Twas the night before Christmas

As we approach Christmas, our family has enjoyed lazy mornings and less crowded attractions throughout Shanghai.  We've hit up many of the places on our list of things to see and haven't had to fight throngs of people as not many people have this week off.  The Shanghai Aquarium was a cool place with some amazing exhibits.  Mercedes Benz Arena has an ice rink that helped fill a void for the girls this winter.  We took a tour of the largest Starbucks in the world as the new Reserve Roastery opened earlier this month.  Kara connected with a food critic and found a spot to get kombucha and some killer cookies.  They aren't quite a replacement for all the Christmas cookies we normally eat, but they were darn good.  Vivian was a bit under the weather so she's been laying low as Nina explored a few spots around town.  Vivian is back to playing with dolls and yelling about how things are unfair, so it seems she's close to her usual self.

 

 

Sister bonding    ----    Family boat ride

Temps varying from 65 to 35 this week

We're enjoying the milder winter season here; some trees are even flowering now.  Given our new latitude and without daylight savings, we've greatly appreciated more sunlight than during a midwest winter.

 

The Bund was wide open on a cold Tuesday

No School

One semester is in the books and we feel very fortunate to be doing what we're doing.  The girls like many things about their new school.  Nina likes learning the violin and Chinese, and Pip likes that school is less focused on academics and that she has more time to play.  They like their friends on the bus and all the playground equipment.  Humorously, they both like learning to speak with a British accent and they both like the school nurse.  Kara has found friends, some who are working at YCIS and others.  She spends time volunteering at an orphanage, at the girls' school, and attending special activities around town in addition to her online courses.  Ben likes his new coworkers and his students and looks forward to next school year when he doesn't have to do as much work to create every lesson.  Here is a small holiday video his friends put together for the end of the semester assembly.

HD Link

Birthday party silliness  ---  Last ones left

Learning how to make dumplings

 

With 17 days off, we're looking forward to some relaxation, some exploring, and some Christmas spirit.  Today we put up a Christmas tree to go with our wreath and poinsettia.  We're listening to Christmas music and we typically watch a Christmas movie before bed.  We've already had good laughs at Claymation Christmas, Garfield, and the Grinch.  

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... kind of

Well, the decorations are up, the music is playing, and the spirit is here, but the weather doesn't feel like Christmas just yet.  The leaves are changing color and the beauty of fall is colliding with our typically snowy season.  Nonetheless, we are having a great time exploring new Christmas events and taking in all the festivities.  From German Chriskindlmarkts to a giant snow globe, we've found no shortage of Christmas spirit here.  The girls are even thrilled to have their elf, Marwin, finally find his way to our new apartment.  They have been busy with some Christmas performances and events at school and it was fun to see Nina as a (literal) star in her show.

Outside the globe and inside

 

The "snow" at the bottom of the globe

Ben's school lit up at night

We've had some bad pollution days as of late and had to find inside activities.  We were excited to try the movie theater a block away and got to see Coco.  We really enjoyed the show and have been listening to the music whenever we stray from Christmas tunes.  We caught a Shanghai Sharks basketball game with some friends and Ben still doesn't like watching Jimmer Fredette.  We were happy to get a beautiful day to take in Xujiahui park on Saturday.

Getting our reserved tickets using our phone app  ---  3D fun