May in Shanghai
Well, we have reached mid-May, and you know what that means?
We are 26 sleeps away from June 12th when we take off for Portugal, Finland and Sweden for 7 weeks of Summer, hooray!
There is a lot to accomplish in that time and friends to farewell however the general feeling in the air is a buzz and excitement over long summer days at the beach, playgrounds, sorbet and amazing European tapas and fresh seafood. We will be spending time with Raija, Jussi, Matias and Johannes in their new apartment in Helsinki as well as their Summer cottage that we were so fortunate to enjoy last year; we are very excited about returning there and about seeing Hannah’s friend Johannes that she went to school with for years in Shanghai.
Speaking of friends from Shanghai, as I sit typing this, Hannah is by my side on Simon’s laptop writing her own blog post on the new blog that has been created for her and her best friend Sydney to communicate to the world about their travel experiences, book reviews and whatever else takes their fancy. Their blog is the culmination of a five year friendship that has seen them visiting with each other in Thailand, America, nearly Abu Dhabi and this Christmas, Australia. They have written letters, skyped and e mailed and as parents we see www.overhereoverthere.com as a great way for the two of them to continue their relationship and encourage each other with their writing, reading and technology skills.
May has seen Mimi in the second month of her schooling at The Wonder Center. We are so impressed with the work that Sue, her teacher, is celebrating there and feel very fortunate to have this sort of opportunity for Mimi just around the corner. She currently attends 5 days a week from 8.30 – 12.00 and come August this will increase for another couple of hours each day with her making and eating her own lunch there. So far she has cooked her own peanut butter, bread and muffins and has a lovely time each morning with the close-knit group of ten students aged a year younger and older than she is. If you are family or just a fan of cute Mimi… click on the link to photo pages and you will see what amazing facilities this place has and why we are feeling so fortunate, it is an early childhood centre’s dream come true.
Enjoy some of our photos and please take some time to check out Sydney and Hannah’s blog one of these days. It is a very exciting project for them and for their parents.
