Children's Day

China celebrates Children's Day on June 1, and it is a festive affair! Many companies host special activities or give employees a half day off to celebrate. Molly and Hudson's preschool put together a show in the morning where each of the five classes performed, and there were games with the parents in between  -- relays, three-legged race, tug of war... I'm still kicking myself for not taking a video of that one.

The photo above shows Molly's class lined up to perform, and the photo below is Molly in position for the class dance.

Interestingly, the song they are dancing to is "Do Something" by Britney Spears. In the video below, you can hear Hudson encouraging her to smile.

Hudson didn't perform with his class -- I think the teachers felt he wouldn't have enough time to prepare since we only attend class on Tuesday and Thursday. He was very content to sit on my lap and watch all of the other kids. Everyone received a gift bag and a prize, so we came home with four new toys to play with. After the performances, the kids ate lunch in their classroom and we went home to rest. Here are Molly and Hudson with Molly's two teachers:

The kids were so tired and slept for two full hours before getting ready for our next Children's Day activity: an amusement park! Our friend Yvonne has two children the same ages as ours and we had been looking for a time to get the kids together to play. Kevin has been tutoring Yvonne in English grammar for several weeks; Yvonne and her husband are planning to move to the US and are eager to learn all they can about American culture.

The park had several rides just right for our kids to enjoy, plus an indoor play area with slides, a ball pond, trampoline, swings and more.

The most memorable part was a car that went on a track above the entire amusement ride. Not as high in the air as a sky ride, but it had a button to push for automatic riding or manual with pedals. (Think paddle boats on a track.) Kevin and Hudson were ahead of us, and Molly and I only bumped into them one time.

Here's a short video that shows a quick view of the park below us. You can hear "It's a Small World" playing from another ride. We had gorgeous weather on Friday -- such a perfect Children's Day experience.

Yvonne treated us to a feast of a dinner at Pizza Hut and then had two new toys each for Molly and Hudson when she dropped us off at home. We were all spoiled rotten on Children's Day! It's hardly surprising that as we were getting the kids ready for bed, Molly declared it was the best day in China yet. :)  儿童节快乐! Happy Children's Day!
~Dayna