CRYSTAL AND ISABEL This is a weblog for Crystal Sun Zhao and Isabel Sun Zhao. As parents, we'd like to keep the records for them as much as we can.

In November 2012, Isabel becomes 7 years old and Crystal becomes 10 years old.

On Nov. 15th, 2012, Crystal and Isabel’s school held the 2012年第四届运动嘉年华.

On Oct. 3rd, we went for a 3 days’ trip to 浙江新昌 with Jiayang and his mom. Total 6 people.

Day 1, on Oct. 3rd, we visited 浙江新昌大佛寺.

Day 2, we visited 浙江新昌七盘仙谷, 玩了漂流 and 天烛湖.

On day 3, we climbed 浙江新昌穿岩十九峰.

I took Crystal and Isabel to a trip to Inner Mongolian from Changchun. I borrowed the car from Wenqiang. We left Changchun on August 10th in the morning and arrived at Inner Mongolian 阿尔山市 late that night.

On August 11th, we visited 天池, 三潭峡, 石塘林, 杜鹃湖. Finally, the girls felt a little exhausted. So, I climbed 骆驼峰天池 by myself.

On August 12th, we stopped at 玫瑰峰, the border between China and Mongolia. Later that night, we found a Mongolia Ger to stay overnight. Our first plan is just to stay for one night.

On August 13th, I saw the sunrise around 5am. Crystal and Isabel were too lazy to get up that early. During the day time, Crystal and Isabel played with a horse for almost one day. They were so happy. So, we decided to stay here for one more night.

On August 14th morning, we left that place and arrive at 海拉尔市 after 2 hours. In the afternoon, we visited 海拉尔国家森林公园.

On August 15th, we visited 世界反法西斯海拉尔纪念园, 海拉尔达尔吉林寺 and 金帐汉.

On August 16th, we left 海拉尔 and went to 满洲里市.

On August 17th, we visited 呼伦湖. On the way when we came back, we stopped at 扎赉诺尔 and took some pictures on the grassland.

On August 18th, we came to 额尔古纳 and visited 额尔古纳湿地.

On August 19th, we drove north. When we arrived at 恩和, it was raining. There was not much view. So, we bought a pair of shoes for Crystal, had some ice cream and then moved on to 室韦. 室韦 is the origin place for Mongolian people. Now, it is the border of China and Russia.

On August 20th, we visited 莫尔道嘎国家森林公园.

On August 21st, we drove whole day through 大兴安岭. The views along the road were quite magnificent. Later afternoon, we arrived at 五大连池.

On August 22nd, we visited 五大连池景区, 南饮泉 and 温泊.

We went back to Changchun on August 23nd.

On June 22 and 23 端午节 holiday, we went to 绍兴 to have a short break with Tongtong and her family. For the first day, we went to 诸暨五泄风景区. It’s a raining day. But luckily, it’s not that big most of times. So, we can still walk for a long while, with or without umbrellas.

The second day, we went to 柯岩风景区 and drove back to Shanghai around 5pm.

Sophie and her parents will move back to US in July, 2012. Sophie held a farewell party at their home to say goodbye to everyone.

On June 1st, Crystal and Isabel’s school held the second International Art Festival at the Shanghai Grand Theatre. All the kids had performed really, really well on such a big stage. Crystal has attent only one show and Isabel has performed three shows.

Both Crystal and Isabel have learned the Go game for more than a year. Crystal is now at amateur level 7 and Isabel is at level 9. Crystal was invited to attend a Go game contest held by 上海十九道围棋社.

In April, Isabel has lost 2 front teeth.

During the winter vocation, we had a trip to US. We arrived in Los Angeles on Jan. 11th, 2012.

On Jan. 12th, Mom took Crystal and Isabel to the Los Angeles downtown area.

On Jan. 13th, Crystal and Isabel went to Disneyworld with Mom.

On Jan. 14th, we went to the Universal Studio.

On Jan. 15th, we drove to San Diego to visit USS Midway Museum.

On Jan. 16th, we took a tour on Hollywood Boulevard and then went to Venice Beach.

On Jan. 17th and 18th, we skied two days at Mountain High Ski Resort.

On Jan. 19th, we were at Las Vegas.

On Jan. 20th, we drove to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon is so beautiful. We stayed there for 2 days and spent the night at the gate of the south rim. In the morning, we walk a couple of hours on the trial from the south rim to the north rim. Then, we drove to Horsebent along the Grand Canyon.

From Jan. 22nd and 24th, we stayed at Las Vegas for Chinese New Year.

On Jan 23rd, we went to the Grand Canyon Skywalk. The tickets are kind of expensive and the nature beautiful is not as impressive as the south rim or the Horsebent.

On the way back from Skywalk, we stopped at Hoover Dam to have a quick visit.

On Jan 25th, we drove to another National Park: Death Valley. Death Valley is the biggest Nation Park in US. We spent 2 days only on the west side of the park. We visited Zabriskie Point, Badwater Basin, Devils Glof Course, Sand dunes, Ubehebe Volcano Crater and Scotty’s Castle. We stayed the night at Beatty (Nevada).

On Jan. 27th, we watched The Ultimate Variety Show in Venetian Resort Hotel.

On Jan. 28th, we flied to Knoxville, Tennessee. We stayed for a couple of days and flied back to China on Feb. 1st. When we were in Knoxville, we visited Ripley’s Aquarium and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.