Meet our new family members

Well, we did it, we got 2 new kittens, yes that is right 2, a boy and a girl. The pet store close to us just never had any kittens so while we were out yesterday, we decided to stop at another pet store a little further away and they must have had about 15 kittens to adopt. They were well taken care of and have already had their shots. Lauren named the black and grey one Mia, but Marshall is still working on a name for the boy so right now, he is called "the orange one". They spent the entire night calling them Sophie and Oskie by mistake. They are both really playful and like each other alot, they are not related at all. They both slept in the little bed we bought before we came and they are not afraid of the kids at all. I think we make some good picks. They have mostly stayed in the kitchen and dining room so far, but I'm sure that won't last long.
We had a good weekend. I signed Lauren up for Jazz class which starts on Wed afternoon and she bought a leotard and jazz shoes for it. We walked over to her school on Sat and got a library card, so now we can all check out books. She picked 3 to start. I also stopped at Marshall's classroom to look for his favorite stuffed cat that he brought and left there on Friday but I couldn't find it, I sent a note to his teacher today. Both of them really like taking the bus. Lauren started Chinese class on Friday and learned a song in Chinese, but then couldn't remember it. I am going to start a Chinese class tomorrow, it is from 9:30 to 12:30 Tue and Thur. I can't wait, I really don't like not being able to understand anything or say anything besides Hello and Thank you.
We had our second round of rabies shots yesterday and the kids did great, no crying at all. Only one more to go.
Hope everyone is doing well in the US. We miss you!

The First Day of School

The first day of school was today and the kids LOVED it. Lauren had trouble falling asleep last night because she was so excited and was up at 6:45 this morning, ready to go. We had to wake up Marshall, but then he was excited also. We all walked over to school(about a 15 minute walk) and had an orientation meeting with all of the new lower elementary school (about 200 new kids in the lower elementary school alone). Then we had a short meeting with each teacher for about 15 minutes to talk about any concerns and goals we had. It was nice. The kids have their own lockers and really liked their classrooms and teachers. they were both really nice, Lauren's teacher is originally from Minnesota and Marshall's from Vancouver. Both have been here for a few years. Lauren's class only has 15 kids in it, really small, and Marshall's has about 10. They had a picnic lunch for all students and parents and then the kids started school at 12:00. We had them ride the bus home, and we were getting a little nervous since the bus was supposed to arrive at 3:40. At 3:55, I finally walked home from the bus stop, while Todd stayed there, so I could find some numbers to call, but luckily they came while I was doing this. I think the people on the bus were confused, but at least they won't let the kids out unless someone is there to meet them. I am going to ride the bus with them tomorrow to and from to show them which stop to get out. They were so cute, Lauren said she got on the bus and was going to sit in the 3rd seat and then saw Marshall and said "Marshall!" and sat by him. I can just picture how that meeting went. Overall, it was a great day and Lauren said she liked the girls in her class. Marshall liked playing in the sand.
We then went to the pool and later walked to a restaurant about 25 minutes away which was really good. Marshall fell asleep in the stroller right away and we decided that his class must be really hard. We are doing baths and bed now.
Take care and we miss you all!
This is from Lauren- I have Ms. Voight as a teacher and she is really nice. I met two new friends at school. their names are Lila and Rachel. Rachel sits across from me and Lila sits at the table behind my table. Also, Lila rides the same bus as me and the first day, We got on the bus, Lila sat down in the fourth row, In the third row I saw Marshall and sat down next to him. LAUREN!

We can finally sleep

Well, we finally bought mosquito netting for our bed and Lauren's. We are still figuring out how to put it on Marshall's bunk beds. It was so nice to actually sleep through the night. They should be dying soon, as soon as it gets cooler. Tomorrow school starts, we all go in the morning from 9-11 to meet the teacher and walk around the classroom, then there is a picnic lunch. Then the kids go to school for the rest of the day. They can't wait, they are so excited, especially Lauren. Marshall got a haircut today to get ready for school, they did a good job and he got to sit in a firetruck seat. We also ate lunch at a restaurant which was really good. There was a kids area and computer games for kids to play, as well as a foosball table. Lauren and Marshall played it with about 6 other kids at once, they all were having a good time.
I put a picture up of our basement, we still have some decorating to do, but it is getting there, now that the floor is in. I also posted a picture of our canopy outside that Todd and I put up last Sunday, (and I do mean it took us the entire day) It turned out nicely though, and we are ready for a party for anyone who wants to come for a visit. We wish we could continue our neighborhood parties!
Hope everyone is doing well and getting kids back to school OK. We miss all of you!

