Saturday, May 26, 2018

Happiness

Mother's Day 2018.  The kids got me these flowers and willingly took a picture with their mother ;) Katherine and Jonathan fixed alfredo and Katherine set the table and made it look so nice with her paper flower napkins.

 Lauren made this card...
 Hudson gave me this card....Be Good he says...haha
 And Katherine made this cute card.
 The dogs felt left out of the Mother's Day picture so we took one more ;)
Lauren and Shadow
 Yoyo and Winter are growing up so fast!
 Little Phinheas and Lauren...she was so happy holding this baby!

 One of my best friends here had her first baby!! Congratulations to Daniel and Hillary!
 I had a hard time imagining this little baby inside all of these blankets! It's 95 degrees outside!
 such a sweet face! Rei Qian or Joseph :)
 Regan got to hold the baby, too! The hospital sign said no children 18 and under allowed....but Hillary said that she looks like an adult. haha
 Look at those tiny feet.
 I am so happy :)

 The pet shop next to Benjamin's guitar class had a cat with little kittens.  Jonathan said they look like rats...haha.
 Just in case you want to protect your eyes from the screen time...hmmmm.
 The Littles (as I call them) studying clothing. I think they had fun. Anna
 Mandy
 Peter
 Emma
 Peter
 This look.  I get this look often from this girl when she reminds me how "not little" she is anymore ;)
 pizza class....good to get to know this mother and daughter!
 This kid is doing awesome in his swim class!  He can now swim the length of the pool without any help! Go Hudson!
 Regan had a black belt performance. She did great!  I only have the video though.  I snapped this picture as she was walking to the center.
 Katherine decided to draw our family :) so cute!
 Hudson having class.
 Katherine had an artistic wave come over her and just went to town one day.  She had some really great ideas.
 Christmas tree anyone?
 Hudson decided this week that it was time to learn how to ride his bike without training wheels.  He can go a short distance, but gets a little scared.  He is determined to keep trying. Yeah!
 Pretty moon. Pretty sunset.
 Hudson's coach gave him a certificate for swimming across the pool!
 So the pool in the complex opened today for an "event"  They released tons of fish in the swimming pool for everyone to try and catch!
 The kids had a blast!
 And these were not gold fish!  These guys were huge!
 And these smiles are huge!
 They caught 10 altogether!
 We gave 3 away, cooked 2, and still have 5 that we are trying to figure out what to do with them.
 I love this.  Regan was helping Hudson with his belt before his VERY FIRST belt test!!  He was SOOOOOO excited!

He did great! He passed the test!! He's never been so excited.  WE celebrated with ice cream afterwards.

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Field Trip

 I'm doing a little catching up. May 1 was a holiday.  My kids still had school, but after they were finished Katherine and Lauren really wanted to walk down to the beach.  I warned them that it would be crowded because of the holiday.  We chose to play at the "uncrowded" section.
 They had so much fun together.
 The water was really NOT pretty at all.  I have not seen it look like this before. I guess it was low tide?  Regardless, it did not stop everyone from having fun.  It was an all out crab hunt!
 These are the little guys my girls caught.  They wanted to bring them home so badly!  I let them show Ayi and then they had to walk back to the ocean (not the beach) and throw them back in the water.
 The cutest note ever ;)
 This girl was so excited about their performance outfits!  They had to try them on at class to make sure the size was correct.
 Katherine, Lauren, and I went to our old city for the day because one of our friends had had a baby.  He was a month old and she asked if we could come to visit.  When we got to her house they served us fancy apples.
 He was so cute.  He was sound asleep in his bed when we arrived.  She explained to me that in their culture, the belly is considered the weakest part of the body, so the baby wore a small little heating pad under his clothes taped to his belly and every time he rested, she would cover his belly with a hot towel.  I'm thinking he must be burning up because I was dripping sweat with the heat and humidity, but he seemed to be used to it.
 Apparently, if you go to visit a newborn baby in the home, they have to serve you pigs feet. yikes.  Jonathan wasn't with me for me to pass it off to him ;)  so, it was up to me to nibble away at these.  They cook it in sugar and brown sugar so it's very sweet, but I don't really want to have to eat them again.
 This is my friend, Melanie.  The reason the girls came was to play with Annie (close to Lauren's age). It had been awhile since they have played together, so it was a good chance to catch up.
 This is the lady that was hired to "help with the baby" for the first 2 months of life.  She changed the diapers, held him, gets up with him in the middle of the night, cooks for the mom...basically does everything except feed the baby.  Wow. That's crazy.
 Yes, I got to hold Baby Wu.  She asked if I would give him an English name that was close to his given name, so I named him William. :)  Katherine said Drew, but then we realized no one would be able to pronounce it.

