Happy Birthday To Me!

Well, I thought I would be the only one to not celebrate a birthday in China but thanks to the red tape of visa changeovers - we couldn't go home.

I was suprised in the morning with a yummy chocolate cake and a spicy good dinner at our friend's Hunan style restaurant.

License to Drive (in China)

Yes, today we got our Chinese drivers license. I wish I had more pictures but prepping the papers took more work than expected (thanks to our neighborhood police station and their supreme typing skills) so my head was elsewhere and I left my camera behind.

We hired a "translator" who ended up spending alot of time with us over the weekend. Prior to meeting us, she completed some other documents we needed, including translating our names into Chinese. I am now officially and legally (in China) 金伯莉（jin bo li) and Andrew is known as 安德鲁（an de lu). 

Our experience actually getting the license though was great. Of course the "DMV" workers were a little grumpy - just like home - but the efficiency of the process was impressive.

SImilar to when we got our medical screenings when arriving here, we went station to station to complete each step. You would think in such a big city(8 million people+) the wait would be harrowing but I have to say, I would chose this over any DMV experience I have ever had back home, and that includes GA, VA, & MD.

Another Day of Firsts - Downtown ATL and centennial Park

Well, we had intended on a trip to the GA Aquarium today however, by 11am the wait time in line to go in was about 2. 5hours so, we readjusted our plans while enjoying a Coke (in a glass bottle) and a few strawberry minute maid ice treats.

Colten had free run of the park between the aquarium and Coca Cola Museum.

 We decided to take advantage of the nearest playground where Colten climbed up steps for the first time and used a slide for the first time - weeee! 

We also took a family photo op:

and Drake just hung around...

Afterwards we walked to Centennial Park just in time to see the fountain musicals and the joined in the fun!

 

Southern Summer Fun!

Bird Caged ! - Preseason at the GA Dome

Today was for us, a day of firsts:

- Our first trip as a family to Atlanta.

- Our first time watching a game in a dome.

- Our first Falcons game.

- Colten's first professional football game. 

- Our first time sitting in a section that actually won a prize during the game we were watching.

        (We won Georgia Lottery Falcons scratch off tickets... which REALLY paid off for us!)

Avery had her favorite thing while at the game...                                

cotton candy:                                                                                                                         

Drake enjoyed the seats!

It has been several years since he has seen a Pro Game

I thought it weird to watch the game in the Dome, I kept waiting for the wind to blow or something but it never did of course.



Crystal River Pictures, cont'd

Crystal River Pictures

Crystal River with the Fam

Jason & Kerri invited us on a family weekend getaway - it was a great time! 6 adults and 9 children.. yes, NINE! 1-10yr old: Christian, 2-7yr olds: Alyssa & Drake, 3 5yr olds: Brooke, Avery & Emily, 1-3yr old: Benjamin, 1-18mth old: Madison, 1-9mth old: Colten (and one on the way: Ashley)

Our trip started off with a boat ride, Captained by Jason. We went to the 3 Sisters Spring, looking to swim with a manatee or two - No such luck but it was very pretty there. Unfortunately, we have no pictures of that because we balked on getting an underwater camera and we had to swim to the springs. The water was SO cold. Each kid had an intertube and we all held hands to form somewhat of a floating train so we could all stay together, it worked more often than not but it surely was a sight to see.

Day 2 was some of the same. Jason Captained a bigger boat and attempted to take Andrew and I scuba diving. The kids swam all day, using the boat as a diving board. The water at the first dive site was a bit murky so we went back to 3 sisters springs and played around there. the water was crystal clear.

We docked the boat and had a nice lunch, then it was back to the hotel to relax and play games. The restaurant/bar was right next to our room and draft beer was only $1 so, you can imagine Andrew and I couldn't pass up a good deal!

All in all it was a great trip and to have so many children it went so smoothly, we couldn't have asked for a better time.

Our first night in the Alpine Mountains of Georgia...

S'mores!!!

The original plan had us outside at the firepit roasting marshmallows til the early morn, unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans. As soon as we reached the cabin it was like the bottom dropped out and it rained and rained. So naturally we improvised and turned to the fireplace in the great room - hey! a hot marshmallow is a hot marshmallow and it melts chocolate just the same.

The kids were happy and so was Mommy and Daddy once they were asleep. With a hot tub off of our room with a wooded view we enjoyed some wine and had some great laughs!

Happy Birthday to Me !!

Thanks to my loving family we will be taking a long awaited trip to Helen, Ga as a gift to me - YAY!!!

