Mom is famous too!

Now that China is over, I'm not sure who's reading this still, but maybe the family blog will continue and be updated from time to time. We're really glad that everyone has embraced it - ain't technology grand?

The other day I was googling Special Olympics on the OC Register site, to see if they had any coverage, and look what I happened upon! An interview with my mom!

Horticulturist with heart

Ann Thiel of Laguna Niguel has a real knack for plants and has what many would call a true "green thumb." She's an active mother and a volunteer. Here's a closer look.
Q: What brought you to California?
A. My husband, Jeff, is in the medical device business and after several stops across the country; his job brought us to California.
Q: How long have you lived in Laguna Niguel?
A: We have lived in Laguna Niguel for almost 11 years. I was amazed that many of my former 'house' plants grew outside here.
Q: How did you become a member of the Mission San Juan Capistrano's Gardening Angeles?
A: I called the mission after reading an ad to be a part of a new volunteer gardening group in the Thursday paper soon after we moved here.
Q: What interested you?
A: I had volunteered at public gardens in Massachusetts and New Jersey and I had really enjoyed it. I was in on the 'ground floor' of the Mission Gardening Angels. We are a working group of two dozen led by Jan Sorensen, our president.
Q: What are some of the things the club does?
A: We take care of the roses and flower beds at the mission deadheading, mulching, and I guess you could say fine tuning, working with the maintenance crew.
Q: What about on an educational level?
A: We maintain a vegetable garden and we have tried to showcase California natives and plants of interest for the docent tours, especially for all of the fourth graders that visit each year studying California history.
Q: What main events or activities do they do?
A: The Gardening Angels are a big part of the Mission's Flower, Art and Garden Festival each June and the monies it raises helps us buy new plants for the mission and sponsor school groups.
Q: How often do you meet?
A: We work in the mission gardens every Wednesday morning from 9 a.m. to noon.
Q: How can others get involved?
A: Stop at the entrance and ask for Jan or Ann and don't forget your clippers. Most of us go across the street for lunch after working so we have a fun group including the men Angels we fondly call the Mangles.
Q: Why volunteer?
A: If that wasn't enough, volunteering at the mission brings you in contact with visitors from all over the world. The mission Web site is www.missionsjc.com for more information.

Debbie L. Sklar is a Laguna Niguel resident, writer and editor. Her columns appear Fridays in the San Clemente Sun Post and on Thursdays in the Laguna Niguel News and the Aliso Viejo News. Please send story ideas to Debbiesklar@cox.net.

Ann Thiel
Born: Wisconsin
Education: A bachelor's degree in horticulture
Family: Two daughters, Meg, 26, and Sara, 24. Both girls graduated from Dana Hills and Meg from UCLA and the University of Toronto. Meg is married and works at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Sara was selected as part of Team USA for Special Olympics and is a track athlete going to the Special Olympics World Games in Shanghai, China.

I've since informed mom not to speak to the press about me.

Pier del Sol

Today Sara and Ann attended the a SoCal Special Olympics fund raiser. In the picture to the left there are 3 of the 4 ( on the right) are athletes that participated in Shanghai. The two guys on the left are part of the law enforcement torch run that went to several cities in China the week before the games opened carrying the torch. The one in white is Sig, a cop from Temecula that was Eric's (the one in blue that is also Special Olympic athlete) partner during their time in China. The law enforcement group was staying at our hotel and seemed to be having a great time.

I didn't go to the event as I had to stay home and help the Packers win. Therefore I did not get to participate in the following picture. Yes, it's the Beaver. Sara is at the table with the other athletes signing her autograph.

Since Sara has been home she slept 17 hours the first night, likely would have been longer had we not gotten her up. Followed by 13 hours last night, and we had to get her up again so she could go to the fund raiser.

Blast in China

I had a blast in Shaghai China the last two week with all of my new friends. We got to go to to host town events for the few days we didn't have competions. We ran on the track that was close to our hotel when we couldn't run on the track. Michelle got to braid all of the girls hair before we ran. I got to meet a China family during host town and we got to go to the Sunshine school too. We got to go Shopping during host town too. That is all about my trip It was so much fun Thank you for Reading the blog while I was in China.

