Ocean Park

Since we had a child, everyone has been telling us that if you get one season pass anywhere in Hong Kong, it has to be Ocean Park. Nate and and I finally did it, and we took Finley there this weekend. Ocean Park is part zoo/aquarium and part theme park with rides for toddlers up to adults. It's pretty huge, so we only went to half of the park this time. The highlight of the trip for me was the pandas. Nate liked the aquarium. Finley was a huge fan of the dogs. "Wait, there were dogs at Ocean Park?" you ask. No, but Finley was convinced those pandas were actually dogs. He kept pointing at them, saying, "Dog. Woof woof." Finley loves dogs.

Finley also loved the birds and really wanted to touch them. Bird flu, anyone?

He was a little scared inside the aquarium because it was quite dark, but he did enjoy looking at the fish.

Trust me, this fish was absolutely massive and even weirder-looking in person.

And completely unrelated, this is what I made Nate for Valentine's Day. Chocolate-dipped potato chips!

Cute Little Finley-isms

Finley is a such a blast right now. It's amazing how he is developing, constantly surprising us with what he is saying and doing. Here are just a few little tidbits:

• This morning he just randomly said "three bags full" right after we had been listening to Baa Baa Black Sheep.
• Last week he started pointing in the sky and saying, "Airplane!" anytime he heard an airplane. We had pointed them out to him, but didn't realize he would make the connection of the sound of the airplane without seeing the actual airplane.
• A couple of days ago I said, "Bye guys!" and Finley repeated, "Bye guys!" after me.
• Finley has started saying rhythms he hears in his favorite songs or in music class. For example, we'll say "bah" to a rhythm like 1-2-3&4 or 1--&3-4. He has now started doing it on his on with a variety of rhythms!
• Finley knows the word "almost". When I think about it, it is quite a useful word that I say to him frequently. "We're almost home." or "I'm almost finished changing your diaper." Now when Finley wants something to be over, he'll start saying, "Almost! Almost!"

Okay, enough bragging about my adorable and amazing child. Back to my school work.

A Walk in the Park

Finley loved pushing his stroller so much that we got him a little one of his own. We took it for a walk in the nearby country park this weekend on a lovely afternoon. Finley generally won't let us put anything in the stroller. He doesn't like stuffed animals or dolls. But occasionally he lets us put his ball in the stroller. :) Click here for the video.

The Year of the Dragon

We've spent the past week celebrating Chinese New Year and welcoming the year of the dragon. Nate had the week off from work, and we really enjoyed having him home (but unfortunately MSU does not celebrate CNY and I still had all my class work to do). We kicked off the week with a lovely potluck with friends and ended the week with a BBQ in the country park with friends. In between, we had lots of great family time.

The first couple of photos are from the CNY fair they had at our apartment complex. There were lion dancers, so this is Finley checking out one of the lions.

This is one of the employees dressed as the god of wealth, handing out lai see to everyone (with chocolate coins, not real money). As you can see, Finley was not sure what to think about the costume. This is by far my favorite photo from CNY because Finley's face cracks me up.

The next several photos are from the flower market in Causeway Bay. Part of CNY is cleaning your home and decorating it with flowers and plants that have various auspicious meanings.

A sea of citrus.

Lots of beautiful orchids.

We got some for our house, too! (And Nate decorated them with lai see packets.)

Finley got these safety glasses with his hand-me-down work bench from Nate's boss. He will finally wear them, and it is just too cute.

Funny story about this photo. One night around 9:30pm, Nate closed the door between the kitchen and the living room and it stuck. The door knob broke and it absolutely would not budge. Had to take the entire thing apart to get the door open again, which wasn't easy because the part you can see in the picture was completely stuck. Meanwhile, Finley was sleeping about 15 feet away while we were banging around on the door. Eventually, we got the door open. Funny thing is this is the second door this has happened to! I just hope Finley doesn't get trapped alone anywhere because of one of these door knob incidents!

The next two photos are of CNY decorations at one of the malls.

We made our own pork dumplings for CNY...yum! There are plenty of leftovers in the freezer, too!

We went to the HK Zoo one morning. It's not much of a zoo, especially compared to the NC Zoo, but there are quite a few birds and monkeys there. I found it hilarious that they also had a raccoon on exhibit in the monkey area. It was a great outing-- free and very toddler friendly! There was a big playground, and everything was stroller-accessible (a rarity in HK).

