Family Field Trip - Haibin Road and Dalian Museum of Natural History

So the munchkins and I were feeling kind of stir crazy since we have been housebound due to bronchitis. Ken came up with the idea of taking a scenic drive so that we could get out of the house but still stay nice and warm. We decided to check out Haibin (Costal) Road. It was a beautiful road along the sea with a ton to look at. I didn't take many pictures this time because we are totally going to do the drive when it is warmer and we can get out an many stops to have a closer look.

We did get out of the car once at the Tiger Statue. Mikayla wanted to see the water and the rest of us just wanted to explore. We did not last long out of the car because it was C-C-C-COLD! It was very beautiful though which made it worth the chill. I was very amused because Ken and Declan were wandering around and had stopped to look at the water and the view. There were not many people out at the statues but within a minute the few who were there surrounded Ken to get a look at Declan. Declan is our little star and has fans everywhere he goes. People love to try and hold his hand or pet his hair. He loves to stick his tongue out at them or try to give high fives. Little monkey!

Daddy and Declan checking out the view:


Declan's fans:

After checking out the statues we drove the rest of the road. Mikayla crashed out but Declan still enjoyed the ride. He loves to point out the things he knows the names of. So far he points out cars, trucks, buses, trees, and water. Pretty soon he will be chatting our ears off like his sister!






Near the end of the road was the Dalian Museum of Natural History so we decided to stop there as well. Declan LOVED this place. He was so excited and in awe of just about everything. Mikayla enjoyed it as well and really seemed to be facinated by the fish they had displayed. I don't know if the museum is free every day or if we just got lucky but we were not charged to go in. Our driver was with us and spoke to the people at the desk but when he told us what they said he said it in Chinese so I am still clueless. I really need to start taking my chinese lessons!!! I found it crazy that while we were touring the museum they had areas that they were working on not blocked off. There was a guy who had sparks flying from his tools right above where we were looking at an elephant display. Declan and Mikayla found it very cool and were excited by it. =P

Applesauce

I made my first homemade applesauce last night. It was one of the easiest things I have ever made so I don't know why I am so proud of myself. =P

A friend of mine was given a huge box of apples and gave me a few bags full. I don't have the supplies yet to make apple pie and I didn't want them to go bad so I decided to try making applesauce. All I had to do was peel them, cut them, boil them, and smoosh them and TADA applesauce. I didn't even need to add sugar. The kids love it and I felt like a good housewife. Now if I can just learn to cook dinner!

Static and Scales

So as everyone knows I am not a cold weather person. I like the heat and summer hence living in Arizona! So can someone tell me if this crazy static is a cold weather thing?? It is so bad here! Poor Mikayla and I have hair that stands up on end many days. Also our clothes are very clingy and when the kids walk in their jammies in the dark I can see sparks flying from them! It doesn't help that we can't dry things with a dryer sheet to help out with this! Any tips? Do I just have to wait this out until spring??

I think we are also growing scales. Within the first few days our skin dried out and we ran out to buy lotion. I think we need to make another trip to the store because we are almost out. Poor sensitive Declan has patches on his cheeks that even Vaseline hasn't been able to cure. Who knew winter came with such odd treats?? I might have to start sleeping with Vaseline and gloves on my hands so they can stop hurting!

Happy Birthday Little Princess!

I can't believe Mikayla has only been in my life three years! It has been so amazing watching her grow up. At 3 she has so much personality and keeps her daddy and I on our toes.

I knew that we would want to celebrate her day somehow but I didn't even know where we would be living when her birthday came around. I was told we would move into our new house 3 days before her birthday so I did not think a party was possible. When our move in date got pushed back and we found out we would still be in the hotel Ken and I quickly planned a party for her so that she could enjoy the day with friends. We have been very lucky to meet some amazing families here already. The kids have also been lucky because almost everyone we have met here has kids so they already have met many playmates.

