Sad day

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I dropped Jess and the kids off at the airport yesterday so they could start their marathon flight back to Des Moines via Chicago. I took this photo from my iPhone at the security gate (you can see Henry waving to me; Jess, Truman and Adeline were already walking). 20110620-094106.jpg

The good news is they made it safely. I'm not sure how Jess does it. I go a bit crazy when I fly between China and the US, and I only have to take care of myself! Luckily, it will only be two weeks before I join them.

I can't wait to be home for the Fourth of July. Last year, I spent the Fourth alone in my Beijing hotel room, trying to figure out what the heck I was doing in China. :)

It is a big day in the Cooper household...Miss Adeline has lost a tooth - wihoo!

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According to Addi she just "wiggled and wiggled, twisted and twisted and viola out it came.  Easy peasy."  Great job Adeline, you look so old!! :)

Mitchell later asked her what viola meant.  She was so matter of fact in her response. :)  "Well you know dad, like when there is a girl who isn't very pretty and she needs to go to the ball.  The Fairy God Mother comes with her wand and viola, she is ready to go now."  Spoken like a true princess I guess!!

Morning after blues...

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So the morning after is notorious for remorse and regret.  Well, shopping in China is no different.  My $100 awesome "best quality top grain leather" Prada purse handle broke within 15 minutes of using it this morning.  Talk about heartache!!  I have NEVER paid that much for a purse and to not even have it last a day was awful.  Then I was so excited to wear my new Bvlgari aviator sunglasses, they were totally out of my comfort zone and I was excited.  Every single time Adeline looked at my she burst out laughing, seriously every time.  When she was finally able to get words out she asked me if I had stolen Grammi's sunglasses.  When I said no they were mine, she said well maybe you should give them to her.  What a punk!  Despite my fashion police of a daughter I am going to wear them anyway! :)

Some days are surreal...

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So, I went with Nikki and Cathy today to the "Secret Handbag Shop" for a little (much needed) retail therapy.  We had a fabulous time drinking coffee, chatting, looking around for things we didn't need, buying more things we didn't need and getting really really excited to get back to the US for a lot of quality shopping time.  But, I realized tonight as I was looking through the things I purchased how crazy it is to live here some days.  It is incredibly easy to get a knock-off of anything (of course it is always "best quality" in true China style).  I came home today with a Prada purse, a Cartier watch, 3 pairs of Tod's Shoes, Bvlgari sunglasses, a pair of Dolce & Gabbana Shoes for Mitchell, Nikes for Henry, and 60 Nintendo DS games (on 2 cartridges).  So funny...I guess living in China does have its perks. :)

Easter

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While we tried our best to keep some of our family traditions in place for Easter this year, it was extremely difficult in a non-Christian country.  I think Mr. Ren asked 3 or 4 different times when our "US church celebration" took place.  He thinks all holidays are celebrated with family gatherings, laughing, talking, singing and dancing.  We always laugh when he says this and reassure him that his view is incorrect, but with 3 little kids we almost always find ourselves doing all of those things!! :)  Haha. Cathy and Brett (our friends from Des Moines in Beijing with John Deere) had an egg coloring kit, so we joined the Esmonds and headed to their house.  All 7 kids (Truman did not partake this year) had a blast and created 65 egg masterpieces!  After the kids were done with the egg adventure and the parents were done with their second bottle of wine, we headed out for dinner...all 14 of us.  Gotta love having drivers! :)  We had a great time and really enjoyed spending time with our "China family"!

