The Boys!!

Ellie is our little adventurer and the boys, hmmm, not so much!!

The first day of petit club Coop whimpered off and on every time we saw him! After that day, he was good to go when he realized he had his teachers, Naoko and Carol, wrapped around his little finger!! Several hugs and kisses and he was off to enjoy his day!! He even shocked both Danny and I when he decided that he would go on stage as "spideyman" for the fashion show!!

Eens did great the first day and after that he decided that a vacation for him should not involve going to mini club!! After much coaxing from his ever patient teachers he eventually participated in some of the events, but he was most happy when I came to the beach and we built sand castles!! One day he found an unopened clam shell on the beach and brought it back to his bedside table. We woke up a few days later to the most horrific smell ever since the clam had decided to open during the night. He was heartbroken when we told him that his friend had to go back to the ocean!!

Every day at 3:00 Danny and I would pick up the kids and we would all swim for a couple of hours before we had to shower and get ready for dinner! I can tell the kids are growing up so quickly because we all had such a great time in the water. I wasn't worried every second that one of them was going to go under, so we played and played!! I think this was the boys favorite part of the day!!

Here are some pics of the boys at their best!!

Finally, we convinced him to jump on the bungee trampoline!!

Ellie in her element

My little adventurer had a wonderful time on this holiday. The day before we left she told me, "Maybe I should pretend I don't like it here so tomorrow I won't be so sad to leave!" My sentiments exactly!! Living overseas has brought out so many of Ellie's amazing gifts. Before we moved she had a hard time making new friends, she liked to stick to those whom she was comfortable with, but now she is the first one to make a new friend. She loves going to Mini club for that reason. And sure enough, the first day Ellie had made several friends that she hung out with the entire time we were there!


Not only was she making new friends, she also got to participate in many activities during the day. One day Danny and I were giggling because by 12:00 El had played golf, archery, bungeed on a trampoline, swung on the trapeze, and went on a hunt for creatures through the jungle!! That same afternoon she kayaked and then later that night she was in a fashion show. She also had a couple hours of swimming in there!! How she does it, I have no idea, but I am extremely proud that she loves trying new things!! One of her favorite new activities is sailing. Every afternoon mini club went to the beach and she could choose to kayak, play on the beach, or sail! She sailed everyday except the day that there was not enough wind to go!!

Here are some of the pictures of Ellie in her element!!!

El's in the boat with the yellow sail!!

Flipping on the bungee cords!

Making friends with lovely sisters from Korea!

If you can't sail, you might as well kayak!!

Pretty much paradise!!

We arrived in Kuantan, Malaysia on Friday to spend 6 days on Cherating Beach. Kuantan is located on the eastern coast of the Malaysian penninsula. It has only been in the last 20 years or so that they have been developing this area. The few resorts that are on the beach are very secluded and pretty much isolated from the city. We chose to stay at a Club Med again because we had such a wonderful experience last January. We love how easy life is for those 6 days! This Club Med was the first one opened in Asia and it was tucked between the jungle and the beach. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been too!!

We stayed in bungalows on stilts, which are very similar to how houses are built in many Malyasian villages. We had two connected rooms that were very spacious, even though they could use a bit of updating. They are a bit old, but I think that just added to the charm and appeal of the resort for me! And, I was very thankful that the beds were not typical hard beds that we usually find in Asian hotels - they were very comfortable!!

We walked through the jungle or rode a short train ride to one of the two beaches on the resort. This beach was where all of the water sports were located and there were fantastic tide pools after 12:00pm for the kids to play in. The water was very gentle and warm. There was very little breeze, so it was extremely hot (not that I'm complaining!!) and we had to constantly cool off in the water!

These are some of the rock formations that lined parts of the beaches.

Monsoon season is just around the corner for this part of Malaysia and on our final day we got a taste of it with some grey skies and pounding waves. I actually woke up that morning and was really upset because I thought we were having a thunderstorm on our last day, but thankfully it was only the waves coming onto shore!! Danny and I spent some time on the beach just watching and listening to the waves...so peaceful!!

We are so grateful for the opportunity to travel to these beautiful places. I refuse to take any of this for granted, so when we left, I had tears in my eyes. Yes, some of the tears were because I was going to miss my drinks by the pool, but the rest were because I was incredibly thankful that I get to experience these moments with my husband and children!!