Mikayla went to bed on Friday night so excited because we told her that Saturday was her birthday and that her friends were coming over to celebrate with her. She woke up asking if it was her Birthday Party yet. =-) Her friends arrived and since Daddy had found a local Pizza Hut (yes, an actual Pizza Hut) everyone enjoyed a pizza lunch. We have tried pizza at a few places the last few trips to Dalian and although some were good they were not quite what we were used to so it was awesome to find out that Pizza Hut tasted the same. After lunch we took all the kids down to our playground and they got to run and jump and scream off some energy before returning to the room for cake and gifts. I was thrilled when we opened the cakes because they were just about perfect. I was even more thrilled when we tasted the cake and it was actually yummy. The cakes ended up being yellow cake with whipped cream frosting. They were not as sweet as cakes back home but they were still very tasty. Mikayla made me laugh because as soon as Ken lit the candles we all started to sing Happy Birthday to her. We had only sang the first line and she blew out the candles! She has been waiting since the last birthday party she went to for it to be her turn to blow out candles so she just went for it. After everyone went home she got to skip nap and watch "Princess and the Frog" twice while playing with all of her new toys. I dozed off while she watched the movie and played but was woken up several times to help her change a Barbie or bear outfit, put on her new jewelry, put stickers on a toy elephant, or help her put marker caps back on. I think she was eager to play with all the toys by herself before Brother woke up and she had to share!

Getting cheesy with her cake:

Yummy!

All in all it was a great day for us all. Mikayla enjoyed herself and loved her party and being the Birthday Girl. Thank you to everyone who came out to help us celebrate.

The birthday girl posing with her gifts:

The Cakes:

Our house is almost ready!

Yippee! We had a walk through of our house today and it is almost done. =-) If you don't look very closely at it everything looks perfect. Unfortunately once you look a little closer there is a lot of little things that need to be fixed. Loose doors and windows, hot water isn't set up yet, wires hanging from the ceiling where lights will be etc. We had a little bit of a disappointment at the location of the house as well. When we were showed the housing community plan it showed trees behind our house and we were told that it was very quiet and they would be putting in a playground for the kids. We had narrowed our choices down to one with a sea view and this one and picked this one because it was so close to the playground and I knew in spring and summer we would want to go there often. Today when we got to the house there was a shopping center where the playground was supposed to be. It had a small store, a beauty shop, and a laundry center as well as a few other stores to be filled. There was also a big apartment building being built next to it. So not trees and a playground!! When we complained we were told that they changed the plan and that the playground would still be going in just not until spring. They also did not have any other homes we could move into instead so now the back of our house looks out into the shopping center. =P Our yard which was already going to be pretty small also got chopped in about half as well so that was a bit of a bummer too. I am not really upset about it because it is still a free home for two years and it is still really pretty and large but it would have been nice to have what we were promised when we accepted the house. They are running an air test on the house on Monday and will get the results on Wednesday. If the house passes then we may move in on Thursday.

I managed to order two cakes for Mikayla's little party tomorrow! I had been told of a chain of bakeries here called Holliland (it has been pronounced Holly Lay when spoken to me). I went in today with the hope that someone in the store would speak English but NOPE not a single word! I found two cakes that were cute and would feed everyone and tried and tried to ask what kind of cake they were. I used pantomime, i pointed at different cakes, I spoke slowly, and finally I just gave up. I also wrote down what the cake should say and tried to point out what colors I would like. We shall see tomorrow if I accomplished my goal. I think I ordered one larger cake in white and purple that will say "Happy 3rd Birthday Mikayla" with white and purple flowers on it. The other cake hopefully will be white with really pretty pink icing flowers on it and be a little smaller then the first. I will have to take pictures tomorrow and let you judge if I got my point across well. I am also very curious to find out what flavor the cakes are since I was never able to find out while in the store.

