Plum Blossoms

This time of year the trees are blossoming and everything is very picturesque here in Wuxi!  Two of my coworkers took us to the Plum Garden (Meiyuan) to see all of the flowering trees!  The garden was very pretty and we could have spent many hours there exploring, but Ava still needs her nap most days.  Ava enjoyed climbing some trees and eating a homemade sucker shaped as a horse!



Me and my coworkers, Emi & Shanghai



Catching Up

So we have a lot of catching up to do with the blog!  We’ve been pretty good at posting stories/pictures from our travels, but we do get out and about in Wuxi and have some fun adventures as well.  Therefore, we will try to post some short posts in the next few days (with lots of pictures) to share what we have been up to these past couple of months!  Hard to believe that we have less than two months left … time sure has gone quickly!

Here are some pictures of Ava enjoying a lovely February day in our neighborhood!

A few more pics from Hawaii

Also while in Hawaii, Ryan, his dad and Julie enjoyed a round of golf together (while Ava & I went for a swim and napped)!  The golf course was beautiful and the weather was perfect!

Maui

Beautiful rainbow



Pearl Harbor



We left Ava with her Nana for a few hours so we could climb Diamond Head.  We came back to get her and she had a new dress, a new necklace and pigtails with new barrettes!  Needless to say, both Ava and Nana had a great time that afternoon!





Whale Watching!

Whale Watching is something I have always wanted to do and FINALLY I was in the perfect spot at the perfect time!  We saw several whales during our adventure and even had to stop the boat because the whales got too close!  At one point we even saw some dolphins swimming with the whales, which they said was unusual.  Ava absolutely loved it and now asks for whales whenever she sees water (along with fish and turtles) - whether it's a pond, river or ocean!  If she doesn't see one, then she thinks they are sleeping! 

Looking for whales



Happy Girl!



A week in Paradise ...

CLEAN AIR, clean water, STARS at night, tropical drinks, chicken wings, SALADS, delicious steak, sandy beaches, multiple swimming pools, BABYSITTERS anytime we want and QUALITY TIME with our parents --- yep, sounds like Paradise!  

Since my parents trip to China didn't quite work out, and Ryan's dad and step-mom weren't too interested in traveling to China, we decided to all meet "half way" in Hawaii for 1 week!  This ended up being a fantastic idea, although I don't think it was 1/2 way for any of us!  And the best part about going to Hawaii was that we got to see Frank and Karen (Frank officiated our wedding) and they got to meet Ava!

We spent the first part of our trip in Honolulu where we enjoyed the sunshine and all of the sights to see - we climbed Diamond Head, visited Pearl Harbor, snorkeled at Hanauma Bay and of course attended a Luau!  The second part of our trip was spent in Maui!



Our first day in Hawaii!  My parents welcomed us with Leis!




Dan & Julie!



Our resort was just beautiful and had several ponds with fish, turtles and even penguins!

Enjoying a swim with Papa!

Delicious prime rib buffet with the whole gang!

Looking for planes!

Chatting with Mamou



Quality Time with Bapa



Date Night thanks to my brother and SIL for getting us a gift card to an amazing steak house - and to my parents for watching Ava!



Almost to the top of Diamond Head - winding staircase and bunker and then we are there!



Made it to the top





Ready for the Luau!

Our little traveler!

As we travel around Asia, Ava has been such a big help in the airport!  That is until she runs into people because she doesn't like to look where she is walking ... and she easily gets distracted by ramps, stairs and the automatic sidewalk things.  Other than that, she is very eager (adamant even) to help us with our bags! :)

Wuxi Zoo!

Since Bethany had an unexpected day off work (the city turned off the electricty near the plant, so she couldn't work) and we had a beautiful spring day, we decided to check out the Wuxi Zoo!  We had heard from other expats that it is actually really nice, so we were trying to find a time to go! 

Today was the perfect day - sunny and 60 degrees!  The Zoo was pretty clean and wasn't too crowded, although I think several schools brought their kids on a field trip today.  It was obvious that all of the kids were quite excited to get a chance to speak English!  Of course this also meant that, at times, we felt like a zoo exhibit, but unfortunately it is starting to feel "normal".  We will take a day of kids surrounding us as opposed to older ladies any day though!  At least the kids don't touch Ava and yell at us for her not being dressed warm enough (let me tell you, these Chinese babies have to be sweating all of the time wearing snow suits when it's 50 degrees and sunny out)! 

Anyway, Ava loved all of the animals and of course had to wave and say "hi" to them all!  Overall, we had a wonderful morning at the zoo and are really glad we were able to fit it in!