taiwan pt. 2

man there is so many pictures. i just picked a few here.

i miss taiwan, my family and the food!

lucy had a lot of fun there.  i haven't seen her that happy since.

we need to go back again soon.

we were trying to do a 4 generation pic.

watermelon seeds, yum

playground in my parents condo complex, pretty convenient

skating rink

looking at fish

lulu

super fun playland at the mall. i was impressed, motorized carousals, ride ons. very clean and they take your temperature to make sure your not sick, sanitize hands before you can enter.

"hong-boa"

my aunt and her grandkids

biggest fish eyes!

she never tired of playing with her cousins

cousins from up norths family-4kids!

this picture makes me laugh, their expressions!

these ride on animals that you drive around the mall.  the malls had whole floors dedicated to kids playing.  lucy love it!

lobster sashimi

my aunt meina and kitty

kaohsiung city lights

here's that 4 generation pic i was looking for

these are my grandpas sisters, they are funny and cute.  70+yrs old and as active as ever

my big 'ole family...well half

sushi

lucy had her first raw sushi experience last night!
so surprised she ate whatever we gave her.
she had, white tuna sashimi that she dipped in soy sauce, bbq eel, and ikura (fish roe).
even i don't always like those fish eggs.  they're big and they burst in your mouth with the taste of the ocean!
pretty happy this little girl likes her sushi =)

nate's 40th

nate turned the big 4-0 last week.  we celebrated by going up to vail for a few days.

it was hard to figure out what to get for nate, he has everything and sometimes the gifts that money can't buy are the most valued.

lucy and i made a few things for him, but i think the item he enjoyed most was the jar full of little slips of paper.  each filled with a thoughtful message from our friends and family to him.  

they were difficult to read all in one sitting because it was so emotional.  they were sweet, funny, and heartfelt.  

here's one:

"Happy Birthday Nate.  I really miss you, I miss the good times we had like getting ice cream and going to the zoo.  But most of all our bike rides to the pond.  Please come back.  Love Cam"

and another:

"Why I love my friend nate...he is kind and sincere.  He makes you feel like your are important.  He is a faithful and devoted husband.  He is an insanely sweet loving father.  He works hard and plays hard and is so dear to us that it is hard to even write this without tearing up because i miss you so much.  You make those around you want to be a better person.  Happy 40th bday old friend.  Love Tina"

and my favorite:

"Uncle Nate, Happy Birthday I love you. Wow your 40 that is a lot. Love, Mason"   mason is 5

thank you everybody for making it special!

looking good at 40

do all kids love mac n cheese?? 'cuz lucy sure does

reading more at dinner

so who still gives out free birthday dinners??  atwater @vail cascade does! can you believe thats a $50 entree he got for free?!

chocolate milk 'n cookies to finish the night

still reading them

our rooms proximity to the lifts, sweet

messing around with the panorama on my phone

one of the prettiest vistas at vail, picture doesn't do it justice

lucys cute snowsuit

look at that artwork on the walls, delicious italian we had @ campo 

waiting for the shuttle

my favorite picture from the weekend.  back bowls of vail crazy riding

OH!! and i almost forgot this one, i need to talk to whoever invented that thing below.  because i'm unconvinced i'm the only one that can't figure it out!  it was quite a hilarious episode!  i'm sure the lift operator is still telling the story and laughing about it now.

taiwan

finally!  i've stopped procrastinating!!
it took lucy and i a little while to get over our horrible jet lag.  i was crashing out at 6pm and waking at 4am while lucy who you never hear a peep from once she's in bed cried for three nights straight.
then my computer was broken and i had to wait to figure out how to get it fixed.  then once it was fixed i had to update my iphoto etc yadah yadah.  and then FINALLY when everything was ready for me to blog, the thought of going thru all my pictures made me put it off for another week.
so yea that's my lame excuses right there.

we had an awesome time in taiwan.  i loved seeing all my family.  i have a HUGE extended family.  it was good to just soak up all the good familyness.  i loved watching lucy being doted on by everyone.  she loved her cousins, well second cousins.  i've never seen her so happy playing with kids.

we ate a lot of good food.  or should i say I ate a lot of good food.  i had bubble tea almost every day and when i say every day i mean 20 out of 23 days! yea scary but true.
lucy ate alright, some days she seemed to like the food other days not so much.

the plane ride there was way better then i'd ever expected.  luckily lucy got her own seat on the longest leg! she was occupied the entire time.  she definitely faired better then me.  by hour 16 of our 24hr journey i was about to rip the floatation device from my seat and jump plane.  it's hard when your traveling alone with a child.  i was so tired and the lack of sleep was getting to me.  and since we traveled through the day lucy wasn't sleeping much.  i vowed to myself i was NEVER flying by myself with her again.  and then i remade that vow on our flight back to the states.

but honestly i have to give it to her she did great and sat in her seat or napped.  i just kept doling out new toys.  i had a backpack packed to bursting with little new dollar toys and sticker books for her.  AND let me tell you that ipad is a lifesaver.  she doesn't get much electronic time at home so that was a huge deal to her.  and once she got to taiwan, she eased right into the time difference there.  i was afraid she'd be up all night.  and she was awake some in the beginning but all she did was lay quietly in her crib.  yea what a surprise that was to me.

chinese new years is a really special time in taiwan.  so glad lucy got to experience it.  she received lots of red envelopes.  they are all going right into her account.  it was great being with family and my parents.  i know they really enjoyed having lucy there.

well here's all the pics thats worth posting from my phone, gotta save the camera pics for another day.

at all the restaurants they had kid specific dinnerware to make eating fun, loved that!

hotpot

first of many "hong boa"- red envelopes

i couldn't get enough of the food

a favorite fruit of nate's last time he was there, waxed apples

you starting to get the idea what i spent my time doing? =)

i had to try the famous beard papa cream puffs i hear about, not as good as my cream puffs tho!

i love this picture for its food and chaos thats what i miss most, family getting together and enjoying good food.
new years eve dinner, awesomeness! 

man selling cotton candy

spoiled, don't remember hanging out in airport lounges when i was her age.
the tokyo admirals club is pretty posh with some yummy food! the best inari i've ever had.