While in the DDA checking out our house we also stopped for a late lunch. We told our driver (who speaks very little English) that we were hungry and didn't want to spend too much so he picked out a place for us. I was thinking we would end up having Chinese food but we ended up at a KFC. They are everywhere here and taste exactly the same as back home. The menu is a bit different but so far I have just ordered chicken and mashed potatoes. The KFC was attached to a mall that I can't wait to check out but since I was in a hurry I just ran in to get some wrapping paper. While looking for wrapping paper I found a DVD store and totally scored by finding The Princess and The Frog. I am wrapping it up and giving it to Mikayla tomorrow. She is going to be so excited! I am also looking forward to seeing what the quality of the movie is.

It is 9 pm here right now and Mikayla has been in bed for almost an hour. She is standing on her bed talking to herself so I better go lay with her so she will fall asleep. I can't believe she is turning 3 tomorrow! Where did my baby go??

Brrrr

Not much new to update here. It has been -14 Celsius here so it is very cold for us Arizonans! Ken heard about the cold front heading our way on Tuesday and warned me so I went grocery shopping for the week so that I would not have to leave the warm, cozy hotel.

I have decided to put together a small get together for Saturday to celebrate Mikayla's 3rd birthday. That means I had to leave for a few hours today and again tomorrow in order to try and find things I need. I hitched a ride with some friends to Walmart today since my driver was with Ken near Intel. It is funny that the name on the store is Walmart because 99% of the stuff is different. There were a few things like towels and pillows which had the familiar Walmart brand on them but other then that it was very much a Chinese store. I was looking for paper plates and cups today and had to settle on the tiniest plates ever because that is all they had. I did find a major score there though...they had chicken breasts! Whooo hooo! The only other time we have found chicken breasts here was at a store called Tesco and the breasts were still attached to the ribcage and not packaged. There was just a pile of chickens on a flat of ice and you dug through until you found the piece you wanted and then you bagged it yourself. Fun times. There at Walmart they had single breasts packaged in plastic just like at home. I was in heaven! I got three and they were 3.50 RMB each ($1 = 6.9 RMB). I am still on the hunt for ground beef but I don't really think I will find it. I have heard there is a butcher near our new home that will grind meat for you so once we move in I will have access to that again.

Tomorrow I am heading to a local Bakery that might have Birthday Cakes. Cakes are not common here so if they have it I will be super happy. Wish me luck! I am also heading to Ikea to pick out the style of crib and toddler bed I want in the new house for the kids. The kids and I are also looking forward to a cheap lunch of Swedish meatballs. Yummo! I will try and remember my camera so I can start posting some pictures of what we see on a daily basis.

Send warm thoughts our way!

A few things I miss from the US and a few things I love in China

So we have been here 5 days now. I may still be in my honeymoon phase but I really am loving it here. There is a lot to get used to and the whole not speaking Chinese thing poses a problem but it is so interesting here.


Ken starts work tomorrow. I can't believe after all the months of waiting for this day it is finally here. I hope he has a fantastic day tomorrow and enjoys working here. As for the kids and I, I think we will stay home. I don't think I am ready to go out with both of them myself quite yet. For one everywhere we go we need the double stroller which is too wide for most doors and also has to be lifted over things at half the places we go. Also there is no way for me to roll the stroller and a cart to put things in while shopping. I might need to wait until we have an Ayi I can leave them with or until Mikayla is in school and I only have one kid who can go in the cart. For two the attention the kids get is insane. It is easier to handle with Ken guiding us away vs timid me trying to get away. I am sure with time I will just be able to walk away without feeling bad.


So I have discovered there are a few things I miss. Nothing super big, and I don't miss it so much that it makes me sad...it is just something I have noticed. The first thing is my Washer and Dryer! We were given a small washer/dryer (one machine does both). I do mean SMALL too. I have to do about two loads a day just to wash what we have worn that day. Also the dryer does not work very well so I have taken to just hanging things to dry. Since I have never done that before I never knew how crunchy things that are line dried are. I can't wait to move into our new place which should have both a washer and a dryer so that I can use softener sheets again!


Something else I miss is Ice! I forgot that I was warned to bring ice cube trays. I am on the hunt for some so if anyone here in Dalian knows where I can buy some let me know!!

