China! Part Three

We didn't forget about the third part of our China trip. Here it goes.

A raft ride in old Shanghai (Zhujiajiao water town)

It was over 100F that day. We take a break at a tea house.

In front of the Chinese exhibit from the 2010 World Expo. Only a few exhibits are still running. The building is designed to resemble the Chinese character for China.

At the City God Temple, an area with many shops and eateries.

Inside the Yu Garden.

On our date night on the Bund.

At the Science and Technology Museum in Pudong.

Stephanie's Birthday.

Atop a very tall building.

First Day of School!

This year both kids are together! LT is a 4th grader and DT has started Kindergarten. He has the same teacher that LT had. They both seem to be getting off to a good start, one week in.

Years past ...
2012
2011
2010
2009

China! Part Two

Our next stop after Beijing was a place called Ningxia. Here's a little description, thanks to Wikipedia: Ningxia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China located in the northwest part of the country. This sparsely settled, mostly desert region lies partially on the Loess Plateau and in the vast plain of the Yellow River, and features the Great Wall of China along its northeastern boundary.

This was a family trip with 13 of us total. It was exhausting, but really nice!

Tombs, somewhere ...

One small tourist

This was a neat place. It has rock paintings from a long time ago. I think. Sometimes hard to follow what was going on.

Viewing a mosque. Possibly a replica because I think you aren't allowed inside the real one? I had to cover up because my shirt was a bit risque.

Finally, the desert! We rode camels and took sleds down. Very neat!

There was even a pigskin raft to ride. DT wasn't so sure about this.

Even made a short trip to Mongolia for a show. Someone didn't get to see it.

 

 

 

Shanghai pictures coming next!

China!

Somehow the summer is almost over and we haven't got any updates in yet. June was consumed with our big family vacation. For the first time, all four of us went to China! TT's parents also travelled with us. We flew to Beijing (via Seoul) and had some nice visiting there with TT's Aunt & Uncle, Cousin & Wife and their 2 kids. Our kids love their "new cousin" as DT's been calling Geoff-Or-Ree (DT's other name for him) since last summer. Here are some pictures from Beijing and the surrounding ares:

On a hike outside the city.

All 4 kids!

Hope to be back sooner with some more pictures. Stay tuned.

A new bike rider

We have a new bike rider in the family. Like his brother, we made a video of this milestone. Unlike his brother, DT is very insistent that we use a particular song for the video.

Sorry about the ad. Youtube won't let me remove it because the video has copyrighted music. You can see an ad-free version here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/109910766431602311182/albums/5878840188902646433

Happy 5th Birthday

DT turned 5 today! He had a backyard birthday party featuring some special friends.

  DT had a blast being the birthday boy.

Everyone had a turn with the snakes.

Snowpeople

This weekend we made an attempt to be SnowPeople. We left very early yesterday morning to drive up to Kirkwood ski resort. It looked like we were going to be there in plenty of time when we ran into some ice. We stopped, put chains on, got going again... then there was no more ice, so we dechained and got their barely in time for the kids to get dropped off for ski school. LT signed up for skiing and DT signed up for snowboarding. We got them all checked in and then they take it from there from 10 AM until 3:30 in the afternoon. TT and I were late then for our lesson and had to miss it, so we were on our own for snowboarding. It took some courage, but we went off and were somewhat successful. (On the bunny slope anyways.) We checked in with the kids and they seemed to be doing just fine, too. LT's coach even took him up in the chair lift! I was proud of the kids for being so brave. Our friends were nice enough to have us over at their mountain place and we enjoyed our stay. I think we might just be back again soon... The little snowboarder
On the magic carpet

My best moves

LT in ski school

Playing in the snow this morning!

All the kids together... I think LT was a bit cold by this point!

Hello!

Just had a lovely day in Monterey/Pacific Grove.
Here are this year's valentines. Dinosaurs for D and Mad Libs again for LT.