A Day at the Park

SIGHTS AROUND NANCHANG those would be bricks

Chinese Victoria Secret

these paper flower wreaths are hung when someone dies

We found this amazing bakery on our walk!!!! Loved it! Shelley, these pics are for you. I have more close ups for when I get home. Incredible - look way to good to eat

Even Jason can find food here he likes

TOP FIVE TAI PICS OF THE DAY Creepy alien like rabbit toys in the playroom - but Tai loves them

Wouldn't even dream of it anyway

"mama chinga"

Mama loves her handsome man in his Janie and Jack! We did good huh Shelley?

Priceless

THINGS YOU CAN BUY IN NANCHANG FOR LESS THAN 10 YUAN, WHICH IS ABOUT $1.50 USD These very yummy and quite fancy pastries cost 5 yuan which is less than a dollar usd

Quite possibly the best coffee I am going to find in nanchang ( and I have tried a few) is more like an instant cappachino, but quite tasty. If you leave out the funky, gooey noodle like white thing... then even better. Going back to stock up on more in the morning. Cost was 9 yuan approx. $1.32..... Worth it I think

This is a "very popular" ride for kids at the park per Jenny. No safety harness however! Seems to be trend in China. It winds up and hops around in a circle. kinda funny. We have some great video of it. They wanted to charge 10yuan, but Jenny bargained them down to 6 yuan, about 0.85 USD. I think it was worth it. Might even spring for it again. Would pay the 10 yuan if it came with a seatbelt!

So today was another great day in Nanchang! The only bummer is that it was once again quite cold and rainy. Getting a bit tired of the weather here. BTW weather.com is NOT accurate at all! We started out at a buddist temple. We are so sad that we could not take pictures in there, but understand why. It was an awesome experience. It was beautiful, the buddhas were so neat . I had no idea how many buddas there are and what they all mean. Jenny taught us so much. It was interesting to see the monks and all the locals praying. The "ritual" of it is very interesting. Each budda has a different meaning. Normally, I would have prayed at the one that is good for having children..... but don't need to do that anymore!!!! The part I found particularly intersting is the sort of money type of paper that a lady was burning. She would catch it on fire,wave it in the air (had incense) then throw it in the pot. It symbolizes giving a "type of money to dead people", it is for wealth in heaven. Could someone please burn some of this when I die for me. Would sure like to shop in heaven!!!!! Kim and Miki - Jason thinks he could maybe change to buddhism, they only go to temple 2x a month, when they go it is a big celebration and you light firecrackers. Maybe we are making some progress here...........ha ha

After the temple it was off to the park. This is no normal american park. It is quite a site. It was filled with elderly/retired people and small children. It is tradition that the paternal grandparents care for the children while the parents work. Women retire at 53 and men at 60 here. not to shabby huh. Have to be young to care for kids again, I guess. Anyway, they spend all day in the parks doing Tai Chi, folk dancing and singing and exercises. Everywhere we went the elderly came up to us,they are sooooo friendly. They all love Tai!!!!!!! We got a lot of "lucky baby" today! One lady even kissed Tai. Mom quickly pulled out the sanitizer after that one. It is such a bummer that it was so cold we really could have enjoyed ourselves today. The park has amusement park type rides in it.

After that is was off to the porcelin factory. Nanchang is known for their porcelin. It is all handmade here in this province. So wanted to get some for Tai and us and a few gifts. Tai fell asleep in the car so Jason stayed in the van with him while Jenny and I ....... shopped!!!!! When I got out of the car, Jason told me to get Tai a toilet. hee hee! It is custom here for the paternal parents to buy nice porcelin dishes for their son and bride on their wedding day. It is also custum to give tea sets. So I found an amazing tea set to give to Tai when he gets married. I love it! I also bought some stuff for us and some gifts. The sales lady "really liked me" according to Jenny so she gave me quite a bit of free stuff! I only spent about $200 USD today and I got some really neat stuff!

