite a pool.

We finished out the work week, hosted our very first quiz night (which was relatively successful) and met up with Dad after a run on Saturday. We met him in Luohu with a few items to get for people back home. I was on the hunt for phone cases for Andie, Dad was looking for silly t-shirts for Grace, and Donnie was looking for everything. We had a successful shopping day, all items were found, had a delicious lunch at Taste (a restaurant in the LCC), then headed back to Dad's swanky hotel for a swim. It seems that was the last cool day in Shenzhen, so we didn't stay to long by the pool, and then Paul was treated to a long bath in Dad's awesome bath tub. From there, we bid Dad goodbye until Sunday, and headed home.

One of Dad's rooms...

On Sunday, after Dad checked out of his hotel and made his way down to Shekou, we set out to see a temple that is not too far from where we live. We caught a bus to Seaworld, took some visa pics, then caught a different bus down to the Tianhou Temple in an area called Chiwan. It was only about a 10 minute ride from our school's bus stop, and we weren't quite sure we had the right place, but we got off the bus anyway. Luckily it was the right place! We didn't have much info about the temple, we knew it had been burned down and built several times, most recently in the 1990's. It's a popular temple for sailors since it's right on the sea and it has a goddess statue who looks after those on the sea. It was a small place, perfect for the hottest afternoon of 2014 so far, and we wandered taking pics and breathing the constant smell of incense. Paul had fun watching the fish and turtles in the ponds, climbing the stairs, but he was a little afraid of the chanting and drumming going on in the actual temple. After about an hour of wandering, we headed back to Seaworld to check out a new beer garden that has recently opened. Paul ate, then fell asleep, so we spent a leisurely afternoon drinking fresh beer, and chatting. It was perfect.

We headed home after and watched a movie until it was time for Dad to catch a taxi back to the ferry for his flight. It was a great day, and we were all tired. I didn't envy Dad's travel back to the U.S., but I could tell he was ready to be back and out of China. ;)

A few temple pics:

I'm not sure when Dad will be back, I hope sooner rather than later. It was so perfectly timed because we are really aching for summer, and seeing Dad makes it easier to face the upcoming weeks before we get to go home. He's a piece of home every time we see him, and I'm so thankful for that. I also love that Paul and I get to talk about Granddad now, and Paul looks forward to the next time he visits.

It's been a rough week since Dad left. Paul's been coughing, which means none of us sleep well and the weather is definitely changing back to what it was when we first arrived. We have some distractions coming up to help break up the time between now and June 15 when we fly back to the U.S. We are going to Beijing in 2 weeks to meet up with the Bates' again, and then back to the Philippines mid-May. But then we surrender our passports to the visa process until the end of school. I'm praying it flies by, but it seems to be inching, just like every other end of a school year. ;)

I'm keeping a list of all the places I want to eat at when I'm back in SA. I think there aren't enough meals in the time we'll be there, hehe. Guess I will be doing a ton of running to balance all of it out, but I can't wait! And my sis just booked a ticket to join us on the in South Padre while we're there! :) Let the summer-aching continue.... :)

Much love to all.

A Trip to the Chinese Coast

Best buds, headed to the beach.

 This is another long overdue post, but I figured better late then never. :) A couple of weeks ago, we had a three day weekend and were invited to spend it with some school people at the beach. They've been going to a specific hostel not far outside of town for a few years, so we decided to rent the whole place out and try to get as many families as possible to go. We ended up with 4 or 5 families, all with kids (or soon-to-be parents).

The Gentlemen from work (and a son)

Sun! Beach! Yay!

We packed up for the beach, including food to eat all weekend, and then met up with everybody on the Friday morning to board the chartered bus down to the hostel. It was about a 2 hour ride, mostly due to traffic and then hilly roads outside of the city. We arrived pretty early to the Zen House, and then unpacked, selected rooms (Real World style) and then geared up to head to the beach. It was a breezy, cloudy day, so the water was too cold to play in. It didn't stop the kids, but the adults hung back and chatted while the kids went at it building sand structures, burying each other, and running in and out of the water.  When Paul started shivering, we knew it was time to head back. It was a long walk back to the hostel, but Paul had his scooter so we hiked back up, showered and dug in for the night. The kids were exhausted, so they all went to bed early, and we had fun chatting and socializing with some of the people we work with, but don't see too often.

