Happy Earth Day!!

Today the kids celebrated Earth Day at school. I am always so impressed with the extent that the school goes to to make the kids appreciate and respect their environment. Last year, shortly after school started, Ellie gave me a very hard time for running the water while she was brushing her teeth! Eens is insistent on not using plastic bottles and instead loves his water bottles (he's very proud of his new extra large one he just got!). And Coop is constantly reminding everyone to put the rubbish in the bin and the recycling in the correct place! These attitudes come from daily reminders from their teachers and watching those around them take care of the world! Sustainability is an ongoing conversation that happens between everyone at the school, so they really took advantage of today to celebrate all of the kids hard work to keep the school as "green" as possible, and as a learning experience about ways the kids can take action and improve things within their "mini" world and the "big" world!!

This is just a little clip of the nursery through 5th grade singing one of my favorites at their Earth Day assembly...

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing

I love listening to their sweet little voices! You can see the top of Eensie's hair, but that's about it of my sweeties!!

Tubby Talk!!

Last night Eens and Coop were taking a bath together and I overheard this conversation between the two of them...

Eens said, "Cooper would you like a massage?"

Cooper replied, "Okay, I love a massage."

Eens assured him, "The sign says no touching privates here!"

I'm terribly concerned - what in the world kind of massage parlor is my son running out of the tub?? And probably more disturbing, where did his sign idea come from??!! giggle...giggle...giggle

Colors of Spring!

Yesterday I spent the morning at the local flower market finally buying some flowers for outside! It is one of the dirtiest places I visit in Tianjin, but I love it!! I don't love the spit dodging or the nasty water that fills some of the roads, but I love all of the colors and the ease of buying tons of flowers for very little money! We filled the back end of my Odyssey yesterday, and I think between the three of us we spent about $60 (that included 3 indoor orchids, which were about $10 a piece!). I brought all of mine home and was so happy when the gardener turned up and planted them all!!

After school Coopie wanted to take pictures of some of the beautiful blooming trees around our house! We have really noticed the changing seasons this year because spring was so late. We kept waiting and waiting, and finally the trees are all blooming, the grass is for the most part green, and the roses are all coming up!

Mei Mei and Ellie - true love!!

Ellie adores Mei Mei! From the moment she gets up to the minute she goes to bed with the pup, she is with her. She almost cries every morning when she has to put her in the crate so I can take the kids to school - it is quite emotional for her!! When she gets home after school, the first thing she does is put on Mei's leash and take her for a walk. She also trains her and can now successfully get her to sit and fetch without even using treats!! As much as Ellie loves Mei Mei, Mei Mei loves her right back! She would much rather be in the arms of loving Ellie than rambunctious Eens who thinks her neck is her waist!! Yesterday El was working with Mei and she finally let me take some pictures...

One trip to the ER and a new gardener!

When Danny is away, things tend to happen. They are sometimes good things and they are sometimes bad things! During this trip I tried really hard to keep things as normal as possible for the kids. On Saturday we went to our new favorite restaurant on "trash mountain" (I'll take pictures and put them in a post soon!). The gentleman who gets me all my meat and does catering for me just opened this restaurant a couple of months ago. It is nice to go there because I totally trust what he is serving. I'm very skeptical at most restaurants, but here I can try anything on the menu and I know it is good quality! He also makes the most amazing hot chocolate - it actually tastes like he melted a candy bar and served it - I don't care how warm it is outside, I can't go there and not have one!!

So, while Danny was away, I still planned to take the kids and meet friends there to eat lunch! We also brought along the scooters so they could ride around at the park afterwards. Lunch for me was pretty much a complete disaster as my children somehow left their manners and listening abilities somewhere between the car and the restaurant! Saying they were not well behaved is a huge understatement. By the time we finished eating, I was on edge, but still thought it was a good idea for them to be outside. We scooted down to a park for a little play! While we were there, Eens and Coop were on the merry go round. During there spinning, Coop decided it would be a good idea to let go, proceeding to fly right off the horse onto the ground! My neighbor picked him up and brought him to me, of course I didn't see anything. He was wailing and he looked really off. He was holding his head with two hands and seemed to be in a lot of pain. He didn't seem to be feeling better even after some mommy love, so I thought it best to go to the SOS and have him checked out. Being all alone, without a car, 30 minutes from your doctor's office is not a good thing if you have a child who is ill. Luckily my neighbor was with me and she watched the other two as they whisked us back to the emergency room (first time there and was pleasantly surprised!). They checked all of his vitals and his blood pressure a few times to make sure there were no sudden changes. He seemed to perk up after some juice and he looked more like my Coop!! I'm not sure if it was a necessity to take him in, but it put my mind at rest, although I still checked on him bunches of times throughout the night!!

