Let's Have A Ball

Hunter turned TWO today... WOW! Our little boy is already two years old! Sometimes it seems like just yesterday he was cutting his teeth, learning to walk and testing out solid foods - other times it feels like he's been running, throwing food and saying 'bu yao' ('don't want') forever!!! We are making it a habit to enjoy each day with him and we're finding he still gets cuter & cuter and more & more fun!!! To celebrate this monumental occasion, we had a party with his buddies, their parents and some of his aunties & uncles here in Taipei. It was a full house, but plenty of fun to go around.

Before we started in on lunch we had a puppet show to gather the kids. Our friends Sharon and Justin did a great job as "Lucy & Guy" getting the kids to throw balls to their puppy puppets, sing songs and introduce Hunter's birthday party.

It's funny how with all the toys and people around, Hunter still enjoys reading books. Auntie Kristie probably wanted to find a quiet corner with Ellie, but Siena & Hunter crashed their party for a round of "Hop on Pop".

We did decide on an organized activity - the ole balls in blanket game where the kids (and adults) hold on to edges of the blanket and get the balls bouncing. The expression on Hunter's face says it all - he LOVED it!!! Absolutely loved it! We then put him in the blanket and he got a bit of a toss!!! Didn't love that quite as much, but I'm willing to bet he'd do it again if given the chance!!! There's really not much better than hearing your two year laugh infectiously... that made the whole day worth it!!!

Jay & Janet were the party heroes!!! They trekked to Costco in the morning to pick up the birthday cake & the pizzas!!! Thanks to these two, Tony & I were able to enjoy the party and the people.

Happy Birthday Dear Hunter!!!

And yes, this year he got to eat cake - real cake with icing and plenty of sugar! And of course - he LOVED it!!!

As did our friends Phoebe, Steffi and Artie

Between Christmas and his birthday, Hunter is now quite proficient in unwrapping gifts. He received lots of fun stuff - thank you, everyone, for your generosity toward him! The good thing is that the playgroup friends will get to experience a lot of these gifts again and again!

It takes a bit of work to get a bunch of kids to sit still for a photo...

but I think it will give us the general idea!

Hunter's 2nd year - month by month... originally we put the photos out of order and asked our friends to guess which photo was which month... a lot easier said than done! We had a tie for the winners - each had 4 correct - one by luck, the other by logic.

Something To Look Forward To

I'm finding that as a mom it helps sometimes to plan something a little different just so I've got something to look forward to. This past week it was a trip to the Children's Recreation Center in Taipei. Suzanne & Michael made the trip over with us where we met up with Rachel & Micah. It was a great venue with plenty to do and see, and though this trip was short - we'll definitely be back! Thanks ladies for making it happen!

I bet real fighter pilots have a similar look on their faces too!

Hunter "sharing" with Michael... really, it was Michael sharing with Hunter.

My beautiful girl wanted to play too.

Earlier in the week it had been 8Celsius! Thankfully by Thursday it started to warm up... all the way up to 28C on Sunday! What kind of winter is this?!? Just the kind I like!!

"Amusement World" has lots of these little rides for kids to enjoy - it's only 20$NT per person plus there are lots of playground toys too - a pretty good price and a bit of variety! Yes, we'll definitely be back!

An Almost Perfect Day at the Zoo

Saturday we took another spontaneous trip to our favorite place - the Taipei Zoo!! It's a good thing we invited a few friends to join us in our adventure, the zoo was empty! I thought it would be a little light on guests because it was a bit chilly and generally speaking, Taiwanese people really don't like the cold... but my theory was only half the reason. "And what's the other half?" you ask... well, most people had to work on Saturday as a make up for the day they took off on Friday, January 2! Whole companies, schools, etc had a 'make up day'... well, lucky for us Tony's work closes down over the new year and it didn't count! So though we got to observe the animals without fighting off the hordes of people usually pressed up against the cages (slight exaggeration), we did have to fight to stay warm... nothing a few layers and a cup of tea couldn't solve!

The brave ones: Janet, Sharon & Anna with the Clarks


Of course, we had to eat before entering the zoo, so a pit stop at McD's was most convenient. Good thing, too... Hunter got two new toys!! A giraffe & a zebra - 'lu' and 'ma' as he calls them in his partial chinese.



Hunter's nuts about zebras right now...

We finally got Hunter to stand somewhat still to measure up against the King Penguin... he's pretty much reached it - 95cm!!! Way to go, Happy Feet Hunter!!

At first we thought it was kinda cute the way these monkeys held on to each other so lovingly tight... but after about 20 minutes of watching them sit like this I realized it wasn't so much love for each other - more like sharing of resources - body heat!!!

This little guy is eyeing up Hunter's new toy.

Even the rhinos looked cold.

Despite the chill, Helena still thought the ice cream looked worthwhile... so did we!