Back in the OC

We made it home at 7:00pm tonight. Ann and Sara are busy sorting laundry and figuring out what Sara lost or found on the trip. When we arrived there was a vase of flowers for Sara from Aunt Bee with a nice card.

Petunia has been willing to be held and petted. Rocky on the other hand just meows and runs from everyone. We decided to give him the big ignore until he needs Sara more than she needs him.

We have a Special Olympics softball tournament tomorrow, which for the second year in a row may get rained out. Rained here about 4 times in the past year and it could rain out the same event two years in a row.

On Sunday Sara is attending a SoCal Special Olympics fund raiser at the Santa Monica pier. There she will get to show off her medals and tell about the trip.

Sara said she read the blog while at Meg's today. She was too tired to post, I will work on her doing it over the weekend.

I am out.

Everyone's Home!

Beating dad to the punch, I am proud to announce that all of the Thiels have returned to California. Sara got home early this morning. I tried to pick her up at 9 but was informed that her suitcase hadn't arrived and she couldn't be released, so she hung out at the Hilton with her buddies until 11, when Tim picked her up. She took a shower and a nap and hung out with the cats. Lulu sprawled all over her luggage.

The flight of mom and dad's long journey was early, which was great, except that Sara and I were in traffic on the way over! We managed to meet them in time to get their ride home. I dumped Sara off at the curb (I slowed down so she could roll out...) Actually, I did pull up and stop next to mom and dad, but those LAX traffic cops - I had a guy over and eyeing my car within two minutes. Thanks guys, bye!

Called later and they are at the house, being attacked by their cats. Thanks to everyone for your support in the past few months. Hopefully Sara will get some sleep and blog tomorrow. Sunday she begins to make her press appearances. No ticker tape parade though.

On our way home

Ann and I are in Hong Kong awaiting our flight back to North America. Due to using free tickets this is going to take awhile as we go to Vancouver first, then on to LA.

This morning we were at the Shanghai airport. The two gates next to ours were being used for Team USA so we got to see Sara again. Even after a short night the kids were wired, glad I am not on that aircraft on the way home. I suspect with only a 13 hour flight and their last bite of time together they won't sleep.

As we suspected Sara was unwilling to trade her Team USA jacket. Many of her team mates did and had jackets from Korea, Japan and Israel and I am sure many more.

Now that I am out of China I can again read the blog. I have read the comments and thank everyone for being there for Sara.

The other good news is near as I can tell none of our group came down with the malady that befell Grandpa Charlie's shipmates in 1947. It must run in the family as I think that Ann spent most on my money on trinkets.

Closing Games

Tonight Ann and I went to closing games. Getting on the bus at 4:20pm for a 8:00pm start seemed a little early. As we waited for the program to start the athletes wandered in. I was able to get Sara's attention and wave to her. During the ceremony there is a mass trading of jackets, pins and whatever else an athlete may have brought to the closing. I saw a number of non USA athletes wearing USA rain jackets. Not sure what, if anything Sara was willing to trade. Ann and Sara worked hard to trade pins, we'll see what they have when we get home.

As expected Shanghai did a great job of putting on the 2007 World Special Olympics Summer Games. The closing ceremony was a perfect conclusion to the games.

It has been a great two weeks for Ann and I. We are sharing a bottle of champagne that Meg and Tim gave us before they left, thank you. This has been a great time for us watching Sara compete in this environment. We are truly honored that Sara was chosen and did such a magnificent job representing Team USA.

For those of you that have been reading the blog but have not attended a Special Olympics event, you don't know what you are missing. The competition, team work and true joy is something to behold. Take time out some weekend to see them play, it is something that will keep you going for a long while.

With any luck we will get the athlete to blog over the weekend.

4x400 Relay

Today the athletics venue ended with the relays. They are very exciting to watch, particulary the 4x100. There were only 5 female teams in the 4x400 relay. Sara's team ran their best time ever at 5:56.12 which made them all very happy. The picture at the left is them getting ready. When your lead runner is yawning it is not a good thing. Above there is a picture of the relay team with their coach, Lynette. Also Sara pushing to the end to pass the baton to Jena for her to run the final leg.

