We say a sad ZÀIJIÀN to Mr. Kyle & Mrs. Melissa

This past week our upstairs neighbors, Kyle & Melissa moved back to the States. So we had to say zàijiàn (goodbye) to them. We all were very sad to see them go! We decided not to tell the boys until the last minute exactly what was going on. Gabe knew they were leaving, but he thought it was for a vacation or something. When we explained that it was for good both Gabe and Maddox were really, really sad. The boys made a sign for them that we put up during their last night here so they would see it when they opened their door in the morning.

Kyle & Melissa have a dog Pudge that the boys love! We dog sat for them once a few months back. The boys loved that!

While we are really sad to see them go we are also really excited for them. They found an awesome house right on the Gulf in Texas. And I know they are really happy to be back closer to their families. But...WE WILL MISS THEM!

Being Brave

Being brave is not exactly a strong suit of my eldest son. Gabe excels in many areas. For example: talking, reading, talking, writing and well, talking are all things he is good at. For the life of me I don't know where he gets the talking skills from. Ha! Anyway, while I happily say that Gabe is great at many things, he is just not very courageous. In a situation that is unfamiliar, potentially scary or new to him he will choose to sit back and see how things pan out. Or perhaps observe how other kids are handling the situation, or really just do nothing at all to involve himself in any way. Caution on the whole is not a bad thing. I have a feeling we will never have to worry about Gabe being the one amongst the group of teenage friends to suggest a 100 mile an hour drag race in the middle of the night. And that is a blessing! But at his current age, there are moments when he is missing out on safe and fun things because he is too scared to even try something. Maddox on the other hand is the one we have to restrain. He will always go headfirst into smething without even looking back! Now him, we will have to worry about drag racing!

While we were in Alabama, we visited a water park in Auburn, a neighboring town. Twice actually. It is not a very big one, but it is more than sufficient for a four & two year olds day of fun. They have a really cute children's area with a large shallow pool, water gun things, a giant floating crocodile, water fall and a slide. The first time we were there, Maddox ran to the slide first thing and went down with no reservations. And he loved it.

My sister and I tried all kinds of coaxing to get Gabe to go down. I even resorted to bribery! But nothing doing. A few weeks later we went again, this time my nephew Jordan came along. Gabe wants to do anything and everything Jordan does. I thought that maybe since Jordan would go down Gabe would also. But again, Gabe steered clear of the slide. I asked him why he didn't want it to go down, to which he replied, "It will hurt me." After being there for a few hours, I did what (in my opinion) any good parent would do. I made my screaming, kicking and yelling kid go down the slide. I pushed from the top and my sister caught him at the bottom. I got to the bottom and relieved my sister of the screaming Gabe and calmed him down. I asked him if it hurt him to go down. He replied, "Well no." I told him I was proud of him for going down even though he didn't want to. That I wanted to show him how the slide would not hurt him, that it could be fun. I hugged him and loved on him. Once he was tired of the loving he shoved off me and proceeded to go down the slide for the next four hours...non stop!

Soakin' up the Sun!


Continuing with the theme of bravery...the Fourth of July! Fireworks, loud noises and bright lights. Not Gabe's strong area...again. But it actually went better than expected. Michael told Gabe ahead of time that he had to watch at least one loud firework from my parents front porch (we were shooting them of in the front yard) and try one sparkler. Then if he still didn't like it he could go inside the house. He surprised us and himself by liking the loud fireworks. Just as long as he didn't have to get too close. And after much coaxing to try a sparkler he decided he liked those too!
Maddox, my Mom, Gabe and my Grandmother watching the fireworks. This was before Gabe decided he liked the loud fireworks.

Maddox and the giant sparkler.

Gabe and Nonnie cautiously doing the sparkler.

And because I was so proud....my Fourth of July dessert, a fruit pizza. Very patriotic colors. And very yummy!

