Chimelong & etiquette class

Cale woke up homesick and decided to take it out on me. NO GO, sweet boy- couldn't steal the joy from my day, I was too excited!  We went to the Safari Park today! We're zoo people, you know. It's become a bit of a "thing" for our family- visiting the zoo wherever we are. There is a zoo here, but the safari park was too cool to pass up. It's the largest animal park in Asia!

It was 45 minutes away, but luckily our driver, Mr. Chen, speaks my musical love language! The Carpenters, Simon & Garfunkel, The Eagles, some killer 90s tunes... I bet for a minute he thought he had Mariah Carey herself right there in his back seat. He was probably just too shy to ask.

I had him tell Roman where we were going, because none of my gestures were cutting it. He was SO excited! He's never been to a zoo or seen many animals up close. Heck, I've never been as close as we were today (except Layla the giraffe). He couldn't wait for elephants and pandas!

WARNING: One thousand animal pictures. For my girls!! xoxo

We started with the train ride...

It was awesome.

That little guy was just hanging out above the drink stand.

Then we just kind of got sucked into the Rainforest Encounter with the rest of the herd. And once you got sucked into an exhibit, you couldn't get out. You had to go through. It was very crowded and very long and the locals tend to just shove their way into the spot they want (also true in motor vehicles). Again, Cale was not in the best mood because he's "not a people person OR a walking person!". Things were getting pretty darn tense when we were interrupted by snakes. THANK GOD FOR SNAKES. You will never hear me say that again. Incase you don't know, I'm terrified. TERRIFIED. And they were everywhere. Beside you, hanging from above, UNDER.YOUR.FEET. and you had to walk over plexiglass to get passed them. I hated every devil second of it... but... I may have turned it on just a smidge more, so my boy could save the day (wink wink nudge nudge). He rescued his mama from the snakes and was so darn proud of himself, it turned his whole day around.

I was on a hunt for the tigers, because sometimes you can feed the cubs! Not today it turns out, but I've never seen tiger cubs up close so I still loved it.

I think we'll call these two "Cale & Roman".

RJZ started getting really tired, but I was determined to get him to those pandas. FYI- if you know any MMA fighters who need to cut weight at the last minute, send them to China and tell them to go to the safari park in August and carry a 7yr old for at least half of it. I've never sweat so much in my life.

But doggone it... PANDAS!

We only had about an hour left before time to meet Mr.Chen and I wasn't exactly sure how to get back so we agreed to head for the front. Except I spotted elephants and dragged those boys over against their wishes. They were quickly singing a different tune ;)

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It was such a great day- I think we used it wisely!
I also think everyone will sleep well tonight!

(I love that he asks if he can go to sleep... and then he does it. Immediately. I've never seen anything like it!)

Off to my happy place... EXECUTIVE LOUNGE!! 

ETA: Roman has terrible manners, particularly table manners. Though culturally acceptable, hard on this Southern Belle. Tonight, we worked desperately (again) on chewing with his mouth closed. And whatdoyouknow... he did it! He had to think really hard, but he did try. That's a start! It's a very small start considering the work that lies ahead, but it is a start. 

Also, I taught him to snap his fingers! It's related to manners, really, since I was snapping to tell him to pick the pumpkin seeds up off the floor. He seems to think he can throw anything anywhere he wants to- food, trash, whatevs. Also, it's typical for children in China to drop their drawers and do their business wherever they please. Not Cale's favorite thing. And I have had to stop Roman in some very public places, i.e. the airport. The hotel. There's a public bathroom RIGHT THERE, little fella. That's also why he doesn't wear underoos. The bottoms of children's britches unbottom for easy access. That's how they potty train. Since he is so small, he can still wear those types of pants (and had them on when we met). Unders are just another expense, another item to wash... so they never did. 

Rest day tomorrow! Wan'an! (Good night!)