A second silver for Sara

This afternoon was the hated 400 meter run. Sara is not fond of this distance but it was the event that got her on Team USA. She has been training diligently for this day. She ran a great race, when she hit the 100 meter mark she pushed it to the end. She passed the runner ahead of her and was closing in on first place as they crossed the finish line. She did it in 1:27.97, a very good time for Sara. Thanks to the training by Bridget and Heidi she was very well prepared for the event.

Tomorrow is her last event, the 4x400 meter relay. Each of the team members individually medaled in the 400 today so we told them we have great expectations for tomorrow. This will be followed by closing games in the evening. The closing games are supposed to be an 80 minute finale that if it is anything like the opening games it will be spectacular. Anything that you may have read about the show put on for open games is true, I can only image what they have in store for Beijing in 2008.

Since Sara ran late in the day Ann and I went back to Nanjing Road. A place where I am contantly asked if I would like to buy a watch, bag or jewelery. It actually becomes quite comical after a while.

We also stopped and picked up Ann's new glasses. They were ready as promised and are great. Ann is now trying to figure out how to get all of the stuff she bought home. In addition Sara gave us some of her stuff as she is concerned the plane is overloaded.

The picture with 3 people in it are Sara with her SoCal coach Michelle and her 400m coach, Barbara from South Dakota. The other picture is of Sara on the medal stand.

Sara wins Silver

This afternoon was the finals for the long jump. Sara had a final jump of 2.66 meters which was good enough for a silver medal. We are very proud of her for this accomplishment. After only getting one good jump in the prelims she hit all 3 of them today. Click the link to see the results, she is in group F19.

http://www.2007specialolympics.com/webenglish/games/cjfb/5C1AJYV1CGI7PTZR.html

Today it stopped raining so they are working to make up for the wash out yesterday. It also was chilly which was a nice change of pace. The 400m finals should be tomorrow with the 4x400m relay on Thursday. We now have a time and place to meet on Thursday afternoon to catch the bus to closing games. The events are extremely well organized but the information on future events is hard to come by.

Last night Ann and I went to dinner at M on the Bund which a number of people had recommended as a must in Shanghai. The best part of it was it was not Chinese food. Also good was that Ann didn't go face first on the floor when entering as she did in a Hong Kong restaurant. Ann wants it noted the she was stone cold sober when she fell.

On the way back from the stadium tonight we stopped at an optometrist's shop. Ann got new sunglasses before she left and wished that she could have gotten new clear lenses as well. After dickering a bit, and Ann not willing to go for the cheaper frames, we got her a new pair of glasses with Varilux lenses for $80. I paid half down, and we can pick them up tomorrow, I hope.

The cheering sections were back today. In the morning they filled the upper deck on the opposite side of the field. Promptly at lunch time they all left. They were replaced at 1:00pm by a new group with thunder sticks that filled the bottom deck. It seems that if one person is adequate for a job here why not have about 3 more to keep him company.

Asked Sara when we left tonight if there was message for her peeps back home. The good news for Ann and I is that she doesn't care about you guys any more than she does us when she is hanging with Team USA. Speaking of which Team USA was gathering a large number of medals this afternoon at the track as the finals in most of the events are under way.

Grandma made it home safe on Monday night. Her luggage made it all the way to Chicago where American Eagle forgot to load any checked baggage for her flight to LaCrosse. Near as I can tell that would be the worst part of her trip.

Just a note.

Grandma made it back to La Crosse safely today, even if her luggage didn't. Oh well, better today than last week.

Tim and I made it through our first days back at work okay, except that I woke up with one of my eyes all swollen up. I came back from China, and now I look like a panda.

The rest of the fam gets home on Friday - Sara in the morning, mom and dad in the afternoon. I am the official family picker-upper and will have Luna bars at the ready!

Rain Out

Today they cancelled all of the track events. Ann and I got to the stadium for Sara's 400m finals about 5 minutes before the team headed back to the hotel. Nothing has been rescheduled yet and given how it is raining I am not sure that tomorrow won't be a wash out as well. They said that Sara could hang with us for the afternoon but she would have none of that.

