The pictures took this month is a good indicator of the kids' growth. We start with Renee's great GATE's test result putting her in the top 1%! We are all very happy that she is such a gifted kid. At the same time, we both agreed that she should have a fun childhood, so we are not thinking of any extra activities, no that she didn't have a full schedule already.
First picture is more about where Max is growing FROM. This is the first mother/son dance event. Max has ALMOST grown out of his mama's boy phase. Almost.
Renee had another dance recital.
Max is still shy in the big crowd. He is good at picking up lessons and knows what is expected of him. He just chose not to speak up most of the time.
In the back of the school, Renee and Max had fun throwing water balloon to the teachers.
Renee painted one tile that will be put in one of the walls.
This year Shifu and I prepared Max for the Kungfu tournament. After some confusion around the logistics, Max stepped in the ring and performed for the first time in his life. I am so proud of this major step!
Max performed twice, once with stick and once with the sword. So he got two cups. Shifu was also very happy and took a picture with him.
Reneen has grown to like the pop songs. Her favorite singer right now is Taylor Swift. I found this introduction of Taylor Swift book in the library. Renee was estatic.
Max enjoys putting things together. Sometimes that is done after he takes things apart. This is the most challenging toy that he has got his hands on. As the time of this blog post, he is still working on building the second model. He can get frustrated but eventually he would be willing to pick it up and try again.
We went to camping at Lake Chabot this year. This time, everyone behaved pretty well.
The next day we went to the Marina and rented the patio boat. Because the lake was pretty empty and the boat has slow speed, I was able to show Renee how to drive it. She really enjoyed it.
We took a good family picture at the boat.
Here are additional good pictures from the camping trip.
Max got into the routine of visiting Jamie, one of his classmates, who also lives in the neighborhood. They would ride bike around, paint on the ground or play silly games.
Renee finished her piano recital wrapping up another 6-month session. 
Max did the demonstration of stick form at the beginning belt test. Then he took the belt test and upgraded to a purple belt.
This is one of the playing area in the mall in Nanjing. There is no time limit on it. So Renee and Max spent a lot of time climbing up and down while the mom took a break. I went to hotel to sleep because I need to work remotely at nights.
Another area in another mall where each statue is set for the kids to pose for a picture.
The kids went with grandpa to do some sight seeing on historical sites.
That is a drum for the scholar who got the first place in exam. Both kids had a go at it for good luck.
This mall has Llama show around the floor. We were able to follow it around and took quite a few pictures.
Renee and Max are with the big cousin for Max's birthday celebration.
We flew to Chengdu, Sichuan province, at the end of the month. For the first night, we went to this famous local hot pot place. We got a good seat where Renee and Max can people watch when they are done with the food.
This is another new mall built in Chengdu. This one has all kinds of stuff in there. Stay tuned for the second part of the China trip!
