Okie Donkey and Come on Chiney

Happy Tuesday to everyone back in the grand 'ol USA.  We woke up bright an early again on Tuesday morning. Dana was up by 3:30 and all of us were up by 4:30. Though we beat the sun, it didn't take long to catch up.

 

Our two little boys are becoming quite the pair as they tease each other, play cars, take baths, and act like brothers.

    

Over the past year, Magnus has started referring to anyone that comes from an Asian descent as "Chiney". It is also used in the name of the trip we are on according by Magnus..."Go to Chiney to get Pollo".  Now that we are here, he keeps calling Apollo...Chiney. He will start to run down the hallway and yell, come on Chiney.  I correct him and tell him that his name is Apollo or Ling Ling (that was his nickname at New Hope) and Magnus just says "Okie Donkey". We laugh every single time!

After breakfast this morning, we put the boys in carriers and headed out for a walk in Nanchang. Where our hotel is located this year is very different than last year. This side of the Gan River is very new and feels a bit like New York City. Case and point, here is the view out of our window late last night. It's only missing the Y for NYC!

Along the river, there are many amusement park rides similar to a Coney Island or Navy Pier.  The sign said this place was called Fun Street. We were there too early that everything was still closed, so we will need to go back another day to let the boys try a few rides. 

 

 

    

Dana even got her first bouquet of flowers from Apollo!

 

Today we had two main goals: 1. Bond 2. Get on a reasonable sleep schedule. We came back to the room fairly early to play and have some lunch so they could go down for around 12. 

  

But things got a little wild!

 
 

After a nice nap for the boys (and Dana), we met our guide to do some sightseeing. Because the day was so nice and the skies were clear, he suggested we go up in the large Gerri's wheel called the eye of Nanchang. Unfortunately when we arrived, the ride was out of service and will not be operational again for a couple of days. This was a shame because last year Dana didn't get to go either because Magnus was asleep. We did however get a few pictures by it and ride on some giant wheel things and feed a few birds.

  

We then took a ride across the river to the TengWang Pavillion. We visited here last year as well but it was something we asked to see again. It is an amazing structure. The pavilion was has been built, and destroyed by war or natural disasters 27 times before the current version today. It is built completely without nails; put together like a puzzle with only cut wood.  The boys stayed on our backs the whole time which made it easier to move through the floors of the building quickly.  

After the pavilion, we walked through the older part of Nanchang to find a place to eat dinner. After dodging cars and motorbikes, we arrived to a building that our guide said had a "food market" on the 2nd floor. We weren't sure exactly what that meant so we took the escalator up past a giant Santa Claus permanently painted on the wall to arrive in what we Americans would call a food court. There were about 12-15 different restaurants selling food. We chose one with delicious looking pictures...and the pictures didn't lie. All of us enjoyed our noodles and dumplings!

We then returned home to end the night.  Oh yeah, by the way, there is a water and light show right outside our window every night at 8 and 9. It is spectacular!

As Magnus would say "Ta-la-la" (he says that whenever he is trying to say ta-da)!!