Our first day was spent catching up on sleep - followed by a 4pm trip to the supermarket in newly falling snow. Sebastien and Alex weren't convinced that they needed to wear gloves as well as jackets.
Yes - we saw squirrels again!
The first week we used public transport - we'll not mention the middle-of-the-night phone call from Daddy letting Mummy know that he thought his wallet had been stolen, and that he'd had all our credit cards (three countries worth) in it and that meant that we had to cancel them all - and hmm, how were we going to a) pay the rent, b) hire a car... This put paid to Daddy's plan to hire a car in Atlanta and drive to C-U - he had no credit cards, no licence and zero access to funds - he barely managed to get a Greyhound bus organized. Thank goodness for friends and colleagues. Mummy was mightily peeved - her vision of having wheels to visit friends off the beaten track were going up in smoke. We were lucky that Daddy's jacket had been handed in to the reception of his hotel and everything returned to him - and we were able to hire a car the next week.
We had time to get over jetlag - Mummy had decided to quarantine us for most of the first week just in case we were bringing germs from our travel from China. Most important when you are seeing people for the first time in ages - you don't want to get them sick!! So the first week was spent catching buses, checking out our old stomping ground of the public libraries and shopping...and did I mention that we have our very own bath in our apartment? Just like old times, only Sebastien wasn't even 11 months old when we left for China so he has no recollection. He just knows that he likes to "wim" - and Mummy just knows that she needs to remove all the towels from the bathroom if she wants to have anything still dry at the end of "bath, er sorry, 'wim time". 
Daddy arrived towards the end of the first week and that meant bedtime stories again! 
Daddy was going to work every day so we'd only see him at bedtime.
Soon enough we linked up with our friends. Though we knew that they were still on school/work time and we were on holidays which restricted our playdates. There were carousel rides with Tina, Evie and Evan.
Chuck-E-Cheese for the very first time to meet Jennie and her baby Doug who had arrived in our absence. We were so excited to see them and were glad to meet her about halfway to Galesburg.
Plus a visit to Bloomington-Normal's Chilren's Museum - which is SUPERB!
Among other things, a supermarket.
A pizza place.
And there were enough trains and track for Sebastien to share with Alex - this table was great as it had "pop-up" holes in the middle where kids could crawl under the table and "pop-up" to get access to the centre of the table. Give the boy a train and he's happy, actually, it could be a truck, a car, a train...he's all boy.
Sebastien was checking out the tractor - probably looking for Grandad.
There is a climbing structure that runs from the bottom floor to the top floor for kids - excellent!
Though Alex wasn't quite sure how to get back down from the top!
And a glass wall to paint on - heaven!!
Sebastien thought that if one brush was good, then three was even better.
Alex's favourite was the giant pin impressions toy - she spent quite a while getting the pins organised only to back into it or plunge her face into it. Entertainment for all! 
Whew! We'll continue this in the next post.
Daddy had to go to Champaign-Urbana to finalise some academic things and he planned to do this in combination with attending the AEA conference in Atlanta. So Mummy was quick to take the opportunity for a visit back to the old stomping ground - for possibly the last time in quite a while.
Never mind that it was winter. Never mind that it was an Illinois winter.
And so it was that we found Mummy with both kids winging it to Urbana-Champaign via Korea. Yes, the grandiose plans of "divide and conquer" didn't work out as there were not enough seats left on Daddy's flight. Bummer. So on New Year's Eve, after half a day of school, Daddy dropped the family off at the airport and waved goodbye. A short-ish flight to Korea and a transit stopover overnight in a hotel were next. It took an hour to find out where exactly to go - and to what hotel - through security like you would not believe. Sebastien chose this as his moment to sleep - the first of only about 3 hour-and-a-half-long naps that were to serve him for the trip's duration. Alex delighted in pushing him in the stroller.
We were shuttled out of the airport (necessitating another security pass through) and taken to the Hyatt hotel. Nice. Check in was reasonable and we headed up to our room. Back down a short time later (having dragged the kids kicking and screaming from the television) to the ballroom where dinner was served for transit guests - after all, it was New Year's Eve. Mummy had a rushed buffet dinner - nothing much was there that either kid would really eat - and it was back up to the room for a "wim".
