A Trip To The Mall

I usually have my Mandarin lesson on Tuesday but Rachel asked to change it to Thursday so today became a 'free' day with no one coming to the apartment.  I was up too early with Ryan so I dozed on the couch while he watched television.  I had gotten him some cereal and apple juice but had forgotten to put the juice carton away and I can vaguely remember hearing him say, "Uh oh Mommy, I spilled some juice".  I drifted off again and only briefly opened my eyes when Nicholas woke up and got the bowl of cereal I had poured for him.  The next time I awoke it was to a crash.  Nick had dropped the bowl with the cereal and smashed it all over the living room floor.  That's the second dish in three days.  These marble floors are not very forgiving.  Anyway, I got that mess cleaned up then looked down at the coffee table to see the whole carton of apple juice spilled all over it and the floor.  Well, what had been left in the carton, which appeared to be quite a bit.  The funny thing was, Ryan had actually gotten a towel and tried to clean up some of what had spilled on the floor.  Serves me right for sleeping on the job, although that seems to be okay in China.  Yesterday at the water park Ryan and I made several trips into one of the ladies rooms and each time we saw the cleaning lady  sitting in the corner sound asleep.  There were also several other workers dozing around the water park in various out of the way places.  When in Rome...

When I finally did get up I decided we should go back to YooHoo to get the boys some of the cereal they like.  Since there is a Subway there I figured we would go for lunch and treat Tian Ye as well.  I told Nicholas and Ryan both that if they wanted a sub they had to have some fruit first so Nick grabbed a banana right away and inhaled it.  Ryan said he wanted one but would only take a few nibbles.  I warned him that he would not get a sub if he didn't eat it and he said fine.

Tian Ye picked us up at 11:00 and when I told him about going to Subway, Ryan changed his mind about eating a banana so I asked Tian Ye to stop at the corner store.  I got everyone a drink and Ryan his banana and again, he took a few nibbles but wouldn't eat anymore.  We went through this a few more times on the way to the mall.  He was cranky and had been crying the entire walk from the apartment to the van because Nicholas had turned off the air conditioner when he wanted to do it.  He was in a pretty sorry state.

When we got to the mall I took Nick and Ryan to the bathroom while Tian Ye waited for us.  He had been joking around with the boys on the way in, chasing them and having fun.  When he saw us coming out of the bathroom I saw him move so he could stand along the wall where we couldn't see him.  When we stepped out of the doorway he jumped in front of us and hollered and scared the bejeezes out of me and Ryan. He certainly is a lot of fun!

We went to Subway and as promised, Ryan didn't get his sandwich.  He didn't make a fuss though, which surprised me.  It turned out to be Tian Ye's first time having a sub at Subway and I think he enjoyed it.  Nick, as always, loved his taste of home.

Since we were at the mall anyway I thought we would check out the cineplex to see if Cars 2 had started here.  I figured the chances were slim since it only premiered in the US on Friday but I thought maybe I could at least get a date for when it might show here and whether or not it would be in English.  I became more hopeful when I saw the movie on a poster so I asked Tian Ye to find out what language it was showing in.  Alas, Cars 2 is not showing at that theater and perhaps won't be.  No one there seemed to know a whole lot. I guess we will have to just wait and see.

I decided it was time to get to YooHoo so we made our way there and picked up a few things.  It was incredibly painful as Ryan was a mess.  He was attracting lots of attention to his terrible Momma with screaming, kicking and being a royal pain in the ass.  We got out of there as quickly as possible and made our way back to the van.  After he had a really, really long pee in a bottle (I have started keeping empty water bottles in the van for those occasions when we are stuck in traffic) he fell asleep and finally there was peace.  I can't imagine what Tian Ye thinks about all this when he is shopping with us.  If nothing else it's great birth control for China!

Once we got home it was a lazy day.  I did some emailing and we Skyped with Nanny and Bumpy for a while.  The kids were being builders with their tools - Nick was Bob the Builder and Ryan was Wendy, the assistant - then doctors.  Then Ryan did the dishes while Nicholas and I made supper.  We had a long discussion about how it's a good thing that Tim and I had kids to help with things like making supper and how boring it must have been before they were here.  He's right, of course.  It's just funny to hear him say it.  When Tim got home Nick mentioned to him that before we had kids we didn't have any toys to play with.  All Tim had to play with was me!

Tomorrow is Wednesday and we all know who comes on Hump Day.  I'm not sure what we will do for the afternoon.  I guess it's another wait and see thing.  I guess those of you who didn't know me well before I started this blog have learned that I'm really more of a spontaneous person.  I avoid planning too much as I find it bores me terribly.  Now if I can just pick up some extra energy, we will get back to more adventure!  I will start by going to bed now.  Goodnight!