Mid-February.
Chinese New Year
We were ecstatic to be sharing the crazee of Chinese New Year with someone new, and someone who would completely appreciate the blasts of fireworks and boom of the night.
We ate dinner and built a fire outside in order to make 'smoreos'--roasted marshmallows put in the Oreo. Yum.
We also made a movie night out of it, introducing our kids to The Sandlot, per Josiah's request. They all loved it (though we had to explain baseball, again, and who Babe Ruth was). We also decided we would camp out in our tent, since we never sleep much on this night anyway. Josiah opted to try his hammock for the night, it is pretty comfy!
For the first time ever we let the older 3 kids (4, including Josiah) stay up until midnight. But the parents didn't last. David, Gabrielle, and I climbed in the tent just before 10 maybe. The others played Apples to Apples among other games until the extravaganza. We did doze off until just before midnight. Gabrielle was sound asleep and did not budge during the ground shaking, earth splattering roar of fireworks exploding all around us....If only....
These New Year's Eve fireworks last a good while, with every home setting off their own variety. The booms usually die down a bit by 1:30 a.m. and there is a few hour lull, with sporadic loud displays. Then again by 5 or 6 in the morning the chorus of explosions start again, and the sulfur smell hangs hard in the air. The kids all got in the tent by 1 a.m. and slept fine until morning. Not me...I dozed and tossed. Finally at 6 a.m. we went to our own bed and slept well until mid-morning! Josiah had already gone inside because he had gotten too cold! OOPS, yes, I should have known it may get too chilly. The tent was toasty even with the windows vented.
New Year's Day was a blur for me, I think we ate scones for breakfast. And we did bike to KFC and eat lunch, or maybe it was dinner. Almost every place shuts down for awhile during the holiday. Not KFC, and it was jam packed!!! There were a few shops open, we did some leisurely shopping, and biked home, the streets were barely busy making it perfect for kids on bikes!
And there we commenced the Year of the Dog here in China, so thankful Josiah came so far to celebrate with us ;).
The 'Other' Days
With Josiah here over the holiday we were not in our normal routine. But we did get into one for a little bit so that we could all do some school work even while the country celebrated.
Josiah would go with David to his office to work on his own school work and work out. We stayed home and filled the morning with Home school.
They came home for lunch and we had most schooling done by then except read aloud time and CC review (which we barely did). Nerf gun wars sometimes ensued and then various play outside or in. In the evenings we would go out or play family games, we introduced him to Five Crowns and Blokus.
A few times in the afternoons or evenings Josiah would go to a nearby school and play some pick-up basketball with whoever was there. It was during one of these times in the evening that he nearly got his head blown off by a wayward firework (that someone else had lit). He came back shaken up saying it rang in his ears and really scared him, it was so close. It was the huge kind that are supposed to shoot high in the air and then light up but in this basketball courtyard it went sideways instead. We were SO thankful he was okay!
Tobin received his accolade for completing Tae kwon do, and Josiah even got to go with him to an exhibition event showcasing all levels. Tobin loved that Josiah was here for this.
While the guys were at that event the girls acted like they were living in 'olden times' cooking over the fire. They actually made a pretty decent rice dish.
On a different afternoon Josiah helped with a science experiment, donning protective goggles and all.
We rearranged one home school day to take Josiah to market day, which happens every 5 days. This is where people from all surrounding villages, etc. come to town to sell their wares and shop. It is not touristy at all, this market holds what is needed for life here.
And the big wet market always has some interesting characters.
This day's was this little alligator...There was another one already chopped up.
It was selling for about $12.60 a pound.
Josiah's hammock always had a few kids in it! And one Grandma tried putting her toddler in it too.
We loved going to all our favorite eats, though he may have gotten tired of noodles. This day was Vietnamese noodles with spring rolls.
diva dolls, shades, scarves, and lollipops!
Some days, during their short breaks the kids would come up with shows to put on during lunch. This happened at least three times and usually involved dancing and ninja chops, choreographed and produced by Sophia (with the portable mic on).
Towards the end of his visit, the neighborhood filled the pool up with water. It was cold and semi-clean, but I agreed they could go for a swim...(Josiah thought it not close to semi-clean, but he was a sport for a little while)
It didn't last too long, soon they were warming up in the sun!
These days with Big Bro Jo did not disappoint, and more adventures were had when his dad joined us for the last five days of his visit.
