Happy New Year

It is now the year of the Ox. We attended the Milwaukee Area Families with Chinese Children New Year's celebration. We all had fun. Zach did crafts, there were vendors for shopping, we saw a Tai Chi demonstration and the traditional Lion Dance.

Trick or Treat

For Zach's first ever trick or treat experience, we headed to Oconomowoc to trick or treat with aunt Jill and cousin Connor. Zach's costume was a jack-o-lantern. It took Zach about 2 houses to figure out what was going on. Once he realized that you can go up to a house and get candy, he was raring to go. I was very impressed that he lasted about an hour and a half until he was tired and wanted to go.

Zach's Birthday Party

Zach had his birthday party today at Olympic Lanes in Milwaukee. We bowled for 2 hours, ate pizza and birthday cake, and opened presents. Family from both sides were present and all had a good time.

Happy 3rd Birthday Zach!!

Today was Zach's 3rd Birthday. He brought in Halloween cookies to daycare to celebrate and was very excited to give his teacher the cookies for his friends. At daycare, Zach received a special "Happy Birthday Crown" and his classmates sang Happy Birthday to him in music class. After daycare and work, Zach was able to open his gift from Joe and I. He was VERY happy to see a shiney, new, red wagon. We had to push him around in the garage until it was time for us to leave for his birthday dinner. For his birthday dinner, we took Zach to Stonefire Pizza. He had a blast playing in the toddler section, eating pizza, and watching a Disney movie. He was also very glad that he was able to share his evening with Grandma and Grandpa, cousins Conner and Danielle, aunt Jill, and our friend Alisha.

Pumpkin Farm

Since it was such a beautiful fall day, we decided to head on out to the Green Meadows Petting Farm in Waterford. We all had a fun time, as we got to pet lots of animals, take a hayride, and pick our own pumpkins. Zach even had a pony ride (we were amazed that he actually went on the pony).

This evening we all sat down and painted our pumpkins. We will be displaying them on our front step tomorrow after they dry.

All is Well

Everything is going well with Zach. He is adjusting better than I expected him to. He is now sleeping good, he is getting along with the dogs, and is eating well. This is all more than I could hope for. It will be interesting in a couple of weeks when I go back to work and Zach starts daycare.

We're Home

Well we made it home. It was a LONG journey home. We left our hotel in Guangzhou at 5:00 am and headed to the airport. It was a 3 hour plane ride to Beijing, but it seemed longer as Zach was throwing fits because he did not like his seatbelt on. We arrived in Beijing, collected our luggage and had to go through security and check our bags again. What a pain. On the plus side of this leg of the trip, we were upgraded to Business Class on United. Business Class is so much better than flying in Economy, especially with a child. There was enough room for him to lie back and sleep. Our flight in Beijing was delayed 2 hours due to some mechanical issues and then air traffic issues. To make this time worse, we were already loaded on the plane and sitting in the runway. Once we got going, the trip was uneventful. Zach slept most of the way and Joe and I tried to get some sleep as well.

Once home we showed Zach around the house and he was pretty excited to see his room and all his toys. He also liked his swing set in the back yard, especially the slide. On Friday, the dogs came home. Zach is afraid of the dogs. When he first saw them he just screamed and cried and cried. Even now, he is still afraid of the dogs and wants to be carried everywhere. I'm hoping that it doesn't take too long for him to get used to the dogs, he's getting pretty heavy.