Still Sightseeing

I put some pictures of Lauren and Marshall singing and dancing while Todd played the guitar. They think they are rock stars. Yesterday while Todd was at work, we went to the bigger grocery store to see what they had and then later met Todd at work and went to visit a Lama Buddist Temple built in the 1700's. It was really pretty. It used to be a palace for the Emperor before he moved into the Forbidden City so it was huge and each building had different Budda statues representing different things, ie power, long life, medicine, etc. People knelt down to pray and burned large vats of incense out in the front of each one. We also saw the Guiness Book of World Record holder for the largest Budda statue built out of a single piece of wood. It was over 90 feet tall.
After we left there, we went to an area called Wangfujing Plaza (like Times Square) where they are getting all decked out for the Olympics. They have alot of Olympic merchandise stores there as well as other shops. We got caught in a heavy rainstorm, we were sitting under an umbrella in the middle of the area with drinks and popcorn but still got a little wet. We then went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant which was good, of course, Lauren did not like hers, even though they were plain cheese quesadillas. If she ever stops liking peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese, we are in trouble. By the way, thanks Carrie for the jelly. She made her poor husband travel all over China with a jar of grape jelly for me. We were his last stop in a 2-3 week business trip, thanks Greg, you deserve a reward.
Today, we are going to meet Todd again and walk around a Hutong (neighborhoods where there is a courtyard in the middle of the house and rooms around it.
The pictures I put in of the kids next to the big stuffed animals are ones of the Olympic mascots. Lauren is standing next to her favorite- beibei, and Marshall next to him is HuanHuan, or as he likes to call him, "The Red Fire Guy" The other picture shows him holding his "red fire guy" moments before the meltdown and "red fire guy" being taken away for the rest of the day. Ahh, the joys of parenthood, I'm sure none of you have to deal with that kind of thing.
Take care all

Long Night at IKEA

We got home pretty late tonight from a 3 hour long trip to IKEA. Let's just say it involved miscommunication, long lines, and whiny kids. They both fell asleep on the way home but woke up when we got home and ate cereal for dinner. We did buy the things we needed to set up the basement, when the floors are re-tiled that is.
We finally found a place to buy meat, we went to a German meat market and stocked up on some items. There are rumors that because the air quality is so bad, the government may ban 90% of cars, which would mean we could only have the car less than one time a week. Hopefully that doesn't happen. I don't really notice the poor air when breathing, although it is very hazy.
I am finally putting some pictures of the house on the blog. It is really nice and once the basement is done, we will be able to get all of the kids toys out for them. We are figuring out Slingbox, we were able to get it on to our TV but the picture is not the greatest, we are still trying to figure out how to fix that. We both fell asleep last night watching the Today Show. (Sad but true)
I am going to put pictures up showing how Miss Geri arranges the kids stuffed animals each day. The kids love to go up and see what she did with them. She is really nice and Marshall gives her a big hug whenever he sees her. She made them lunch yesterday (I didn't even know she was doing it) and made grilled cheese but didn't take the paper that comes inbetween the slices off. Marshall wouldn't eat it because there was "hard" stuff in the middle but I didn't think anything of it until Lauren took a bite and starting gagging, saying "There's paper in it". It was rather funny. I just quietly made them another one.
Other than that, we have just been swimming and playing at the playground. It still doesn't seem like alot of families are back yet from vacation. Probably in the next few weeks. Lauren is already looking forward to starting school. I think they will both like it.
Hope all is going well in the U.S.
Take care

A Visit to a Park

Everyone is still getting up pretty early, around 6:30. We went to a market today- called the Dirt Market where they sell little trinkets, stone, jade, rugs, a little bit of everything. Lauren and Marshall laughed when they saw a little boy walking around with no clothes. Alot of times here, the babies don't wear pants or they wear pants with a split in them so they can go to the bathroom. The two of them just giggled. We just walked around for while but didn't buy anything. Then we went to Jin Shung Park near the Forbidden City. Todd and I had gone there in April, it is a big hike to the top but you can see the entire Forbidden City and alot of Beijing. All around the park are people singing and dancing. It was really pretty, lots of flowers and greenery. At the top, they have a place where you can get your picture taken in traditional Chinese clothes so we had the kids do it. Marshall told the girl he was the Emperor and she laughed. They turned out really cute. If you look at some of the pictures from the park, you can just make out the Forbidden City, but it was very hazy today. Marshall had a chance to practice his karate moves.
We had the best lunch after that- at the Hard Rock Cafe. The cheeseburgers were so good and they had french fries, which I had not seen anywhere until today. Marshall ordered a cheeseburger, which he has only been eating for about 2 weeks and ate the entire thing. It was so big, I can't believe he finished it.
So now we know we have Hard Rock and yesterday, we ordered Papa John's Pizza which tasted pretty close to the pizza at home. We never really ate it at home, but it was much better than Domino's here.
Another stop at the grocery store and then home with 2 exhausted kids, again. I have finally found some good apples and bananas, and milk but no luck on the meat yet. I'm picky anyway but there is no way I would buy some of the meat I have seen so far. Oh well, there is always vegetarianism.
We have gotten Slingbox to work thanks to Todd's brother, (Thanks Ryan) Right now it is only on our laptop computer so we have not used it too much yet, but once we figure out how to get it onto our TV, it will be great.
This blog is nice, but I never get to hear how anyone else is doing, so make sure everyone keeps e-mailing me so I know what is going on with all of you.
We miss you all, take care