Yes, we have only showers in China and so Sebastien was excited to find his own "wimming pool" in the bathroom. Rushed the kids through the bedtime routine hoping to get them to sleep and enjoy a wine or two sent up by room service to see in the New Year. It wasn't to be. Alex had great difficulty getting to sleep as she had one ear blocked and the buildup of pressure was hurting her. So we had tears all night until about 4am when she finally fell asleep (note to self: pack kids pain meds in carry on). Sebastien was just so excited about the furniture arrangements that he was bouncing all over the place. All night. He barely got two hours sleep - and those at a different time to Alex. And so there were tears - Mummy's - as she thought ahead to the next day and the slog of travel still to go. Happy New Year - no wine.
Breakfast time and Alex is asleep and Mummy loathe to wake her. But time was a-ticking so everything was packed and Sebastien dressed and watching a cartoon when Mummy woke Alex. Here is the view out the window - bleak and cold Korea with patches of snow on the ground.
Down to breakfast and check out - Sebastien and Alex entertained themselves with Thomas but were under security's watchful eye as there were a few art installations in the foyer that were in potential harm's way.
Then, the stroller is found to be broken and the seat barely hanging by a thread - great. The shuttle bus to the airport is late because of a car accident outside the airport that was blocking traffic. Back through security and we have about an hour to kill before our flight. First we burn off some energy in the play area. 
Then we eat our first snack of the day while watching our plane being refueled. cleaned and loaded.
No sleep for Mummy on the 14 hour flight. No sleep really for either kid - Alex was too busy watching the kids' channel and Sebastien too busy whinging about there being no Thomas the Tank Engine on the kids' channel. At least we had the three seats on the side to ourselves.
We had a layover in Chicago of several hours which allowed us to meet up with some friends from Xiamen who had moved back to the States and were coincidently catching their own flight out of O'Hare a little earlier than us. It was wonderful to see Ellie, Steve and the boys and they introduced us to this great play area in terminal 2 - Sebastien had a ball as did Alex. 
Alex "flying" the plane.
Sebastien looking up at the control tower.
Sebastien about to "drive" the refueling car to the plane.
Alex and Sebastien in the cargo hold of the plane.
Sebastien kept looking at people in the playarea and grabbing their hand to take them around with him - it was almost as though he was thinking "wow - you look a lot like me. Come play." This was not something he'd ever do in China!!
We headed to the gate but had to endure an hour-long delay as a late crew member was waited for - during which both kids fell asleep. Impossible for Mummy to carry both on board by herself so she shook Alex violently awake and endured her "I'm really asleep though my eyes are open" tantrum that she didn't want to go anywhere. She promptly fell asleep on the plane.
We arrived in C-U - and Mummy had to wake Alex again from a sound sleep. Not fun. We were hoping that there would be taxis working this New Year's Day - and a lovely gentleman who came off the same plane called the taxi company for us rather than us use the public phone. It was bitterly cold and blowing hard as Mummy loaded the kids and luggage into the taxi van. Off to collect the key from Sonia who had kindly gotten it from the office before it closed for New Years.
And then we were there. We had a quick dinnertime visit from Teresa, Paul, Emily, Liz, and a friend which really helped a lot as they brought PIZZA! Then it was time to (finally) crash. 
And crash they did - after next to no sleep in the past 36 hours. So did Mummy.
Daddy and Mummy debated over how the "present opening" would work. After much discussion, they decided that it would wait until after school - after all, to catch the bus Alex and Daddy need to leave the house by 7.30am and there is a tightly managed routine to allow that to happen.
This was a special morning, not only because it was Christmas Day but also because the whole family was biking to school so that they could watch what the class did in the morning.
First there was "morning exercise" which basically is for those students who arrive before classes finally start. This includes all of those who catch the campus school bus. It is held on one of the roof-top spaces (synthetic grass carpet) and there is music playing over the loudspeakers.