Easter Sunday was filled with as much from "home" as was possible.  We started the morning with an egg and basket hunt in the house.  I would like to say that the baskets were creatively hidden in the garbage can and under a coat on the coat rack this year.  We only had one mishap when Mitchell forgot Adeline's basket was in the garbage can and he threw the coffee grounds away.  Oops!!  After that we had a delicious egg casserole breakfast, headed to church and rounded the day off with a movie and a bike ride.  The weather was great, the air was clean and the sky was blue!!  A great way to celebrate Jesus! :)

EC4 Assembly

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Once per year every class gets a chance to perform at an assembly attended by all of the lower elementary school (LES).  Last Friday was Adeline's class.  They have been building things with blocks (hospital, zoo, airport, school, etc) in their classroom for weeks now and they wanted to show off their talent for the assembly.  It was fantastic!  I was so impressed, they were able to draw the blueprint and figure out how to place huge moving boxes on the stage to create places.  It was unique, original and very creative!!  Great job EC4, we loved your show! :)  Click on the picture to view the whole thing. [gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]

The rest of Doug's trip in Beijing

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We somehow convinced Doug to stay an extra 4 days with us once we got back fromThailand.  It was so much fun to have him in Beijing again!  The weather was great, the air was not too bad and we did a lot of sightseeing.   We flew kites in Olympic Park, ate at Din Tai Fung, and we finally got to see the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square (and this time we actually got out of the car). :)  Henry was the photographer, great pictures buddy![gallery orderby="ID"]

Thailand

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I am still in awe...in 3 months we have been in the US, China, Philippines, and Thailand...crazy!!  We are so fortunate (and thankful) to be able to travel to exotic places so often.  I never thought I would travel to Asia and now we are having a blast doing it. :) During the kids' Spring Break we were lucky enough to have Doug come to China and then travel with us to Khao Lak, Thailand.  The weather wasn't fantastic, apparently the earthquake in Japan brought about the rainy season early, but we made the most of it and had a great time.  We had delicious food, great conversation, swimming, sight seeing and even rode an elephant!  We were also lucky to spend a day in Bangkok on the way back to Beijing.  Here are some of the pictures to highlight our trip, if you want to see them bigger just click on the picture.

[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]

Pottery

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Henry and Adeline were sooo excited to give their teachers the pottery that they had painted for them in Iowa.  We had to go to school early the first day back to Beijing so they could give them their presents.

Henry painted a lovely picture for Miss Fiona with mountains, flowers and fireworks.  She was so touched it brought tears to my eyes!!Adeline painted a necklace and a pencil holder for Miss Cindy.  She thought they were beautiful!

Our trip to Iowa

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After getting the news about Big J, the kids and I hopped aboard a plane and headed for Iowa.  We tried to get on Mitchell's flight (he left the same day for San Jose), but there weren't any seats available.  So, with 3 kids in tow I headed to Des Moines via Vancouver and Denver with AirCanada.  We were even able to have supper with Leah, Emily and Maraia in the Denver airport because we had such a long layover.  That was definitely a highlight! :) Although I do have to note that we flew thousands of miles and the kids picked Panda Express for supper.  What dorks!

Maraia, Adeline, Emily and Truman at the Denver Airport.

Leah and Jess at DIA.

It was a hard week trying to come to terms with Big J's death and the kids ended up getting sick too, jet lag and emotions are not a good combination.  We had to extend our trip in Iowa an additional week because the kids were not well enough to fly.  On the plus side though, we were able to spend more time with our family, the kids painted pottery for Miss Fiona and Miss Cindy, Truman started walking! and we synced up itineraries with Mitchell in Chicago to fly back to Beijing (Mitchell had to return to the US 5 days after he got back to Beijing the first time).

Truman letting Lucy out of her kennelTruman letting Lucy out of her kennel.Pretty proud of his new discovery!He was pretty proud of his new discovery!

Truman getting a massage. :)

Ryen and Adeline, matching princesses.

Truman LOVED playing with Brinley!

Truman and Jess loving up on Avery.

Back on the plane ...

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5 days after returning to Beijing from the US, I'm heading back to San Jose for an important meeting. Luckily, I'll be able to meet up with Jess and the kids in Chicago O'Hare and we can all fly back to Beijing together.

On a side note, I love the Beijing airport. Its fast, clean and friendly. The lounges are nice, the food is good (enough) and the wifi is free.