Yesterday we had plans to spend a good part of the day with our dear friends (they are so good to take me in when Danny is gone!!)! The air quality was poor, but the day was actually gorgeous. The kids went to a birthday party first and then we all went back to Rego and played and ordered McDonald's for lunch!! It was a great way to spend our day and Coop only fell down about 5 times, but thankfully he didn't hit his head again!!

When we returned home, I had to water our grass for the second time that day because it was so warm. As I was watering it, I decided that I really didn't want to do it anymore. I was only on day 2 of 14 days of watering. I had them plant the grass on Friday because it looked like we would be getting some rain this week, but now it is all out of the forecast!! My ayi had told me Friday that she thought it was too dirty to water the grass, so I was stuck doing it (who's the boss here??!!!)! Anyway, I can be quite resourceful when needed so I called the property manager and within an hour I had a new gardener! I am very pleased with this arrangement because he can come every day and water my grass, take care of my trees and flowers, and keep my deck and furniture clean. All of these services will be about $15 a week for all 7 days!! As always, when I told my sister this, she asked, "How are you ever going to come back to the US?"!! Danny of course had a good giggle, but the last thing he wants to do is water the entire yard with a hand sprayer!!

Reunited!!

Danny returned home last night and we couldn't be happier!! He had a good visit with his mom and she was thankfully released from the hospital on Thursday!! I'm sure she will recover faster being at home - hospitals are just not fun!

While Danny was in the states he was able to do some shopping! Of course I sent him with three huge bags to fill while he was there! I had already done some online shopping in anticipation of Danny's parents visit later this month (this will not be happening due to the surgery). So, I had filled up a good portion of one of the bedrooms already! I also thought I was very clever because instead of sending Danny to the grocery store with a list and him only finding half of it, I went on peapod delivery service and ordered everything I needed online and had it sent to his parents! Plus, his parents had already shopped for Eensie's upcoming birthday!! I'm not sure how, but my dear husband was able to pack a huge Playmobil Egyptian Pyramid and several accessories, a huge Lego set, 4 bags of groceries, 6 new pairs of shoes, loads of new clothes, and books in the bags!! He also surprised me with a new docking station for my Iphone and the new DS (it has a bigger screen which is much better for me!)! He is a very good shopper - he makes me proud!!

As excited as I was to see the three full bags, I was more excited to see Danny. I never do well when I know he is across the ocean, but of course, I was happy he was with his mom!! I am so thankful we are all together again!!

DisneySea

At Tokyo Disney, there are two parks, one is Disneyland and the other is DisneySea. We were skeptical about DisneySea because we thought it was more geared for the older kids and adults, like Epcot in Orlando. We only spent one day there, but in the end, we wish we would have spent more time! The park is broken up into seven themes, Port Discovery, American Waterfront, Mediterranean Harbor, Lost River Delta, Arabian Coast, Mermaid Lagoon, and Mysterious Island. All rides and food go along with the themed areas and there were so many rides it was unbelievable!! My favorite area was the Mermaid Lagoon because you were inside and it seemed like you were in the ocean - all the kiddie rides were based on The Little Mermaid and there was a great play area for the kids to run free!! El, Eens, and Danny loved the Indiana Jones ride - even Eens who later refused to go on a mini Flounder roller coaster!! Poor Coop was heart broken when he wasn't tall enough to go on it with the others!! Instead, he got some good quality mommy time!!

Coop waiting for his turn on the Flounder coaster!!Watching the volcano erupt towards sundown!!The boys strategizing what to do next!!One final ride and Eens wouldn't go on it!! He is such a funny boy!!If you ever get the chance to go to Tokyo, I would highly recommend it! We absolutely loved it and even Danny is so happy that I "made" him go!!! TokyoDisney was fantastic and we know that because the kids are still pretending they are on the rides here at home!!