Holiday!

Hold on tight everyone, this is going to be a long post! For the one week holiday we call Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year), each night there are a lot of fireworks (as seen in our prior post). Certain nights have more than others, though. The fourth night and the fifth day in Shanghai have the most...arguably more than even Chinese New Year's Eve. The fireworks are set off on these nights to welcome in the god of wealth and prosperity. And since we live in China's wealthiest cities, this is a big day around here. So about a month ago, we planned a getaway for the two nights when the fireworks would be the loudest. We spent Wednesday and Thursday at a place on the outskirts of Shanghai called 'She Shan'. It was only a 30 minute drive and we had an amazing time! We weren't sure what to expect when we walked in our hotel lobby and it was the same temperature as outside (the hotel caters to chinese tourists, not westerners) but we were in for a great surprise! Our rooms were quite warm and the grounds around the hotel were beautiful and peaceful (no fireworks at all!). Here are some photos and a description of what we did...

Behind our hotel was a big lake with stepping stones crossing over to a small park with a kids play area and walking trail. Alex took the girls across while I looked for a route that was stroller-friendly (Geneva was asleep in the stroller at the time)...

Unfortunately Vera stepped right into the water after the second step, so this is how she got across. It was a funny sight and I'm sure entertained more than a few other hotel guests who were watching the foreign family figure out how to get to the play area. As you look at this photo, imagine Vera's little legs kicking and her little voice yelling 'Daddy, I a big girl...I can do it!' over and over again. Her cute little legs just weren't long enough to be able to step from stone to stone.
Our girls LOVE hotel rooms. We got a room with a big king size bed and here are the girls playing together! Geneva is so strong now...check out her head strength here...
We spent part of our time with another family we know here in Shanghai. They have a 7 year old girl, a 4 year old boy, and a newborn baby girl. Here are a couple of fun photos of the friends...

The girls and Asa walking around the hotel restaurant.

Wendy LOVES her friend Miriam...she's a great 'JieJie!'

Baby Geneva and Baby Salome...sweet smiles on these girls!

One of the reasons we selected this hotel to stay at was because of their reputation for a good swimming pool and kiddy pool. Good means well-heated indoor pool! We spent most of our two day vacation in the pool!

Geneva is learning new skills everyday. She is great at grabbing things now...and great at putting the things she grabs right into her little mouth!

One morning we went up on the mountain (shan means mountain in chinese...the name of the place we stayed is she shan...or She Mountain). At the top of the mountain (more like a big hill) is one of China's few existing Cathedrals. It is the only cathedral that Chinese Catholics take pilgrimages to. So all along the path up the mountain were people praying at 14 stations of the cross. Here is the wikipedia link for it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Shan_Basilica

We loved being outdoors, and at the top we found the Basilica to be under renovations, but were still able to see the outside of it (with scaffolding!). And next to the Cathedral/Basilica was an old observatory with a small science museum which the girls enjoyed. As we walked down the mountain path Alex kept reminding us all to take deep breaths and enjoy the smell of the woods...we don't get that smell very often here in Shanghai!

Here are some of the statues on the way up the mountain:

About half way up is the church where mass is currently being held. Once construction is finished on the Basilica services will return to the top of the mountain.

Wendy and Vera enjoying the bamboo!

The main part of the Basilica...scaffolding all around! We stood at the observatory to look around.

Alex and the big girls up at the top of the observatory.

Lots of fun places outside to climb around on...Vera loved exploring!

Geneva stayed snuggly in the wrap carrier with her cute knit hat from Grandma!

Vera loved this globe...inside is the earth and the clear outer part has the stars with the constellations connected on it. Vera mostly like to spin it!

After coming back down the mountain we were starving so had lunch at the first restaurant we came to! It was across the street from the entrance to the mountain park area. It was a pretty basic restaurant...reminded me of the old days in Chengdu!