The Litt Family – Barry, Julie, Koen (16) and Mikayla (14) – are on a China Adventure Holiday. The first stop on the tour is Shanghai at the Lyons. We have been friends with Julie and Barry since 1987 – almost 25 years! They moved from California to Colorado ten years ago. When we see them, our friendship is always the same as if no time has passed – except for the growing of children.

The Litt Family arrived Wednesday evening – late on arrival as this is China. We enjoyed time to visit before they all fell from jet lag.

Eleri came home from school Wednesday with a stomach bug. Not a fever, but vomiting a few times. She was better by Thursday, but not well enough to go to school. Jim worked from home as I was the tour guide of the Shanghai Shopping Tour.

We began the tour with a stop at the fabric market. Barry and Koen were easy with a few tailored shirts. Next on to the ladies – a couple dresses and a cashmere coat for Mikayla and few (well, five) shirts and a jacket for Julie. Time for lunch as shopping is hard work! We went to Taikang Lu for lunch to eat at a very Western place and enjoy the outside patio area.

We walked around the area for a little shopping of anything interesting. Scarves from Woo always make a good gift for friends at home. While shopping, Julie thought she was looking at a necklace, but it was a lighter. She burned her finger when she flipped it open. We joked the rest of the tour about “touching and playing with fire”. Next stop was the new Gap store. There are three new Cap stores in Shanghai and I have not been to any of them! The store has a some Gap shirts that say Shanghai, Beijing and China we were in search to buy.

After a long day of shopping, we enjoyed a dinner of jiaozi (little dumplings) made by our ayi. Julie and Barry loved them. The night didn’t end well as Mikayla was sick all night. Hum, we ate at a very Western place for lunch.

On Friday, I needed to be at school most of the day for Eleri’s end of the year party as the room Mom. I arranged for Mr. Nie to take the Litts to a water town. Mikayla stayed home and spent the day in bed still sick. Eleri stayed home and miss the school party since she had not completely recovered from her stomach bug. Jim worked from home, again.

While at the water town, Koen got sick. Barry wasn’t feeling the best so they came home early. Hum, not a good start to their China adventure. Either it was the food or a stomach bug, but they were dropping like flies! Julie was going strong!

It was Friday night and the adults decided to walk to the Blue Frog in the WFC (the tallest building in Shanghai) for dinner. We left our girls with the Litt teenagers in-charged. Both Koen and Mikayla weren’t feeling the best and enjoyed a little down time to watch tv with the girls. After dinner, we walked to the river front on the Pudong side to see the Bund.

Julie wanted to call to see how Mikayla was doing. When we called to check-in, Koen and Mikayla were in bed. Emmy had just tucked Eleri into bed. We laughed that the eleven year had in all under control!

Saturday is tennis day for Emersyn. Due to the rain, tennis was cancelled giving us an early start on the shopping. The shopping began at the underground market.

After a couple hours, Emersyn wasn’t feeling the best as she had a cough. Jim decided to take Emmy home and Koen jumped at the chance to skip a few hours of shopping. Mikayla was dragging, but decided to keep going. After much buying power at the underground, we drove to Decathlon for sporting goods. The Litt family is an active outdoor family in Colorado – jackpot!! Julie and Mikayla have a girls camping/hiking trip planned to Pikes Peak when they get back. Julie found sleeping bags, back pack and all kinds of “needed” items to take home. Eleri was having fun bouncing and playing around Decathlon while Mikayla was beginning to “fall” since she hasn’t fully recovered from her sickness.

We needed to go back to the underground for pearls sets that were being made. I had Mr. Nie drop Julie and I off while he took Barry, Mikayla and Eleri home. A wise decision as the pearls took another hour plus to finish. Julie and I got home just in time to change our clothes to go to dinner. We had dinner reservations at Lost Heaven on the Bund. We had planned to walk and take the ferry over, but with rain and sick kids, Mr. Nie drove us. Mikayla decided to stay home as she was out of energy from shopping all day. As always, Lost Heaven was a delicious meal. There was a break in the rain to do a quick Bund walk/look. It would be a shame to come to Shanghai and not walk on the Bund.

Sunday was the last day on the Shanghai Shopping Tour. Mikayla’s beautiful smile was back as yesterday was a long day for her. Emmy was feeling worst so she stayed home with Jim. We began the day at YuYuan Gardens. At one point, Barry asked if we were seeing the gardens. No, the gardens on NOT on the SHOPPING tour! Julie had her list of things to buy and we enjoyed walking around while she looked for the various items. It was not raining for our outdoor shopping day. We did see the zig zag bridge to add another tourist spot to the check list.

We ate lunch at Din Tai Fung for dumplings – one of our favorite places. These rabbits were outside as it is the Year of the Rabbit!

After a very long shop at YuGardens, we left around 3pm to find the closest Gap store to get a few more t-shirts. We dropped the “weak” shoppers off at home while the “strong” shoppers (Julie & I) hit the underground for a few more items. Eleri has been a trooper shopping all day for two days. Of course, she does love all the attention from Koen and Mikayla.

When Julie and I got home, the four kids were playing games and cards. Koen and Mikayla are very, very nice teenagers. I hope my two are taking notes!! I asked the kids if they wanted to walk to the Blue Frog for hamburgers or order pizza. A very fast response was Pizza! They played games until the pizza arrived. During dinner, they watched tv and very much enjoyed the night in. We enjoyed the time to visit with Julie and Barry.

Monday was a China holiday – Dragon Boat Festival. The girls didn’t have school which was nice no one was rushed out the door. Jim made crepes for the gang while the Litts packed their clothes and new treasures. They left just before noon for the airport for their next adventure to Beijing and Xian. We enjoyed having them and showing them Shanghai. I am sure Julie loved it, but Barry’s wallet is bit smaller after 4 days in Shanghai!