Swing Set, Rolla & Boonville

SWING SET:
While we were in Alabama visiting my family I convinced my parents that they needed to let me put a swing set in their yard. Every kid wants a swing set of their own to play on anytime they want. And since that is not an option here in Shanghai, Poppie's yard became the place. It might sound a little bit silly. I mean, putting a swing set in a place they don't live. Not even in the same country! But, I knew we would be there for several weeks this past visit and we will be there for an extended visit again soon. So once I played the "You will be the greatest grandparents in the world for doing this" card, it was just a matter of finding the swing set. **As a side note, I did have to agree to help mow around the set as long as I am in town.** Anywho, I didn't want to spend much $ on a set that wasn't going to get a lot of action for months at a time. Nor did I want to buy a plastic one, I wanted a wood one. After doing extensive in store and online research and seeing almost nothing wood for less than $1000, I found one I wanted that was $100 more than I had budgeted. Not wanting to spend the extra $ but for lack of finding anything better I decided just to go for it and buy the thing. I showed my Dad the one I was going to get, which came in like 400 pieces and according to the package took 2 whole days to assemble, and he just forced smile and said "Anything for my grandkids." But alas, after calling all of the stores in like a 40 mile radius, none of them had the set I wanted in stock. So it was back to square one, finding an inexpensive set. Then my mom had a great idea to check a weekly catalog that people can post all kinds of items in for sale/lease/trade/etc. There was an advertisement for a FREE swing set/clubhouse! Could we be that lucky? After a few phone calls to the owner who wanted to get rid of the set ASAP and another lucky break because the person who had called before us could not pick it up for a few days, the set was ours!!! So within 12 hours of the first phone call we had a set in my parents yard.

Initially when I saw the set in the yard of the previous owner I was apprehensive. Free is great! But when the thing is leaning at a 20 degree angle almost and seems to shudder and be on the verge of collapse with every breeze, I had to remind myself that you get what you pay for. We relocated the set and began work on it right away.

Here is a picture taken as we finished setting it up. The boys would not wait to swing! Though, we watched cautiously as it still needed some extra supports at the time this picture was taken. (The set is 9 years old.)


Within a few days my Dad and I added additional supports, removed the shredded climbing rope, cleaned (de-molded) the canopy, stained and weather treated the wood, added one slide, one disk swing, a telescope, and two steering wheels. Here is the after picture. That is my nephew Jordan with the boys.

I have to say I was really pleased with the finished product! Overall the cost was about $200 for all of the additions and updates. Which was way less than I thought I would have to spend to get something nice. And the boys couldn't have been happier! Well actually, they could have. The temp while we were there never went below 95 during the day. So they didn't get as much play time as they would have liked. The good news...it will be there waiting for them when we go back in a few months!

ROLLA:
After Michael returned to the States at the end of June we made a trip to Missouri to see family. (Michael mentioned this in the blog entry below.) First up on our itinerary was a trip to Rolla, the city of my birth. My Mom's sister, her two daughters, their husbands, and their children all live there. In the past we have always gone to Rolla for Easter. This past Easter was kinda sad for us (especially Gabe) not being there. So Gabe was really looking forward to seeing his cousins again! We were only there for a day and a half or so but we had a great time! My cousins, Michelle (her husband is Sherman) and Gina (her husband is Larry) all have boys. Michelle has Nathan. Or as Gabe & Maddox call him, "Cousin Nate." Gina has two boys, Carter and Cole. This visit Gabe had the huge honor of being taken to a movie in the theater with all of the "big boy cousins." It was a big moment for him to be invited. My Mom's sister Carol (Carter, Cole & Nate call her Nana) took them all as a treat. He talks about that time with the big boys often. So thank you Nana!

Here are all the cousins. No girls in this side of the family! Left to right...Cole, Nathan, Carter, Gabe & Maddox.


Here is Gabe with Aunt Gina.


And Maddox with Uncle Sherm.

While in Rolla we made our usual trip to Denny Ford, Lincoln, Mercury. Michael's Mom, Susan, is engaged to Denny, the owner of the car dealership. The boys love going there. They are in automobile heaven!!! Denny always lets them wander around checking stuff out, even into the repair shop. Where there they get into all the workers way I am sure. They pepper Mr. Denny with millions of questions of, "Mr. Denny, how does that work?" "What does that do?" "Mr. Denny, what kind of tool is that?" "Can I push that button?" It is a hoot to watch them there! This visit Denny gave the boys a promotional video that Ford uses to compare their truck line to the competitors. It shows the inside of the engine, frame, etc. I have to say that the video is kind of cheesy...but the boys LOVE watching it! We live in the land of DVD's here in China. The boys have access to every kid friendly movie out there and since we have come back from our trip to Rolla, the most requested DVD by far is the "Ford Truck Video!" No kidding!

Gabe & Maddox "driving" a Ford Shelby Cobra Mustang. Apparently that is a unique automobile. I know nothing of these things.


Here is a picture of Grandma Susan, Mr. Denny and the boys.


