Thursday, June 26 2008 Well, it's certainly been a long time since I've posted an update, so I'm about to make an attempt. However, it's 6pm, which means that the little one is awake and my husband should be making his way home. And my life right now is that of the proverbial house wife, so it's up to me to make sure that both of my boys are fed and go to bed at a reasonable time. 
Since I last wrote, we had an absolutely wonderful visit with my mom, who arrived on June 1st and stayed exactly two weeks. It was a short visit, but ANY visit is better than no visit. I was a little worried that I would still be a bit too busy with work to spend a lot of quality time with my mom, but I knew she'd be able to spend ample quality time with Bowen as Tristin's parents left two days after she arrived. His parents are touring southern China while they visit various obscure relatives before finally arriving in their hometown.
I worked really hard the week before my mom arrived, trying to get all my papers graded so that I wouldn't have to work while she was here and in the end, I only worked one day and one afternoon during the entirety of her visit. 
Tristin, on the other hand, doesn't have this cool teachers' schedule, [Friday, June 27, 3008] so he didn't have as much time with my mom as we all would've liked. We were lucky enough to get a couple of days with him and we all traveled to a place about 1.5 hours drive outside of Beijing, called Black Dragon Pool. It's there that we hiked around a tall waterfall (which I'm sure is more impressive when the water level is higher) and where I became badly sun burnt. 
We spent Wednesday afternoon and most of the day Thursday in this peaceful place where we were the only tenants. Workers said that on the weekends, this it's packed and even by 4pm on Thursday, we were beginning to see the evidence to support this. Needless to say, we were VERY happy to have been able to come on a weekday.
Well, I wasn't able to finish this update yesterday, so I'm frantically finishing it up while Bowen takes a nap. However, I can't take too long, because I also have to run on the treadmill for about 30 min. A mother's window of opportunity is VERY small and she must, therefore, be extremely efficient (something I've never been totally great at). 
I've decided to run in the Beijing Marathon this September (well only the 15k race, not the full marathon). I wanted to run in it last year, but we missed the registration deadline, this year, however, I will not miss the deadline. It's felt great to get back into it and after an entire school year of sitting on my butt in front of the computer, it's a REALLY good thing I didn't wait much longer. 
This update is going to be extremely sporadic and short, but hey, so is life. 
Tristin and I went to the Old Summer Palace the other day and took some photos of the lotus flowers that are now in full bloom. My mom missed this amazing sight by just two weeks. 
The lotuses are absolutely beautiful and we love going to see them every year.
As for Bowen, he's talking more and more and more, although the comprehensible words are not growing as quickly yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before he's identifying everything. He's really funny, because when I'm making dinner he typically stands in the doorway to the kitchen just chatting up a storm about something! 
Speaking of cooking, I've discovered that I'm not a half bad cook, which is odd.
Anyway, Bowen also LOVES going to a nearby park to play on the equipment that they have there. However, the weather lately hasn't been allowing us to go there too often, as it's been raining nearly every day. One day, we got caught out in the rain and I was soaked by the time we finally found shelter in a nearby restaurant entryway. When the rain pours in Beijing, it's absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to get a cab. In the end, I had to call my employer and asked to use the company car. It cost me a bit more money, but at least we got out of the rain and didn't have to spend the afternoon in the restaurant entryway.
Bowen still loves cars, trains, boats… basically any form of transportation vehicle; which is probably a good thing, since he lives in a city where there's 2,000 new cars and drivers on the road every week. 
It's scary, but even Tristin and I have talked about getting a car, especially after we have our second child. I dread having to learn how to drive in this city….
Well, I think that's about all the time I have for this update. I hope to get one in again soon, but we'll see how that goes…. 
I also want to read a book, but… mommy hood calls!
Speaking of which, congratulations to my cousin Amber, who's now a new mommy!!!! YAY!!! 