The last thing I miss might be the thing I miss the most...Mikayla's crib!! I think I would have kept her in her crib until she was in college if I thought she would fit. She loved her crib and would go willingly to bed in it. Mikayla and Declan can share a room as long as both of them are contained in cribs. When we tried it with her on the loose she would go and bug him and wake him up so they would both end up in a bad mood. Now Mikayla sleeps on a mattress on the floor in our room until we move into our new house. Once we get there she will get her own room and a toddler bed.

There are also things I have found to love already. The first is short lived but I am still really enjoying it. It is the maid service here at the hotel. =-) Five days a week the hotel has the maid come in and change the towels, clean the floors, kitchen and bathrooms. Also once a week she changes the bed linens. I <3 it. I think I could totally get used to it too. =P

I also love the indoor playground that this hotel has for the residents. The kids and I go about twice a day and spent at least an hour there. It has two small swings, Three slides, a ball pit, plus tons of areas to climb on. There is also a nice comfy couch for mommy to sit in and read while the kids wear themselves out. I will totally miss the playarea when we move to our house!

Shopping here is also a blast. I love shopping in general so of course I love it. I think it is so cool to see the different packages and try to figure out what everything is. I also love seeing familiar things with different packages like Oreos, Coke, etc. I do need to adjust to the meat section of the grocery store though. For example I asked Ken to pick out our chicken the other day because I could not handle it. It was a pile of raw chicken which you picked through to pick out what you wanted. I find raw meat gross so I think I will have to work myself up to that!

Mmmmm...Dumplings! I might just live off of dumplings for the next two years. I love them so much! Chicken, shrimp, pork, it doesn't matter because they all rock! I hope to learn how to cook them before going back to the US.

Well that is a little bit of what is going on here. Right now dinner is cooking and Mikayla is saying she needs to go to Target. I guess I better go and break the bad news that there is no Target in China. Hope she is okay with Walmart because there is one here in Dalian.

Our First Hot Pot Dinner

Tonight we went to dinner with some fellow Intel Expats as well as some of their coworkers who are from Dalian. I had never had hot pot before and was not quite sure what it was but was excited to give it a shot. When deciding to come to China I said that I would not be too scared or too picky to try new things. I almost chickened out on that decision tonight but pushed myself to be more adventurous.


Hot pot is pretty cool. Basically they put a pot with oil bubbling away in the center of the table and bring you veggies, meat, and seafood raw for you to cook in it. You plop in what you want to eat and let it cook then scoop it out and dip it in your dipping sauce of choice. At our table Argon and Annie (who we knew from when they were Inpats in AZ) ordered for us and taught us what to do. The first thing that went into the hot pot were very thin slices of mutton. Yummy. Then Annie put a plate in my face and told me to try it. It was goose feet. Now I told myself that I would be open and try things but now I was facing raw goose feet. It was pickled and spiced and I was not supposed to cook it I was just supposed to eat it. I slowly grabbed one and then looked at it for a minute not wanting to insult Annie as she had just eaten one before offering it to me and kept saying it was good. Ken was sitting next to me and saw my hesitation so he grabbed one and ate it first to encourage me. So I did what I said I would do I ate it. It was chewy, a little spicy and like I said had a pickle taste to it. Not yummy but not gross either. =-) The next thing that went into the hot pot and on my plate was a brown tube looking thing. I asked what it was and was told it was seafood and they didn't know how it was said in English. I like seafood so I gave it a shot as well. It did not taste like much but was very, very chewy. Later I asked someone else what it was and found out it was a sea worm. Lovely. The last new thing I tried was oyster. I have never tried it before and now was a good a time as any. It was not bad, fishy but I would try it again. After trying all that new stuff I filled myself up on more mutton, some duck and some very yummy veggies.

The hot pot cooking up some mutton. The flowers etc floating on top were for seasoning.

