Tuesday night we took the boys to Canobie Lake - couldn't resist the "Old time picture" place!  We had a lot of fun.  Looking forward to camping this weekend.  I can't wait for them to marvel at the stars. 

PS - Please excuse the props - just part of the picture!!! 

We have been incredibly busy the past few days. Yesterday, we went to the State House and WMUR TV in Manchester. We even saw local celebrities news anchors Tom Griffith and Erin Fehlau. The students did mock weather reports in front of the green screen and got to stand at the news anchor desk.  
Today, Amherst Police officer John Smith (Souhegan HS SRO) gave an informative and exciting tour of the police station, demonstrating that police officers are there to serve and protect the community. The students thought it was particularly fun to get put into a holding cell and get fingerprinted. They were equally excited to sit inside the fire engines and try on Deputy Chief, Matt Conley's coat and hat. They all seemed to agree that the equipment is too hot and way too heavy to wear for long periods of time. 

We followed up with a trip to the Wigwam to see the Concord Coach, followed by lunch with Superintendent Peter Warburton on the Amherst Village Green and cupcake decorating at the Dutch Epicure on Amherst Street. 

It seems that Amherst is the perfect mix of fresh air and sunshine with plush green lawns and fragrant flowers. One of my children ran to get his camera one evening to take a picture of the twinkling stars above. "I have never seen anything so beautiful," he exclaimed. Evidently, the stars can't permeate the light pollution and smog in Chongqing. Oh, the things we take for granted.

Enjoying our girls!

We are having a great time with our delightful girls! Today we visited Newcastle Beach and everybody braved the frigid water, explored the tide pools and climbed the rocks. We feasted on fried zucchini and strawberry ice cream at the Ice Box afterwards. Yesterday was a local day... bowling, shopping for Chinese night at the Asian market, and eating fish tacos while listening to the live music at the Hilltop Cafe in Wilton with friends. The girls are so adventurous... speaking terrific English, trying all kinds of new foods, asking questions and jumping right in to making Belgian waffles in the morning, too! They seem to be comfortable and sleep well... we certainly wore them out today!

Today we went to Hampton Beach to see the sand sculptures and take a walk in the water which was surprisingly warm.  Then we did a little shopping and tried some fried dough and saltwater taffy. After that a ride to Odiorne Point where we stopped into the Seacoast Science Center and had an encounter with a blue lobster. Then out to a restaurant to EAT some lobster, although the girls seemed to prefer chicken and hotdogs.

Tonight they're learning how to make duct tape wallets, bracelets, and handbags while sitting around the kitchen table. We're also making balloon animals. Knew that clown class I took would come in handy some day!

Mark

Just got back from Squam Lake Science Center, mini golf and a quick trip to the mall. I had to insist on English whilst playing golf. They both lined up their putts nicely on the back nine and were contenders. We will be playing mini golf again soon...it was a lot of fun.

Update from Mark and Robin

Here's what we've been up to so far with Molly and Lilly...

Friday night we went out to see Spiderman in 3D which the girls enjoyed a lot. Today we spent six hours at the Pheasant Lane Mall where the girls made some MAJOR purchases! They were on the phone with their parents most of the time and had long and expensive shopping lists. They'll finish their shopping at the Outlets  next week, but they're already planning to buy an extra suitcase to take everything back! Tonight we walked our dog through the Village and then went out to Jake's for ice cream. Tomorrow we're planning to take a ride up the coast and maybe dip our toes in the chilly Atlantic.

We're dealing fairly well with the language barrier because one of the girls speaks English quite well. Figuring out what to feed them has been a little bit challenging. We gave them lots of choices for making sandwiches for lunch, but they combined everything together!  Not sure if I'd want a peanut butter, marshmallow, ham, and mayo sandwich! They seemed very relieved and surprised to see rice on the table at dinnertime. Cereal was popular for breakfast. They've explained that they don't know how to cook, so we may have to give them a lesson or two!

The girls are enjoying our scottish terrier and two cats since Molly has a corgy of her own and the Lilly has five cats. They've taken lots of pictures around our house and in the Village where they've enjoyed seeing the different styles of houses and all of the open land and trees.

Day One of Spiral International Amherst Culture Camp

We had a great first day with our new friends. We have seventeen American Student Ambassadors participating in our program. It is difficult to determine who is learning more. The children designed and made t-shirts with the theme of friendship. They are beautiful keepsakes. Each of the American children were given a Chinese name and their friends wrote it on their name tags. In the afternoon teams of students made bottle rockets and we launched them. The cheers and squeals of joy were quite delightful.
It is amazing to see how quickly the cultural barriers erode and children become friends.
Enjoy the weekend! 

Our two kids are great!  Jerry and Laura, (whom I started out calling Lola and now it's stuck), are so sweet!  We took them grocery shopping to pick out a few items that they would certainly eat.  We had a late evening snack, got settled in, shot hoops in the front and went for a little walk.  Jake and Jerry played on the game table last night.  All in all it was a great first evening.  Tomorrow I think we will hit Lake Sunapee and rent kayaks.  Tomorrow evening is a birthday party at a friends house.

We had a quick family meeting with our two. I drew out a chart for tonight and tomorrow. Tonight they are watching a movie at the New Boston Library with the Teen group. They meet every Thursday at 7pm..so that's where they will be next Thursday too. I tried to explain about caffeine in soda. I really want them to catch up on sleep tonight. Breakfast...seem to be pretty excited about cereal. I'll let you know how it goes.

We are very excited as we await our kids this week!

 It is hard to believe close to a year has passed by since the last group was here. A few things we are off to do and welcome others to join:

Either Sat or Sun July 7/8 we are heading north to the Flume and tram at Cannon Mt. Then a stop to swim in chilly Echo Lake.

Monday July 9th we will be heading to Nelson NH for a ContraDance. We will leave around 7PM and be home kind of late.

Wednesday July 11th - Lizzi wants to head to Hampton Beach for fireworks. Not sure yet about this.

And, we will fit in kayaking on Baboosic Lake, Candlepin/Glow bowling, and a few other adventures. Probably a weekend day trip to Hampton Beach for some boogie boarding. That was a bit hit last summer.

We will have our girls join Lizzi at the Kim Cates 5K walk/run at Hampshire Hills on Thur the 12th: http://kimcatesfund.org/2012run.htm

What sorts of things are others planning?