Today was the first work day that we have been here due to the national holiday week. Our hotel overlooked a big highway interchange that didn't look bad last week. This morning with the return to work and the rain was a different story, what a mess. In China there is no such thing as yielding to pedestrians. It is every man, bicyclist, motor scooter and car for themselves. Interestingly enough there are few fender benders or people splatted on the hood of a car. It is also quite a sight to see a family of four riding on a Vespa, all of course with no helmets.

Safe in California.

Wow, I can finally see the blog again. Except now my settings are in Chinese. Oh, language barriers.

Our flight was delayed about a half hour today but we landed on time. We'd sat behind the bulkhead, which was heaven for Tim and his long legs. The only downside was that for the first hour and a half of the flight, the toilet in front of us was flushing constantly. And it was loud. And shrill. And couldn't be blocked out by earplugs or iPods. It was not cool. Thankfully, they fixed it, because 10.5 hours of a constantly flushing toilet might have driven me to violence. And no one wants that. The only other crappy part was that we got stuck on the tarmac for an hour after landing. But we cleared customs, our bags made it okay and we're all safe and sound. Grandma's in her hotel, waiting for the Packer game to start. Tim and I are unpacked and the cats are going cah-razy with love. It's nice to be home with the whole day ahead of us, even if we are pretty tired. But at least we can settle in a little before the work week begins.

I can't even begin to describe how wonderful the trip was. Not only was it a once in a life time trip to China, but it was especially wonderful because we were there as a family, and most importantly, because we were there to support Sara in her athletic debut on the world stage. So many kudos go out to Sara for being such a fabulous athlete with such a great attitude. Mom and Dad did a wondeful job planning and coordinating the trip. Our little guided tours were just perfect, and mom was always ready with the guidebook on the days we had "off" from China Highlights. I'm really glad I got to spend an entire week with them, and of course Grandma too. She held up like a real trooper, though I must admit, she slept so soundly for awhile on the plane that I had to check and make sure she was still breathing. We're just glad she got in some quality nap time.

I have 344 photos uploading to Snapfish right now. Here is one that I took during opening games that I love. One of the most wonderful things about the trip was seeing how much Shanghai turned it up for the Special Olympics. There were Special Olympics banners and billboards EVERYWHERE.

One of the best things about this past week was when we were walking to Opening Games, there were parents and supporters from all sorts of countries in many different types of dress, and it really warmed my heart, thinking about how all of these people came from all of these countries to love and support their Special Olympian. We think Sara is a total superstar, and are proud to be "Team Sara." We just wish we could still be there, cheering her on!

The 4x400 Prelims

After Meg, Tim and Mom left Ann and I headed back to the stadium for the 4x400m preliminaries. Sara runs the third leg of the race. Unfortunately two of her teammates have a bad knee. As the race began so did the rain although not too badly. The team ran about the same time as they did in Nashville. We will now have to see how they are slotted for the finals.

When Sara came back from the race we asked her if she would like to go to Cold Stone Creamery in the parking lot of the stadium for ice cream. She was more than willing as she is getting sick of Chinese food (aren't we all). Once the ice cream was done she was done with her parents and wanted to go back to her team. Trading Special Olympic pins is a big thing here. On the left is the pins Sara is willing to trade and on the right are the ones she has traded for. Ann is working the crowd hard to get Sara some unique ones. I think if you click the picture it will get bigger.

Tomorrow (our Monday) she will run the 400m final in the late afternoon. She has been slotted and I have attached the link, she is in group F14. If you check back you will be able to see her final time.

http://www.2007specialolympics.com/Webenglish/games/cjfb/57H37RERM3MM5NGP.html

The long jump for her is on Tuesday but she has not been slotted yet. We did find out that she didn't walk off her distance to run in the prelims so the jump was short for her. She was red flagged on the first two and got the third one at 2.24m. Now that I am here to coach her I'm sure all will go well, although there may be some crying involved.