Settling in

Well, I guess we are starting to really settle in, we haven't done a whole lot this week. It has been rainy but no water in the basement (yet!). They have the tile in but have not completely finished everything in the basement and it is still pretty dusty.
Yesterday, I met Todd at the office and we went to the "Birds nest" for the Athletics games. It was so fun, we had lunch together at a neat restaurant called "The Tree" and then took the subway to the Olympic Green. The lines were so long to get in around the Olympic Green, we must have waited at least 30 minutes in one line and then switched to another for about 15 more minutes. While we were walking around, we saw where they were filming "The Today Show" and stopped for a few minutes but we were not anywhere near the front. We did see that they were ready to interview the Women's water polo and soccer teams and one was showing her gold medal to the crowd.
The games were neat, it is huge inside the stadium and it was interesting watching all of the events going on all at once. There was about 5-6 medal ceremonies and during each one, they would stop all of the events and have everyone stand. We saw The US guy (Clay) win the decathlon. Only a few other US athletes were competing at the time. The kids stayed with Miss Geri and things were fine. They ordered pizza and later had popcorn while they watched a movie. We had alot of trouble finding a taxi after the event, especially one that wanted to take us 30 minutes away, but we eventually did, after alot of walking.
Today, we woke up and went to a mall to sign the kids up for some sports. It is similar to the Peoria Park District and most of the practices are held at the international schools in our area. Marshall is signed up for tennis and soccer and Lauren is for gymnastics and tennis. They start the 2nd week of Sept on Sat and Sundays. After that we had lunch at a Pita place and then went to the international hospital for rabies vaccinations. It is a series of 3 shots which would allow us more time to receive treatment after a bite. After seeing the amount of strays here and hearing about the lack of treatment after a bite, we decided we better do it. They say that there is no guarantee treatment would be available in this area after a bite and if is was, it may not be the correct strength. Marshall was really good but Lauren FREAKED OUT, yelling and crying. She kept saying "Wait" and the nurse would just stop and say "Let me know when you are ready". After a few minutes, I said to just give it to here because it is only going to get worse the more we wait. I didn't tell the kids we have to go back next Sunday, it will be a surprise.
Lauren and Marshall found out who their teacher are. I heard that Marshall's is great, he will love her, but I don't know much about Lauren's, only that she has been here for a little while and no one has ever heard anything bad about her. I think that is good, because I have heard complaints about some of the teachers. They start on Thur morning, Todd and I go in also and meet with the teachers and have an informational meeting and then there is a picnic at lunch for everyone, students and parents. After that, the kids go for the rest of the day. They can't wait.
Not much else going on, after dinner tonight, we went to Cold Stone Creamery and the kids were so excited to see that they have Cotton Candy ice cream (no gummy bears, but Lauren got marshmallows instead). We also bought mosquito netting, originally for the kids, but we may steal Marshall's for ourselves and find something better for his bunk beds. They are still so bad, I have bites on my eyelid and bottom lips- gross.
Hope all is well in the US. We miss all of you!