A Day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Last Wednesday we left for Malaysia to spend our October holiday on the beach, while the Chinese celebrated their 60th anniversary of communism and Mid Autumn festival. Our first stop of the trip was to the capital, Kuala Lumpur. We arrived very late Wednesday night, just in time to brush teeth and get into our pajamas and crawl into bed!! We stayed at the Ascott which was located within walking distance to the Petronas Towers (which are the largest twin towers in the world). I had not done a lot of research on KL because of my lovely sinuses and basically just lack of time!! I had talked to my friend who grew up there so I knew to be leary of the cab drivers and that was about it!! I had also looked up where Toys R Us was located so we could do a little shopping! My friend told me that the Ascott was in a great location and she was right - we only took a taxi to and from the airport and even then we arranged payment before we got into the van!

On Thursday morning when we woke up I took a quick look at the local tourist magazine and found that there was a lovely park located right behind the towers. It was a beautiful, warm, blue sky day, and the magazine said there was a great playground for kids. Our kids don't get to play on "great" playgrounds here in China, so we thought we would check it out!

It was incredible and we basically had the entire park and wading pool to ourselves!! We, of course, didn't realize that the kids could play in the pool, so we didn't bring swimsuits. My three loves could have cared less, it was over 90 degrees and so they soaked themselves completely!

Coop's thoughts...should I go under and risk getting in trouble or not...oh it's hot out, I'm getting wet!!

Eens making sure Coop is okay after walking directly through the waterfall!!After all of the sunshine and soaking, we all worked up quite an appetite! The kids ordered pancakes with ice cream (okay, we compromised because we had promised we would buy them ice cream!) and Danny ordered a Malaysian feast which cost a little over $4!! After our hearty lunch, it was rest time and changing clothes time!! We also took a dip in the pool at the Ascott before we headed out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen! The Petronas Towers at night were beautiful. CPK was located in the shopping mall on the first several levels of the towers and we watched all of the fountains going while we waited for our food!

Although we only got a glimpse of KL, it is quite a fascinating city. There are so many different cultures that are present, Malays, Chinese, Indonesians, South Indians, and Thais, plus many more. Malaysia itself is predominantly Islamic with many devout Muslims. There were men and women prayer rooms located throughout the airport and calls to prayer begin at 5:00am. I would love to spend more time there and really explore the different parts of the city and see how the different cultures have made their own mark!

This is a bit of a side note, but while we were eating breakfast at the hotel, there were many Muslims eating at the same time. Our children were not exposed to Muslims in Bettendorf, IA, so seeing the women with their faces covered was very new to them. I was so proud of them, they didn't even appear to notice. There are many positive things I can say about our expat experience thus far, but one of the biggest joys for me is watching my children become international citizens.

Preparing for our trip!!

In preparation for our trip to Malaysia, I needed my nails done and since Ellie was at home, she insisted that she needed hers done too!!  Ethan sat close by in case I changed my mind and allowed him to get his done too!!  

Daddy's home!

And he had three large suitcases and a carry on full of goodies!!  Okay, this was last week, but I haven't had a chance to blog until now!!  Danny made it home safely in time for a home cooked meal last Sunday!!  He did some stocking up for us so that over Christmas we won't have that much to bring back (yeah, right!!)!  I also ordered some things on-line and had them sent to his parents so he wouldn't have to go to Bath and Body Works for me!!  As you can see, he got everything on the "list" plus a few extras!!!


He's a wonderful husband!!  He even ventured into Gymboree without me even asking him to go!!

Our Next Escape

It's that time of year when many expats begin escaping China for a little rest and relaxation! The way I look at it, I can be in China about 3 months at a time and then I need to escape! Luckily the Chinese holidays fall about 3 months apart during the school year!! We currently are choosing destinations outside of China based on beaches and sunshine, another criteria is to fly into a major city that has good shopping!


On Wednesday we will be departing for Malaysia!! We are so excited for some family time, shopping, beach, and sunshine! We will fly into Kuala Lumpur Wednesday and stay there until Friday. On Friday we will fly on to Kuantan and stay on Cherating Beach for 6 days! We are hoping that during our stay we will get to visit the turtle sanctuary at night and watch the turtles come on shore and lay their eggs!

The children and Danny are off school and work over these next two weeks for October holiday. During this time the Chinese will be celebrating the Moon Festival and National Day on October 1st. This is the 60th year of communist rule here, so the festivities will be gigantic! I'm assuming they will rival the opening ceremony of the Olympics last year. I read that 200,000 people will be participating in events in Beijing alone. We also received an e-mail last week that they will be closing Beijing International Airport (yes, thousands of flights are in and out daily) from 8:30 - 12:30 during the main part of the celebration. We anticipated that they might do something like this so thankfully we scheduled our flight out the day before!! Danny's mom sent me this article on the preparations...
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/09/china_prepares_for_its_60th_an.html
I'm sure after perusing through this you can understand why an escape is in order!!