Mimi has her two orientation days at the end of this week and begins school at The Wonder Center from 8-2 on the 24th of August. We are so excited she has the opportunity to experience an amazing bi-lingual experience at a location so close to home. Here are some snapshots my friend Jenny took at Mimi’s last day of school in June. Thanks Jenny, I know it was hard work for you with the children climbing all over you, not to mention the temptation of all of those cakes!!!
Meanwhile it was Hannah’s first day in Grade 4 today; also the first day of work with the students for Simon and I, it is great to have kids back in the classroom and see what you are in for for the rest of the year. It looks like my class are going to get along famously but the thrill I get from seeing how happy Hannah is in her new class is so exciting… She has a new teacher, Ms Lau and I think her year is going to be her best yet. Check out what Hannah is up to on her teacher’s class blog.
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.
Happy Birthday Mimi… Know we know what it is like to have a daughter born around Christmas and New Years…
We got back from Thailand after two weeks of holidays, opening Christmas presents, celebrating and then it is time to celebrate all over again…. ahhh, commiserations to all of you born in the weeks around that busy time of year! It kind of sucks!
I’m having a bit of trouble with flickr right now and my tech assistant is away in Harbin… so here are the photos the old fashioned way… Please click here.
Here is stage one of our 6th Halloween…the first one being in Denver in 2004 and every one since has been here at SAS. Tomorrow night will be stage two, the trick or treating!
Here is a photo of Mimi in the sink. I think this is where Ayi washes her all the time as she seems to like it a lot. We normally put her in the big bath and she loves that too, especially if Hannah or I join her.
I am just doing a bit of a test run here to see how I go managing two blogs. I would like this one to be for family things as I am taking so many picassa pics of the kids that I can’t really put on my school blog and would like to use this to replace our old mac site
Hi, we tiredly but happily arrived back in Shanghai on the evening of Tuesday the 29th of July. We were originally scheduled for the following week but decided to bring it forward as it was pretty cold back in Ballarat and we were itching to see our new Green Court apartment. We are not disappointed by our decision. We have had a terrific week back here and are feeling much more relaxed and ready to take on the next year of school.
The weather is fantastic right now and I am going to enjoy the second and final week of being back here and will then be ready to face my new class and colleagues. Hannah has been going off to ‘summer camp- a performing arts camp with the theme “Hannah Montana and Friends” every morning for a few hours this week and is extremely happy to be doing so, she is loving it and I can’t wait to see and hear her final performance tomorrow. Mimi is pretty grumpy unless I am giving her 100% of my attention so that has been trying on all of us. I am sure she is just picking up on the whole “Shanghai = ayi most days and not mum” thing and feeling a bit insecure so I am trying to give her love but the constant whinging is taking its toll. Simon is rapt to be back and is happily setting up his techy things all over the place and getting ready for the year ahead.