All of the kids are having a blast and where they finish doesn't seem to matter much. Since the track venue starts at 9:00am and they are staying an hour away it is in bed at 9:00pm and up at 5:30am.

It was wonderful having Meg, Tim and Mom here. I think Meg is overstating the death marches. I made sure that we took 5 when Mom looked like she was about ready to drop. We had a great time doing the tours and finally getting to see Sara. Their flight left a little late today, but they should be in LA before noon on Sunday.

Goodbye Shanghai!

We're headed out to the airport in a few minutes, and very sad to leave. We wish we had a few more days to hang out in the city and watch Sara run. We went over to the stadium this morning to say goodbye to her. She's still doing well - she's like a kid at summer camp with all of her gals. The pin trading market is pretty hot. Team USA is a big seller. Tim traded one of his SoCal pins for a Communist China pin, which is also apparently very rare. Mom had a handful of pins in her hand at one point and got swarmed by a bunch of Chinese ladies. She's a dealer.

Mom and Dad are moving to a fancy hotel after we leave, so they'll be spending the next week watching Sara run, lounging in plush bathrobes and having foot massages.

I'll update the blog from the States with updates and some more pictures. I anticipate it being easier once I can actually see what I'm doing and edit mistakes. We thank you for your patience. Over and out.

Day With Sara.

Here's Sara, waiting for her heat earlier today.

Here she is coming in hot to the finish line, where we were standing to cheer her on.

Yesterday was pretty relaxed. We got up late and had breakfast, and then headed downtown to the Shanghai Museum. We managed to navigate the metro like pros. The Shanghai metro is pretty nice - it's airconditioned, so it's got that over the metro in Paris. Plus, no sweaty, unwashed Frenchmen.

The Museum was very cool. We looked at a lot of old Chinese art and pottery and costumes. The gift shop was also very wonderful. Yay shopping!

In the evening we went to see an acrobatics show. It was an hour and a half long and was absolutely amazing. The time went by like it was ten minutes. There were crazy gymnasts, people doing fantastic balancing acts, flips and tricks. Really mindblowing.

Today we went downtown again to Nanking Road, a famous shopping district, and shop we did (Mom and I at least.) We bought little silk purses and jade items. We even bargained. Mom was especially tough with the walking away. I am too much of a sucker. Can't live without junk. Dad mostly stayed outside having something cool to drink, until he decided we'd been left unsupervised for too long.

This afternoon we went over to the stadium. Sara's long jump had apparently been in the morning, but we didn't know the schedule had changed and we missed her. We were there in plenty of time for her 400m prelim. They had one false start and that threw her off a little, but she finished in 1:35.34, which is close to her personal best. She was happy to see us, though she seemed a little embarrassed about all of our cheering. Tim and I had made Team Sara shirts, and so we all matched in our cheering her on.

We were able to meet up with her afterwards and give her a hug, and then spent about an hour standing around and talking to all of the kids from Team USA. Sara's in a group that the coaches are calling "Triple Threat." She seems to be happy as a clam, even though the athletics kids are basically stuck in the hotel and are getting sick of Chinese food. The good news is that parents are able to check out their athletes if they want, so mom and dad are going to take her out to lunch later next week (maybe to McDonalds for a shogun burger.)

Tim, Grandma and I have to leave tomorrow. The trip has been fantastic and we're sad to leave mom and dad. The athletes will be at the stadium starting around 8:30, so we're going to go over and say goodbye to Sara before we head out. Then only an eleven hour flight home. Yipee.

More Pictures.

Sleeping in was just about the best thing ever this morning. Mom and Dad are over at the stadium checking things out, grandma is moving to a different room with a more comfortable bed, and Tim and I are hanging out in command central (aka mom and dad's room). Since we've got a moment, I thought I'd upload a few more pictures from the trip, since people like that more than my ramblings. I'm pretty sure the photos are showing up as thumbnails, but that if you click on them, they will expand. Not sure how big - you might be able to see every pore on our faces. So, enjoy. Dad had mentioned that Snapfish isn't letting him upload, but hopefully we'll be able to flood everyone with pictures soon.

