Peddling to a Post Office

Given the post office escapades I've been on since moving to China, I wasn't really surprised when we showed up at the post office and found it closed. I mean, I think in the entire two years of living here, I've only mailed a letter on the first try ONCE. So this time, I just laughed...

 But Danielle's mom had requested a picture of her in front of a Chinese post office, so at least the sign was still there even if the doors were barred! For when Danielle was a mere 8 years old, she had declared she would one day live in China to share God's light, and have as her job working at a post office and delivering mail on a bike. ;)

So it was only fitting that Danielle biked to a post office while she was in China. :) Her direction in life has changed from her 8 year old dreams, but it will always be cool that she was able to spend 6 weeks in this country!

 And at least our morning excursion was not in vain. I decided to check the other China Post in the area on the way back. I'd seen the sign for months but never seen it open so I didn't have too much hope, but ta-da! I was actually able to mail my letter on the first day I tried. ;)

 And just look at the sky we had!! It was hot not in the shade, but the breeze makes it better when you bike. And with sky like this, I decided to just keep riding, since I had about 45 minutes before Ellie was likely to wake from her morning nap. Horray for having someone to stay home so I could go out while she slept!

 So my little backseat girl and I kept biking. One of the sweetest things about Danielle and Alex staying was that I was able to do more things with just my big girl. While having a sibling is so good for learning things and growing in character and not having everything revolve around you, it is a big adjustment. So ti was special to have more connection time and have time to focus on what a cool girl Hadassah has become.

 Since it WAS hot, and our favorite Secret Garden seems to be closed for summer break, we went to a little coffee shop on campus. I gave Hadassah the choice of which treat to get, and she picked the chocolate-iest of all chocolate treats! Girl after my own heart! ;)

 It wasn't long before it was gone! I had to eat quickly to keep up with her, so that I could eat at least half of it and prevent her from ingesting ALL that chocolate! But boy was it good! ;)

 We then walked a little around what I've deemed "Lotus Lake." Fun to be with my big girl without a baby in arms (much as I love going out with Ellie too!).

 We admired the flowers...

 And the incredible view. That sky!! Seriously, the sky has been so amazing lately! Each day it is blue is like a special gift. We've had lots of those gifts lately!

We played with a big stick in the water, then headed home. As we biked, we talked about generosity and the blessing it is. I had told her to leave her big stick on the ground to be generous to the next person who might want one, and she said "I don't want to be generous." I love being with her during the day to have these teachable moments, though. As we wrestled with scanning the card to unlock the door, trying to balance a bike with a girl on the bike and somehow manage to open a door and get inside (just to manage getting into an elevator with a bike!) we somehow got on the topic of grace and God's grace to us. It just reminds me of what a blessing it is to be home during the day, to have these teachable times to talk about character and the Lord amid the dailyness of life. Being a mom is one of the greatest challenges and biggest blessings I've been given so far. 

Downtown Shanghai Lights and Sights

The weekend before Danielle and Alex left, we stayed downtown for 2 nights. We'd talked about going various other places by train, but decided to maximize our time and money by just taxing downtown for 45 minutes instead of all the time it takes to travel outside of the city. Plus, with as huge a city as Shanghai is, it has a lot to offer! It was also fitting that they saw the Bund on their first and last weekends in Shanghai. We were also blessed with beautiful weather!

Friday evening didn't quite go as planned... We got to our hotel (a "serviced apartment" with three bedrooms, so it was very comfortable for us all together!) in good time. But then we made the mistake of taking a taxi to the place we wanted to eat for supper. There went at least 30 minutes in traffic... Then the mall we were going to eat at was overrun with people going to a gaming conference next door. Each of the good restaurants were full with a long wait time. Not good when your children are already tired and hungry!

Cold Stone wasn't busy, though, so we decided on ice cream for supper! Hadassah didn't mind! ;)

We also got some savory breads to go with it, since those were a quick pick up as well. Then we had a picnic...

But OUTSIDE of the gate of the park we'd planned to walk through after supper. Despite light lasting into the evening, it seems most parks close around 5 PM here.

But while we waited for Ryan to get the ever-present need of water, it was a pretty place for a cousin picture! It's pretty cool how these cousins will always be a little closer, despite the years age gap, due to the 6 weeks together.