These monkeys were swinging all over the place!

Another morning we went to the Museum of Coastal Defense in Shau Kei Wan. Another great outing. Only 10HKD/person ($1.25) and also very toddler friendly. Most of it was outside, and there were great views, as you can see in the first two photos below.

One of the bunkers we went in.

Tromping around through the ditches. (Look, there's grass...in HK! That alone was worth the price of admission.)

The indoor exhibits.

Soldier Finley.

1940's Tank

And to top it all off, here's a short video from Nate's iPhone that we took at the CNY fair at our apartment complex and at the zoo. Click here. It was a great week!

Lost Photos from MI

The last night we were in MI over Christmas, Nate and Finley and I took a stroll out to the beach as the sun was setting. It was cold, but it was beautiful. It was a wonderful little family moment. I found a few photos on the iPhone from that night that I had forgotten about.

Chinese New Year post coming soon...

21 Months!

Finley is inching closer and closer to being 2, which is just crazy if you ask me! Finley is constantly surprising me with what he says these days. On Friday, I was walking down the street, wearing Finley in the Ergo carrier. As we passed a couple, they politely said, "Morning." So I said, "Morning." And then Finley said, "Morning!" from inside the carrier! Too cute.

Things are super busy for Nate and me. Nate came back to having to proof report cards, and I came back to immediately starting my 3 classes for the semester, which are supposed to add up to about 42 hours of work per week. What have I gotten myself into? And I have been asked to start tutoring the younger child of the family I tutor for, so now I'm going to be tutoring twice a week! Luckily, Finley started sleeping through the night again. Praise God for that! Nate and I were getting pretty burned out with waking up 3 times a night over the entire Christmas break. I'll tell you, we spent a record number of hours in rocking chairs this Christmas! (But we were so happy to see our family that it was worth it!)

One thing I appreciate about being back in my own home is being able to have free reign over the kitchen. I really enjoy cooking and eating, particularly trying new things, and Nate is generally very supportive of that. Here's one of my creations from this week. Green soup (I like to call it Detox Soup) with Olive Oil and sourdough bread to accompany. Trust me, it was even more green in person than in the photo! Just in case you're wondering, the main ingredients were caramelized onions, spinach, kale, broth, and lemon juice. Very healthy, and didn't even taste "green" if you ask me. I had to do something to make up for all the Christmas treats we have around the house!

A Snowy Christmas in Michigan

Unfortunately it's about that time. Time to fly back to HK. We've had a great time in MI visiting both sides of Nate's family and playing in a little snow. Finley had his first experience sledding. We couldn't go very fast because he wouldn't hold on to the sled, but he still loved it. It was very cold (at least in my opinion), but Tim and Marcia have an amazing fireplace, and I drank at least 2 cups of hot tea daily to compensate. Finley continued to have a terrible time with sleep, but has otherwise been a pleasure considering all we've put him through over the past few weeks. We can't get over how much he's talking and how many new words he's learning every day!
Here are photos from our time in MI.

Beautiful Sunset at Amy & Jim's

Kisses for Baby Aydin

Opening Gifts at Tim & Marcia's

New Tennis Gear for Fafee

And a Club Cover for Cooper

Stare-Down with the Dog

Will They Fit?

A Football for Finley


He Likes It!
Opening Gifts with the Fischers- GG's Turn

A Puzzle from Uncle Cooper

Nate's Old Coat that Jane Brought for Finley

Sitting with Grandma Jane
Playing with Amy and Grandma
The Big Tree at the Dennisons'

Let it Snow!

Riding in the Wagon and Eating Pine Needles

Fun with the Phone

Going Sledding!



Christmas Tree Aftermath

Singing and Playing with Faf

Why, you ask, have I been so good about posting photos quickly over Christmas? Well, as soon as we get back to HK, Nate goes straight back to work, my 3 (!!!) graduate courses begin, and we're all going to be terribly jet-lagged. So I'm trying to do what I can in advance. On that note, here's the link to our Christmas video which includes footage from my grandparents and parents' houses, as well as both sides of Nate's family's houses. Click here to watch the video. We'll blog more sometime after we get back to HK. Until then, we would appreciate prayers for safe, easy flights and quick recovery from jet lag. Happy New Year!