Watch, Read, Listen

There are days when we just like to hang out at the house and not go anywhere. Mind you, we do love exploring China.  We love finding new places- shops, markets, restaurants, attractions and so on….but sometimes one just needs to take a break.  Know what I mean???? How about some arts and crafts projects:…

Friday – August 10: Happy Birthday Annika!!! Fabulous morning!  Sun was shining!  Mark had the day off from work so that he could smoke the ribs in time for tonight's dinner. YAY!!!!!!!!!! 🙂   Mark and Ava made blueberry waffles for breakfast and Annika got to open the two gifts from the Mears family that…

How about one.last.trip in China before school starts???  Let's head to Datong.  Have you heard of it?  I certainly hadn't until we moved to Tianjin. Hopefully you'll see why people talk about going there…it's definitely an interesting place to visit with several very beautiful and interesting sights to see.   It's also the shortest flight…

Happy First Day of School!!!!!   Oh my!!! Don't these two look ever so cheerful and ready for a day of learning??????   Heading to school with friends! About the shortest commute we've ever had going to school:  Heading through the back gate, close to our house, and crossing the road to the back gate of…

Oh. My. Goodness!!!!   Today Annika TURNS NINE YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!  She's almost in the double digits!  How can that be?????   It seems like only yesterday that you were this tiny little peanut eyeing the world in amazement!!! (p.s. This is still one of my most favorite photos- ever!)   Fast Forward nine years………  …

Living in the city or in the suburbs of a giant city it's easy to forget that there is in fact "nature" outside the Big City.  We miss seeing "nature" so we decided to book an appointment and see "nature".  hee hee hee Say what???? We decided it was high time to go visit the…

Tianjin Polar Marine Museum…now that's a mouthful!  Try saying that five times super fast!!!! The "museum"…really it's more of an aquarium, is in TEDA.  So, that means it's about a 45-minute drive from the house.  And you know what, I think today is a PERFECT day for visiting the aquarium- it's raining and we need…

I think it's time for another *nearly* weekly trip to Beijing!!!   Where should we go this week?????? Linda mentioned a place called the 798 Art District.  Sounds interesting!!!!  Let's go!!!!! Hop in the minivan and fasten your seatbelts!  (we may be in China but we DO use our seatbelts as intended!!!)  And now relax…

Hi folks.  Guest Blogger Mark here again.  We just got back from our best weekend getaway yet: we went to Yangshuo–the place with all of the amazing mountains and karst formations.  Many people associate those scenes with Guilin–but I think Yangshuo is even better.  There is a saying here in China that translates roughly as…

A few weeks the girls and I were shopping at a big store called Metro.  The girls saw the carton of quail eggs and begged and pleaded for me to buy them.  Oh heck, why not???? Funny, anything in miniature seems to be a lot more fun to cook and eat than the regular sized…