Pictures from China

Pete sent me some pictures today of his shopping adventures in Beijing. They had a couple days to shop before heading down to work in Tiajin. He didn't take pictures of the shopping areas last time, so I was excited to see what kind of places he was going to. One of the men with his team this time is his friend Tom from another site. Tom lived over there for a couple years, so is very familiar with good shopping areas. When Tom and his wife came to our church to visit a few months ago, she told me that there were great places to shop, so I told Pete to follow Tom, because he would know where to go! Tom took him to a new place called the "Dirt Market".



It was this area outside with tons of people selling antiques and stuff.

Seeing the pictures now makes me want him to go back and buy me a couple of those things above!! Very cool!

He's not sure if he'll be able to do anymore shopping, because they want them to work through the weekend, but I'm holding out hope that he'll get one more day to shop. If not, at least I'll know where to send him when he goes back in a couple of months!

I believe, though he didn't label this one, that this is his hotel. Beautiful, isn't it?!

This is the "Silk Market". This is where he went last time. It's 6 stories of fantasticness!! Yes, I made that word up. It's the only word to describe this place. Oh how I wish I could go! I would spend days in this place. :-)

I, of course, sent him back for more purses. He took a picture of one of the many vendors that sold them. Such a happy picture, isn't it? :-)

Here Pete is posing with the salesgirl, holding the 2 purses he got me. :-) Love it!!!

So, Pete's doing well. He just finished up his first work day and he said he was very busy. Looks like he won't be getting much time off like he did on the last trip. He at least got the weekends to sight-see and stuff. Probably won't get that this time, sadly. But, hopefully he'll get some time off, even if it's not to shop. We're enjoying getting to see each other twice a day on Skype. The kids really like that. We're anxious to have him back home, but know the time will go by quickly.

Fire and Toothless

Pete left Friday morning for China, which of course meant that he would miss something exciting! We were getting out of Walmart, where we had just gone grocery shopping and I see, in the distance, a big cloud of smoke. I pointed it out to the kids, who wanted to go check it out. Looked like it was coming from Ottawa, where we were, but we quickly discovered it was coming from just down the street from our house!


There was a section of abandoned buildings at the end of Main St and they had caught on fire. Five buildings in all were burning down and it created quite a specticle in our little town, let me tell you! The part that wasn't so exciting? The entire town lost power for 12 hrs. Remember, I said we had just come out of Walmart where we had been grocery shopping, so we had a truck full of groceries and a refrigerator that wasn't running in 87 degree weather. Ugh. I have to clean out the frig this week, but trying to wait until the day before garbage day (Thurs), so the garage doesn't smell of rotting meat. It was definitely a sight to see though. The fire was pretty amazing!

We went by the next day on our way to dance class to see what remained. They prevented it from spreading to the other businesses on the block, thankfully.

But a lot was destroyed. Still smoking 2 days later!

On toothless news, Madie lost her other front tooth! She lost the first one last Sunday and the other one yesterday. She looks so cute! Love when kids lose those front two teeth. But, I can tell already that a visit to the ortho is in our near future. She's enjoying her new vampire look though and is constantly looking in the mirror and making hissing noises. Yep. That's my girl!

Day 5 - HERSHEY!

On Wednesday, we got up early once again, so we could head over to Hershey, PA and visit Chocolate World. We imagined huge bins of chocolate that we could jump inside and swim in and gobble up! Though it didn't have swimming pools of chocolate, it was still pretty fantastic!




Can you tell the kids were excited to be there??! ;-)




This is what they saw when they walked in. They just stood there, looking at everything with big smiles on their faces.




We signed up for the Chocolate Tasting Tour that was coming up right then and the 3-D show for right after lunch. For signing up, the kids all got big Hershey kisses. Started their morning off just right.

We all sat down for the tour and were given a bag of 5 different kinds of chocolate as well as a cup of chocolate milk that had cinnamon and something else that completely has slipped my mind at the moment. Pete just gave us all his chocolate. :-)

The "lab technician" then took us through the history of chocolate and showed us how each chocolate piece had a different flavor.

Here's Micah and Cara, by Mason, enjoying their chocolate.

And, Madie and I were enjoying ours too. We don't look anything alike, do we? ;-) We took all the leftover chocolate and headed out to see what other fun stuff awaited.

Of course, had to take a picture of the kids by the Reeces Pieces wall, since that's one of their favs!

And, we couldn't forget to get a picture of Caleb and Mason too. Not sure where Isaiah was at that moment. Probably off looking for more chocolate.

