1/2 #2

I ran my first half marathon ever on my 33rd birthday....and my second one was this past Sunday, on Finley's 4th birthday.  It was Susan's first half, and we spent the entire run chatting and cheering.  We had a great time, and it was awesome to experience the HK Half Marathon with one of my HK besties.  Dave and Scott even made it up to the city to cheer us on at the finish line....and then we went home, cleaned up and celebrated our victory over brunch together with the kids.

I love this girl.



Finley is Four!

Finley turned four this past weekend!  This year was all about books (from Dave and I) and Barbies (she received many from her friends).  A slightly under the weather Nolan was up a good chunk of the night Friday, so we enjoyed some quiet time Saturday morning with our birthday girl while Nolan slept in. 

These books are great.  I don't know if the Julia Donaldson books are available in the US since she's a British author, but it was basically an expat crime that  Finley didn't have any of her books.  All the Brits have them!  Heck, they've even been turned into plays!  If you can find them, buy them...they're really cute stories.

We gave Nolan the book "This is Hong Kong" for his first birthday, and now Finley has "My Hong Kong".  We hope the books will serve as reminders of the things we did and the places we saw while living here in HK. 

I should point out that we told a little white lie and let Fin think her birthday was Saturday, not Sunday.  Shoot us. 

In the afternoon, we hosted a joint birthday party with her pal Leah for 35 or so of their friends and siblings.  We hired two teenage girls from my building to paint faces and nails, and then had Joker Marks do magic, juggling, games and balloon animals.  He was awesome!!!  Anyone who can keep these kids quiet and mesmerized is a miracle worker!

We encouraged costumes, hence Finley's Sleeping Beauty dress. 

The birthday girls even got to participate in a magic trick. 

This is Mick, Finley's crush.  They're in the same class and according to Finley they spend their time together talking about mustaches (no clue why) and stinky socks.

All in all a great day.   



Making the Most....

It's really hard to believe that we're leaving Hong Kong in THREE weeks.  We're making the most of each moment and had a great weekend with friends.  Saturday I started the morning with a ten-mile run with my gal pals Susan and Helen, Dave enjoyed a hike with some of his friends, and then we met up with our friends Susan, Scott, Helen, Huw, Mick and all the kids for a campfire bbq at the American Club.  The kids had a blast eating hot dogs, hot cocoas, s'mores, they loved roasting marshmallows and there was even a campfire sing-along. 

The kiddos....Elizabeth and Ellie, Nolan and Finley, Isabella, Megan and (partially-hidden) Austin.



PLEASE let these two get married someday!!! 



 Finley and her pal Megan. 

Then we rushed home, put the kids to bed and headed uptown for dinner with Scott, Susan, Hels and Huw....because hey, we all like each other a lot.  Lots of wine, lots of food and some fantastic desserts were had before the wives went home and the husbands stayed out for "one more drink".

Huw the Hottie gnawing on a steakbone 

 In spite of a late Saturday night, we made it to Ocean Park for the 9am park opening.  The kids loved the new aquarium.

And then we moved on to "Whisker's Harbor", the kiddie area of the park. 

We played some drums they had out as part of the Chinese New Year celebration. 

We rode the carousel. 

Fin was digging the ladybug ride. 

They were both obsessed with those cheesy mall-esque cars. 

And the highlight for me was a lion dance (traditional Chinese celebratory dance/performance).  Somehow, it was only the first one I'd ever seen, but loved the traditional beginning to the show.  (Though I could have done without the street-dancing component where they played J-Lo and Maroon 5.... )

All in all a great weekend.  We wrapped up Sunday with a visit to Victoria Park, had some dim sum for dinner, and are now set for a BIG weekend ahead.....Fin turns 4 and I run my second half marathon!



Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Happy (Chinese) New Year, Everyone!  Welcome to the year of the dragon!  CNY is the biggest holiday of the year in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.  In HK, school closes for a week and most businesses are shut down for three days so people can celebrate with their friends and families.  Unfortunately, the weather was less than perfect for the holiday, but we managed to have a good time anyway.  We went to a party at our friend Susan and Scott's, played at the American Club a LOT, had our friends the Imrans over for a family playdate and hosted a dinner and family playdate with our friends Susan/Scott and Helen (poor Huw was away on business). 

The kids picked out their own traditional Chinese clothing at the market and wore the heck out of it over the course of the holiday.  Here's Fin on her way to school the Friday before the holiday break.

Saturday.....Nolan and Iz, saving for a life together while playing with Iz's piggy bank.  As the locals would say, "We wish you much prosperity in the year of the dragon!" 

