Wet & Wild

After getting rained out on our previous attempt, our playgroup finally made it to the Taipei Water Park in Gong Guan. Anna, Suzanne and I ventured over by bus - which cut the travel time in half and kept the boys amused the whole way! Being the first time for most of us, it took a while to get situated but once we got into the pool it was worth it... the kids all had such a good time - even the little ones. The slide in the pool provided much entertainment which pretty much occupied their attention for the full time we were there. There was also a sandpit - which only Ellie took advantage of. Of course, it wouldn't be a water park without some crazy big water slides - so yes, there were about 3 'big slides' and a lazy river. Ellie led the way to the kid-friendly 'big slide' but my Hunter was a bit nervous (it's true!). The facility also has indoor spa and lap pools - you could easily spend all day there, but with the rainclouds darkening overhead and the naptime hour creeping close, we decided it was a great morning and then headed out after lunch.

Thankfully my friend Rachel was able to take a work break to come hang out with us... she made it a much more relaxing trip out for me by being there to play with Helena while I played with Hunter (and vice versa) - thanks, Rach!!!


Here's the slide that kept our kids occupied...

doesn't take much, remember - they're only 2 and a bit!

Ellie was so confident and cute all morning in her bee suit.



Ivan is one of the youngest in the batch - he was having a great time!!!

Ellie leads the way at the water slide...

Michael thought it was great fun... and jumped right into it...

with Ellie hot on his tail.

Hilo loved it!!!

For some reason, Hunter was a bit cagey on the whole thing (I think he swallowed a bit of water the first time down) - so he'd sit at the top inside the tunnel and moan for a bit... then finally we'd coax him down and he'd have a great time! This process repeated itself for much of the morning, but you'd never guess it based on this photo!!!

Besides the slide, Hunter pulled out his sand toys so everyone could play in the water... he also liked to splash everyone - pretty gutsy little guy.

After lunch and clean-up, the kids raided the arcade area... who needs coins when you can ride like the wind for free!?!

A bunch of tired, but fully satisfied young 'uns.

Hunter's Dream Day...

Hunter was hot at the starting gate just busting to get in there and start exploring!

What could be more exciting to an animal-loving, train-crazy, incredibly social 2 year old boy than a day at an adventure theme park?!? Apparently, not much...
The fun started on Friday night when "Uncle" Richard and "Auntie" Marlin spent the night at our place so we could all wake up bright and early on Saturday for our big day out. Leo Foo Village is an amusement/theme park about an hour's drive west from Taipei and it contained pretty much all of Hunter's favorites:

TRAINS & ANIMALS

We started in the African themed area which contains all the animals... this is where Hunter got to combine his two current loves - Trains & Animals!


We boarded the Narobi Express and meandered our way along the tracks looking at all sorts of wildlife - hippos, rhinos, ostriches, bison, deer, giraffes - it was really cool... the animals were all sort of just roaming around (at a safe distance, of course).

But with about 2 minutes left in the ride, the train broke down! It broke down to the point where all the passengers had to disembark and walk the rest of the way! What an exciting experience!!!



"Huo che, huai diu le!" - Hunter kept repeating this sentence the rest of the day (and into this week) - "The train broke!"

So we walked past the giraffes who really had no idea why these crazy 2-legged creatures were wandering so closely!

Here were the bison we rode past...

and the rhinos...

After our big adventure with the train, we were still game to take the safari bus ride to the "carnivorous animals"... this was super cool!! The bus, thankfully, was healthy and drove us past all sorts of exciting animals. Hunter was so excited just watching through the windows...

oh wait, the flamingos weren't in the carnivorous section... but they looked pretty cool!

After the big game ride, we had a lunch break and after watching a few others ride the real camel, Hunter decided this was all he could handle this time around.

FRIENDS

Throughout the day Hunter was making friends with all sorts...

Precious Helena was having a great time, too, but she did manage a bit of a nap!

Hunter made friends with the animals in the petting zoo where he got to feed goats and horses... sometimes using supplies that the other tourists had purchased - it's a good thing Taiwanese people are so loving of children!

At first he was a bit timid, but baba helped ease him into it...

and in no time at all, Hunter had the animals eating out of his hands!

FOOD

Speaking of eating...

we did our fair share... Hunter's got the crumbs to prove his approval for Ivy & Wayne's engagement cookies...

the Turkish ice cream vendor knew a good thing when he saw it and played the crowd off this little boy who stood there laughing over the sellers antics - so he gave Hunter a freebie, which brought more antics, which then attracted paying customers... we could work out some kind of deal here, eh?

Even Helena got her first taste of the 'forbidden' fruit as such... she loved it!


RIDES

Leo Foo Village is an amusement park, afterall, so we did our share of riding on the rides...

While Hunter & Marlin were slowly going round the wheel, Tony and I were spinning in the barrels (like teacups) - but good thing it was our last ride of the day - he spun it so fast we couldn't lift our heads or arms... everything was spinning after that one!

We took the 'log ride' - and they were not joking when they said you'd get wet!

Hunter hopped into the car with some other unsuspecting kids - thankfully there was space available and again, thankfully Taiwanese people are pretty generous.

Helena got a great ride too... though hers was a bit more familiar!

Tony & Richard had a go on the log ride too... they didn't get quite as wet as we did, though I must add that it did rain while Marlin & I were on it!

So that was it... our first time to Leo Foo Village - but not our last - we bought a season pass good for the next three months... so you'll see us here again!!!

Barely Made It...

Cynthia and I decided to take the kids to Playspace since it's already hit 34+ degrees here (thankfully the humidity hasn't kicked in yet)... Vicky & Austin met us there and we had a lively hour spent in the air-conditioned comfort of the cozy indoor playground... well, just us and a few other ex-pats from the "City Playgroup". It's a good thing we went when we did because my 10-trip ticket had already expired on the 4th of June but the owner had the grace to let me use up my last 2 hours with the kids... poor ol' Cynthia lost 4 hours due to expiry which makes the total experience a bit more expensive! At any rate, the kids really enjoyed it and it was Helena's first time to really appreciate the wonder that is Playspace!!!

Look at this happy girl!!! She was loving it!!

My buddy Hilo...

Here she comes...

there she goes... I don't know if I'm doing the right thing by letting my kids learn how to climb UP slides... but it seems to be a good physical challenge! I guess we can work on park etiquette later!

Hunter still gravitated toward the play cars... and seemed to be smart enough to skip the outdoor sandbox for the indoor a/c activities!

Well, the kids had to share the cars... but it seemed to work out fair enough!

Helena pulled herself up on this maze and just stood there for a good five minutes... till she found more worthy entertainment!

All that playing made us hungry so we went on a hunt for a burger joint I'd heard of in the area... I needed some fuel for the walk home! Though now that I'm sharing meals with Hunter it's a bit easier to stay on the 'super model regime' (just trying to get down to a decent size/weight for all those new clothes I need to pick up when we go back home in July) - but boy was I hungry when we finally made it home!!!

I had to call my friend Janet (aka GPS) to ask for directions to JB's Burgers, so when we finally found it I was relieved that there was a table & chairs available... it was stinking hot outside!!! It was a pretty tasty burger with a 'salad' option in the set so we munched on carrot, cucumber & celery sticks (I'll admit, we got fries to share between the four of us) and the boys handled themselves pretty well at the big table! Though I didn't envy the workers who had to clean up after us... but then again, that's what I'm dealing with every meal at home...

Thanks, Cynthia & Hilo for the fun day!