Mikayla and Declan had not slept so they were not as fun loving as usual. Mikayla ate rice, veggies, mutton and some duck. She didn't feel like trying much new and her favorite part was the ice cream bar they gave us at the end. Declan on the other hand was not in the mood to be anywhere other then bed. He threw a fit for about the first hour of dinner. I was so embarrassed. I know moms say this all the time but I really mean it...he has NEVER acted this bad in public before. Actually I don't know that he has acted that bad at home either. I knew he was tired so finally I took him out to the car and had the driver drive us around the block. He fell asleep within minutes and napped in the car with the driver while we finished eating. I am hoping he still sleeps through the night since it was only like 7 when he went to bed and he had not eaten yet but we shall see.

All in all once Declan went to sleep and I could stop stressing it was a very fun night. I look forward to trying hot pot again but maybe with some more "safe" foods. =-)

Ken and Argon

Ni Hao from China!

I keep waiting to blog until I have time to talk about packing, moving and the flight but lately it seems like I will never have that time!! So I will just start from today and work backwards when I can. =-)

As you can see we got here! Yay! It was a very long day of traveling with two crazy kids and some delays but all in all it really was not that bad. We only had one casualty which was in the form of one 50 pound black bag of luggage. Out of all 20 checked bags it was the most valuable bag so of course it did not arrive in Dalian with us! Inside was a years worth of meds for the family both prescription and over the counter as well as all of our books on China and how to communicate here. Right now it is Friday AM here and we arrived on Tuesday night. We just got the call minutes ago that the bag was located so I am SO happy! I have about two days of meds left so it could not have been found at a more perfect time. The bag had lost its tag so it went to the lost and found of Mexicana air and has been sitting there in San Fransisco this whole time.

Other then the scramble to find the lost bag we have been doing a lot of running around. The first night we were put up in the Shangri-La hotel and were supposed to move to a housing community about 45 minutes away until our house is ready. As we were getting ready to be picked up for the move we got notified that the place we were supposed to move into was still occupied so we could not move. Instead we were moved to the residence part of the Shangri-La hotel. We will be here until the 20th or so until our house is completed and ready for us to move in. Ken went yesterday to get all his visa papers filled out and taken care of. Now that he is official our air and sea shipments can leave the US. Yay!

We have also ventured out to do some shopping here and there. We went to Metro for food and some basic necessities we needed and then went to Ikea to get some home stuff. Mikayla is not adjusting well to a twin bed so we checked out the toddler beds and hope to get one for her new room in the new house. Right now she either sleeps with us or on her mattress on the floor in our room. She has also not adjusted to the time difference well at all. The rest of us are all on China time now so she has us quite tired with her 3 am wake up calls! Tonight I think I will benadryl her up after not allowing a nap all day in hopes that she will finally switch over. She thinks its awesome to live at a Tel (hotel) and is thriving off all the attention she gets here. We can not go shopping without the kids being admired and stared at. The first day we did running around I had both kids strapped into the double stroller (which is too wide for most doors here =-( ) so people would just crowd and look at them. People also loved to touch Declan's hair and their hands. I really am going to have to get Declan to stop sucking his fingers because of that! Yesterday at Ikea we let Declan ride in the cart and had Mikayla walk to keep her awake so she would sleep at night (not!). Kind of a big mistake on our part. People here have no problem just picking her up and walking toward their friends with her. Everyone who knows Mikayla knows that that is NOT a problem with her. She just smiles and says Ni Hao. LOL. Me on the other hand almost had a panic attack the first time it happened. After a day I am already used to it though and just follow along and tell her to say goodbye and then she wiggles to get down. It is so funny how different the culture is regarding other peoples kids! In the US if anyone tried to pick up my kid and walk away I would probably slug them!

We are getting ready to go out again today. More shopping of course. =-) Today we are checking out Mykal, Carafore, and New Mart to see what they have and get the lay of the land. Then it is back for a very short nap for the kids and then off to Dinner with some of Ken's work friends. We will be trying Hot Pot for the first time tonight and I am looking forward to it.