Finally! Wulihe Park and Kite Flying

Happy Easter!  I hope the bunny has found everyone.  He did make a stop here in China and left behind tin lunch boxes filled with "hairy stuff" and on top of that chocolates, two little toys and some Toy Story tattoos.  He also gave the kids chocolate and stuffed bunnies.  Some of the chocolate eggs were hidden so the kids had fun on a little egg hunt.

I have some video too but I will have to upload it tonight or tomorrow when the internet is faster.  It will take a few hours.

After a whole bunch of chocolate the kids started to go squirrely so we got them ready and went to Anna and Dave's place.  This was the first time we had been to their apartment and it is beautiful.  We had a tour and talked while the kids played on Anna's swing.

After they had their fun on the swing we left for the park.  First we stopped by a building across the street where they had their fountains working and some annuals planted.  It was beautiful!

You'll notice in most of these pictures that you see a lot more of Ryan than Nicholas.  That's because as soon as Nick sees the camera up near my face he runs and hides whereas Ryan seems to enjoy posing.  Anyway, we ventured across the street to the park and the kids headed straight for the river.  They had a great time throwing rocks and sticks in the water as we walked down toward the man-made beach area.  The hand sanitizer was flowing freely today. 

This is one beach where I won't be dipping my tootsies into the water when it gets hot.  There was lots of garbage that had washed up which is too bad, it would have made a nice spot.  I will stick to the chlorinated pool (if we ever get there!).  In the last picture the tallest building you see is the hotel that burnt in February.  I'm glad we're so far away from it.

David flew his kite here at the beach until it started raining and we took off for under the bridge.  Here we saw a classic Chinese scene.  A man was stopped under the bridge, in the middle of the street cleaning his car.  I'm not sure if it was because the rain had gotten it wet or what, but all the other cars had to go around it.  The really funny thing was, with all the horn honking that goes on here for no reason, not one person honked at him for parking where he did.

Under this bridge there was a kite vendor and while here Nick decided he wanted a penguin kite, then changed his mind and picked a cat one.  The penguin was too big for him and I thought we could find a nicer one than the cat so we all talked him in to waiting until we got closer to our apartment complex and another vendor.  When we did he found a dog kite that he liked so we took it for a test drive.  Once his was up in the air Ryan wanted one too and we got two of them going.  Nick's got tangled with someone else's and the woman who was selling them came and quickly got his string back into it's holder.  Then she asked me to pay her 140RMB but I offered her 100.  She wouldn't take that but she begrudgingly accepted 110RMB (about $16) for the two kites and string holders.  After this when Nick's string got tangled she didn't bother offering to fix it for us!  Luckily we had Dave there and he, Tim and Nick managed to get it sorted.  It was a bit chaotic for a few minutes but we had a good laugh about it and in the end the kids really enjoyed the kite flying (and so did we!).

After the kite flying the kids found some dirt to play in and had a great time while we sat and chatted.  It was a really nice day and we didn't want to go home but hunger was starting to set in.  Now that we have made it to the park I think I will be able to get the kids there a little easier next time and we can pack a picnic and spend more time flying their kites.  I might even get one of my own.  Perhaps one of these:

I wonder if I could handle them.  On the way home we found more adult playgrounds and the boys worked out their legs for a few minutes.

For supper we made our first stew since leaving home.  This is a staple for us and I brought my own summer savory with me to make sure we could have it.  It made the apartment smell like home which was wonderful and despite the fact that we had no turnip or parsnips, it was still pretty tasty.  The beef from YooHoo was awesome too but next time I will have to buy more.

Well, that's it for today.  We are pretty tired out and are just chillin' for the evening.  Tomorrow is our first payday so I am going to work on a list of things to buy, starting with a dryer!!!