The next day was sunny and brilliant, so after breakfast, we stalled as long as possible to maximize the warmth at the beach. It wasn't long before the kids were demanding the beach and we headed down in shifts. We spent the whole day out there, Paul took a nap in the tent we brought, and we had a picnic lunch of PB&J's. It was an epic beach day and I was so tired when we headed back up to the hostel. Donnie mustered enough energy to grill some chicken and veggies to make fajitas, and after that, we turned in early. I was too tired to join in the adult time after dinner. ;)

Sunday was rainy, so we watched movies all morning until it was time to get on the bus and head back to Shekou. Paul took a nap, I did some reading, and Donnie did a little of both. We got home in the late afternoon with enough time to prep for the week, order some food and watch another movie before heading to bed.

So many kids :) 

The long walk home.

Walking to the beach.

This is the life.

How the kids spent their time at the house.

Chinese beaches are ok. ;)

PAARRTY! :)

Paul, the celebrity.

So it's not Port A, or South Padre, it's definitely not Boracay or Puerto Escondido, but it was nice to know there is a place that's not too far away and definitely not expensive (900RMB for the whole weekend) that we can visit when the city becomes a little too much to handle. It was more like camping than a resort getaway. No western toilets, hard beds a shared kitchen and fridge, but there was an awesome patio and the company was great. It was fun for Paul to be around so many kids, including his bestie, Connor. There may be another trip before we leave for the summer, but we are already planning another getaway to the Philippines. :)

Love to all, expect another post shortly....hopefully.

Spring Arrives

We made the website!

 There has been a serious lag in my blogging and I'm sorry for that. These days have been busy, and our internet slow, so blogging takes a back burner. But there have been a few really fun things happen in the last two weeks that I want to put down on paper to remember. :)

After our HK adventure, we settled back into a routine as best we could. The weather was still a little bit chilly, but you could tell spring was on it's way. So it seemed the perfect time to have a ladies' night out!

A few months back, a friend (Jessica) had mentioned that there was a monthly wine and cheese club that meets at a new hotel every month. Each month has a different selection of wines and a different caterer, and a different theme. It's not too expensive, just 380 RMB ($60) and it includes entrance to a 3 hour party of all you can eat and drink. It seems a little pricey now that I write it, but to buy a bottle of super low quality wine here is at least $10 a bottle, it is a steal to have all you can drink of really nice wine. :) So we gathered up a group of ladies (4 of which most recently have been living in TX) and checked it out. The theme was polka dots, so we searched out our most dotty outfits and met there. It was a blast! A little bit cold for a poolside party, but the music was live jazz, and the food and drink were superb. We laughed and chatted, watched the fireworks above the Eiffel Tower in Windows of the World, and ate so much yummy food. We headed out for a short time after that to a restaurant in Shekou called the Village, but didn't stay long. I was supposed to race a 5k the next morning, but unfortunately that didn't happen. :( It was worth it though. I hope we will do it again sometime, April's club meets soon, so we may have to wait until May.

The following weekend we had parent teacher conferences again at school, and it was a blur of parents and meetings. The students only had a 3 day week, so they were super energetic when they came on Wednesday, unlike their tired teachers. We skipped quiz night for a longer run and a homemade dinner, and before we knew it, it was the weekend again.

We decided to indulge (but still only spent 250 USD) in a night at a luxurious hotel outside of town. They had an indoor swimming pool, workout room, spa and free buffet breakfast. It was only 900 RMB for the suite and breakfast, so we spread out in the great big room. We went on Saturday morning, took a cab from our place for about an hour, and arrived around noon. We swam, ordered room service, watched a movie (Donnie went for a massage) and then swam again before dinner. Paul took 4 baths in the time we were there since we have no bath tub at home. It was great. Sunday after a workout and a filling breakfast, we swam again, then had late check out at 1pm. It was fabulous. Check out the pics of this place:

Huge comfy sitting room!

Huge bathroom and tub!

Huge comfy bed!

The pool, all to ourselves

Paul had a blast in the pool.

Getting some love. :)

The Spurs played twice while we were there!!

The weekend was capped off by a bonus rainy day that led to school cancellation. We watched movies and ordered pizza. Overall, it was an awesome way to end March and begin April.

Only 2ish months till summer!! Love to all.