Ocean Park - Take Two

On Saturday, we took Finley back to Ocean Park and explored some of the marine life exhibits.  She loved it!  And she may not have been the only one...

See the big white guy in the black shirt?

Dave decided to go all out and ride front row on "The Dragon".  I'm so glad both of my kids had such a fun time at Ocean Park!

After Dave lived it up like it was 1992, we took Fin to see Sea Dreams.  While most of the audience was looking at this:

Fin was probaby more into THIS. (While she enjoyed the dolphins and seals, the popcorn may have been the highlight of the show.)

Oh, and here's the token photo with mom so that we have proof I've actually been to all these places too.

Views

We finally came to the realization that our flat is always going to be a "work in progress", so here's a few more pics of it.  Thank goodness for the views - and even more so for the sunshine which made them look even more beautiful.  We're already sad thinking about the day when we no longer have these amazing sights right out our windows. 

Living Room

Views from the Living Room/Balcony

Our Morning

Lately, it's been nonstop clouds in HK....I swear, we went about two weeks (maybe more?) without seeing sunshine.  Ahhhhhh, but then today we woke up to low humidity, TONS of sun and temps in the mid-70's.  It's a PERFECT day.  So we raced through breakfast, packed up our beach toys and walked to Stanley Beach to meet some friends and play in the sand. 

Fin's Posse

I finally had my camera on me as we set out for a playdate with Fin's buddies this afternoon.

But first, here's a couple pics from our morning...
Getting ready to head to the Eagle's Nest (a playroom) with some friends.

I never noticed how pretty the entrance to our building is.  Not a great picture of Finley, but I love the flowers, palm trees and ocean. =)

 

Warning....it's impossible to get a decent picture of five two year-old children.  At one point, they were all in a line and I got each of them to look right at me by saying, "Hey kids, look at me!  I'm holding a little monkey!!!"  Unfortunately, the camera was on the video setting and so no pic was taken.  And then of course the kids wouldn't stop asking their moms and me where the monkey went.

Clockwise: Finley, Mia, Alex, Jack and Lucy

 

Back at home, getting ready to head inside for the night.

Less Words, More Pictures

To the person who inspired the title of this post when providing me with (unsolicited) feedback on the blog, here ya go.  This is our day...

On the loose at the Stanley Playroom....five helpers, six kids and me.  Seriously, where are their moms?!??

Playing hide-and-go-seek at the playroom.

I Blame the Korns....

So after a hiatus from pre-natal care (thanks to my OB having a mild heart attack and me frantically trying to find a new one), I saw the wonderful Dr. Cheung today.  Everything looks great, and the baby is measuring to be 2.6 kilograms.  I didn't think much of it until I called Dave to update him on the appointment and had him do the conversion to pounds.  Apparently this larger-than-life fetus is already 5.7 pounds.  And yes, I'm only 33.5 weeks.  I blame the Korn in the kid, since Dave was almost 11 pounds at birth.

And there goes any hope of having a drug-free delivery.....

First Day of School

Although I'd prefer to keep Finley with me always, she started "school" today.  A British woman in our complex runs a preschool out of her home specifically for two-year olds, and we've heard nothing but great things about it.  There are two teachers and six kids in each class, and it seemed like a good way for Fin to have some fun and become a little more independent and a little less shy.  We're starting with just one day a week (it's about all I can handle), but will probably increase to two days at some point this summer.

Here she is on her way out the door, complete with the new backpack Dave picked up for her.

I was super nervous to drop her off, but it helped that her friend Mia also goes to school on Monday.  Fin cried for a second when I said bye, but Miss Jan picked her up and by the time the elevator doors closed she had already stopped fussing.  When I came back to pick her up, they said she did great, had fun, participated, etc.  Yay Fin! 

Here she is with her first ever school art project, a hot air balloon.  She's so proud of it that she asked if it could nap with her (I said no). 

Other than that, not much new.  We had a slow weekend, but here are a couple pics of Fin from the past couple days.

Off to the pool with Dave...

Playing with bubbles in the park (and yes, it was unusually chilly yesterday - upper 60's)

Just a little Sunday night Family Play-Doh Time

Slow Week

Now that we've settled into our home, life has slowed down a bit.  Fin and I have kept busy with lots of playdates this week, and we've also spent time in Stanley most days.  For some reason, Fin remains captivated by the little boats in the harbor and loves watching them. 

Life with a helper has also been nice.  Carmelita is great with Finley - she keeps her entertained while I prepare meals, and I'm spoiled by not having to do any work around the house.  Woohoo!  Carmelita even took Fin to a playroom this morning while I enjoyed some peace and quiet.  I'm trying to have the two of them spend some alone time together each week so that Fin becomes 100% comfortable with her before my due date.  My Mom gets to HK several days before I'm due, but Carmelita is on Fin duty if Baby Boy arrives before then.

Here are a couple pics of Fin down in Stanley this week.  Last weekend we bought her new sunglasses, and she insists on wearing them whether it's sunny/cloudy or we're indoors/outside.  She's also benefiting from my prego cravings, hence the fruit smoothie.

