The German Restaurant

A few weeks ago a friend who is studying at a local university mentioned he heard of a restaurant with a buffet for a great deal. He suggested we all go one day, so we thought this afternoon was the perfect day to go. Preston and I did not know the name of the restaurant, but soon we pulled up outside a German restaurant. We were very excited as we had been wanting to try this restaurant since first seeing it a few weeks ago. When we sat down waiters began bringing us all different kinds of meat (sausages, chicken, fish, beef tongue, etc). Several of the sausages were very good. We were then shown the buffet where we could get any kind of salad, veggie, soup, fruit or dessert. The thing that was funny to me about the buffet was that it was almost ALL asian food. The food was all good. Logan was able to get some pizza at the pizza station and we were all able to get ice cream. You just got whatever flavor they were serving up at the time. I was not too sure what flavor mine was but I decided it was egg nog mixed with berry. It really wasn't bad and Logan enjoyed it too. We had a great trip to the restaurant and figure we will plan to go back again soon. We also thought this might be a fun spot to bring friends who are starting to get tired of just chinese food while they are here. Oh, yes and did I mention our dinner was 70 RMB total, which equals about $10.50. Just can't beat the food prices here in China!

Baking, part 1 "The Preparations"

Today Logan and I decided we would bake some goodies. We have a cookbook here that was put together by our team, so we thought it must be easy to get the ingredients for these items. Logan hopped in the stroller and we were off to the store. After spending about an hour at the store we were able to find some of the ingredients, but we were still missing vanilla, cinnamon and blueberries (or any berry to make muffins). We did find vanilla and cinnamon at the local import store, but are still in need of berries. Here are some photos of Logan helping me with all the cooking.
Here is the small bottle of vanilla we were able to find. It only cost about $7 US dollars.Logan is helping to measure all our ingredients.
Here is Logan using the hand mixer, all by himself. Not to worry my hands are less than a few inches away.Logan helped clean up our mess while our banana bread was cooking in the oven.

Baking, part 2 "The finished product"

Logan had to find a way to entertain himself while we were waiting for the bread to bake.Logan has his oven mits ready so he can get the bread out of the oven.
We just had some bread and it was a great success!! It taste better than it looks in the pan.

Off to the fruit stand

This morning when Logan woke up he really wanted to eat some bananas. We did not have any at our house, but fortunately for us there is a fruit stand very close to us. Logan decided instead of walking, he was going to bounce on his black Lightning McQueen bounce ball all the way to the fruit stand. The fruit stand has tons of delicious food. This morning we got bananas, apples, grapes and a huge mango (like two or three times the size of the ones at Publix).

Interesting Restuarant

Today after fellowship a group of us went to one of the biggest and most interesting restaurants I have ever seen. (I am still kicking myself for not bringing my camera). The restaurant had to be the size of at least two Super Center Wal-Marts. It was all in a jumgle / Rainforest theme. The waiters and waitresses got around the restaurant on roller skates. Once the group was seated at a table, we got up to go and pick out our food. There was a wall with literally a thousand dishes all lined up for us to choose from. They also had tanks and tanks of fresh fish, crab, lobster (some of the biggest I have ever seen) available to eat. While waiting for our food we walked around and watched Sea Lions swimming and birds flying. We all really enjoyed the great atmosphere.

Our trip to the zoo

Logan and I had a great trip to the zoo. We went with his two friends, Marta and Walt. We spent about 3 hours there and got to see lots of animals. Logan's favorite was the orange tiger. That was no surprise because it has been his favorite animal for a long time now. Besides seeing all the animals, Logan really loved being able to run around in the grass and trees. Unfortunately the Giant Pandas were not on display today so we were not able to see them. I guess we will just have to go back another day. There is also a lake where you can paddle boat. Logan really wanted to boat, but Preston was not with us, so we are planning on that being a special event when Daddy can be there too.
Logan is looking at a lion sleeping with his friend Marta.
Logan is taking a break and eating a yummy cereal bar (it came in a care package from the states).
Logan is looking over the wall to try and get a glimpse of the little red panda.
Logan loved getting his picture taken with trees.

A few more fun zoo photos

Here is a view from the park of the city. We really had a great time.
Logan had lots of fun sitting in the tigers mouth with his friends.

Fun find at the grocery store

So, grocery stores are a little different over here. We get all our fruits and veggies at a local stand in our neighborhood. They are about a block away. For other purchases we go to E-mart. It reminds me somewhat of a Wal-Mart. We can buy books, electronics, cleaning supplies, food, etc. Inside the building that holds the large E-Mart is kind of like a shopping mall. There are several little stores for more specialty items, a candy store, a bakery, a frame shop and one of my favorites, the Kodak store. I have been there three times in the past two weeks either dropping off or picking up pictures. Even though it is all in Chinese I have the system for downloading and getting the pictures down like a pro. Well, today Logan and I turned right to go downstairs instead of walking into the top floor of the E-mart. To our surprise we found a huge play land with a ball pit, trampoline, slides, climbing structures, etc. It was like a McDonald's playground, but about three times the size. On the other side they had the biggest sandbox I have ever seen. The place was very clean. All of this fun was only 12 RMB, less than $2 and for an unlimited time. So, Logan and I spent about an hour in there. Needless to say, now trips to the grocery store will be much more fun for him. I don't have any pictures to post of it, sorry. Who would have thought I needed to bring my camera to the grocery store.

We are here

Well a lot has happened since the last time we posted. Our family has moved to China, we are expecting triplets, Preston has started his position teaching, and Logan is now potty trained just to name a few. It feels like we have packed 6 months into the last month. We are getting settled in well. We have all the essentials we need and are now working on decorating and making our house a home. We have made lots of wonderful friends here and are really enjoying our community. Logan loves his new home and friends. He does want anyone who is interested to come and visit him here. Last weekend we went on a small vacation with two other families. We went to Ji Xian and spent 1/2 a day at the Great Wall. Logan absolutely loved it. We had a wonderful time. Now that I am able to access our blog I will be putting regular updates on it.