After that it was off to get lunch. We have had KFC, MickeyD's, and pizza hut already. I suggested Chinese, Jenny curled her nose and said I don't think so, you should maybe get pizza hut. Fast food chinese is not too good. "(she had paperwork to do for us so we had to be quick). Of course Jenny pulled out a coupon for us.... this time we got free tuna salad! Yes at pizza hut. It was more like potatoe salad with can tuna sprinkled on top. We also got wings b/c she told us they were soooo good. More like tobasco wings. I lit up like a lightbulb when I saw the picture of the coffee latte and coffee mocha! I said 2 please....to go!!!!!!! Well, they were marginal, but better than the hotel buffet.

Jenny then had to run off and do paperwork this afternoon for us. I sometimes forget how much behind the scenes stuff she has to do for us. I will have to write more about this later. But we are very happy with our agency! They have been very efficient with things. And truly they take care of it all for us. We just focus on bonding with Tai. I sign where she says sign and pay the necessary and various fees when she says to pay them. In between, I just keep on feeding cheerios.

Since we had the afternoon free, we decided to venture out ( in the rain) and see some of the city ourselves (or atleast the block). We safely crossed the street for the first time today, all by ourselves!!!!! The first time we had to cross the street, Jenny must have seen the panic on our faces, she quickly said how about I push the stroller. We gladly said OK. Right as we are about to cross,she gets a call. Mom, I am pretty sure this is worse then me talking on my cell phone and driving at the same time. We loved seeing the city. It is like we have stepped back in time here. We were out just after school let out. We saw so many beautiful children. They all want to speak english to you. They start learning in the first grade here. Most would say "hello" then giggle and run off. I saw one boy about 3rd grade, I said hello, how are you. He very clearly said fine than you. I then asked if he was having fun ( he was playing at the arcade) and he covered his mouth and nodded no. Don't think he understood that one.

Following is a Top Five list of the reasons we know that God made this special little baby just for us!

#5 - Tai loves his naptime - just like mama. He is also a complete grouch when he wakes up - just like his mama

#4 - Tai is not a fan of green vegtables (or any vegtable for that matter) just like his baba

#3 - Tai loves shopping - just like his mama

#2 - Tai walks around the room and picks up little pieces of food and puts them in his mouth -

just like Lucy!

And the #1 reason we know God made him just for us.........drum roll please....... Tai is perfectly happy with a pair of chopsticks, he could spend ALL day drumming on the table.... EXACTLY like his baba!!!!!!!!!

So there you have it, proof that he was made for us! Each day we fall more and more in love with little guy. Our room is a complete disaster... there are cheerios, fruit puffs, mashed banana, noodles, and tissue all over the floor - AND WE LOVE IT. Our pockets are full of snot rags and little cars - AND WE LOVE IT. The flat iron is a thing of the past - and I LOVE IT. We wear the same clothes everyday, who has time for laundry when you are playing with this little man - and WE LOVE IT. Tai likes to leave us presents (and we are not talking about the present we get in his diaper each morning like clockwork), today I found a toy car in my make-up bag. We have a suitcase under the desk with his toys and we do not open it much, today I found several half eaten ritz crackers in there.

Our favorite Tai story for the day is this........ We realized tonight that we did not eat dinner, we were too busy feeding Tai his nightly noodles with chopstix and bath time and play time. So we pulled out a bag of chinese lays BBQ chips (healthy, I know). Anyway Tai would hold out his hand for me to give him one, he would then march right over to baba and hand it to him. Jason would say thank you and nod/bow his head. Tai would then say "Dank You" and nod/bow his head then get this huge grin on his face (so proud of himself) we would laugh and then the whole cycle started again. About every 5th chip, he would decide that he needed to eat one too. This went on for quite awhile until the next thing we knew the bag was empty!!!!! We have never laughed so hard. The chips were awful by the way, but who cares we had way too much fun!