Mandarin Orange Pickin'

A couple weekends ago our apartment'hotel had a free field trip for the long term residents of the building. We were excited to see what our day would have in store for us.  Like all other outings in China, it was an adventure!

We started out our day with an hour bus ride that did not disappoint. At one moment in a teeny village's one-lane road, we went from 40 mph to 0 as we met an oncoming bus. I took this shot out my open window. The driver of the other bus and I could have high-fived!

The first half of the day featured a boat trip to a small island where we would be able to mandarin orange pick, have lunch, and enjoy the free park-like activities. Upon arrival, the signs did their best to tell us that we would not have a fun time. These just crack me up!

This was the same weekend that it seemed like everyone back home was at the apple orchard in flannel and knit hats picking fruit and getting their Halloween pumpkins. We were seven thousand miles away in shorts sweating and picking citrus fruit...crazy!

The island provided for a very enjoyable afternoon. The boys loved orange picking.

Although, oranges are harder to spot than you would think. Like we had seen previously at our local market, the oranges are predominately green. But the fruit inside was perfect. I bet Tucker ate six oranges alone before lunch.

Lunch was a very nice parade of dishes that we would never had ordered had we had the choice. It is a great way to try new things though! Tucker ate some whole fish and Josh shot himself in the eye trying to open a beer on the edge of the table.
Then there is this picture which is now a legend in its own time (within our family) of Tucker eating a whole fish:

After lunch we wandered around for about an hour listening to people sing karaoke, play in the "sand" of the "beach" and try their balance at a variety of activities like this one. This was an obstacle course of sorts, where failing would land you in a lake of dirty water. It is hard convincing the boys --especially my kids who are less than sure-footed-- that this is probably not their best laid plan.

The boat ride back was gorgeous. Or as gorgeous as it gets around these parts. This is a boat just like ours headed to pick people on the island up.

Never miss an opportunity for someone else to take a picture of the four of us!