Another weekend getaway!

We just returned from a weekend getaway with some of our dearest friends here in Tianjin. We went about an hour away to Baodi, where apparently some of the best hot springs in the world are located. We stayed at a monstrous Hyatt, which I had only previously eaten at with my parents. The kids had never seen it, so they were staring in amazement as we drove up!! Here is a picture from the interstate - it goes on and on!

We all had a wonderful time eating, bowling and enjoying each others company! The guys did a bit of golfing on Saturday, which gave the girls a great excuse to use the spa later in the day because we had been so busy entertaining the kids! The kids spent all of their waking hours with some of their best friends - they couldn't ask for much more!!

Eens has decided that his true passion is bowling - hehe!! Everyone thought he was such a typical little American boy!! On the first night, and for the first time ever, he bowled like there was no tomorrow!! His grandma will be very proud!! He stood in one lane and went back and forth, back and forth rolling the bowling ball attempting to find the best possible rolling method!! He did this for about an hour until I finally made him come to bed!!

Action photos!!

Here is Eens in action! It was a very nice bowling alley - very impressive for China!

Enjoying their bottles of ...Sprite, of course!!

Coop was surrounded by 12 girls that loved on him the entire weekend!

Eens and sweet Anna!

Ellie and Coop were enthralled with the huge indoor pool! Coop and Lucy fished away while El, Sophie, and Eens played in the medium sized pool! After we swam for a bit, we all jumped into the hot tub to warm up - it was quite relaxing, even for the mommies!

On Saturday afternoon we all hung out at the lobby restaurant, while the kids were entertained. The staff did a fantastic job entertaining 15 kids in all!! They are not accustomed to children as this is primarily a "business/conferenece" hotel. They were more than accomodating and even subjected one of their dear members to dressing up as a dragon to entertain the little ones. The poor guy nearly got beat up and dragged down by his tail - I definitely did not envy him!!

The lobby is quite impressive!

We went bowling again on Satuday night and once again Eens was on a roll (quite literally!!)! I even scored quite high in the 5 frames I was allowed to play before my sweet children decided to completely melt down. So, instead of just taking my 3 loves up to bed, I also brought along one of El's good friends for a sleepover! Why not?? When you have 3 kids, what's one more - truly!!

Trying a new technique!

Sleeping beauties - not quite!! At about 11:30 I finally had to tell them to sleep!!

Unfortunately, this was our last family outing with our dear Irish friends - they will leave in the middle of December to return to Ireland for good. We wish them well, but will miss them truly!! Thanks for the "last blast" Murphy's!! (I did say this was our last family outing, we are looking forward to an adult outing later this month!)