Recreational Companionship

Monday, June 29th was our SEVEN YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!! Both of us are just amazed at how quickly these years have gone by... but they have been wonderful years - the best of our lives and they keep getting better!!! Since we had done the swim together on Sunday, we kept the 'recreational companionship' theme going and celebrated our anniversary by taking a bike ride along the riverbed to an 18-hole mini-golf course! It was a beautiful night - the freshly cut grass and sounds of cicadas made it feel like we could be anywhere in the world! But we're both happy to be here in Taipei!

The neon lights brought a bit of urban reality into our otherwise 'could be anywhere in the world' mentality.

Though my form here doesn't look so hot - I ended up winning our little tournament (well, Tony made the 'double or nothing' call on the last hole - which I happened to sink!)!!! But I'm not competitive or anything!!!

It was a somewhat romantic evening... at least we didn't have to wait in line behind slower putters... we were the only ones using the course!

Tony liked the fact I was playing Taiwanese by photographing our mango ice - he got to eat more of it that way!!!

Overall it was a really fun evening reflecting and celebrating this relationship that God has blessed us with... what a joy!

Shimen Reservoir Swim Event

Bright and early on Sunday morning, Janet came over to the house to look after the kids while we went swimming!!! It was our second 3km swim of the season (Tony's 3rd event this year) and though we did it separately this time (Tony went off ahead with the guys and I hung back a bit with a new friend) it was still a lot of fun to participate in something active like this together. It was a perfect day - sunny, warm, clear water! What a great new hobby! Janet & Jay also had a good time with the kids and the kids seemed to have had a great time with them, so maybe we can do it again...

A Beautiful Saturday

We wanted to take advantage of the weather and the bikes, but since we were off to a bit of a later start, we decided just to ride over to Daan Park. It was blazing hot - but that didn't stop Hunter from running around and exploring the playground. Though it did have a bearing on our rotations with the kids - staying in the shade with Helena was slightly more appealing.

She's getting used to the helmet now... I think she likes this bike riding gig!

We called up our little bro, Erick, and he dropped by for a visit. And how cool is this - Helena's wearing the outfit his mom gave her from Costa Rica!?! Pretty good timing, eh?!

After a quick lunch at Subway we had to call it a day... good timing, it rained- I mean poured - just 15 minutes after we walked in the door!!!

Hunter was pretty stoked to be the big boy at the table... he ate almost a 6 inch sub... maybe 4 and a half of it!

Hunter & Hilo's Fun Friday

Last week our friends Gerald & Cynthia & Hilo moved to a new house - hopefully we'll get to spend more time with them now that they're a little closer. Since Hilo is Hunter's 'hen hao de pengyou' I offered to take him for the day so they could move without distraction from their little guy. Cynthia dropped Hilo off around 9.30am and the fun lasted until about 6pm!!!

Nothing like a little manual labor to start the day off right - this gave Hilo a purpose which distracted him enough to stop crying when his mom left. Good thing the water delivery man came earlier than usual - otherwise there may have been more tears!


Hunter's showing him how it's done!

Of course they were fighting over the fireman hat so thankfully I had another... though this was more of a 'blind wrestling' match than a role-playing game.

Suzanne came over with her double stroller so we could transport all of the kids somewhere to play. On a last minute whim we chose the sandpit - just the place to get the boys hot and tired!

Hunter and Michael got right into it...

Hilo was a bit skeptical about the coarse sand.

This was Helena's first real experience at the sand pit... she enjoyed the crunchiness of the coarse sand - we'll see how she goes with the California beaches.

The sandpit really did the trick - Hilo fell asleep in the stroller (so did Michael) so I brought him home and put him in Helena's crib while Hunter, Helena & I ate lunch. Helena went down in the pack n play not long after, but my turkey boy didn't sleep at all. So of course when Hilo woke up, there was no convincing Hunter to take a nap then... so he played with Hilo at the table and snacked on Hilo's lunch too!


Then we went outside again...


where they splashed around, ran up and over the bridge and made a general mess of themselves... but they had a blast!








I'm so thankful we've got our own little playground where the kids can just run around! What a total blessing!

After all that running around and playing in the water, I decided to turn on a dvd so the kids could relax while I pulled dinner together... Hilo & Helena weren't interested at all - just Hunter in his spot on the couch!!! Looks like he spends a lot of time there, eh? Rest assured - he only gets a very limited amount of dvd time.

The kids ate dinner together a bit before 5.30 and even had time for some frozen fruit treats before Cynthia returned.

Before Hilo left Hunter gave him a big hug...

then turned to Auntie Cynthia for a big hug, then back to Hilo for another... I love that he's so affectionate with people! He really is a good hugger! (and yes, his pants are wet, but I think that was from spilling his water at the table - can't be too sure though)

Thanks, Hilo, for a great day! Come back anytime!!

Hangin' Around

Our sweetie... We spend a lot of time in this seat with this little ladybug! She's a great little eater now... she eats a bowl of "super porridge" every morning that rivals the amount I eat. And most days she's eating two other solid meals and increasing in her ability to get food into her mouth on her own. No wonder why she's beefed up a bit lately!!!

There's a new "Sports Center" about 10 minutes from our place... they've got a small indoor playground that's free & air-conditioned!!! We cruised over today for just 45 minutes because Hunter needed to run around (I needed Hunter to run around). The center has other classes and even an indoor kiddie pool that's reasonably priced - so it looks like we've got a new option for tiring out the kids - I mean giving them opportunities to exercise!

Tony brought home this super special pen a while back... Not only does it light up - it's got glitter stuff on the inside!!! Hunter was totally fascinated by it... I've now stuck it in the 'airplane bag' to pull out on our flight to CA in July to entertain him since it really seems to occupy his attention. How would you like to sit next to this kid?!?

The little stander...

Did I tell you about this one? Hunter had pink eye a couple of weeks ago... and then poor Tony got it last week! What a bummer! Thankfully I think I've managed to avoid it!

Get Your Motor Runnin'...

Don't think there was much in the way of "heavy metal thunder" but we had a great time Sunday evening riding our bikes along the riverbed. It was Helena's first real ride and she loved it! Well, she didn't cry - so we figure she loved it! We called up 'Janet Jie' who was ready in a flash to join us... this just may be our new weekend evening activity. We even got to eat mango ice down by the river - wow - what a great evening!!!!

The other night we put her helmet on her in the house so she could get used to it... I think this helped... she was a bit more stable on this trip - the first time she wore the helmet she was bobbing all over the place!

Happy Helena holding on to mama's belt!!! I promise I wasn't riding all that fast...

Mr Over-zealous wanted to play with the pedals - none of us realized the repercussions until it was too late!!

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.