Frisbee with Friends from Afar

Saturday afternoon we played at Century Park for a few hours... with old friends that we met for the first time! I know, that sounds funny, but here's how it happened. Donna and I "met" in the fall of 2005 when she found me through my blog because she had done a search for "Gwen" and "adoption". It just so happened that Donna and her husband Andrew adopted their Gwen from China just a few months before we adopted ours. Then the following year, they adopted their Madeline! Fast forward to last Saturday... Donna and Andrew and their Gwen and Maddy are touring China for several weeks. We arranged to meet in Century Park for a couple of hours, where we enjoyed frisbee, bubbles, and photo shoots!

Here are the daddies with a Maddy and a Gwen... And the mommies with two Gwens, a Madeline and a Madelyn!

The girls had fun running around in the grass, chasing the Frisbee. Looks like our Gwen is laying out the rules for everyone in this picture! The two Maddys go for it...

Great catch, Maddy!

Run, Gwen, your sister is after you! Maddy's about to throw... which Gwen is going to get it?!
It was so surreal to meet Donna and Andrew and their girls after all this time of reading each other's blogs. What a treat to walk through the gate at Century Park to see them waiting for us on the other side! Thanks, guys, for making the effort to see us during your travels. Maybe we'll meet again someday... in another country... who knows?!

You'll enjoy the photos on Donna and Andrew's blog here.

Century Park

Century Park is the largest park in Shanghai, 140 hectares I think. I took the girls there to check it out about ten days ago, thinking we would explore a little, and hoping we would find what is supposed to be the largest playground around. Turns out that 140 hectares is a little too much to explore on a 97 degree day. Fortunately we found these little electric motor boats and rented one for an hour. Being on the water under the sunshade on the boat made the heat bearable, and the boat moved so slowly that both the girls were able to take turns driving it.

Last Saturday we all ventured back to the park, and on a more temperate day it is a lovely place. There are flower gardens and big trees, lakes and little streams. There are tandem bikes for rent. There's even a small amusement park, with six or seven little rides. I think we will spend a lot of time there this fall! More pictures of Century Park to come.