Saturday was the Mid-Autumn Festival here in Taiwan... it only seems like the beginning of autumn to me, but that's okay... we'll take the celebration! We got out of stormy, gloomy, gray Taipei and joined some of our Torch Church families for an outdoor picnic at a grassy park in sunny, warmly breezy, dry Taoyuan!!! What a difference 45 minutes in a car can make! We skipped out on moon cakes this year and somehow missed the BBQ as well, but we did have a relaxing day as a family along with new church family members - Edu & Annie! We even made it to Costco for some shopping and an all-American dinner consisting of pizza, hamburgers and hot dogs! What more could you ask for in a festival day!?! Oh... good friends and funny traditions... well, there's some of that as well because Richard & Marlin came over in the evening and we all went for a swim together after eating traditional fruit...
Upon arrival Hunter and his best church buddy Enen (sounds like 'n' 'n') started in on whatever they could find to play with. I didn't come all that prepared but I did have bubbles in my bag... and that went a long way between the two of them.
Helena didn't need much to entertain herself - just the friendly faces of her church family and for the first time I gave her a peeled whole apple and she happily munched that thing down to a nub... that's why she's got such a big belly, you reckon?!?
This is "Enen de mama" (Enen's mom) - Hunter loves her and asks about her sometimes during the week. Her real name is Yahue or Jessica or "Spunky Mom" as Tony & I affectionately refer to her. She's always been super toward me - I just wish my language was a bit better so I could really get to know her better. I think she's a person I'll feel a bit sad about not really being able to communicate with.
Tony was entertaining the masses (most of the group went to a restaurant to eat lunch while a handful of us stuck around the park eating 7-11 sushi and snacks) and inspiring the others...
this guy's actually not bad at all!
Once the bubbles were gone, Hunter was all about the bat and any ball he could get in his sights!
Hunter's coaching came a little late in the piece but maybe it'll help for next time... he loved that bat and loved "Enen de baba" even more for letting him play with it so much!!!
After the picnic we drove over to the Shimen Resevoir... this is the place Tony & I did our second swim event... it looked much different on a 'regular' day - much prettier actually.
This is Eduardo & Annie our new Brazilian friends who've started coming to Torch Church... we always laugh a lot when they're around so we're enjoying their company.
Hunter's got his yozi hat and milk mustache going on... looking good, Hunter!
Helena finally got used to the hat after a bit of prompting from her brother!!! Taiwanese kids probably wear these for some kind of good luck, but we wear them because they're just so darn cute!!! We actually eat the pomelos too -they're rather tasty - milder than a grapefruit but that would be the closest thing I could compare it to.
Helena didn't need much to entertain herself - just the friendly faces of her church family and for the first time I gave her a peeled whole apple and she happily munched that thing down to a nub... that's why she's got such a big belly, you reckon?!?
This is "Enen de mama" (Enen's mom) - Hunter loves her and asks about her sometimes during the week. Her real name is Yahue or Jessica or "Spunky Mom" as Tony & I affectionately refer to her. She's always been super toward me - I just wish my language was a bit better so I could really get to know her better. I think she's a person I'll feel a bit sad about not really being able to communicate with.
this guy's actually not bad at all!
Once the bubbles were gone, Hunter was all about the bat and any ball he could get in his sights!
Hunter's coaching came a little late in the piece but maybe it'll help for next time... he loved that bat and loved "Enen de baba" even more for letting him play with it so much!!!
After the picnic we drove over to the Shimen Resevoir... this is the place Tony & I did our second swim event... it looked much different on a 'regular' day - much prettier actually.
This is Eduardo & Annie our new Brazilian friends who've started coming to Torch Church... we always laugh a lot when they're around so we're enjoying their company.
Hunter's got his yozi hat and milk mustache going on... looking good, Hunter!
Helena finally got used to the hat after a bit of prompting from her brother!!! Taiwanese kids probably wear these for some kind of good luck, but we wear them because they're just so darn cute!!! We actually eat the pomelos too -they're rather tasty - milder than a grapefruit but that would be the closest thing I could compare it to. 
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