Organized activities ensue - including using these "shakers"
to dance to a particular song. All the children are exceptionally well behaved.
Sebastien was very interested in the games that were stationed around the area - especially the ones with balls.
Then is was back to the classroom, washing hands and drinking some water. The room is very much set up like last year's - the lace "doily" over the television is very "Chinese". They seem to have lacy covers for fans, air conditioners, washing machines...for when they aren't in use.
The first class was about Christmas trees. 
Alex is one of around forty students in her class and discipline is tight. Today's activity was making your own Christmas tree. After all sitting together in the middle of the room, they took their chairs back to their tables and started to work.
Tables are grouped with about 8 children at each and the three teachers make their way around the room. 
Sebastien was keen to try out some colouring himself - everyone was very good natured about having Sebastien there, hardly any of them have siblings.
We noticed that they seemed to have done some more Christmas-themed artwork before today that was handing on the walls. 
A little concentration for the concertina folding,
and voila! Your very own Christmas tree!
Next it was "small groups" time. There are outlines of small shoes at various places in the classroom with the idea being that you remove your shoes to step onto the playmat and if there is not outline left to leave your shoes on then you are out of luck. Sebastien enjoyed watching the big kids play with blocks and didn't care that Alex was nowhere to be seen. To their credit, the kids tolerated Sebastien's inquisitiveness very well.
Then it was time to go back outside and do more activity. Sebastien wanted to join in - so he did. 
Back to the classroom for lunch and the teachers wanted Sebastien to eat too - he had a go but it wasn't what he is used to.
Then it was time for us to leave as the class was readying itself for nap time.
These are winter-time quilts and pillows - in summer-time it is rattan mats with bamboo pillows. They are in the "sleeping room" which is basically ten on the top and ten on the bottom along two walls of the room - the stairs to the "top level" are on the right of the photo.
Unfortunately Australia called us during this visit and though we really wanted to chat, it wasn't a great time. We decided to link up later that night. After a "da bao" (take away) Pizza Hut dinner, we opened some presents in the "company" of Australian family - thanks to Skype and Messenger. It was fun to watch!
Yes - we saw squirrels again!
The first week we used public transport - we'll not mention the middle-of-the-night phone call from Daddy letting Mummy know that he thought his wallet had been stolen, and that he'd had all our credit cards (three countries worth) in it and that meant that we had to cancel them all - and hmm, how were we going to a) pay the rent, b) hire a car... This put paid to Daddy's plan to hire a car in Atlanta and drive to C-U - he had no credit cards, no licence and zero access to funds - he barely managed to get a Greyhound bus organized. Thank goodness for friends and colleagues. Mummy was mightily peeved - her vision of having wheels to visit friends off the beaten track were going up in smoke. We were lucky that Daddy's jacket had been handed in to the reception of his hotel and everything returned to him - and we were able to hire a car the next week. 
Daddy arrived towards the end of the first week and that meant bedtime stories again! 
Daddy was going to work every day so we'd only see him at bedtime.
Chuck-E-Cheese for the very first time to meet Jennie and her baby Doug who had arrived in our absence. We were so excited to see them and were glad to meet her about halfway to Galesburg.
Plus a visit to Bloomington-Normal's Chilren's Museum - which is SUPERB!
Among other things, a supermarket.
A pizza place.
And there were enough trains and track for Sebastien to share with Alex - this table was great as it had "pop-up" holes in the middle where kids could crawl under the table and "pop-up" to get access to the centre of the table. Give the boy a train and he's happy, actually, it could be a truck, a car, a train...he's all boy.
Sebastien was checking out the tractor - probably looking for Grandad.
There is a climbing structure that runs from the bottom floor to the top floor for kids - excellent!
Though Alex wasn't quite sure how to get back down from the top!
And a glass wall to paint on - heaven!!
Sebastien thought that if one brush was good, then three was even better.
Alex's favourite was the giant pin impressions toy - she spent quite a while getting the pins organised only to back into it or plunge her face into it. Entertainment for all! 
Whew! We'll continue this in the next post.
