Hi! I've been in Anchorage, Alaska for 4 days now and have had a lot of cool adventures; Riding an AWESOME limo to a wedding was the first adventure. 

The second adventure was the dance party at the wedding, because I liked to dance and I liked the music. There was a cool photo booth and I took so many pictures!! (Mom is helping me type).

 Today I went to AWCC (www.alaskawildlife.org) and saw: a bald eagle with one wing (he'd been shot), a Great Horned Owl (that was sleeping), two lynx sisters (that were also sleeping), caribou/reindeer (which are basically the same), black and brown bears (they ate hot dogs and hamburgers!), a porcupine named Chewie (who was really cute), musk ox, moose, and wood bison. 

[Dad's note: off to Juneau tomorrow!]

Tap water in Anchorage tastes like glacier

Testing out the blogger app on my new iPhone. 

Here is E by the Turnagain Arm. 

And kicking it with some locals:

Hawaii is pronounced "Huh-vye-ee"

We came to grandma and grandpa’s condo

then we went to the beach for 4 days. The car was packed with stuff so the car was almost over flowing with stuff. We drove to the beach when we got to bellows air force station and there was no electricity because a tree fell on the only solar panel (the person there told us that at least).

We saw a bird that had A orange head.

We had s’more the bigger then Emmett’s fist and they melted so much we got them all over our faces. [Dad's note: We had s'mores twice, once at night and once during the day, to make the most efficient use of our lunch campfire. Also for research purposes. Turns out, Day S'Mores are really tasty.]

On the first night there were these people and they were very loud and one guy said “this is the best guitar solo ever” and we woke up at 11:00pm. It was so annoying. Almost every day I went boogie boarding. It was very fun. 

Dinner at Buzz's in Kailua:

Then last night my brother and I slept on the floor. 

[Dad's note: Off to Alaska tonight!]         

Dear Pearlzfollowers:

IT'S SARAH!  Writing a blog entry!  New life, new deal.  We're sitting in the rental unit at grandma and grandpa's highrise in Honolulu.  Boys are sleeping upstairs in their place.  G and I slept till nearly 6 (as always, he's convinced he beat jetlag in one day), and went for a walk by the ocean.  Trying to make sense of the last 24 hours.  We said a lot of tearful goodbyes to our Shanghai family in the Burger King Pudong airport, flew to Seoul, downloaded apps, then flew to Honolulu.  Now we're homeless and unemployed, starting our new adventure.  Hmmm....how do I feel?  I don't know yet, but here's some pics of the last 24 hrs.  I'll try and put them in chronological order, but if I don't, that's the fun challenge for you!  

So far, Seoul good

In Seoul airport. Saw a baseball game on TV, downloaded a bunch of apps on Fast wifi, and thought "It's great to be back in civilization!"

Let's just say this: as sad as we were to say goodbye to our friends at the airport Burger King, we were just as happy to leave Shanghai on a d ay when air pollution was over 200 all day. That's hazardous for kids and old folks, BTW.

About to board plane to Hawaii. Can't wait!

Zai jian, Shanghai (that means Goodbye)

It's been a fun five years. When we got here, we still had a baby (well, sort of. see below). Now we have two fine young men. And some money in the bank. So we are taking a year off, to travel through the USA. We start in Hawaii on Wednesday. Then Alaska for the solstice. Then the lower 48 by late June.

Please check this blog frequently for updates and photos of us from places closer to home.