Our hotel had a beautiful night-light view. Ryan took Alex and Danielle to the Bund to see it all lit up after the girls went to bed, and I had a glorious, relaxing time scrapbooking with this view!

We'd planned to go swimming after breakfast, but the pool didn't open until 11 AM. Dassah enjoyed the last minute switch of Ryan taking her to ride some rides at People's Park though!

Alex and Danielle met them at a subway stop to go to the point of the highest buildings in town.

They got to go to the very top of the tallest building in China (and 2nd tallest in the world!) - The Shanghai Tower.

The view was pretty incredible! The city is huge...

From the top, even the other two tallest buildings looked short!

Back at the hotel, I enjoyed another relaxing scrapbooking break while Ellie napped. The view with blue and white was pretty awesome too! And when Ellie woke and we waited for lunch to arrive (ordering gyros to the hotel was the best ever!) and the others to get back, I turned on Chris Tomlin music and danced. It's been a while since I broke out the old ballet moves, and Ellie laughed to see me spin and leap and dance her around. The words rang out:

"I lift my hands to believe again, 

You are my refuge, You are my strength. 

As I pour out my heart, these things I remember: 

You are faithful God forever!"

With the view of a huge city full of people, and the memories of how faithful God has been through all of the transitions and changes, and how He could use this huge city to bring His Name glory... I knelt, lifted my hands, cried and prayed. May His will be done here. And though I'm not always thrilled by the day-in-day-out discomforts of life overseas, I am thankful to be a small part of what He is doing here.

After lunch, Dassah got to do what she had looked forward to most: swim! This girl loves the water! And Ellie enjoyed her first experience in a big pool too! Since it was closed in the mornings, Ryan even took Hadassah again that night before bed. :)

While the girls napped in the afternoon and Ryan rested at the hotel, I got to go with Danielle and Alex to Yu Yuan Garden. It was awesome how, by now, after their trips downtown to see various museums in the past weeks and their recent forray to the Jewish Refugee's Museum, they knew the subway system better than I did!

There were cool rock formations...

And beautiful, artistic gates.

Small details like these make my eyes happy. :)

It is really neat that out of my side of the family, these two will forever know more about our life here than anyone else!

There were a ton of touristy shops selling things, so they were able to pick up some things for family and friends, and even try their hand at bartering!

Then, it was our turn to enjoy the town. :) It was a perfect late afternoon at the Bund, breezy, pretty empty... So we got our own space and took many timed pictures until we got the perfect one. :)

I love being out with my man, and being out with just him made me appreciate the city even more. It definitely is a fun, romantic spot to be!

And the sky... It's been so beautiful in the recent weeks!

We enjoyed delicious food with fresh bread at an Italian restaurant just around the corner. And we just talked and didn't have to get up once while we ate supper. Amazing to parents of two small children!

"Now we see in a glass dimly..." Never would we have imagined ending up here. I look forward to seeing what God will do in the years to come!

Ellie was ready for us to get back home though. ;) She had the best babysitters, but in her current mommy-clingy state and a cold coming on (we realized later) she was ready for mommy's arms!

Our bright blue eyed big girl was also glad to see us. :) But what a blessing it was to have "live-in" babysitters and be downtown so we could even order pizza in for them! Something we haven't figured out how to do way out where we live...

When the girls were safely tucked in bed, we headed out again. We were going to a hotel where there was supposed to be salsa dancing at 9 PM, but we arrived early and enjoyed chocolate. :) It even happened to be half price!

We headed up where the dancing was supposed to be, but there wasn't any going on. But we found this amazing, secluded balcony with the best view of the city. Wow.

Kissing on top of the world! It was a secluded balocny, and almost didn't seem real. The air was clear, the clouds seemed close enough to touch, and I was with the one I love most. Seemed like a dream world... Romantic outings have been harder than we'd prefer to come by in the last few years, but this was a huge blessing from the Lord to remember!

We waltzed in the clouds as we sang our wedding dnace soung ("A Hundred More Years" by Francesca Batistella) - and cried as we realized how blessed we were as...

"they can dance, under the moonlight, 

and God is smiling down on them tonight... 

And they want to stay right here, 

make it last for a hundred more years!" 

Then we went back down the spiral suitcase, back to our responsibilities, who thankfully slept soundly all night!

