Cheers to Vacation!

We spent our Christmas vacation in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (or Borneo).

We needed a vacation so badly after the stress of moving. These few pictures will basically sum up our trip. I will post more later!

The three of us have really only taken one other "family vacation." We have traveled all over the US with friends and extended family members. It was really nice to have so many days in a row with just the three of us! Kay has already been to 7 states. Now, we will see how many stamps she gets in her passport. I can't imagine being two years old and going to so many places! We feel very fortunate.

It was a little strange coming home after vacation. I usually love the "good to be home" feeling after a trip. Our place here does not really feel like home yet. Maybe soon it will?

Cheers to family time!

Craig and Kay did a lot of this...

While I did a lot of this...

Kay quickly realized her dad was a lot more fun than I was in the water. I gave him a break once, but after about 20 minutes all I heard was "Daddy's turn" over and over again.

Catching Up...

I know everyone is anxious to see pictures from our trip. I need to play catch up first. We had a wonderful Christmasmorning (well, Christmas eve) opening presents. We decided to open gifts before heading to the airport.It worked out great! We were able to Skype with all grandparents and let them watch Kay open presents. I feel so lucky to have this technology so we don't feel so far away. It warms my heart that Kay is getting to be really good at talking on Skype. We really did not make a big deal of "santa" this year because we thought we would be out of town. I did make a Christmas casserole for breakfast that we all enjoyed eating while opening gifts. Kay must have been a good girl this year. She really got some fun stuff!

We did not have a tree this year so I decided to hang all of Kay's art projects from school. I wanted to have a special corner where we could have it feela little bit like Christmas.

A new doll that traveled with us to Borneo. I have a feeling Dora will be going other places with us as well!

Playing with play dough. Craig and I left the room and when we came back she had put on her chef hat and apron and said she was making pizza.

Kay has a Wolfpack Red Guitar to match her daddy!

Opening presents from GG and Grandma over Skype

The aftermath...

Our lifesaver in the airport!! GG got Kay her very own suitcase!! We will be traveling a lot and this was a BIG hit. She can ride on it and sit on it while we walk the halls and she is allowed to pack as many toys that it will hold!


Other Kay pictures..

I had to post this because it makes me laugh every time. Poor Kay is so thin her pants don't stay up. We were at the produce stand and her pants kept falling down. While I was picking out fruit, the lady at the stand was tucking in Kay's shirt and pulling her pants up as high as they could go. Kay walked all the way home like this- hilarious!


We crossed the border a few weekends ago for me to pick some stuff up at the tailors. I always heard how crowded China was, but it is hard to picture. Here is the crowd to cross the border. It was actually a little scary. I had to hold onto Kay and Craig to make sure we did not get separated. There were people as far as you could see. We decided we will not be crossing the border on a weekend anytime soon!

Anyone out there??

Sometimes I wonder if I am writing to myself (and the grandparents who I know read this). I write this blog mostly to turn into books as a keepsake at the end of the year. I also write it to keep far (and now even farther away) family up-to-date. I must admit...I often wonder...does anyone read this? If you read my blog leave me a quick comment or note... Just curious!!

Welcome Basket and football

I am trying to write some of the interesting,funny, cultural differences, etc as I experience them. I think it will be neat to look back on someday.

Today I took Kay to her soccer camp. I signed her up because school is closed and we really needed an activity to get us away from just doing the many chores that come with moving to another country (we are still trying to get a credit card!!). I need to set he scene so you can picture what Kay's new life is like....Kay is one of two children whose native language is English in the class. Most of the children speak cantonese at home. The room is also filled with helpers who bring the children who are mostly from the Philipines and speak Tagalog. The coach is British and all kids are between ages two and three. The coach tries his best to keep all kids in check but at any given moment one of them is off to the side, turning around in circles, stepping on a cone, or doing just about anything but listening. He has them take turns to run up and practice kicking. The coach usually has to call Kay's name early because she stands up after each name in high hopes it is her turn. At one point the coach went around and said the following "football for you..." as he handed balls to each of the kids. When he got to Kay she freaked out and said "no football". Later, when I asked why she did not want a ball she said "no football, soccer!" Poor thing! She has so many new words, experiences, sites going on around her she must be so confused!!

Craig received a phone call from our building asking if they could drop off a welcome basket. Today the doorbell rang and a lady with a huge basket with two brown paper bags in it was at the door. I thanked her and she put the bags on the table taking the basket with her. Inside were three sodas and three sandwiches. I had to chuckle to myself because I had prepared myself for a basket full of munchies like we would get back at home. I called Craig to tell him and he said they mentioned a sandwich on the phone but he thought surely it was another lost in translation moment! I love that everyday here something happens that makes me say "huh, interesting..."