This is the reclining Jade Buddah from the Jade Buddah temple. The other buddah (not reclining) is magnificent, but we weren't allowed to photograph him. The Jade Buddah temple is definitely one of my favorite places that we've visited.

Grandma with the Chairman at the gates of the Forbidden City. There are actually three gates that you have to pass through before you get inside the actual city. I believe the guide told us that the Forbidden City is a rectangle that is 900 meters by 700 meters, more or less.

Inside the Forbidden City. It's amazing how much open space there is. The Emporer knows how to do it right. The carvings and the painting on the door was amazing. History lesson - building was completed in 1420, but it was open until to royalty until 1911. There are no trees in the Forbidden City to cut down on the risk of fire. There were also giant bronze pots all through the city, which were used to store water in case of fire.

A photo from the summer palace outside Beijing. This guy guards the gates. It's supposed to be a lion and a dragon cross, but we think it looks like an antelope and a dragon. We've been calling it the dragalope.

Trip to Beijing

This is us by the Bund in Shanghai, Doesn't it look like the future? We're the Jetsons.

The torch-like picture is of the torch. The writing on it is the Special Olympics motto "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." The little girl lit the pool, and then the mobius strip ribbon burst into flames, and then it raised up. It was pretty amazing.

Here's a section of the Great Wall. Ain't it grand? Please notice the crush of humanity. Sorry if the pictures didn't line up.

Hey everyone, did you miss us? We were in the fine city of Beijing for 36 hours. As a note - the blogger site is finally in English on my side, but I can't see the blogs after I post them, so if they're ridiculous, I can't tell. Pretend they're awesome, okay?

So after a late night at Opening Ceremonies, we were up early to head to the airport (or airpot, as Cindy Lou Who pronounces it) and catch our flight to Beijing. Everything went well and we met our new guide Allen, and our driver, Ricky, who whisked us away to the mountains outside of Beijing to see a cloisonne factory (mom's choice), where we learned about how they make fancy enamel-ware. The secret is that they put the color on six times. Not two, not five, but six. It was actually really interesting to learn about, even though most of us (mostly me) complained on the way over about having to go.

Afterwards, it was off to the Wall. China's National Day was October 1st, and this whole week everyone has off. Unlike Fourth of July or Memorial Day, when Americans go to the beach or to a BBQ, the Chinese go into the city to check out national landmarks. So... the Wall was packed. In fact, everywhere we've gone has been packed. Imagine exiting the Rose Bowl for hours on end. Or being in Times Square on New Years Eve. But amongst people who have no personal space issues and will push you out of the way. That's been our experience.

Just getting to the Wall took probably close to an hour, because there's a two lane road in and out. At one point, we made Grandma get out and walk towards the tram (okay, we all got out with her, but we've been teasing dad about sending his mother on death marches.) So, we took a tram to the actual Wall, only when we got out, we weren't on the Wall itself. We started walking down this trail next to the Wall, and at two different points tried to take the stairs up and were informed that it was too crowded and we had to keep moving. It was ridiculous! Plus, there's about forty million police and army men, but still, no one really directing traffic. We did manage to get up though, and stood on the Great Wall of China. It's pretty great. Though, the section we were on is located in a remote, hilly area, which kind of begs the question - do you really need a wall? Couldn't you get by with one or two guys sitting on top of the mountain, shooting invaders as they huff and puff up the hill? It was impressive though.

We had a LOOONG ride back into Beijing, but our hotel was nice when we finally arrived. Grandma tapped out for the night (death march really tired her out) and the rest of us went out for Peking Duck. We ended up at what can only be described as a Peking duck factory - a five story restaurant, all dedicated to the art of duck. They would bring the duck by and carve it at your table, which is interesting and horrifying. Tim ate the tongue.

This morning we were off to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Again, crushed full of people. The Square is cool, but one of those things where if you didn't know what it was, it wouldn't amaze you that much. The Forbidden City was pretty amazing. It's the emporer's palace from the Ming Dinasty, and it's a vast and remarkable space. It's odd to be inside a huge city, and then have all of this empty space. The buildings and carvings are beautiful, though some are under rennovation for the upcoming Olympics. We did a lot of walking in the Forbidden City, and then were off on a quick car ride to the Summer Palace, which is out on a lake. Again, a lot of space and beautiful buildings. We even got to take a little boat ride.

