Rock Stars and Smiles

Today was a fun day for us. Olivia is beginning to get comfortable with us and spent the day smiling and giggling for us.

We visited Doa Ting Lake. It's about a three day boat cruise up the Yangtze River from Shanghai. At the pagoda we visited there were bus loads of school kids who surrounded the bus as we got off. They have never seen Americans in person before. The families on the bus were shy but as I got off the bus I raised my arms and shouted "hello". The kids cheered and shouted back "hello". Dawn dragged me off of the steps before I could get them to do the wave and chant "Go Yankees!".

Once inside the Pagoda another group of school kids flocked around Dawn and Olivia and politely asked if they could take their picture with them. They were genuinely sweet and curious, they treated us like we were rock stars. They got a big kick out of practicing their English on us. I taught one group to say "How you doin'?" and "The Mets suck". All while Dawn told the girls that boys acted like dorks in the U.S. too.

Olivia was the hit of all of the young girls once again. She began to smile and giggle while she played with this umbrella and on the bus.

We get such a kick out of her smile her whole face lights up. She likes to start to feed me a Cheerio then yank it away from my mouth and laugh about teasing me. I'm glad she's enjoying herself now. It will be fun spending the trip finding out what else makes her, and us, giggle.

Gracie, I think Olivia is going to be lots of fun but watch out for "baby alerts" since she likes to pull hair when she can get hold of it. Daisy (the dog) is sure to find her interesting. Happy Thanksgiving, Mommy and Daddy love you and miss you lots. Chris and Sue, thanks so much for having Grace, Pat and Paul over for Thanksgiving, you guys are truly family to us...we love you!