Another week!

I can't believe we have been here for 2 wks already! This past week was a little less touristy and a little more getting into a routine of sorts. Let's see what I know for this week:

*Last weekend was fun - we went to Yu Yuan gardens to see the old temples and gardens, then took a boat down the Huangpu River - one of the most famous skylines in the world. We then hit the fake market - D got a $3 barbie, and C got a disk with 20 PSP games for about $10. We then went to dinner at a great restaurant - 1221, down the end of a little alley - probably the best chinese meal I have had yet. Everything was really good and most things I had never had before. Kids also loved it. We met quite a few new people at dinner and all had a good time.
Sunday we went to brunch at one of the really nice hotels here - the kids had their fill of sushi - they were very happy! It was really good and more choices than I ever seen in my life. We went with some friends and their daughters, then afterwords we went to their apartment to swim.

*Monday was the start of the Multisport camp for the kids. D was a bit somber about being left but ended up doing great, and C walked in, saw the boys playing basketball and he was good to go! They have played all different sports, done a lot of crafts and even made dumplings and pizzas. They have Subway sandwiches and fruit every day for lunch, which seems odd to have in china? I think it was a good choice - gives them something to do, wears them out and they are meeting a lot of other kids. C has met 4 boys going into 3rd grade at his school. C also spent the night with our friends Monday night, so he had 5 star day, at least according to him. They have been to camp all this week from 930-330 and will go next week mon-thurs, as we leave on vacation next Friday.

* I have spent the week trying to get into a work routine - was up at 3:45 two days this week? eek! A bit early. The other mornings it was about 5am so not as bad. I have also tried a few massage places and walked through a lot of the grocery stores to check out what they have (I pretty much buy the same things every place - bottled water, box chocolate milk and apple juice!!). It's odd being in the hotel apartment, nothing I really need to do here so a bit at ends. I have also walked through some dept stores, gone to the gym here and I have even cooked a couple of nights( tacos were the requested meal and they were really good! – Ian wanted to know if they were going to eb $30 tacos, as food is so $$ here at stores). I think once we get in the house it will be more normal. We went to our favorite dumpling house last night – Dai Tin Feng..its world renowned for their dumplings and has been written up by the NY Times. Very yummy and we will be glad to take anyone who comes to visit!

* The latest on the house is we are moving into a different house than planned, this is about the 4th different one but it seems to be the way it is! Some friends we met here will be moving home earlier than planned so we will move into their house. It’s about 1 block from the house we had planned to go into. Green Villas is a great neighborhood and walking distance to school and shops. They had done a fair amount of decorating and had bought many extras so we will take some of that over - extra fridge in garage, some of their decorations, appliances, etc. The best part is we will also be hiring their Filipino Ayi! She will live in, as there is an ayi room, and will be so much help for me. She normally is gone on Sundays but the rest of the days she will shop, cook, clean, etc. She is very pleasant, speaks english and our friends said she was wonderful. I am quite happy about the plans. I will post some pics once I take some of the new house.

* This weekend Ian plans to play golf Sat, and then we will meet friends out later in the day. Sunday Ian and Connor are going to the usa nba bball game to watch them play Russia. C is so excited, and they have front row seats, so they should have lots to tell us when they get back. D and I will be getting our nails done, I am sure – we went to a place by the hotel last week and paid $6 for both of us!!


All for now, off to catch up on email and do a quick workout before getting the children. We are stopping to buy some movies before getting Ian at work - we just bought Wall-e earlier in the week - $2.50! One of the perks, I guess???