Bam Bam!

Chaperoning a Trip to Moganshan.

 Here are the kids from the "easy" trip.  It was beautiful in Moganshan.  I really enjoyed the bamboo forest and the 3 straight days of rain.  The students, did not quite reach my level of enjoyment.

We split into two groups for the hiking day.  This is the fast group we left earlier, climbed higher, and returned sooner than the other group.  We picked up trash on part of the trail, found and abandoned temple, and got really really wet.  It was awesome.

Living in Shanghai.

Eating local and playing tag at our apartment complex.  Chopstick skills are improving, abby is slowly eating more than just rice, and I continue to want only Chinese food.

Doesn't Abby look just like her Mom?  Except I am not sure that Andrea was ever behind in a race.

Trip to Hangzhou

Here we are in Hangzhou.  Abby enjoyed her boat ride even though it rained.  Everything was powered by hand, so she was a little confused about why we were not going fast.  She said two funny things.  "this is the slowest boat ride I have ever taken"  and "It is my turn to take the selfie".  The rain was a blessing, as it kept the local tourists away and we could have some peace from getting pictures taken.  The lights were beautiful at night.

First day of school!

First day of school for us here in China.  The girls were excited, not just to go to school but ride the scooter with mom.  I just get to carry bags and walk behind.

Our first date (after having 3 kids)

Mackenzie took our picture as we headed out to an opera.  Our Ayi watched the kids and we headed to Puccini's Manon Lescaut.  Andrea scored some tickets ($100+ each!) from a friend and we headed to hear our first Italian opera.  Which actually means that everything is in Italian.  I was very confused for at least the first 10 minutes, but I talked Andrea out of making me wear a tie and really enjoyed it.  We felt kind of bad after talking with the music teacher at our school, his love of Puccini is the same as Andrea's love for MSU yet we took the tickets.  I would have rather tailgated, but it was a good experience.

Abigayle's Preschool Class

Abby's water party.  She loves it. It was raining that day, but only the adults were disappointed none of the kids even knew what was happening.  They had the time of their lives as they ran around and threw water everywhere.

Seasoned Travelers

Look at these two girls.  They were not worried about much as they boarded the train and took in the scenery during the ride.  They know what they like, they carry their own toys, they love ipads.