 Seeing how much they have grown
 They have both changed so much since the last time they played together.
 Regan was super excited to meet the Korean Taekwondo Master.  He is the highest level you can reach in taekwondo.  He signed a board for her and said, "It was nice to meet you." :) She was on cloud nine.
 Yeah!  Some occasional blue skies are starting to return!
 The cutest homework assignment ever.
 I was trying to capture the seen of going back to school after lunch (in the rain).  It's a see of umbrellas.  I really couldn't get  a good picture.
 What?! Snickers. Really? Hot chili pepper flavored Snickers bar?  Just leave it as a normal Snickers please.
 The much awaited field trip to the aquarium.  I say aquarium, but it was more like a Sea World, with many animal shows plus the aquarium.

 Potty stop....I got a kick out of the phone holder on the inside of the door.
 We are about to enter
 Chinese White Dolphins on the endangered species list
 Ha! The kids got so excited that they had a few rides in between.  It's a good thing it was a raining overcast day....not as many people and no/very short lines for the ride.

 Hudson and I by the dolphins.  I had some really cool shots, but somehow they got deleted off my phone :(  so sad.  I'll have to look through Regan's good camera and borrow some of hers.
 sharing an umbrella
 The largest aquarium in the world.
 Look at these crazy worms!  They were really strange.  The picture didn't turn out well, but interesting to say the least.

 Say cheese
 Heading to the large tank to see the Whale Sharks.
 This was Benjamin's favorite fish...the sting ray with a mustache
 OK, little eels. There's plenty of room for everyone...no need to squeeze into the same hole.
 tunnel...pretty cool
 Largest underwater dome


 another ride...through sections of the aquarium that are only able to be seen from the ride

 I like the puffer fish...cute
 My American Lobsters ;)
 Emperor Penguins





 Underwater tunnel through the penguin exhibit


 The Polar region had bears! Who knew we would also see some zoo animals.
 They started begging for food, so we bought some potatoes and carrots to feed them.
 I think this was Benjamin's favorite...the polar bear.

 And arctic wolves

 The beluga whale show
 These guys were pretty big and at one point they all came up out of the water and did their echo location sound....it was LOUD and really cool!  It was definitely my favorite part of the show.
 Hudson asked if we could please ride the teacups.  So a few people rode with him.
 After they exited, we were walking to the next exhibit and he completed face planted on the ground. I asked him if he was ok and did he trip...no. He was so dizzy from the ride that he couldn't walk.  Poor guy.  I'm glad Daddy can still carry him.
 The kids begged me to ride this one.  I love roller coasters, but I really didn't want to get wet. But I rode it....with my raincoat and hood on! :)
 not your typical boat ride
 The dolphin show

 These three got to get a picture with the dolphins!  They were so excited!



 Waiting for the walrus, sea lion, and otter show
 A few more rides before the aquarium closes (while we are waiting for the firework show)
 a carousel
 fireworks

 and people on waterboards doing tricks in the air
 I'm not sure I would want the fireworks coming out of my backpack!
 On the way home....Hudson the back scratcher :)
 pretty plants
 fun at the house



 The kids were asked to participate in a taekwondo photoshoot.

 The much awaited Infinity Wars came out. We weren't sure if Hudson was quite ready for that kind of movie, but we decided to try it.  I didn't really want him to feel left out.  He said he would like to go.  WE told him that it might be scary and if it was just to close his eyes....
I guess it was scary. He slept through the whole thing. :)  I'm actually  glad. He's not ready for that kind yet.