Next we went to Kisses Factoryworks. The kids all got hats and were about to work the assembly line at the Kisses Factory. It wasn't very big, but it was free, so that's all we cared about!

The kids all lined up at their shoots and got their "gears" ready to fill with Hershey kisses.

Isaiah was filling his up here. Livie loved watching!

They all filled up their gears, then sent them through the packaging part. We opted not to buy the gears full of kisses, because we knew we'd be getting a lot more chocolate for free, so why buy it, right?

We had to check out one of the gift shops next to the Kisses Factory and Madie found the biggest chocolate bar in the world!! It was $40 for this puppy!!

They had this bakery that had the most delicious looking cupcakes and cookies, all topped with candy bars! Looked SOOOO good!

Micah and Mason found their favorite spot! All you could ever want in Reeces was right there. This was the bigger gift shop, which was basically one half of this building. Anything you could ever want that was made by Hershey's Chocolate was here. Did I mention how good it smelled here too? YUM!

They have another free thing in this place and that was the Chocolate Ride. You got to ride in these cars and they take you through this winding track that tells you all about how chocolate is made. The kids LOVED this!! Probably our favorite thing, with the exception of the 3-D show, which was fantastic!!

It had these singing cows all throughout the ride that the kids thought were so funny!

Micah and his whole family, plus Jeff, rode right in front of us. Em, Keni, Pete, and the rest of us rode in the one behind them. It was so fun!

When we got out, we were upstairs and were given Hershey bars. The guy gave us a lot! I took a picture looking down on part of the gift shop. The kids all went here at the end and got some t-shirts and stuffed animals. Well, Noah got a Hershey's car, but the girls got stuffed animals. Pete even got himself a hat. :-)

It was time for lunch, so we went one of the many cafes inside. Because it was a Tuesday, it really wasn't that busy. Kind of nice to have so much room in there.

Then it was time for the 3-D show. We were allowed to take pictures before we went inside. Once we got inside though, we had to put the cameras away. It was so cool though! It was an actual theater, but not only was it 3-D, but they had bubbles that came down and water droplets and wind blowing and all this stuff happening that went with the movie. I think hands down this was their favorite thing of the day!

We went on the Chocolate Ride one more time before calling it a day. Micah and Cara had to get on the road, so we all took our pictures outside the building. Here we are again. :-)

Em, Jeff, and Kendalyn. Not sure why I didn't get a picture of Micah and Cara. But...

We DID get a group shot! Sans Cara, because she took the picture. We had a fabulous time! Wish we could've spent another day there. We said our goodbyes, then Em and Jeff joined us as we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. We hit the GIANT Bass Pro Shop by our hotel, which the kids LOVED. We found a fabulous pontoon boat for us if we ever win the lottery! ;-) Then Pete and Jeff went to Best Buy, so Pete could buy a GPS. After seeing Micah's Garmin, Pete had to have one, so they shopped for that while Em and I took the kids to Target. We had dinner together and headed back to our hotels to get packed and ready for our early morning wake-up call. We headed out on Thursday morning bright and early and got home around 8pm that night. With the exception of an early morning puking session by Livie who got motion sickness, it was pretty uneventful trip, thank goodness. God provided for us in both health and safety the entire trip and we were so thankful! Pete is now in China and we're just relaxing here on our summer break. So, that concludes our adventurous, fun-filled vacation! It was an amazing time! Can't wait to do it again. :-)

Day 4 - Dinner with the Schmids

After we left Philly, we were headed to Hershey, PA. When I realized we would be driving right by Lancaster, I emailed my cousins to see if they wanted to meet up for supper. They thought that was a great idea! So, Amy found a really wonderful place called The Bird 'N Hand Restaurant, which was right outside of Lancaster. It was also right outside of Intercourse, PA. I'm sure, knowing my family, you can only imagine the conversations that went on when they found THAT out!!! Let's just say that as soon as we passed the sign to Intercourse, both my phone rang as did Pete's. Hilarious!!




Anyway, the restaurant was a fabulous amish buffet. Had a children's buffet too, filled with chicken nuggets, mac and ch, hot dogs, turkey, mashed potatoes, etc... Everything they could ever want! Dad said at the service on Sunday that his favorite word in the english language is buffet, so he QUITE enjoyed himself. Above is a picture of my cousin Jeff and Amy with mom, Cara, dad, and Isaiah. Karen was a little late, because she had an eye appt.