Fun With A Big Camera

One of our buddies from language training was back in town so Tony got to catch up with a few of the guys Friday night, but with a a couple spare hours on Saturday, Jason made the trek to our place to meet the Clark kids. After a few healthy pancakes to provide some energy, he started clicking away on his SLR... pretty fun camera to play around with.

A lot has changed for us since those basketball playing days at ICLP...

though Hunter is gearing up to be a baller someday!

Classic Hunter

Jason brought him this super cuddly hat... it's a great design - a hat & stuffed animal all in one!

Thanks, Jason shu-shu... stop by again!!!

Happy New Year

Having been out and about most of the day, the kids and dad both went to bed well before the new year, so Tony & I hung out with our neighbors til the big even where we climbed 7 flights of stairs to watch fireworks from our rooftop! It was our 4th new year celebration in Taipei... and what wonderful years they've been! May your 2009 be full of joy and God's surprises!!!

Another Clark in Taiwan

Grandad George just left today. You know how some visits seem to pass by in the blink of an eye and you wonder where the time went... well, I feel like this was a well-balanced visit that seemed to pass at a reasonable pace with plenty of site-seeing as well as kicking back at home. We had a loose itinerary planned so that we could maximize the opportunities to show-off our beloved home for the past 3+ years which included most of our favorite spots. Of course, now that we've got the kids, we have to be a bit more flexible and some of our ideas we just let go of due to weather or exhaustion. We really appreciated dad's effort to come see us in our world here and we have many memories to share in the future. Here are just a few other highlights...

We took him to Costco for a glimpse into American consumer culture (plus we needed some cereal) and saw this... can you get any more convenient?!? We see several of these little cars buzzing around our city. They're not much longer than a scooter, really... but you can see why someone would drive something like this when you hear other people complain about parking in town.

A must-see for most is the National Palace Museum, so Tony took dad for a blitz through the treasure chest.

Daan District

There are a few places that you simply must take first-time visitors and the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall is one of them (the fact that it's sheltered from the rain is a bonus at this time of the year), so we packed up the pram and headed out for another exhilarating MRT ride.

The recently re-painted National Concert Hall and National Theatre really look good.


With burgers chosen as the target lunch food, Burger King became the default choice in the Shi Da market area since our first choice- Evan's Burger- was too crowded and the next option- Kiwi Gourmet Burger- was a bit further down the road and 3x the price. Heck, you gotta eat, eh? PARENT TIP: Notice Hunter's criss-crossed straps? Tony's started crossing them over to keep him firmly in place - works like a dream!!!

Our walk through drizzly Daan Park and the flower expo was cut short due to shortage in diapers... thankfully I had a cloth 'burp rag' we were able to use on Hunter til we got home... poor guy - his run through the park we kept bribing him with got cut off all too soon!!!

Taiwan Storyland

The rain sent us looking for a fun indoor place and we found this - Taiwan Storyland. It's a re-creation of Taiwan in the 'old days' with cool old storefronts, nostalgic products and old vehicles. It was an interesting place with plenty to look at - just not as much to touch...

Hunter would've made a great street vendor.

Danshui

One of Tony's favorites is Danshui, so we sent dad with him for an afternoon of exploration while the kids and I stayed back for a bit of a nap catch-up. Of course, Tony introduced dad to all sorts of culinary delights while they were there.

But surprisingly, this trip to Danshui wasn't only about the food - there was a bit of culture and history involved in their 3 site tours!

National Center for Traditional Arts

On Boxing Day we were surprisingly organized enough to get out of the house for a bit of an outing to Yilan. Though not organized enough to bring the exact address, we managed to find the National Center for Traditional Arts thanks to our buddy Richard and ole Gloria - the GPS. We'd been here once before when Hunter was only 7 weeks old - he enjoyed it much more this time around - so did we! With its exhibitions, interesting shops and supply of sausages this is a great place for families to come for some culture and freshish air.

Not an uncommon situation: baby-loving Taiwanese person takes a photo of blond boy, while on-lookers who aren't quite as bold take pictures from the distance... what is Hunter going to think when we get back to NZ and nobody notices him?!?


Notice Hunter's just wearing socks...

Fish feeding frenzy

Our little cutie

Dad's trying really hard to fit into the local culture.

Having been disappointed by a misinformed employee in Taipei who told us that all of Taiwan was sold out of Starbuck's special Dark Cherry Mocha before we had a chance to try it, you could imagine our delight when dad came back with three Grandes of the stuff!!! So delighted, that we let Hunter sip the last of the drops...

Which then opened up a whole can of worms for the little man who now likes the dark drink! Zao gao!

Helena got a chance to look around too... she wants to come back sometime.

Hunter seemed to enjoy the performance with dancing sea life and colorful costumes...


though he wasn't really that sure about getting up close and personal with them.