Before church, since we didn't have the hour commute we usually do, Ryan took Hadassah to do a few more rides at People's Park while we packed up. A ten minute taxi ride to church seemed so short. The singing and sermon were refreshing, and the potluck afterwards (since it was a 5th Sunday) delicious! A great ending to a great weekend.

And then it was time for goodbye...

 All good things must come to an end... I'm behind on blogging pictures, so hope to catch up on our adventures of the past week soon. But, posting these now, as it was the day to say goodbye to Danielle and Alex. We will miss them!

I'll miss more than my dishes amazingly being done every meal and the children having extra playmates when things got crazy. I'll miss the way they jumped in to help, whether it be carrying bags and children or receiving my grocery orders while I played outside with Hadassah. But most of all I'll miss the friends and sister/brother they've become (since they're only 9-11 years younger, they feel more like a sibling than a niece and nephew!).

It's pretty cool how God works. One of the hardest things in moving overseas was how I knew I'd miss out on many things with family. But then there have been opportunities like this - 6 weeks with this part of my family! - something that would not have happened were we stateside. I am so thankful for my brother and sister-in-law for giving us such a gift this summer!

 Ellie will miss her playmate. :) Alex was so good with babies, doing funny things to make her smile or dancing her around the room when she was fussy and just wanted mommy. They also got her to a steady-standing state - now I don't have to worry about her toppling over (usually!) because she's pretty steady with all the practice they gave her while spotting her!

 Hadassah will especially miss Danielle, who did special activities and outings with her. Just this morning, she made this cute play set out of pipe cleaners! Already Dassah's had fun telling a little story with it about a caterpillar who met a friendly ladybug. :)

This morning while they packed up and walked between apartment buildings, they discovered kittens! One was by itself, and very friendly; Danielle took Dassah out to meet it and they even got to pet and play with it for 20 minutes! While we were waiting for Ryan to call a taxi to take them to the airport, we discovered others. So cute!

 Dassah so so loves animals, and even Ellie was enamored watching them. I joked to Danielle (but didn't say her name): "Do you want to bring a kitten home?" Without missing a beat, Dassah gave an enthusiastic "yes!!" One day, little girl, one day, I hope. Just not while we're living in an apartment... But for now it will be fun to try to watch these grow up outside when we can!

Thank you again, Danielle and Alex! The house seems quieter now. It will be good to be just our little family again, but you will definitely be missed. These memories we've made will last a lifetime! And it will always be fun to be just a little closer to you both as a result of weeks together and tons of late night games of The Golden Ages. :)

$5 Swim Suits and Saturday Fun

We went to a water park on Wednesday. It was fun, but the price may not have been the time spent getting there or the fact that with little kids, we didn't even do any of the big slides! ;) But it was a fun family memory, and Hadassah was thrilled and keeps talking about it. We also got to go with our good friends, which made it even more fun!

But while I was there, I noticed that, despite the crowds, bikinis were rare. If they did have a two piece, the bottom at least usually had a skirt, and often they had a drape over the top. The vast majority of the swim suits had skirts in some way. As one who used to hate swim suit shopping, spent big bucks to get ones with skirts, and finally just made my own because it was too hard to find one that worked, I was impressed.

On Friday night, we walked to BiJiang Guangchang for our date. Bad mistake. Despite the gentle breeze, we were soaked with sweat and I felt lightheaded by the end of our 45 minute walk. Guess that's too be expected when it's July! :D But on our walk we passed three swim suit shops all clustered together, and the insides looked enticing. 

 So this morning, we set out on a big girl shopping trip - in a taxi (called by my husband thankfully!) this time. :) My girl is growing fast, and I wanted to find her a swimsuit with a skirt if we were going to buy another anyway.

 Danielle came along - shopping is just more fun in a group! And I think it made Hadassah feel grown up to be out with the girls. :) And we found the cutest swim suit! Despite the saleslady pulling out all of the two piece ones she could, suggesting they were cute instead, she was accommodating, insisting that the ones I liked, though she didn't have a smaller size, would work on Hadassah. And since I can sew, I decided to go ahead and go with one that just needed the shoulders taken in a little.