A day around Hong Kong...

A family photo with our new city as a back drop...

Craig had a co-woker in town so we showed him around the best we could. We warned him we were still learning the city as well! He was a good sport in letting us bring Kay around with us all day and to lunch/dinner.

Avenue of the stars...

Jackie Chan's hand...

Yummy noodle lunch...

Checking out the Christmas decorations around town...

New Routines...

Well, if it is one thing the Hardin's are good at it is projects! Unfortunately, they followed us to Hong Kong. We said how wonderful it was going to be to not have house projects when we rent etc. etc. before we moved. The curtains are a long story however it ended in us buying a hammer drill and doing it ourselves. The previous owners so kindly left us their curtains so we just had to figure out how to hang them. Let's just say there is no Home Depot to go buy everything you need! It is not like at home where they give you mini blinds with your apartment! We were tired of no one getting sleep because of the bright lights and sun. We decided not to wait any longer for a handyman (I married one!)

Our view is beautiful at night and very bright!

New Foods...

The store has been an adventure for me. Things are labeled differently, there are new fruits and veggies that I do not know how to cook or what they are. Meats are sold differently. I feel like I am learning how to cook again. Things are never in the place you think they would be.

Can you find the taco shells?

An entire section of campbell's soup. I got excited until I realized I only recognized a few kinds!

This one made me laugh because you would NEVER see something advertised as "hi cal" in the US.

Who could resist...steak flavored chips.

Hard to read the sign on this one. Another one I could not resist as I adjust to my new role. The top middle cake is called "housewife cake"

Here is the path we take to get down to the main shopping area. Kay says "tree on it" every time we walk down these steps...

Very big hill we walk every day...

Santa...

We met Santa over the weekend. The complexhere was having a Christmas party. I had a "you know you are not at home when..." moments at the party. The food station was fried rice and other various asian standards. We had a similar reaction to Santa this year as we did last. I think we did not do a good enough job prepping her for what was going to happen and who Santa was. She got a glow snowman afterwards so we talked a lot about how nice Santa is.

So happy to be at a party and waiting for Santa...

Making a card for Nana and Pops... you will not be receiving it though because she ripped it to pieces the next day- sorry- good intentions!

Refusing to sit with Santa...

A little bribery...

Santa trying to sneak in for a photo...

Kay realizing Santa is sneaking in...

Maybe better luck next year...

Kay

I have not posted much on what Kay is into these days. She LOVES to sing. She will sing walking down the street. I gave up on trying to post videos. I am not sure what is going on, but since we have moved I have been unsuccessful in videos. You will have to use your imagination. She really just does the main lines of each song.

Kay also "checks her email" a lot. Craig brought home a calendar in a leather book. Kay instantly claimed it as hers and put it on our bedside table. Now, before we do anything she says "check email first". She will run over, flip through the book, and say "new email". It is hilarious. I think I am going to start putting notes in there so she will have something new when she checks it.

We have had a rough week with behavior. Kay is not sleeping well and I cannot figure out why! I keep trying to remind myself that she has had a lot of changes over the past month and it might just be taking her some time. I am hopefulthings will get better soon.

Kay is very much so into the "I do it" phase. She wants to do everything herself. This is great for learning, but causing a lot of spilled milk, bumps, and tears. She really does not like when things spill on her or when she can't do it all by herself. She loves that the fridge is short enough here she can open it by herself and the rack where we keep her shoes is also just her size.

Kay has really enjoyed Skype. She sings songs and listens to stories on it. Grandma has a toy mouse that she always plays with for Kay. I found one like it at IKEA so Kay and Grandma now have matching mice.

Kay also likes to "pay" where ever we go. She takes her purse and these little colored toys that she has and "pays". Here she is "paying" to get into the MTR. She sees us swipe our Octopus card and wants to do the same...

Kay continues to want to pick out her clothes and is becoming a trendsetter. Here she is on the way to school...

Playing Tourist Part 2... The Big Buddha

Please forgive us, we went a little picture crazy...

We started our adventure taking a taxi to the ferry terminal, riding the ferry boat for about 40 minutes, and then riding a bus up very windy roads for about 40 minutes. After sitting beside a very fragrant dried fish someone brought on the bus and several people getting motion sickness very loudly beside us, we decided it was worth the extra money to take the cable cars home! We all enjoyed some yummy Chinese pastries for breakfast on the boat.



The Big Buddha is really pretty impressive once you make it up the roughly two hundred and forty stairs. The view on a clear day is beautiful. Kay loved playing on the stairs and feeling the wind in her hair. She could not stop pointing at all the things she saw.











We rode home on the cable cars and Kay loved it. You could see for miles. The cable car ride takes about 35 minutes. It is a nice peaceful ride.