My family is here!

My family is here! Ok, so they've been here for three weeks, but it's been a little hard to sit down and write. Within minutes of their arrival, it was like they had always been here. Except, I forgot how much they chatter! As we were driving home from the airport, they were chattering about their spirit animals and what kind of animal did I want to be? I was like: Kids, take a look outside- it’s China!

They were so excited to see their rooms- the first time they have had their own bedrooms. Our stuff arrived 4 days before they did, so I worked furiously to get their rooms organized and decorated. It was so worth it! They were delighted and disappeared into their rooms immediately.

Within an hour, M was furiously reading in bed, and by 3pm L was knocked out. But the jetlag didn't hit them too badly and they adapted to China time within a few days.  

The kids had about 1.5 weeks until school started, but they spent most of that time inside or at the pool. To be honest, it’s so incredibly hot and humid here that I can’t really blame them for not being interested in “exploring.” Daddy dragged them to the mall with a grocery store (it’s a lovely 15 minute walk through the park when it’s not 110 degrees out) a few times though.

We've had a challenging start of school, though! On the first day, my son said he felt strange, but we didn't really take him seriously. A few hours later, we heard from the school that he had a fever- which proceeded to rise to 102.5, last for 2 days, and leave him weak for a few more (Daddy got sick, too). Then, when he was finally well enough to return, I discovered that the kids had lice for the first time in their lives! Oh my word what a nightmare. We shaved M's head and sent him back to school on day two, and spent the rest of the week combing out L's hair. Crossing fingers we find no more nits, because Daddy is starting work this week!

First day of school- 3rd and 1st grade!

Much to my disappointment, we haven’t done much sightseeing yet. Now that I'm finally over my intimidation and shyness about Chinese, it's gotten a lot harder to get out! The first weekend, we needed to work on the HHE mess. And during the second weekend, well, the boys were sick. We did make it to Grandview Mall, which blew us away. Shark tanks! Amusement park! Dozens of restaurants! Transformer exhibit! Lights everywhere! We were exhausted when we came home.

Today I took them to Shamian Island, which is a nice initial outing for newcomers. Although they grumbled at first, they had a great time in the end. We are becoming more comfortable and L even sang as we arrived home, "It's great to live in Guangzhou, China!"