Hong Kong Fun -- Part 2

by Amy

When we're at home we take taxi's everywhere.  Occasionally I'll hop on a bus if the one outside my gate will take me directly where I want to go (without having to change buses.) But, since there's been construction, there's bus outside my gate, so that means I don't do buses anymore!  Most places I go (my friends houses, Brad's office, the square, etc,) can all be reached for under $2 USD.  Occasionally I'll have a $3.50 taxi ride in traffic when we go all the way across town to the new Dairy Queen, but that's rare and so worth the $3.50!  In Hong Kong, though, we NEVER do taxis!  They are super expensive, comparatively speaking, of course.  So, we ride buses or subways everywhere.  The flat we often stay is near a big bus stop and subway station, so it's super convenient!  For some reason, on this trip, we took pictures while we were riding the subway.  I'm not sure if it was a way to provide entertainment for the kids or what, but we did get some pretty cute shots....

Here we're coming home from swimming somewhere...

and here we're heading out to dinner one night....

But these are my favorite...

So, first Brad snapped a shot of Sue and Savannah, then Peter and me.  Then, he decided to get all four of us.  But there was one problem ... the dude between us...  Oh well, maybe he'll smile, too  -- or not!

And now, this last subway pic will prepare you for the rest of the post.  We're on the Disneyline heading out to HK Disneyland.  You can barely tell that this train has Mickey Mouse shaped windows.  It's really cool!  We were all so excited!  

HK Disneyland is the only Disneyland/world I've been to (that I remember.)  So, I can't compare it to the others, but as far as I'm concerned, it ROCKS!!  It is so clean and everything they do is top quality!  This was our third trip and we still loved every show, every ride, every minute!

Alice walked by us about 5 hours after snapping this picuture and she waved and said, "Oh, hello, Savannah!"  I was shocked she remembered her.  Savannah promptly said, "She must remember me because I'm so pretty!"  Clearly, she hears that a lot!  We've got to work on teaching modesty!

Those three pics above were taken as we waited to meet Belle and Aurora.  (Can you see why people tell her she's pretty all the time?)

And, of course, we rode Space Mountain!  It's my favorite!  The kids each wanted a chance to ride next to Sue, so we did it three times.  (Good thing the lines weren't long!)  So, even though she was ready to be done after second ride, she was quite the trooper and made my Peter a happy guy!  

(Brad made Sue a nervous wreck as he held her camera over her head snapping pics behind him through the whole ride. It was hilarious riding between the two of them as she hollered at him!)  

    

That was taken at the end of a long, fun day at Disneyland!  We were tired, but it was great!

Here are a few random pics that were taken while we were there, but I can't remember where we were or what we were doing.  So, just in case your not pictured out, here's a few more....

We also went swimming twice.  I had a blast watching my kids jump of the diving board -- too bad the pool wouldn't allow us to bring cameras in -- and slide down water slides.  We also spent several hours playing in Toys R Us with all the cool toys that are out there now!  And, thanks to my parents birthday money, the kids each got to choose a few toys to bring back home.  And, Sue and I did some shopping at markets around town.  It was a really great trip!  We loved having Sue there to share it with us!   

Hong Kong Fun -- Part 1

by Amy

Rather than give the day-by-day playback of everything we did in HK, I'm going to let the pictures speak for me....  But, since I selected over 30 pictures to post, I think I'm going to divide it into two posts!  So here we go....

Starting at the beach:

We spent 2 days at the beach.  Notice how calm the water was!  It was crazy!  This beach is our favorite because it’s never crowded - look at the wide open space behind the boys!  Compare that to our Tuesday morning beach pics from my Vacation  post.... Crazy! We were even there over the weekend, and it was empty!  My boys especially love this beach because there's a play area on the sand.  

  

We also spent a day visiting a life-size replica of Noah's Ark.  It was really cool!!

As we walked from the ferry to the ark, we saw this precious dog.  My kids instantly fell in love!

Several morning, we walked over to a great park that was near the place we stayed.  Brad had fun jogging while the kids played.  It was hot, but we had fun!  (Notice that BLUE sky!!)  

And, we spent an evening at The Peak.  We rode a tram up a really steep mountain side so we could look down over the harbor.  What a great view!  The pictures don't do it justice!  (that's where the family pic I posted yesterday was taken.)

So, I guess that wraps up the first round of our HK pics.  Sorry there weren't more pictures of Savannah.  I think she took a lot of the pictures above.  That will definitely change when I post the Disneyland pics!  I got some cute snapshots of her!   

Bloggin' Blahs...

by Amy

I've been in a blogging funk lately.  I haven't felt like there's been anything blog-worthy happening in my world, so I just couldn't come up with anything to say.  Finally, we went to the beach town last month, so I decided I could at least post some pictures for my dad to see.  But, he since has informed me that those pictures were nice, but now they're OLD!  So, we just got home from Hong Kong, so I promise to post some new pics soon....

I have not only been in a blogging funk lately, but it seems my whole life has been in a funk.  If my mom could see me lately, she'd say I've been frumpy.  As Brad and I were talking about it last night, I think there's been a combination of things that have affected my outlook on life.  One of the main factors has been the weather.  I've never really thought of myself as one who is affected by the weather, but I think it's played a huge role in my attitude over the last couple of months.  I don't mean to complain, but our skies have been gray for almost 2 months straight (maybe more, actually.)  Not cloudy gray where you can see cool designs in the sky, but heavy, low, solid pollution gray.  There have been many days that I could not see the store half a km away from my 13 story window. (I have no idea how to say that in miles - maybe half a km is 1/3 mile - I don't know.)  And, on top of that, the street in front of our apartment complex has been under construction since early June.  The gray skies of the last few months often gave way to rain which turned our "street" into a muddy swamp.  It was smelly, slimy and yucky - and couldn't be avoided if I needed to leave my apartment complex!

Thankfully, the Lord knew what I would need long before I did.  Back in February, when Sue bought her plane tickets to come visit us, we planned a trip to Hong Kong.  Right as I was at my breaking point, we got on an airplane and flew away....  After being in HK for a few days, seeing blue skies and big puffy clouds, the tension began to drain from my neck and shoulders.  I was able to laugh and have fun with my kids - outside!  I wasn't trying to hold back tears as I opened the curtains each morning.  It was a great, much needed break.  And, as we drove home from the airport, (through the thick, hazy pollution) I almost shed tears of relief when I saw that the mud was covered by concrete outside my house!  I'm sure that was arranged just for me by my loving Heavenly Father, who promises never to give me more than I can handle.  =)

Now that we're back to normal life here, I'm working hard to getting my heart and attitude back to normal as well.  I'm not there yet, but I'm closer than I was before our trip.  The Lord is faithful.  He will draw near to those that draw near to Him.  Thankfully, my joy isn't found in blue skies and clean streets!

Now, for all those who only read my blog to see pics, here's a preview of the HK post that's coming soon....