We Went to Visit the School

Hi everyone,
Today we heard that Lauren and Marshall's new school might be open so we walked over. It is called ISB (International School of Beijing). I believe there are about 1600 kids there from Pre-school to High School. There are 6 2nd grade classes with about 22-25 kids in each one. We walked over and at the gate was a security guard that did not speak English, so he just let us in. Then at another gate was a girl who spoke a little English and I asked if we could walk around the school, she didn't really want us too but let us through the gate anyway. The school was open for new teacher orientation this week so we just took a look around. It is huge! We saw each of their classrooms and cafeteria, library (they had all of the American girl books, and Junie B Jones). The classroom were open, so we were able to just go in. It really made the kids excited. Marshall wanted to stay and play in the 4 year old room. I think they will love it. It starts Aug 28th. They provide all of the school supplies for you (I guess they figure the outrageous tuition should cover it).
After that, we went to the pool while our basement was being tiled. It is a MESS down there. Hopefully they will be done this week. I'm glad I don't have to clean it. I am going to try to get Marshall's haircut tomorrow. We also were at the pet store yesterday and they had a 6 month old kitten that the owners were wanting a new home for since their 2 dogs chased the kitten too much. The owner of the pet store is going to talk to the cat's owners and make sure they want to give it away, so hopefully we will have a new addition soon. I may stop there tomorrow and see if he knows anything yet.
Hope all is well in the US. Miss you all!

What a Fun Day!

We had a great time today at the Olympics. The day started early, we took the kids to breakfast at McDonald's at 8:30 and then went to the Olympic Baseball Stadium. On the way, Marshall made such a funny comment. We were just driving along and he says in a serious voice "No Giraffes", and we all said What? He said "No giraffes allowed driving cars". Then Todd noticed the sign for the height restrictions that I posted here, it was so funny, we just laughed and laughed, he was so serious about it. He also decided that he had to go and couldn't hold it. We were not anywhere where we could stop so he used Todd's Starbucks cup while we were driving while we apologized to Meng.
We had to walk a long way to the Stadium but it was really nice today, very hot and sunny, and we had to use alot of sunblock. There were really nice people sitting around us, a mixture of Americans and Cubans. There were some really funny Cuban guys behind us having alot of fun, everyone was laughing with each other and having a good time. We brought snacks in, even though all of the signs said "No food". The guy looking through my bag just said "So much food", but still let me take it in and let me tell you, they came in handy since we also shared them with the kids in front of us. At the 7th inning stretch, everyone shouted Root, Root, Root for the Cubbies/Cardinals, it was just like being at home. The game went into extra innings and the kids were so good. Marshall kept staring the chant, USA, USA. It was funny. After the game, we went to the Olympic Green by the National Stadium to walk around. You can only go there if you have Olympic tickets that day and it was really neat. We walked right by the Birds Nest and The Cube where they have the swimming. I couldn't believe how big the whole thing was, it was 3 subway stops long, which we took back instead of walking the whole thing again. We ate at McDonalds, which was pretty much the only place to get food, except for noodles at the concession stands. It was packed. In the pictures in front of the Birds Nest, you can see the torch. It was so cool.
We did so much walking today, I can't believe the kids held up so well. They even would smile for all of the pictures people still want to take with them. Marshall even made friends with the guys from Sweden and had them pose for the picture that he took himself. They really had fun but were filthy by the time we got home. They had a quick bath and fell right asleep, exhausted and sunburned, but happy.

A Rainy Day today, But Nice Yesterday

It has been raining so hard today, for a city that does not really see much rainful, we have certainly gotten alot. Our basement is filling up as we speak. Miss Geri said she will call in the morning to have them wet-vac it. They are planning on doing the floor on Monday... we'll see. Lauren and Marshall went to a neighbor's house this morning for a while to play. Zach is 5 and Kate is 3. We were all outside last night playing baseball and dodging mosquitos. For years, Marshall has always had to play with girls and he is loving having a little boy to play with. They act exactly alike, I guess that is good. They already want to have a sleepover. We were watching the Men's gymnastics and Marshall was sitting there watching too and said in a most serious voice, "I think I can do that" He tried to show us and let me assure you , he cannot!
Miss Geri made Kung Pao Chicken for us, I am just waiting for Todd to get home from work to eat it. The chicken she made last week was so good. I think I could get used to this! You guys know how much I LOVE to cook.
The pictures on today are from yesterday at the pool and playground. It shows the indoor and outdoor pools, and their favorite place, the locker room. I also took a picture of the sun, you can actually look directly at it here. There is usually that gray haze around it. And this picture is from yesterday when it was nice, not today when it is rainy. I know the picture doesn't do it justice, it just looks strange here. Tomorrow we head to the baseball game- US vs. Cuba. I think it is going to be nicer tomorrow.
Hope all is well in the US!
PS Happy Birthday Ella!