Ka-Chow!

Sorry I missed writing yesterday but it wasn't my fault.  I couldn't get on my blog - and I'm not just making that up as an excuse.  Although to be honest, I didn't try for very long.  I was pretty tired.

Yesterday Ayi was here which meant some early morning straightening up for me.  After that I took the boys outside to play hockey and meet up with Celine and Caroline.  I figure it makes Ayi's job a little easier if she doesn't have us running around her.  We stayed out for a while then had to come in to get ready to go to Nicholas's new school.  Ryan had a nap while I got a shower, we had a quick lunch then headed out.  As it turned out, the lady that we were supposed to meet in front of the school came with Tian Ye from Michelin.  Her name is Anne and she is a very pleasant person.

We left for the school and it took a little while as it seemed that every way Tian Ye tried to go there was construction.  Eventually we made it there and finally got to see inside.  As we walked in the gate we could hear birds chirping and Anne pointed out a birdcage nestled in some trees.  We had a look and there were several budgies and what looked like small parrots inside.

From there we entered into the foyer of the school.  It was very bright and colorful and for a minute I actually wished I was going to school there.  Then I came to my senses.  Although I did alright in school it was not my favorite place to be.  I think it had something to do with the feeling of being restrained and at someone else's mercy.  I try not to convey that to Nicholas but maybe subconsciously I have done just that.  I think he enjoys the freedom and fun that we have together.

Anyway, as I was saying, the school is very nice.  We only got to see the foyer and peek inside what will be Nicholas's classroom since the children were having their nap time.  It was also very bright and there appeared to be lots of activities for the kids.

Even after seeing that Nicholas still doesn't want to go but on Monday he will start.  We will take him in the van and if everything goes alright he may end up taking the shuttle that Michelin provides.  It is for the kindergarten children only and Anne and the Michelin teacher that assists the French kids travel on it as well.  We would just have to drive him to Riverside Garden which Tim could do on his way to work and pick him up after school.  We will just wait and see how things go.

After seeing the school I had Tian Ye drop us off at the Mix C Mall so we could get some groceries at Ole.  We decided to look around and check out the toy store and ice rink since we have never seen it but on the way to the rink we came across the movie theater.  The boys spied the Cars 2 advertisements and went a little silly.

I didn't think the movie was actually showing but then I asked and the lady I chose to speak to thankfully knew some English.  I could have managed in Chinese and probably should have tried but I think they enjoy practicing their English so when I can, I will help them out (wink wink).  As it turned out, Cars 2 was starting in a half hour, in English, and 3D to boot!  I asked the boys and Ryan was keen but Nicholas, not so much.  I ended up having to force him into the theater even after bribing him with popcorn and Sprite.  Of course I forgot the main reason he doesn't enjoy movies, parades and fireworks.  They are too loud.  He has incredibly sensitive ears (selective, but sensitive) and when we go to parades or fireworks we usually take earmuffs - the good kind that actually block out noise.  It's been so long that I forgot about that detail.

I finally managed to get them both in the theater to sit and luckily there weren't a lot of people there.

 For the first ten minutes Nick sat on the floor with his hands over his ears.  We were sitting in the last row so I decided to move us down closer to the screen and further from the speakers.  Once we did that he was able to sit up in his seat and just cover his ears for the especially loud parts.  He even wore the 3D glasses for most of the movie and thought that was pretty neat.  He said it made the cars look like real toys.  Ryan sat on my lap and although he wouldn't wear the glasses, he enjoyed the movie.  I watched for a minute without the glasses and it wasn't too blurry.  Personally, I loved the experience, possibly more than the kids.  The sound was great and the racing parts were awesome.  It literally shook the seats.  The 3D was cool too.  By the time the movie was over both boys were happy and pretty excited which made the grocery shopping excruciating. We got it done though and by that time Tian Ye and Tim were there to pick us up.

This morning Nicholas and Ryan were back on Skype with Nanny and had her playing with the Cars 2 book, cars and mat.  They loved it again, of course, and really want Nanny to get here sooner.  She read them another new book about whales and dolphins and then had to go to bed as it was getting late there.

I spent the rest of the day doing computer stuff and starting the application for Ryan's passport.  It will expire before we return from Canada so it needs to be renewed here.  I was going to wait until he turned three in October because then the passport will be valid for five years instead of three.  But, since the travel agency for Michelin wants it as soon as possible, we thought we'd better start now.  It's a good thing we did because it's not simply a case of filling out the same form as in Canada and sending it via courier to Beijing.  For children living abroad we still have to have a guarantor with a certain profession, one that has known us for two years.  There are two engineers here who have known us that long but, unfortunately for us, engineer is not one of the accepted professions on this form.  Now we have to have a Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor.  It's another form that needs to be filled out and signed in front of a notary or other authorized person but since the form is in English, that person must be able to read, write and understand English.  Now we have the Michelin people checking to see if there is someone in Shenyang that can do that and if not, we will be making a trip to Beijing to fill the form out in person at the embassy.  I'm not-so-secretly hoping that there isn't anyone here!  I would love to get out of Shenyang for a couple days.  On the plus side, our tickets have been purchased so we now have firm dates for our trip home to Canada.  It's less than three months from now (I know I have mentioned this a few times in the last week) and it's very exciting.



Caroline was over for a while this morning then she and her mom joined us for supper this evening.  In was impromptu but lovely to have guests again.  We haven't had anyone over for a while.  I find I have no ambition to have company for supper when it's so bloody hot but last minute dinner guests are good.  There's no extra preparation.

I think that's about it for now.  This weekend the kids have decided that we should go see the Cars 2 movie again and take Tim this time.  I guess it wasn't too bad after all.


One question for you.  How badly do you want your windows clean?  As much as this person?