The Bund

 Saturday night the last night of Easter break we headed to one of the most famous places in Shanghai. "The Bund"  The names come from and Ango-Indian word meaning embankment on a muddy waterfront.  The British opened an office here in 1846 and this is what it has become. 

 Enjoying some Hot Chocolate from Costa Coffee.  

It is funny the pictures we end up with after passing the camera around from kid to kid.

 I love this picture of M.  

It reminds me of the little boy David from the David Shannon books.

 R thinks this looks like the bank in Mary Poppins

 M loved this for some reason and wanted his picture in front of him. 

Zhujiajiao

I would have to say a day like today is what makes living an another country worth it.  

It is amazing to see what the world has to offer.  I had no idea moving here would bring me to a water town, a dream that I have always had.   

 The boys checking out the turtles and fish for sale. 

 We arrived at this place a little later than planned and thought we wouldn't get a chance to go on a boat ride.  We were all thrilled to catch a quick boat ride that took us through the water town. 

 Some of the locals out fishing.  

Good to see this town isn't a total tourist trap.

 Some of these bridges were built in the 1500's if I remember correctly.  

Rumor has it that Marco Polo even spent some time in this city. 

 BBQ pigs feet anyone?  The smell of the food vendors is so overwhelming.  

 I have found myself teaching my kids things here that are the complete opposite of what I have taught them before living in China.  One phrase that comes to mind is .  

Push and shove kids, push and shove.  (A line from the comedian Brian Regan).  There are so many people here you have to stand your ground or you will get trampled.  The other funny thing about it is it's not rude.  It is just what comes with living with millions of other people.

 The kids enjoying some kibon ice cream, a favorite from Brazil.  

How did we get this family picture do you ask?  A lady came up and starting snapping shots of us, and then kindly offered to get a picture for us on our camera.

 We had a great time shopping!  

The boys got there pockets knives and J was in scarf heaven.  

 It is hard to see, but this master candy artist melts down
 a honey like substance and draws pictures with it and puts it on a candy stick.
Very cool to watch. 

 Watching a local wrap dinner in a banana leaf to be steamed.

 Mr. Yung, (the driver) picked us out some good sugar cane and 

had it peeled and cut for us to chew on.  It was tasty.  

We had such a fun day and can't wait to have visitor's so we can take them.

Century Park

The kids had the week off for spring break.  Most of the Americans leave for vacation, but we decided to stay and enjoy Shanghai.  R was due for some time off.  I think he has been working non-stop for the past 5 months.  He was ready for a brake and so was I.  Now that the Shanghai office is remodeled and they have the crew up and running R's schedule has let up a little bit.  We were so happy to hear he would have most the week off to enjoy one another.

Our first day trip was spent at Century Park. It took an hour and half just to walk around part of the park.  This place is huge! The spring blossoms were incredible.  It was fun to get out feel the heat of the sun and and move around a bit.  M started getting pretty whiny about half way through and I wouldn't carry him so the older brother came to the rescue.  These two little guys are 3 years apart but there size would never give that away.  C only has about 3 lbs on M and a few inches.  His little legs made it quite far then J took a turn. 

Strawberry Picking

This strawberry patch wasn't quite what I was expecting.  I had visions of acres of strawberry plants, a sweet smell in the air and me leaving with baskets full of plump ripe strawberries.

We did leave with a basket full of plump ripe strawberries.  R babe had some fun searching for the berries.  The heat and the mud just wasn't doing much for him.

My plans were to come home with enough Berries to make some jam, but we had just enough to stuff ourselves full of delicious berries.  Oh Boy were they tasty.  It was a fun afternoon hanging out with new friends.

Just doing what he is told!

I thought I was safe asking R babe to go and wash his hands.
I kept wondering why we were going though so much soap and why I kept finding trash all over the ground in a pile.  After following him to the bathroom it answered many questions.  Pretty resourceful to use the trash as a stool.  Not quite sure why he decided to open the soap dispenser and dump it out.  Hey at least his hands are clean.