2000 words' worth

...of photos. No particular theme, beyond simple cuteness.

Turns out, the 4th Dimension is bird poo

So last weekend we met our friends Leo, Sue Ann and Keller at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. It's aimed at older kids, really, but there were some things for the lil guys: robots, some places to crawl around on stuff, and several different "4-D" movies. We had to check out one of them. The woman in the ticket booth tried to discourage us, but we figured, it's got pirates, it's only 15 minutes long, so how inappropriate-for-lil-kids can it get?



Well, let's just say that kids don't appreciate 3-D cannons blasting them right in the face, hordes of 3-D bats flying directly at them, or 4-D sprinkles of real, live water (please God tell me that was water) timed to coincide with the on-screen pooping of seagulls. They sat there OK, nobody freaked, and I even got Desi to put his glasses back on once or twice after the cannon "blew" them off. But we won't be back for a few years.

We ate good dim sum after that, which was yum. But since then (and unrelated to the food), this place has been a M*A*S*H unit. Sarah missed 2.5 days, Desi missed 2 (including his class performance--see next post), and Emmett missed 4. Gary was the only one left standing (maybe flu shots work?). Knock on wood.

But we're mostly on the mend and tonight marks the beginning of New Year's break. Woo hoo! A whole week off to watch fireworks and hang out with the fam. It's the Year of the Golden Ox (Gary is an ox, so he has to watch out)

And I'll be blogging more, I promise.

Xin Nian Kuai Le! (Happy New Year)

Desi was sick, but his class forged ahead toward the New Year

Sensitive Lil' Guy

Here's how Emmett and I spent the afternoon. Feeding Hulk and Rowdy Roddy (if you're wondering...Yes, those action figures are the ones I played with as a kid) a snack.

Some for the babyface ,
and some for the heel.

Emmett is an equal-opportunity sensitive New Age guy.

Poor Desi has bonked his head twice this week. Once, a chair fell on his forehead. Then, at tennis lessons tonight, he scraped his cheek pretty bad. He refused photo ops tonight, so here's a recent (pre-injuries) pic to tide you over.


And for you hardcore Desi fans, this link will take you to his kindergarten teacher's blog. Neat video where you can hear Desi read the D and the P in the alphabet activity.

we love our new camera

actually it's not called a camera. It's the Cyber-Shot. sure, it's pink, but it takes great pictures, and we got a good price. who says there's no bargains in HK?

It's late, and pictures are worth several hundred words each, so here's a "photo diary" of what we did in Shanghai over winter break.

But first, here's one I forgot to add to the last post. Emmett as master of Hong Kong (insert maniacal laugh...here)

here's us at M on the Bund, one of the best restaurants on Earth (thanks, Grandpa Steve!), followed by some aquarium shots.


Q: How freaky is this giant salamander?
A: Sooooo freaky.

Sarah loves that Desi now flashes the peace sign in every photo. (I'm ambivalent)

bye4now

Holiday Journal #3

We're back. Been back, actually, but still so busy having fun I never got around to blogging. So I'll update on the Hong Kong trip today, then cover the Shanghai portion of winter break when I get more time.

Top 5 Things I Appreciated about Hong Kong
5. shorts weather
4. drivers stay in their lanes and they stop at red lights
3. Disneyland was small and had lots of the little guy to enjoy (After exiting "It's a Small World," I asked Emmett what he'd seen and he said, still a bit dazed, "Toys.")
2. Grandma and Grandpa kept the boys at night and let the 2 of us sleep in
1. Two Words: dim sum

Here's a photo of Desi with one of his new heroes. Over break, we watched both movies and rode the Buzz ride, which lets you shoot aliens, LaserTag-style.



Here's a couple shots taken on Victoria Peak, which has been turned into a giant shopping mall, unfortunately.



It was a little cloudy that day, as you can see. Overall, 4 days in HK were fun and a nice way to break up our time in Shanghai. More later on our adventures in that city. Time now to go let Emmett "cook" me some fake food.