The Brownie Hike

This past Sat, Lauren and I went on the Girl Scout Hike on the Great Wall. It was an actual hike and was kind of hard. I was sore the next day! Girls were twisting their ankles and crying, but it was fun anyway. Everyone brought something to make a "group" trail mix. It was a little cold that day, but everyone had a great time. In the spring, I believe they camp up there, so we will have to do that too. I think she will really enjoy Brownies. Todd and Marshall had a fun day together as well, they went on a little hike called Backpacker's alley and did some fun exploring after soccer.
Last week, Lauren starting getting little sores on her face, by her eye and cheek, and nose. I wasn't sure what it was, but was putting neosporin on it. I showed it to a friend who is a pharmacist and she said it looked like impetigo, which is a staph infection on the face and gave me some cream she had, which really helped it. We went to the doctor the next day, and that is what she has. She is on antibiotics and using the cream. It is pretty gross looking. I was pleasantly surprised by the hospital though. It is pretty much like an office at home, although, we did go to the "foreigners" hospital. It was nice.
This week I am going on a field trip with Lauren's class on Thur to the Temple of Heaven. They look around and then fly kites after it. It should be fun. Then we are going to a Halloween party on Fri and trick or treating. Apparently, they have it in the neighborhoods up here. Lauren is Gabriella from High School Musical, and Marshall is a transformer. Lauren can wear her costume again to Brownies on Sat.
Not much else is going on. Todd is working alot. Lauren continues to have her sad moments, but I also think she doesn't feel very well. She really does not like her Chinese class and says she doesn't understand anything and often cries about it so I e-mailed her Chinese teacher and am going in to talk to her. I feel bad for her, it has just not been as easy adjusting for her as for Marshall.
Anyway, she is doing fine and so is Marshall. He has a ton of little friends and is doing just great here. He says NiHao to everyone and all of the guards know him and tease him.
Hope you are all doing well, we miss you!