The house was decorated for Chinese New Year! Tradition is to decorate the outside, so we did. We have our Chinese knot and firecrackers.
Inside we had a few more various items to hang up. The girls love decorating.
I took this photo of Eleri at Green Leisure in Jinqiao on Thursday night.
On Friday, the girls and I went to the IFC Mall. The girls had fun taking photos with the displays.
After photos, we went to to the basement to City Super to get a few items which turn into more than a few. City Super had flour. I have been looking for regular flour for a couple weeks. City Shop has bread flour at 82rmb ($13) a bag. City Super’s flour was cheaper at 48rmb ($7) for regular flour. Now, I had a couple heavy bags to carry with me. We decided we would go to the 4th floor to lunch at Simply Thai, one of Eleri’s favorite places. The lady just told us “no”. It was too crowded. We went down a floor to noodles to get the same response, “no”. Back to the basement for McDonald’s – the line was out the door. The three of us looked at each other and decided to go home for lunch. By the time we got home, it began to snow and the girls had fun playing in the snow. See the post, Let it Snow
We are home for a total of 10 days – in 10 days Eleri can making a mess with her making. I didn’t want to clean the coffee table every night, therefore, I decided she needed a making corner – Eleri’s making corner! This way her making mess stays contained in the corner.
On Saturday, Eleri went down to Sophie’s house all afternoon. Eleri and Sophie stated an imovie in the fall. They spent the day finishing the movie. It was really cute. It is a “Sophie imovie”, directed by Sophie and staring Eleri.
Saturday night was the Chinese traditional family night during CNY. Fireworks/fire crackers began after dark and continued until 1am. In the complex, the sounds echos off the buildings. It is fun to see the fireworks over the river. However, after awhile, we just turn the tv up louder to finish watching our movie.
Sunday night we had a lovely dinner at the Jenkins. No photos as we were enjoying our friends, the Jenkins, the Bishops and the Gandys. The kids had fun playing together.
Avery stayed the night Sunday and Monday which made Emersyn all smiles for a double night sleepover. The girls had fun being girls. They made glitter gel from Eleri’s spa kit, made ice lollies, played in the garden with Roxi, had a fashion show and “hung out”.
On Tuesday, Faith needed to come to get Avery so it was a perfect day for a long lunch at WFC. We went to Sophie and Eleri’s favorite, Din Tai Feng, for dumplings. We sat and talked until 4pm – a perfect slow day during our stay-cation.
Tuesday late afternoon around 6pm, Emersyn wanted to try to make fire. She needs to be able to make fire with a flint on her Kunming mountain trip. Eagle Scout Jim and Emmy made fire in a flower pot on the deck. Eleri and I gathered the smore makings – if there is a fire, we must have smores – dessert before dinner!
EVERY night is popcorn night with a movie.
Eleri spent two days putting legos together. Mr. Nie has given the girls lego sets in the past as a CNY gift. Eleri was happy to put them all together.
On Wednesday, Emersyn wanted to make fire one more time. This time Jim and Emersyn made fire in the afternoon when it was warmer. Emersyn had no prolbem making fire with a flint, therefore, she will be ready for her adventure trip in March.
Of course, we had the smores ready and waiting for the flames of the fire.
Valentine’s Day was on Thursday during our stay-cation. Having Valentine’s Day during CNY takes away the fun at school for the girls – no valentines to share with friends and no cupcakes at school. The girls did get a box of chocolates to start the day off right.
The girls and I made cookies in the afternoon. We all enjoyed the cookie dough and hot cookies from the oven.
We had a Valentine’s dinner at the coffee table – our dining spot during this stay-cation enjoying a movie.
Friday night was dinner at Faith’s house. I love going to Faith’s for dinner. Faith is from the South and she knows how to cook. We all rolled out of Faith’s house that night with full tummies!
Saturday was a Kerry Center day. Jim had to work Saturday and Sunday. The Chinese always do this funny swapping of weekend working with holiday time. Jim doesn’t generally work the swapped weekends, but we were in town so he made his appearance. We met Jim for lunch at the Blue Frog – the best burgers in town. The girls and I enjoyed a little nail time at the Dragon Fly. Emersyn wanted to have nice nails for MUN next weekend. The only problem is it is now more expensive as Emersyn is full price. Eleri is still half price. After nails and a little shopping, we were meeting the gang for skating. For the first time, the Kerry Center has a small rink set up outside – we thought we should give it a go. It really wasn’t an ice rink, but plastic sheets put together. It cost 40rmb ($6) for 1-hour. While the kids were skating, the parents had a drink in The Brew. No one was drinking too much as we all drank too much at Faith’s last night.
The kids said it wasn’t that fun so we won’t be going back.
We enjoyed the last Sunday hanging at home while Jim worked the morning. We didn’t go on a big adventure, but we enjoyed hanging together as a family. Sometimes with our busy schedules, it is nice to just be at home.