First Day of School (Again)

Brycen really likes school. All I have to say about that is thank goodness!!!

His morning starts really early because the bus comes to get him at 7:15am, so he can be to school by 8. He is only doing 1/2 day and is home by 12:10pm. I think the thing that has made this transition so easy is the fact that he gets to ride the "school bus", which is nothing more than a blue airport hotel like van. I love that he comes home singing songs, counting his fingers and talking about playing outside. I really struggled with the fact that I was sending my baby on a bus every morning to school 5 days a week, but I think in the end it was a good decision for both of us. The other great thing is that they told me to only send him in his "big boy undies" and they would work on the potty training. I am not so sure it is really working out, but I am willing to try anything:)

China..our first few weeks

I am finally connected and can now access my blog. I have been wanting to update so badly, but couldn't so here is the first of many posts about our adventures in China.

We have officially now been in China for 4 weeks. Things are definately different here, but the things that I thought would be easy (getting pants hemmed, getting a cell phone, finding foods to eat for dinner other than grilled cheese) are hard and things that I thought would be hard (getting adjusted to the culture, the crazy way they drive and all the spitting) are not bothering me quite as much.

Our first few days here were spent in a hotel until our apartment was ready. This was the most challenging time as we were suffering from jet lag, all our luggage was crammed into one small room and we were on the go constantly, which meant no nap for Brycen. When you first arrive in China you are expected to register with the police and get a physical. The morning of our physical the girl that was escorting us pulled up to get us in a taxi, no problem. Here we are with our big Graco carseat and there are no seatbelts in sight. So we threw the car seat in the trunk and Brycen sat between Les and I. I was horrified, but "when in Rome".

Once we moved into or apartment things started to settle down. Les went back to work and Brycen and I began the task of making our "new house", as he puts it, feel like a home. Again the hardest part has been finding things to eat for lunch and dinner. For those of you that know my son and husband well, you can understand how hard this can be. Grocery shopping here is not one stop shopping like at the stores at home. Different stores carry different imported goods, quality meats or safe fruits and veggies. So once you find something that you like you either stock up or hope you remember what store it came from so you can find it again.

(Brycen checking out the local seafood at the grocery store)

Here are some early pics from our first few weeks here. All in all things are going good. We have already managed to make a trip to the Shanghai Zoo, and visit the famous Bund. Both were very crowded, but we had a good time.