Michael, his Mom, and the boys.


BOONVILLE:
Following our fun and adventures in Rolla, we went to the city of Michael's birth, Boonville. There Michael's grandfather, Charlie, resides. The boys love Great Grandpa Charlie's house. He has a basement full of toys! All of Michael and his brother Kevin's childhood toys are there. And for Gabe and Maddox it's like Christmas! Obviously Charlie, being a great-grandfather has a few years on him. But, you would never know it! He's as sharp as he was the day I met him years ago! We all enjoy our time with him so much and it is always hard to pull out of his driveway after a great visit. Our time with him is very special!

Gabe and Great Grandpa Charlie.


Maddox and Great Grandpa Charlie.


Three generations of men. And our favorite Molly dog.

RANDOM STUFF...

As we are out and about at different places and see things that are just random or different or humorous, I usually try and grab a picture to throw up on the blog. Most of the time, it never really happens as I never find the time. However, I was just going through pictures on my phone and figured that I had some time...so I would put a few out there.

After I got back to the States to be with Jessica and the boys before we can back to China, we took a trip from Alabama up to Missouri to visit family. One of our stops was in Rolla where we met up with my mom.

We have a bunch of other pictures with other family too, but this one just happened to be on my phone. We can post some more with other family later.

Speaking of coming back to China, here is what the boys end up looking like at the end of an almost 14 hour flight. Luckily, we all had open seats around us so we were able to spread out.

There is this toy store in one of the entrances to the subway stations here in Shanghai. From all of the stuff that you see in the window, it looks like they have a lot of some pretty neat toys in there. A couple of weeks ago I took a day off and Jessica and I were walking through the station and decided to stop in and look around. Obviously, we wanted to see if there was anything neat for the boys because we want to try and make sure that they are having a fun childhood. Thankfully, we didn't have to look far as we found a toy that guaranteed it right on the box.

Speaking of random things happening. A little over a week ago, we were out running around Shanghai. We were on the Puxi side of the river, so we decided to go to a restaurant that we liked and was on that side of the river. The restaurant happened to be in this large complex where a Ritz Carlton is located here in Shanghai. When we arrived and got out of the taxi, we saw that there were people everywhere...and mostly Chinese. This is not exactly normal for this particular place in the city. Jessica and I knew that the US basketball team was in Shanghai hosting a tournament before going up to Beijing, so we just assumed that this is where they were staying. Sure enough, we turned around and saw some buses that had just pulled up with USA Basketball logo on the side.

Anyway, there were police officers that were surrounding the area going into the hotel, but Jessica and the boys and I just walked up to the area that was right by the door. The guard/police office that saw us believed that we were guests and just let us walk though, We turned around right on the other side of the covered exit and after a couple of minutes I saw Jason Kidd walking out of the entrance to the hotel. We were literally less that 10 feet away from the whole team when they were walking out. Jessica picked Gabe up and took him over to the bus and he managed to get several waves and a few hellos. Stupid me...I was so awe struck by getting to see Coach K that I was standing there holding my phone in my hand and didn't get any pictures. Just to prove that we were there though I went back after we left and grabbed a shot of the buses. Not really all that great a shot, but it was pretty neat none the less. I think that the only reason that we got any response at all from any of the players is that we were the only 'foreigners' that were out there.

Jessica and I had been talking about getting tickets for a couple of weeks before all of this happened, but we just never did because we didn't know what my travel and conference call schedule was going to be. After this happened though, we decided to go ahead and get the tickets. We got tickets for the last game of the tournament which was against Australia. It ended up being a lot of fun. It was hilarious to watch them try and bring some of the things that you see in American sports here to China. They brought this Chinese guy out during a half time to teach everyone how to do the wave. People around us were getting so excited it was comical. On the first time around the stadium, the girl that was sitting next to me (no, not Jessica) missed her seat when she went to sit back down again after the wave passed. She literally fell straight to the floor.

Now, we are trying to see if we can get some tickets to one of the soccer matches that are being held here in Shanghai.

In keeping with the Olympics, most places around China now have all kinds of signs, ads, monuments, etc. related to the Olympics. Last week, as we were driving around Shanghai we saw this bush thing. Gabe told us that it was a guy exercising and someone holding a lollipop. We got a kick out of that.

