Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!



Enjoy the Time with Family and Friends!

Made it Back!

Allison and I arrived home last Saturday--tired and happy! We started in Shanghai for a couple of days. It was hot but, it kept raining so that helped a lot. All I did was drink bottled water in order to not get dehydrated. We stayed at a youth hostel right behind the Marriott. It had a small bridge in the courtyard with Imperial Carp swimming in the pool and best of all - our room had air conditioning! What a pleasant surprise!




One of the first places I wanted to see was the area known as "The Bund". I had read about it in a book by Jean Fritz, Homecoming that I had used for a Mother-Daughter Book Club years ago. Unfortunately, the view of the Huangpu River,which is a branch of the Yangtze River, was blocked by all of the construction, but we could still see the amazing buildings across the river.

I did not know that Shanghai is full of shopping areas--high rise malls are all over the place! You could move from one mall to the next! We even found a Hershey's Chocolate Store! Ymmmm!



Shanghai is full of parks! The park near our hostel had several amusement rides and lots of paths to follow. We wandered around and ended up in an area where the gentlemen were playing cards or checkers. Very serene! Lots of very large lily pads too!


More to come!

Look...

I will get to see Allison in two days!:)
Hard to tell what we will be doing!!!

Shanghai's Waterfront - The Bund

I used Jean Fritz's book Homecoming for a Mother-Daughter Book Club many years ago. It tells a tale of Jean sitting on a bench on "The Bund" in Shanghai. I have always wanted to visit it. I can hardly believe that I am going this week!

Paris to Pittsburgh

Hard to believe there is a direct flight from Paris to Pittsburgh!
Taylor actually recognized a family at the Paris Airport that comes to the Bethel Park Library! It is really a small world!

Sofia, Bulgaria

Taylor made it to the Debate Forum in Bulgaria! The high school and college students came from the United States and many countries from around the world.

Trains and Greece

Hopefully, Taylor and his friends are on there way to Thessaloniki, Greece on the Metro. It is night time there since there is a 7 hour time difference.
They left Istanbul, Turkey today at 9:00 pm.

Enjoy and take lots of pictures!

Podcasting

Podcasting is another techie subject to learn. I have worked with podcast, but I do not keep up with them. This assignment was a good refresher of all that is available to us. I will try to get back to podcasting.

Turkey and Beyond...

Took Taylor to the airport this morning to head to Turkey with friends from Wake Forest. Unfortunately, I missed his phone call from New York because I was doing a program at the library on Trail Signs. I know that he will have a great trip!

Allison and Taylor Hiking

Hiking Trip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MfaAcRK0DQ

Kamishibai Training

The training was GREAT! At least I did not cut off my fingers!

Flickr Pic

Found this picture on Fickr! We have a Mongolian hat like this at home on the table.

I can not remember what the hat is used for, but I loved the photo!

Dinner with the Mongolian Ambassador

Archers practice for competition at annual Naadam Festival in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

I wonder if they will be shooting arrows nearby???

Found a Lost Friend

Last night , a long lost Girl Scout friend and fellow trainer appeared on Facebook!

What a great surprise!

Paint Sample Journals

So, we finally know what to do with all of the paint samples we "borrow" from the stores!

The teens are making small journals out of the samples. We are folding over the flap - like a match book - and stapling in small pieces of paper.

Enjoy!

Volunteers are Awesome!

Our volunteers are OUTSTANDING!

I had a program today on finger weaving with over 35 children. It was wonderful to have extra hands to help out all of the children!

If you have not tried finger weaving or you have forgotten how, check out the following sites:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXKjbKwrMS0

or

http://www.wikihow.com/Finger-Weave

Enjoy!

We had a great time!

Mongolia Calls

A call actually came from Mongolia last night! Allison called!!! It was raining so hard, I couldn't even hear her!!!! SAD!

Fun and Games!

The weekend was spent doing yard work! I finally planned the flowers in the front flower boxes and on the post. It is amazing how much time that takes! Now, I am planting flowers in the backyard.

Kennywood Day!

Today is Kennywood Day!

School Day at Kennywood! I remember riding the coasters and screaming! It is hard not to enjoy the french fries and the corn dogs! Did you ever win a prize from the person who guessed your age or weight???

Check It Out!

Check Out the audio books that are available through the library catalog. I typed in the word fiction and WOW! I received quite a list of choices. I choose:

Death Dance: An Alexandra Cooper MysteryUnabridged.
by Fairstein, Linda A.

Now if I had some sort of techno device to download the book to, that would be really great--

Alas, I do not. My children have all sorts devices--but mom does not--maybe some day.

June - Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit!

Today is the Day!

I was brought up to say "rabbit - rabbit - rabbit" at the beginning of each month - it is suppose to bring Good Luck!

Rabbit - Rabbit - Rabbit

Arts and Crafts Day!

This morning I made a Kamishibai Storytelling stage and this afternoon I made a purse out of a t-shirt and duct tape!

One would think that it would be relaxing, but I am exhausted and over heated!

I had a great time doing both of the crafts with friends. It was a wonderful way to share the time and experience with others.

Plus - I have some great ideas for future programs!

This is my most recent photo of Tiime, pronounced Tea-may. It means camel in Mongolian. Tiime is Taylor's kitty. He named her for the camel he rode last year in his adventures in Mongolia. Allison and Taylor had quite a camel ride through a sandstorm on their way to a home stay in the Gobi.

Building Memories!

Way to Go Penguins!

In case you didn't know, I love watching and cheering for the Pittsburgh Penguins Ice Hockey team! Wow! It was a wonderful, nerve wrecking game last night! We WON!

Now, we will wait and see if we are playing Chicago or Detroit in the Stanley Cup FINALS!!!

Yahoooooooo!

After the game, I could not go to sleep so I was up till 1:30 watching origami videos! I have a family origami program coming up for the Summer Reading Club. Looking for new ideas!

Yeah, I know, most people would be sending emails or watching U-Tube...
I am folding origami!

Oh...

By the way, Allison is the second one on the right -- in the black and purple!

Wish I was there!!!! :)

Daotong

Allison is in Daotong with some of her students from the University of Pittsburgh Honors College.
Daotong is the home of the Yuangang caves. These are in Northern China and were built in 400AD. Sounds like a place that I would like to visit. Allison had never visited the caves before and she was thrilled!

Readings

Presently, I am reading a book about Beijing that is a National Geographic publication. It is an easier read than the others I have looked at. Of course, it would be helpful to be reading about Shanghai because I will be spending several days there.

Luckily, Allison has been there before.