We ate, once again, until near vomiting. Seems to have been the trend this vacation. But it was all SOOO delicious. We laughed and laughed and had a terrific time together. After having our get-together last July with them, Aunt Phyl, and Uncle David, we've decided that we HAVE to get together once a year if possible. We just have too much fun to NOT. Dad got in this mood where he kept telling stories and jokes that no one laughed at, which made us laugh harder at his attempts to entertain. Such a good time!




This trip was the first time many of our family, Micah and Cara included, got to meet Kendalyn. Here Karen is holding her for the first time. :-)

One of the waiters came out and took our picture. We were all bloated and hurtin' after all that food, but you couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces. Just had too much fun for frowns!!

Day 4 - PHILLY!

After our school visit, we headed to Philly for the day. I mentioned once that the traffic in Philly was a nightmare on Friday. It was no different that day either. Again, our marriages were put to the test, but we made it, found parking, and were off to enjoy the city - which, despite the traffic, is really great!


First we headed to the Liberty Bell which is in a really beautiful new building. Here Caleb, Madie, Isaiah, and Noah are looking at some of the info boards.



The Liberty Bell was surrounded by scores of people, but we finally found a space to stand and take pictures. Notice in the back on the left, a man getting ready to knock on the bell! The security guy came up and gave him heck for it. He actually knocked on it a couple times before being reprimanded. Who would hit the Liberty Bell?! What a moron!




Here's Miss Kendalyn getting her first taste of true American history!

And, here are the Trolingers, enjoying the bell. I saw it as a kid, but it wasn't surrounded by security and housed in this new building back then. Times have changed.

The front of the bell.

Pete took our picture in front of Independance Hall - where the Declaration was signed. We actually forgot to get tickets to go inside, so we just walked around the yard. It was really beautiful!

This oasis of history is smack dab in the middle of the booming city of Philly. Hard to believe when you see all the beautiful trees and the gorgeous old buildings. But, you look one block over and there are Philly cheesesteaks vendors everywhere and traffic and busyness. Such a peaceful little spot in the middle of all that. Preserved for future generations.

Here we are in the back of the hall. Or, is it the front? Not really sure which side is considered the front and which is the back. But, this door was the exit for the tours.

Independance Hall.

An old cobblestone road leading up to the Hall.

Tried to take a picture of Micah with mom and dad, then he said something funny and sent them all into hysterics and I just happened to catch it. LOVE this picture!!!

The kids in front of the George Washington statue.

We headed back to the Visitor's Center, which is in the middle of the Independance Mall area and picked up a little snack before heading out to the Franklin Fountain. We were checking to see if we needed tickets to go to the Philadelphia Mint. They saw this Philly Phanatic and HAD to get their picture taken!

The Franklin Fountain was a few blocks away and as we walked down we passed this old Post Office. Love how history is mixed with the new in this city.

We finally made it to the FF. Madie was so excited to go there! She had seen it on Man Vs Food and wanted to go too. They dress like it's the early 1900s and serve delicious ice creams and phosphates.

Looks just like an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. :-)

Of all the choices, Livie and Noah got vanilla. Madie and I got choc chip mint. :-) Em and Jeff enjoyed their ice cream with Livie.

Nana and Caleb enjoyed some ice cream too.

One of the soda guys came out and I asked him to take a picture with the kids. He said a lot of people ask that, so thankfully Pete didn't have to pretend he didn't know me. ;-)

Micah got the delicious Mt. Vesuvius, just like on Man Vs Food. Madie thought that was awesome!!

My cousin Heather works just a few blocks from there, so she caught a cab and joined us for lunch. She, dad, and Jeff opted to get roast beef sandwiches instead of the ice cream. Looked delicous and was so fun having her there with us before we left town. :-)

This was Christ Church Cemetary where Ben Franklin and 2 other signers of the Declaration are buried.

Here are the kids in front of Ben Franklin's gravestone. Ben's is on the right and his daughter's is on the left.

Papa showing Kendalyn Ben's grave.

Em, Livie, Dad, and Keni took a little breather while waiting for everyone else to come back from looking at the other graves.

Ben Franklin wrote this epitaph when he was a young man, never intending it to be used. But they posted it anyway and I don't blame them. It's just beautifully written.

This is Madie in front of one of the other signers. After this, we headed across the street to the Mint. We weren't allowed to take pictures there or I'm sure you'd have to sit through 10 more of them right now! But, the kids loved seeing how the coins were made. We saw lots of pennies being made and the kids thought that was really cool. After that we headed out of town and went to meet up with our Schmid cousins in Lancaster. I'll post about that later.