Spring break in China

My parents had invited the kids to China ever since they were born. I've delayed it till this spring break. And I made the decision to spare Will the long journey and sleepless nights of jet lag. I was right about long journey and sleepless nights, but not having Daddy with us was the first mistake I made. :-)

March 12
During 15 hours of flight ride to Shanghai, Norah got 3 hours of sleep and Jackson had none. He was excited as he could be before the flight and that energy lasted throughout the trip. He only shut his eyes briefly after we touched down at Pudong Airport. The flight there wasn't as bad as the flight home. I was well stocked on their favorite snacks, new iPad videos, water wow coloring and we seated at the end of the plane right next to the lavatory. Jackson's super active bladder during take off and landing didn't bother me too much because of the bathroom nearby. And we only had two minor water spills. The walk through custom and luggage line was painful since I was exhausted because of no sleep and both kids wanted to be carried since they were exhausted too.

Ready for the long flight!

March 13
My parents picked us up and home is only 1 hour 20 minutes away. Both kids napped on the drive to Qidong. At my parents' place, they met their two pet hamsters. And we quickly settled down for sleep after dinner. But Jackson woke up at 1am and wouldn't go back to sleep.

Hi, Hamsters!

March 14
We visited my paternal grandparents today. And went to my childhood country side home to pick up a few things. They played in the shopping mall playground in the afternoon. And we had dinner with Tianyun's family. Jackson woke up at 3am.

The house where Mommy grew up

Playground downstairs

March 15
We went to Hengda, where is supposed to have lots of entertainment for kids. But that center was closed for remodeling till May. We found the temporary indoor playground and played there. Jackson and Grandpa visited farmer's market in the afternoon. Jackson woke up at 5am.

Enjoying more indoor playground time

3 kids, 5 staff members, 5 adults and a huge playground

March 16
We visited my maternal grandparents and picked strawberries on the way.  We found a big indoor playground nearby and the kids spent 3 hours there playing with Grandpa's watch. We had dinner at my paternal grandparents' place and Jackson napped on the car outside. Jackson woke up at 6am.

Norah loved picking strawberries and have asked to see this photo many times

Jackson picked huge strawberries

Picking team

March 17
My dad invited about 80 family and friends over to the countryside house to have lunch and dinner. I knew from the beginning it was going to be a difficult day. That house was not lived in anymore and there were no entertainment for the kids. We were not lucky on the weather either. It was 30-40, rainy and windy while we were in China. The humidity in the air made the coldness unbearable. We hid in a room with a tiny heater and constantly people came in to see Jackson and Norah. Some squeezed their cheeks and one smoked in the tiny room! Jackson watched iPad videos the whole day and he got super annoyed when strangers came to hug him. My aunt drove us to the apartment for them to nap but both of them refused for two hours. At the end of the day, they are at the end of their patience and nothing could be reasoned.

March 18
I decided to take control of our activities from today on and planned to take them to the mud beach I grew up playing. Sadly I found the developers had shipped tons of sand and covered up the mud beaches around Qidong. Jackson was disappointed that he couldn't play in mud beach and dig for crabs and clams. But both kids enjoyed the sand beach nevertheless. It would be pleasant for me if the weather is slightly warmer. Jackson refused to nap again today. In the afternoon, we met up with my two cousins' family in the big playground. We had dinner with xiaolei's dad. Jackson napped on the car outside.

It is cold on a beach!

March 19
We headed to Disney that both kids were so looking forward to. After a lengthy check-in at the Toy Story Hotel because of Jackson and Norah's foreigner status, we got in the park about 10:45am. I had hoped for less people because of the bad weather and was appalled seeing the long lines everywhere. There was a ~80 people line even for the carousel! My cousin told me that this IS less people. When they came in the summer, there was about double.

The group wanted me to choose the first activity. Jackson had talked about Micky Mouse Club House since he watched it somewhere. I saw the Club House and suggested we went there to check it out. In Jackson's mind, it is a club house filled with slides and bounce houses. But it is a place for people to take photos with Micky Mouse. We went in, there is a long line.  We waited about 20 minutes. Norah was horrified by the life size Micky and Jackson was scared of him too.

After the club house, it's time for lunch. After being pointed to multiple different directions by Disney employees, we finally found an indoor place to eat. Disney Shanghai is famous for overcharging its meals. Most food is about 7-8 times the price outside of the park.

We caught the tail end of the parade after lunch. It's so cold and Jackson wanted to go back to the hotel. And Norah started to cry too. Even she couldn't explain, I know she was cold too. We waved bye to my cousins and went back. But rooms are not ready till 3pm. So we had to wait 2 hours at the lobby.

I found a playroom for kids in Toy Story Hotel and it worked great for Norah and Jackson. They colored and played with toys until we checked in our room. Norah napped and Jackson just wouldn't go to sleep. I explained to him his options were nap and go to see fireworks and not nap and not see it. He wanted to see the fireworks at 8pm and he tried to go to sleep. But he is over tired and over excited these days to fall asleep. I felt defeated.

And just as I expected, he misbehaved at dinner because of his tiredness. He pushed down chairs, jumped on sculptures, kicked Norah, shoved his cousins. Timeout wouldn't calm him down. The restaurant employees were concerned and offered to take him to a toy room to calm down. The only solution then was to get him to bed fast.

First look of Disney Shanghai

Goofing at the restaurant -- Pirates of Caribbean scene with very dim lights

Jackson loved coloring and drawing

Our Disney visit proof!

March 20
I decided to skip another day of Disney and headed home. We spent another two hours with the playroom activities in the hotel before we left.

March 21
Kids went to the big indoor playground again in the morning and stayed at home in the afternoon. Both Norah and Jackson started to like spending time with grandparents. I had to meet up with my high school teachers and classmates for dinner. And Norah chose to stay with grandparents. Jackson initially decided to go with me but later changed him mind to stay with Norah.

March 22
We visited my grandparents again in the morning and headed to airport after lunch. Flight back was harder even though its a shorter flight and at night. I don't have any familiar snacks for Norah and no new videos for Jackson. For the first 5 hours of flight, they fought a lot. When they finally fell asleep midnight China time, my nerves was strung so tight that I couldn't fall asleep. After another struggle through the custom and luggage line, we finally saw Daddy! We are home again!

Norah asked: Take a picture, Mommy!