Tuesday....we really struggled for a way to entertain the kids....so we went to a mall and let the kids run around and burn off some energy.  And yes, we spend all holidays and a good chunk of our free time with Iz and her parents...what can I say, it's a lovefest. 

This particular mall is VERY local (i.e. not one expats often visit), so the kids got pictures taken of them left and right.  White kids in Chinese clothes - who can resist???  A helper even picked up Nolan without asking to take a picture with him!  Not cool!  The mall had a massive dragon set up for the CNY, which was a big hit with the kids. 

Dave spent most of the outing making fun of the locals on ice skates.  In all fairness, they were awful.  The kids were intrigued! 



Movin' On

March 9 is the date we're nearly certain these cute kids (and Dave and I) will arrive back in Chicago.  Of course, upon landing the children will undoubtedly be crabby, whiny and tired (and will remain that way for about 72-96 hours, when the jet lag slowly begins to go away). 

On a whim, I bought pudding.  It was a hit while it lasted, and then Nolan sobbed when he realized it was all gone.

We love the American Club (yeah, it's an actual place....not just a meet-up of us and our friends from the States).  They started hosting these Saturday campfires where they serve hot dogs, hot cocoa, s'mores, etc... you can even camp out on the lawn there!  I tried to convince Dave to spend the night with the kids, but no luck.  Fin really enjoyed "melty marshmallows" though! 

2012

Finley's friends Austin and Megan had been wanting to try a sleepover, and once they saw Fin's bed tent they decided it needed to be at our home.  So here they are before it all headed south.

Story time with Dave....followed by Austin asking to go home (8:15pm) and Megan asking to go home (8:45 pm).  At least they live in our complex, so it was easy for Huw and Hels to come pick them up! 

The next day, we decided to get out of town and head as far from Tai Tam as you can while still remaining in HK.....so we spent the morning in Sai Kung, a fishing village close to the China border.  It was interesting to see, but made me realize that living in Tai Tam, we're in this little community with tons of western people and the American Club and lots of other conveniences that we take for granted.  Whereas here in Sai Kung, we barely saw any other expats and everyone was speaking Cantonese or Mandarin.  It felt much more like China than our 'hood does, though apparently some expats are migrating up that way because you can get a lot more for your money.

They had lots of waterfront restaurants with fresh seafood.  See below - it doesn't get fresher than this.  Unfortunately, our kids don't eat fish and it's REALLY hard to order when there's different names for different kinds of fish, a massive language barrier and no way to explain how you want your fish cooked.  So we opted for western food in the town square.

Playing at the Manhattan playground (the building across the street from our home). 

Bath time!

Yesterday we took the kids to the Hong Kong Botanical and Zoological Gardens to see the monkeys, lemurs, gorillas and other primates.  They loved it and made really loud monkey noises the entire time we were there. 

Love that they have the same sort of mannerism here.

A rare occasion - I handed off the camera to Dave!  (Sidenote, this is post-haircut for Nolan.  He looks so old to me without frizzy curls everywhere.)

Each time we come here (which we have been doing since February 2010), I have Fin take a picture with King George.  No reason, but he's in the middle of the park and it's interesting to see how she grows and changes with each visit. 

(Here she is in the same spot nearly two years ago.)

New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's Eve dressed up and at a lounge with 4 other couples.  It was a great time, though I was somewhat responsible and headed home with Susan at 2....while the guys and Helen stayed out until about 4. 

Dave and Huw 

Daniella, Silvia, moi, Hels and Susan 

Dave really wants Mike and Julie to have one of these at their wedding..... the shot of alcohol flows through the tube until it reaches the end - where your mouth is waiting.  Not the most sanitary way to get drunk, but it seemed to work for the men.

Dave and his brother from another mother. 

They loved Scott. 

Susan and I 

End of 2011

By the end of the year, it was tough coming up with things to entertain the kids every single day.  Without school in session, and with so many of our HK pals on holiday I was stuck working overtime as mom and playmate.  Eeek!  For a change of pace, we went to the Stanley Park District Playroom.  Usually it's so crowded that you need to get there about 20-30 minutes before each hour-long session begins to get a place before it fills up.  However, most expats we know seemed to be skiing in Whistler or on the beaches of Phuket - so we almost had the place to ourselves.

Walking through the butterfly garden at Ma Hang Estate.  This is what happens when I tell them not to go near the fountain. 

Oh, and enjoy these curls.....since most of them are gone!  Nolan started to resemble Albert Einstein a bit too closely, so he got a serious haircut.  Sniff, sniff.