 We even got ice cream to celebrate since we were out and it was just a short walk down the way. Dassah felt very important getting her own cone (since often as a family we just split treats three ways!) and managed to eat it all without spilling a drop on herself! Where did this big girl come from?

 When we got home we just had to model it for Daddy. She couldn't stop jumping up and down in happiness. And I must say it's adorable! And the price? Only 35 RMB ($5.23 for you Americans). You can't beat that.

 So we had to pick up another super cute one in a larger size since we were there, and it was just $5 too. I mean, it's worth having around since she's guaranteed to grow and absolutely loves being in the water!

And then, I just may have gone online and bought enough suits at around $5 each (some less!) for the rest of Ellie and Hadassah's childhood. They're small enough to bring back to the US, and finding swimsuits like these at prices like these isn't likely to happen. I had thought of eventually sewing them their own similar to mine, but the price of fabric alone in the US would be more than the cost of buying these suits here, not to mention the time involved in sewing! Plus, I wouldn't put the time in for all the cute detail you can get here!

I did a quick search for "woman's swim suit" too, curious to see what would come up. The first three results were typical one pieces. The next page was mostly full of the above - amazingly modest for the top bought suits on Taobao, used by much of China! Two pieces were a rarity. I feel like it says a lot about a culture, to see that exposing themselves a ton during swimming just isn't a big practice. And with an adult nice suit just $10, I bought one to give it a test. It would be nice to have variety, and I just might stock up in adult sizes for ten years down the road for the girls too... And yes, I am very tempted to ask friends and family in the US if they want a suit too if the quality is ok! ;) Seriously, if you do, let me know, and I just may be able to work something out.

 We came home to be there when Ellie woke to nurse and make lunch. My big helper is enjoying her new apron! I have the process started to make a matching one for me and another slightly bigger, so Ellie can grow into this one and Hadassah grow into the next size up. Hard to believe I'll have two kitchen helpers before too long! I'm just waiting on more flower detail and bias tape to come. My test Taobao order turned out well, and with the cheap prices it has, I know I'll be missing it, Chinese and all, when we're back in America.

 This little one had a long morning nap, but then a rough afternoon one and a pretty fussy day. She had a fever on and off for 2 1/2 days, seems to be teething again, and this morning broke out in heat rash! But she still had a super fun time playing on the little car, hitting the "beeper" over and over. We can't get over how cuddly and chubby baby she is, and yet she's growing so fast... Never happier than when she's on the go - as long as mommy isn't walking away from her, of course! ;)

Ryan got some Ellie time after naps while I took Dassah swimming. A certain way to ensure she'll wake up happy is to tell her "let's get your swimsuit on and go swimming!" She loved her twirly suit, and even twirled around and around in her swim ring in the pool. She desperately wants to swim by herself... Tells me to let her go all the time, tried to get out and go swim in the fast lane once, and enjoys being able to propel herself with the floaty. I tell her we'll get her lessons when she's four or so (and we're back in the US) and until then she hangs on the edge of the pool to do her "water tricks" or we pretend we're seals as I help her dodge all the many people (we pretend they're ice burgs and dolphins and penguins) as we go from one edge of the pool to the other. I love time with Hadassah, and I think quality time together really speaks to her. There's been a lot of adjustment with a little sister around for mommy to care for. Lots of good (she told me today that Ellie is her favorite and her best friend!) but also lots of time for some conflict. So getting away and doing something fun together is good for both of us.

 As almost every Saturday here has been with Alex and Danielle, supper found us eating Chinese food! Y was so gracious helping us find a place for them to try authentic noodles and jiaozi (half-moon dumplings). They're getting excellent with chop sticks, and it's been a good excuse for us to eat more authentic cuisine too! It tasted good, but it did leave us with just a tad indigestion...

 And despite the shade and a little breeze, a 15 minute walk made this one break out in heat rash again. Poor thing! I took her clothes off at the restaurant, we took a taxi home, and the rash died down as she played in front of the air conditioner. This same thing (fever followed by heat rash) happened to Hadassah at almost the exact time last summer, and at least I am not freaking out as much as I did with her. But still, not fun to see your baby covered in red spots!

Now it's the end of another Saturday. Ryan leads music in church tomorrow, so has been busy preparing. And it's crazy to realize that after tomorrow, we just have one more Sunday with Danielle and Alex. But we have a full week and half planned before they go!