Grace's Birthday

We experienced our first family birthday while being here.  Grace turned three this week and we celebrated in a different kind of way.  Normally, I would have made a cake or bought one, and I would have purchased a balloon with her favorite character on it.  Well…..after searching for balloons at many different stores this week, I gave up.  Then, I stood in line at a very crowded bakery for a Hello Kitty cake only to have the person in front of me buy it.  Maybe I could have made a cake, but we have fried our Kitchen Aid mixer in the outlet.  Ok, I AM in a good mood today, really, I just wanted everyone to know how much I tried to make Grace’s birthday special. 

But listen to all of the special things she DID get to do for her birthday.  First of all, Jeff took off work and we went to Chaoyang Park.  This is a huge park in the middle of the downtown area.  It reminds us of Central Park in NYC.  There, we rented a motorboat for an hour for only $8.00 and did some carnival types of rides/activities.

That night we went to a cultural restaurant with Jeff’s co-workers and when they found out it was Grace’s birthday they brought a huge fruit cheesecake with strawberries on it.  It was so yummy and they all sang Happy Birthday to her.  It was such a fun restaurant with live music and dancing.  It reminded Jeff and I of the cultural restaurant we went to in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  These Chinese people have a heritage from Western China near the Afghanistan border.  Therefore, they have more middle eastern influences in the music and dress.  Jack loved the kung fu show and Grace loved the “princesses” which were the dancers.

Mr. Li (our driver) also surprised Grace with a huge bunny since it's the year of the rabbit in China!!

Jack and Grace have made some new friends.  They are Nate and Noah (4 and 6 year old brothers) and we met them at the Church we are attending.  They are from Arkansas but have lived here for 4 years.  We are so thankful that we have met them so quickly.  Their parents are helping us with a lot of useful information about the area and culture!  We have gone to an indoor play gym and waterpark with them.

Nate and Noah with Jack