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.