Beijing is a very different city from Shanghai. It's incredibly hazy all the time with pollution. We tried to pretend that it was mist when we were up in the mountains, but you'll notice most of the pictures are pretty gray. Also, we got our photo snapped a lot more in Beijing. Sometimes people would come up and ask, but sometimes we'd just notice a camera flash nearby. It's like being Britney Spears and being chased by the paparazzi, y'all.

Made our plane back in time and tomorrow we have no big plans, other than the acrobats at 6:30pm. Everyone is excited to sleep in. Grandma is holding up well, even if she is using a fork instead of chopsticks.

We can't believe how fast the trip is going. We see Sara again on Saturday. She seemed pretty unenthused to see us on Tuesday night, so we might not go running around the stadium to see her next time, the ungrateful thing!

So, I am going to try to post a couple of pictures - hopefully it works. Stay tuned for more hot China action.

Opening Games

We just got back from opening games. The opening ceremony in the words of our tour guide the past two days "had much beauty". The athletes marching in took over an hour. Our seats in the stadium were about the worst you could have to see Team USA. Afterwards we ran around the outside of the stadium trying to catch up with Team USA and holler at Sara. We finally found her. Ann, Meg and I saw her and she had little interest in us, she did ask where Grandma was. I asked her if she missed us, she said no and headed to the bus with her team. It's late and we are heading to Beijing in a few hours so you will have to wait for a few days for pictures. Opening games is on ABC Family channel on October 4th, check your local listings.

The big day

We are off shortly to see Opening Games. As our hotel overlooks the stadium there is an amazing massing of people. We had a great day doing Shanghai and will be on to Beijing early in the morning.

Adventures in Chopsticks

Last night was our first meal on our own, and we had to brave China without out guide, Cindy (who we've been calling Cindy Lou Who. She's quite the chatty one.) We walked for a couple of blocks until we found a dumpling place, and then hilarity ensued. None of the wait staff spoke English, we obviously don't speak Chinese, so we ordered by pointed at the pictures and then it took us a couple of minutes to figure out how to express to them that Grandma needed a fork. She's trying with the chopsticks, but if western cutlurey weren't an option, she might starve.

Highlights from dinner included river shrimp with their heads still on, "pork bums" and a dumpling filled with some sort of seafood soup. Thank goodness there was fried rice for those of us (me) who don't eat seafood.

Today we're touring around Shanghai, and then tonight is our first glance at Sara. Apparently the Governator and Yao Ming will also be in attendence. Tim will finally not be the the tallest person in the room.

Grandma and I have been unable to get money out of an ATM, so Dad is playing his favorite role - Mr. Wallet. Want a trinket? Have to ask Dad. It's like being nine and at Seaworld all over again. It's the best kind of family vacation!

Day One of our adventures

Everyone managed to get up on time for breakfast today, and we met our guide Cindy and headed out to Suzhou, a little town about two hours outside of Shanghai, known for having beautiful gardens and silk factories. We went to both. The gardens aren't like botanical gardens in the US with plants everywhere - Tim described it as a lake with rocks. The water is surrounded by intricate little rooms. We also went to a nine story pagoda, and we climbed all the way to the top (we whistled at Grandma from our perch.) The silk factory had real life worms, and then a lot of intersting automated machines. And plenty of scarves. The last garden we saw was smaller and very pretty. Dad took a ton of pictures. There were a lot of people that flat out stared at Tim - he is a wonderful freak to them.

The hotel is nice. The Team USA torch team is here - it's Special Olympians paired with members of law enforcement, and they seem to be having a good time. We haven't spotted Sara yet, but there's a lot of publicity about Special Olympics, and we're all very proud to say that we're here to cheer on our athlete.

We are also very proud of Brett Favre, for beating the dreaded Viqueens and putting up some record setting touchdown passes. Dad keeps saying that he only got up last night to go to the bathroom, and then checked the game as an afterthough, but we all know different.