Too Good To Be True

I should have known that this adjustment was way too easy....and that there must be a catch.  Within a day of moving to our new home, I made two awesome friends who are fun, nice AND have little girls Finley's age.  And they immediately included me in their every playdate and plan, which was so unbelievably thoughtful.  What are the chances I would strike "friendship gold" like that???  I had always known that Gia was moving to Bangkok....which is still happening as soon as the political unrest over there dies down.  But it was okay, because I still had Alicia.  Or so I thought.  =(  Today, during our second playdate of the day, she told me at they're moving back to Singapore for her husband's job.  Sigh.  I'm so lucky to have one good friend left in our building, but I'm still bummed that my luck did a 180. 
That being said, if anyone wants to move to HK and be best friends, I'm currently looking to fill the position.

Trip List

Dave and I sat down and came up with a list of places we REALLY want to see while we're here in Hong Kong.  We never thought we'd have the opportunity to travel this part of the world (at least not anytime soon), and the thought of making it to some of these destinations is very exciting.  So...feel free to join us.  Or feel free to babysit our munchkins here in HK so we can travel without them!

1. Beijing

2. Tokyo

3. Bangkok

4. Phuket

5. Cebu

6. Australia

7. Malaysia

8. Maldives (though this trip will take a lot of careful planning and maybe an unexpected inheritance from an unknown, distant, wealthy relative)

The New Emma

Here's a pic of Finley with her Hong Kong BFF, Mia.  Mia is an Aussie who was born in Singapore and now lives in HK.  She's five days younger than Finley and they're becoming fast friends with daily playdates.  No, she won't replace Fin's #1 gal pal in Chicago.....but she'll do for now.

Here they are drinking smoothies and watching the boats in Stanley.

Carma not Karma

In Hong Kong, it's pretty typical for families to have a live-in helper to take care of the house and/or kids.  No one really has family to help babysit or offer other kinds of help, so the solution in most cases is to hire a helper from the Phillipines or Indonesia.  We were lucky enough to find Carmelita (or Carma, as Fin calls her).  She's a very kind, sweet, hard-working woman who has past experience as a preschool teacher and has raised four of her own children.  She moved in with us last weekend, and it's been great so far.  I can enjoy every moment of my day with Finley and not have to worry about anything else if I don't want to.  And Fin has really taken to Carmelita - she loves playing with her, hugs her good night each night and I learned today that she's okay being alone with her.

This morning, my friend Alicia and I were getting ready to take the girls to a play room, when Alicia suggested we send the helpers with the girls and run some errands together instead.  I was super nervous as I hadn't left Fin with Carmelita yet, so I walked them to the play room door, watched to make sure she was okay and left.  An hour later I came back and found that Fin did great.  Such a relief! 

And then this afternoon I put Fin down for her nap and headed out to a farewell lunch for my friend Gia, who is moving to Bangkok.  I was able to enjoy two whole hours of freedom and adult conversation knowing that Finley was at home napping with a toally capable babysitter.  It was AWESOME!  In fact, I think Carmelita suspects I had a cocktail or two at lunch since I was so giddy when I came home....unfortunately, not the case.

Easter Weekend

We were sooo lucky that Dave had Friday, Monday and Tuesday off of work!  It made me realize how awesome life would be if we could just be independently wealthy and he didn't have to work!  The weather was humid and overcast pretty much every day, but we were able to get out a lot.  Several trips to Stanley to sit outside on the waterfront and walk around, lots of visits to our complex parks and Dave took Finley down to the rocky beach in front of our building one day so they could watch the waves and throw stones in the ocean.

Getting ready to do some swimming with Dad at the indoor pool.

We colored eggs the nght before Easter....doing it with a two-year old was a bit more work than I thought it would be, but nonetheless Fin enjoyed it a lot!

Dave and Fin on the boardwalk at Stanley.  I swear, when I get my supermodel figure back I'll be in front of the camera more than I am now. ;) 

Ocean Park

Today Dave and I took Finley to Ocean Park, which is an amusement park with a variety of sea/bird-related shows and zoo-type attractions.  Unfortunately, Fin seemed to like the kiddie rides about as much as her mom likes the grown-up rides (not much).  But she had a lot of fun walking around, seeing panda bears, fish, birds and playing games.  She also suckered her dad into buying her a panda bear....when we asked her what she wanted to name him, she said "Panda".  When we asked her his last name, she said "Bear".  Creative thinker, huh?

It takes a special dad to pose with a shark in order to make his daughter happy.

There were gorgeous flowers all over the park.

Right afer this pic was taken, the ride started.  And right after that, I heard blood-curdling screams coming from none other than FINLEY!  =)

Sitting with this moose (???) was much more her speed.

Apparently the morning wore her out, because she conked out as soon as we got in the cab to go home.

Oh, and have you noticed how darn cute she is in pigtails?!  I know I'm biased, but I love the new 'do.