We Saw the Great Wall

Hi Everyone,
We went to the Great Wall today. It is only a 45 minute drive from our house. We took a ski lift up to the top, it was so high, I seriously couldn't look down. There is only a little metal bar in front of you, of course the kids were not scared at all. We got to the top and walked a little. It is very steep where we were so we just went slow. Marshall thought it was cool to see where all of the cannons were. We also climbed a ladder to the top of a guard tower and saw a great view. We stopped and had a picnic and talked to a few Americans who walked by. On the way down, you take a slideway, I put a picture up of it. I went with Marshall and made the mistake of letting him drive. I had to literally pull the handle out of his hands to slow down, he wanted to go full speed the whole time, and it goes pretty fast. They both loved it. Marshall said the best thing about the Great Wall was the "rides".
At the bottom of the entrance is a market where they sell trinkets, t-shirts, etc. We let the kids pick out something for their rooms. We tried to explain to them beforehand to not get too attached since we may have to walk away if they were asking too much. Lauren did a great job, she walked away when we wanted her too, although she did REALLY want a little kitten. Marshall didn't do so well, there were tears about a toy sword and then some overpaying after. We'll have to work on that with him. He then slept the entire way home.
After that, went back into town and bought some new lamps at a furniture market. I tried a new Jenny Lou's (the Western grocery store) and found Goldfish Pretzels. It is kind of exciting to go into different ones, you never know what they will have. We came back home and went swimming again. Lauren does a flip into the water from the side, so of course Marshall had to try one. He walked right out of the pool and did one with no warning. It was funny, since he can't even really swim well yet.
We don't have the car tomorrow so we are going to try to walk to some areas, it may be too far in the heat but we will try it. The kids have been troopers.
Todd got Olympic tickets for Aug. 21 for some swimming evert. It is a medal event so it should be exciting. Only 2 tickets though, I think it is hard to get more than 2.
Hope all is well in the US. Take care

A Relaxing Day

We didn't go much today. Todd took a shuttle bus to work which leaves at 6:45 and I spent the morning organizing the what seemed like hundreds of bottles of Children's Tylenol, kids toothpaste, shampoo and all of the other items I brought here in stockpiles. Luckily, we have plenty of storage in the basement. Speaking of the basement, workers were here today digging a trench along the side of the house where the water came in a couple of weeks ago and flooded it. They patched it today and tomorrow, they are going to put a hose in it and see if the patch works. A little crazy but I guess it is as good a way as any to check
The kids had their standard PB&J for lunch. They keep asking, "Is this Chinese yogurt or American?". Luckily they are starting to find things they like, but we still have a ways to go. We went to the pool after that. We went to the indoor pool for most of the time which actually has a neat kids pool. It comes up to about chest high on Marshall and they had alot of fun with their kickboards. Stopped at the playground after that for a while. The sky looked funny today, I could look directly at the sun which looked pink and the sky was all hazy white. It is just strange, it is hard to describe. It is very hazy but so far, I haven't noticed that it is hard to breathe.
We are going to order dinner from an Italian restaurant tonight. It was good, we ate there when Todd and I came in April and they will deliver to our house.
Marshall and Lauren finally slept in until after 6:00 today- happy day!
I forgot to write yesterday that when we were at the Palace yesterday, we told the kids that this is where the Emperor lived. Marshall said when he grows up, he want to be an"Emperator" too and live there.
More good news, a sent a package before I left to our house address and it got here yesterday in good shape. It only took 7 days. I used the flat rate shipping from the post office for $39.00 Hint Hint to all of you who promised to send items. I am starting a list of comfort things I would like to have - right now it is -
Fruit roll ups and Fruit by the foot
Fruit snacks
Kool-aid
Quaker chocolate chip granola bars
Canned lite pears
I haven't been able to find these yet. Don't send things yet, I am going to keep looking for them.
That's all for now, Marshall just stuck his entire hand in red stamper ink. That's not coming off anytime soon. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow
Take care all

A Fun Day

We had another busy day, today was the day we could have the car. We started off walking around Tian'an Men Square and the Forbidden City and then along a busy shopping street which took us about 5 hours. It was very hot but the kids were great. It was absolutely crazy how many people wanted pictures with the kids. It started off with people just taking pictures of them in passing but soon they wanted pictures of them with other kids. At one point there were 10 people at least taking a picture of Marshall. They were so good about it, even with it being so hot, Lauren would get up and put her arm around the person and smile. I think she is starting to like it a little too much, hence the movie star pose. We then went to eat at McDonald's which made them very happy. It really tasted good, I must admit. Lauren finally ate something- I think she ate at least 8 chicken nuggets. I am trying to post some pictures from today, hopefully they will work.


We then went to the Olympic store to get some neat items, it was packed and not at all organized. They may have some trouble when the Olympics actually start. Anyway, we stopped for ice cream from a vendor after that and then the grocery store again to stock up on picnic items for Fri when we go to the Great Wall. Lauren is excited to go but it is going to be very hot again.


Alot of people here are trying to speak English, I think for the Olympics, but it does make it much easier for us, considering all I know is Hello, Thank you, and Bye. Everyone is so nice, and they just smile at the kids. I had 2 people in the Olympic store say "2 kids for you" and "a girl and boy", since they can only have one child here.


We came back and picked out Lion statues for our front porch and the kids had time to play Play-Dough with Miss Geri before she left. Marshall fell asleep on the couch around 7 but I woke him up to give him a bath since we got really dusty today and both are asleep by 8:30. Marshall was still up at 5am today, so hopefully he'll sleep in tomorrow. Todd and I rearranged the kitchen for a while.


Hope all is well in the US. Take care!

By the way, for those of you who are wondering, I have a 12 pack of Coke Zero in the fridge right now!