We are going to stay in a beautiful cabin and I have a massage scheduled first thing Saturday morning at Mandala Wellness Retreat and Spa!

Day 8: Discovery STS-131 ready for launch!

While at the Space Center we watched the Hubble 3D IMAX movie- AWESOME!!! checked out a few more exhibits and then got in line for the bus to the Causeway (closest public viewing area from Launch Pad 39A)... at this point it's about 4am.

When we finally got onto the bus it only took about 30 seconds before Avery was asleep. Now it's 5am. We reached the Causeway close to 5:15am set out our picnic blankets, bundled up (it was a bit chilly) and began waiting.

NASA had speakers setup so that we could follow all of the communications from Mission Control and the Orbiter. There was a brief moment when a computer system failed and we may have a "NO GO".. but it was quickly rectified and once again we were "A GO".

At 6:04am we were able to see the International Space Station fly over us in the sky. It showed as a bright white light, due to the sun reflecting off of it's solar panels. The ISS was visible for a full 3 minutes - it was awesome!

Finally it was time!!! coming upon the 10 minute marker, we started waking up the children. Anticipation was high... it seemed like no time and forever all at once. 60 seconds: we put our binoculars into focus... 30 seconds: cameras ready... 10 seconds: Ahhhh!!! 

9. . . 8. . . 7. . . 6. . . 5. . . 4. . . 3. . . 2. . . 1

The 6:21am ingnition lit up the sky and ocean, it was beautiful and surreal. To know you are watching 7 human beings literally being blasted out of this world is such a huge idea to wrap your mind around. It was like nothing else. Unfortunately, I am not able to show any pictures like the ones I have in my head, I wish I could, because it was just stunning and is something I hope my children will never forget... I know I won't.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html

Day 7: Wait, Wait, Wait

Today we packed all of our stuff, loaded up the truck and checked out of our resort... with no particular place to go for another 14 hours. We had some lunch, made a quick shopping trip,  observed a falcon in an eagle's nest, rode along a coastal neighborhood checking out the houses and real estate, found a park and played a bit, had some dinner and prepared to head to the space center.

Arrival time was set for 12am. For the first time in Crook family history we were on time, in fact, we were raring to go!

Day 6: Kennedy Space Center

Today we visited the Kennedy Space Center so we could inform the children of all the happenings of space exploration and to prepare them for the launch on Monday morning. We took a bus tour where we were able to observe the shuttle on the launch pad. By this point we were about 36 hours out from the launch.

I took as close of a picture possible from about 1.5 miles away. >

^This is the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building), today it is the fourth-largest structure in the world by volume.

 Just to give you an idea the American flag painted on the side measures: 209 feet (63.7 m) high, and 110 feet (33.5 m) wide. Each of the stars on the American flag painted on the building is 6 feet (1.83 m) across, the blue field is the size of a regulation basketball court, and the stripes are as wide as a standard road lane.
 

At the end of our tour Drake saw a unique rainbow in the sky.

 

Day 5: Cocoa Beach

It was a nice relaxing day in Cocoa Beach... we used this time to recover from our Disney all nighter.

Andrew and Avery dug into the sand looking for shells... yes, DUG into the sand.

& Drake played in the surf...

Colten & I hung out under the umbrella and took pictures.

Day 4: The Magic Kingdom

The day belonged to Princess Avery and began in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique located in Cinderella's Castle.

She had her hair and nails done, and everyone (I mean everyone!) oohed & ahhed at her dress and sllippers. One cast member stopped me and said " working here everyday for 10 years, I see alot of dresses but this is the best one I have ever seen".

After her appointment Avery caught up with the Fairy Godmother (who, afterwards, spoke right to her from the float during the parade). 







During the parade, we enjoyed some popscicles. Cinderella waved to Avery and Ariel blew her a kiss!

After the parade, we met with Cinderella and she told Avery how she had heard so much about her from Fairy Godmother. It was great!    

The night belonged to Drake.
After dinner, outside of the kingdom, we went back in for round 2. Because the day had been so HOT and crowded, it was hard to stand in line to get on many rides. Thanks to FASTPASS, and most normal people taking their kids home for a good night sleep, (not us!) we were able to maximize the ride experience. Drake rode pretty much everything in the park, worth talking about - his favorite was of course Space Mountain. Avery's favorite ride was Splash Mountain and Colten's was a tie between Monster's Inc scare floor (he laughed and bounced alot) and It's a small world (he was very still and looking at everything).

We spent a total of 16 hours at the park and it was worth it! It was a great time and I am so glad that we were able to share this as a family and enjoy each other at Disney World. It was a magical day for sure!