New Years celebration at school

The school did a New Years performance on Dec. 31st. My guess it is because after that everyone started leaving for Chinese New Years (Jan. 23 this year). It is typical that people take 4-6 weeks off during Chinese New Years. I had Jack that day because our nanny had a 3 day New Years off (not to be confused with Chinese New Years).

Sam looks like a giant next to his classmates.

Gavin was happy to show off his little brother...side by side they look so much alike!

Learning to jump rope

Gavin has taken worst in class for jump rope….the teacher a couple of months ago sent me a message telling me that I need to help Gavin learn to jump rope….definitely a sign of a one-child society.

If you don’t know how to jump rope you get teased. At this point Gavin is so embarrassed that instead of jumping rope he pretends to hold the jump rope in his hands then jumps up and down and waves his arms, and then he says- see mom, I can already jump rope.

The other day I gave him the mom speech about practice, and put him to work jumping rope. I was all excited and started to count his jumps….next thing I know a little boy approached Gavin and started to tease him. Much to Gavin’s credit, he stuck with it, and then a huge group of kids began cheering him on. I tried to take a picture, but when they saw the camera come out – it turned into a dog pile.

Picture taken same time - two weeks later

Look how much lighter it is at night just 2 weeks after the darkest night of the year. I bet the dramatic shift has happened because we are so far north.

Ice skating in China is so much fun!

They mount chairs to skates and let you go crazy. The boys had a great time. Sam loved bossing Gavin around today - it was fun to watch!

Friends, fishing, rabbits

We went over to a friend of a friend's house last night for dinner. It was a lot of fun. We should have taken a picture of the food - there was so much of it, much of it in preparation for Chinese New Year (CNY).

It was a fun house in the southern suburbs of Beijing...not much out there. They family had 2 girls one 5 and the other 4. They had a bunny, and they had what looked to be a jacuzzi that they used for gold fish. So fun the boys spent the night holding the rabbit and catching the fish. They loved it!

There's Sam's big butt crack....gotto love it!

Salmon - Gavin's one request...after quinoa.

2 things Gavin is always asking me for in China - quinoa and Salmon. We had the Quinoa shipped in from the US (cheaper than buying it in China)......and I finally gave into him begging me to buy salmon. This little piece was around $12. Gavin devoured it.

Cash in cabs

In the U.S. there are signs stating that cab drivers aren't carrying more than a miniscule amount aof money....usually an amount less than a cab ride costs.

In China cab drivers are constantly counting their money in front of you. This driver got a little shy when I asked him to take a picture. I need to figure out how to say in Chinese - "This never happens in America!"