The next day after we saw this sculptured bush thing, Gabe and I went in for a haircut. Getting a haircut over here is really quite an experience. After you get past the realization that you have no idea whether or not the person that will cut your hair understands what you want they take you off and wash your hair. This isn't just a normal hair wash though. They literally stand there behind you and message your head as they wash it. Then you get taken over to a rinse station where they rinse out the shampoo and then cover your face and the back of your neck with warm towels as they rub the back of your neck. Then, you get taken back to the chair that you get your haircut in where they again massage the top of your head, your shoulders and neck and your arms and hands. After this, they clean out your ears and will then rub your shoulders again until the 'stylist' is free and can give you a haircut. Well, this last time Jessica was over with Gabe helping him get his haircut and poor Maddox was just bouncing back and forth between the two of us. He climbed up in my lap and saw this Chinese girl hitting me on my shoulders and asked what was going on. I explained that I was getting a massage and he wanted to know what that was so I showed him.

Another one of the girls walked by and saw this and picked Maddox up and gave him a massage in the chair right behind mine. He quickly got this glazed over look on his eyes and you could tell that he was quite relaxed. He actually almost fell asleep while this girl was holding him.

So, the last random thing that I have is a picture from lunch last week. I had an iced tea that was brought to my desk and I accidentally spilled some on the floor right next to it. As soon as it happened I got up and walked over to try and find some paper towels. I bumped into one of the janitorial staff and brought her over to show what happened. She ran off and a few seconds later came back with a mop. She mopped out my whole desk area. I got a little concerned though when I looked down and noticed that the tea apparently stained the floor like it was bleach or something. Needless to say...I didn't drink any more of the tea.

The Smiths (+ Jen) Take Beijing

While our friend Jen Gilbert from MI was visiting us this past April we decided that it would be a good time to take a family trip to Beijing. Overall it was a great trip! There were a few low points. Like the fact that it rained the entire 4 days we were there! But even with the rain and cold weather we still had a great time!

The trip got off to a rough start when we were headed to the airport in Shanghai to catch the flight to Beijing. Because we know there is always a probability of traffic, we left for the airport several hours ahead of time. But the extra hours were pointless. We were stuck in so much traffic for so long that we only arrived at the airport 20 minutes before our flight. And this isn’t any little Montgomery, Alabama or Kalamazoo, Michigan airport. This place is huge….and a madhouse. To make a long story short, I cornered a airline worker, explained the situation, (I say explained. It was more like waving my arms and grunting until he got the idea.) He rushed us through the check-in process and we made it on the plane with only seconds to go. They shut the doors right, and I mean right behind us as we took our seats at the very back of the plane. Right when we should have begun to taxi they made an announcement. Being that the announcement was all in Chinese we had no idea what was being said. We assumed it was the usual pre-takeoff spiel. But at the conclusion of the babble, all of the passengers, minus us, groaned. That couldn’t be good. Ends up, we had to park it on the runway for an hour! But we eventually made it to Beijing.

After finally arriving and a couple, actually many, problems at the hotel we ended up having a great rest of the trip. Except for the darn rain!

This is us being tourists again. We are so good at getting around Shanghai now despite the language barrier we were not expecting to have problems in Beijing. I mean, we speak some Chinese. Enough to let taxi drivers know where we want to go. Or enough to ask a local for directions. But the Shanghai version of Mandarin is nothing like the Beijing version of Mandarin. The dialect difference is nothing compared to what we have in the States. Anyway....we were lost!!


We toured a Jade factory while in Beijing where they make Jade...well everythings! This is the boys and a ship carved out of ONE piece of stone. Really amazing!


There are some things I have seen in my life that I thought would be really impressive or amazing, but ended up not being so. But, I can honestly say that the Great Wall is just as amazing or even more so than I ever thought it could be. Even in the cold rain!




After we left the Great Wall, we went to see the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. The two main Olympic buildings. I won't post any pictures of those. As it was raining thus my pictures we not that good and you can google it and see great pictures anytime. :-) Even in the cold rain those two buildings were very impressive! We were glad to lay our eyes on them.

We also visited the Forbidden City. It was SO huge. Way bigger than I thought it would be. And pretty amazing! It is a, 720,000 square meter or 7,750,015 square feet, rectangle. We spent half of the day walking through it and probably only saw about 1/3 of the City. In the rain!


Just for your information, the Forbidden City was the imperial home of 24 emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.




This is Tiananmen Square. Seeing it like this, with people just milling around, it is hard to imagine the sadness that took place here. On several occasions protests and riots have taken place here with the most famous one being 1989 when between 2000-3000 people were killed.