Asia Adventures, Installment 6: BONUS!

Trust me, this bonus post is well worth it!  Ever since we lived in England I have had issue with pictures.  Particularly the 'wish you were here' photos I themed one of the AA installments on.  My issue is it begins to look like you actually just purchased high quality portrait studio backgrounds and put the same group/couple shot in front of it.  Your smile looks the same, you are typically standing in the same position among the group/couple, you even tilt your head ever so slightly in the same direction...in all of the pictures no matter where you are.

One solution is of course to try for the 'action' shot.  But then you end up with a bunch of pictures of your family and friends standing in a semi circle either reading or listening to information about the sight.  Or the classic walking picture; which how many rear end shots can we handle?

The solution I have been enjoying is the posed action shots.  Finding a way to mimic what your looking at and make yourself a part of the sight.  For China, the action pose became jumping.  This was fun (in my opinion) for many different reasons.  1.) People laughed with us.  We knew we looked ridiculous and the tourist just confirmed it for us. 2.) It gave us something to use our creativity.  Finding the ideal (flat) location and deciding on the perfect mid jump pose was integral to a successful jump shot. 3.) I can now do this bonus post of just jump shots.  And the list could go on, but I'm sure I don't need to convince you.  You are already planning to use this technique for your next family vacation.

Before I show the goods, I should admit that these were actually physically challenging.  Some of us walked away with aching knees and pulled hamstrings.  So we recommend stretching before you attempt this on your own.

This was our first attempt.
Don't worry we get better at it.

See better.

The prep squat.

ACTION!

Trying to be the Buddha.

Outside Brian and Kristen's Apartment.

That's where they live!

Can you see us in this crazy maze?

We had high hopes for this one.
But none of the attempts really quite worked.

Boiling egg/Pearl shot.

I missed '3' apparently.

One of our favorites.
2 of the 5 gates to the Forbidden City behind us
and we are doing the '5' point star jump.
Get it???

Another favorite!
On the Great Wall.

yay!

High 5.

This one took a few takes to get.

Dad's turn

Mom and Dad in front of the '70 year door'.
They are showing us how many more years until they will be old enough to use that door.

No one else in the group wanted to join me on this one.
I beat the warrior.

Asia Adventures, Installment 5: Home

There are many sayings about home and where it may or may not be.  For me, home is always where my family is.  And for those who know my extended family, you know that can be anywhere in the world.  

So going to Hong Kong, in a way, was going home.  The undeniable best part of the trip was getting to visit with my brother and sister-in-law.  The last time they saw Ollie was when he was just a few weeks old.  So it was treat to watch Ollie get to interact with his Aunt and Uncle in a whole new way!  So along with seeing the sights we were also able to have some nice down time to just be together as a family.  

Here are some gems from our 'down time' on the trip:

Ollie reading "Monster At The End of This Book" with his Aunt and Uncle!
It was one of his Uncles favorite books growing up,
and now he's reading it with his nephew on an iPad.  

Checking out the view with Grandpa O.

An afternoon nap with Aunt Kristen.

This was after we went up the Peak Tram to see the amazing views of Hong Kong.
Apparently it was very overwhelming and exhausting for Ollie.

Ollie was serenaded by Uncle Brian many times.
Ollie was mesmerized by the songs and guitar!

Grandma and Grandpa needed naps too!

Mom and Dad caught naps where ever they could!
Even at the hot pot dinner!

Trying to show off his bunny bottom!

Ollie really liked Aunt Kristen's chicken.
Especially when Uncle Brian made chicken noises.

Teaching Uncle Brian how 6 month olds walk.

Ready for our first swim in a pool!

He was a fan of all the water!  

Check out his bubble butt.
We double diapered him with a swim diaper and regular one.
Lesson learned.

Ollie giving Uncle Brian some kisses!

Easter in Hong Kong! 

Hanging with the ladies in Hong Kong.

The whole family outside of Brian and Kristen's building.

One day Ollie wants to be just like Bruce Lee.  

Asia Adventures, Installment 4: Noodles, Dumplings and No Rice, Oh My!

A trip would not be complete for our family without some amazing food.  I did not have high hopes for the food to blow me away in China.  I didn't really have any hopes or fears, but was pretty neutral going into the trip.  The distraction of the sights and seeing my brother and sister-in-law prevented me from even dwelling on what we would be eating.

Needless to say, the food was the black horse in the 'best part of the trip' race. We ended up eating some amazing food in some pretty fabulous places.  And we even had a taste of home (by way of England) for a few meals.

There was a few interesting things we learned while eating in China: 1.) Rice is an after meal addition and 2.) Americans drink a lot of fluids.
Lesson one for the silly Americans: 
At one of our lunches with our tour guide in Beijing my dad asked "Where's the rice?," as we were shoveling in the delicious chicken, pork and vegetable dishes in front of us.  Our tour guide quickly ordered a few bowls of rice and then informed us that traditionally rice is not served until the end of the meal and only if you are not full from the main dishes.  It was an a-ha moment for us, but of course once the rice arrived we did not hesitate to pile it on our plates with everything else.
The sub lesson to this was that in China they do not mix the rice with the main dishes. We learned that lesson once we tried to pick our food up with chop sticks and the rice was not in nice clumps anymore. Bring on the forks! (silly Americans)

Lesson 2 happened towards the end of our trip.  Actually it was the end.  It was our last dinner in Hong Kong.  We went to a very nice Chinese restaurant where it was obvious that it was the place for families to go.  It was a Saturday evening and we loved watching all the families gather around their tables, chatting and laughing with one another. The families gathering were not just nuclear families, but extended families. Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins...everyone.  The difference between their tables and ours (other than our severe lack of chopstick skills) was the amount of drinks we had on our table.  We had 2 different kinds of water, wine, beer, and hot tea.  They even had to bring a small table to set next to our big table to keep some of the drinks on. Apparently we were thirsty.  Maybe that's why our eyes are blue.

Another side note from that evening...
There was a little girl a little older than Ollie sitting behind us.  Eventually she and Oliver noticed each other. The little girl started to cry when she saw Ollie (or maybe it was Ryan, we will never know).  But Ryan started to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the little girl's dad started singing it too!  It was adorable and the little girl calmed down (although still pretty wary of our very odd table).

So just to get your mouths watering, here are some pics of our delicious meals!

Thanks to Hong Kong once being a British colony in years past, there were tons of English restaurants and pubs.
This is one of the pubs we had lunch at. 

This was our first meal in Beijing and the noodles were AMAZING.
And who knew the spoon was there to help you slurp up the noodle!

Ollie was a fan of chopsticks.
I was not a fan of Ollie with chopsticks...
'You could poke your eye out with that thing!'
(Seriously already with the cliches!)

The very neat tea cups.  

What's a trip to China without Peking Duck!!
It was pretty good, especially the crispy skin dipped in sugar.
(totally healthy right??)

Ok, this is better than chopsticks.
Ollie loved these spoons.  It kept him entertained for all our meals.
We even bought one to bring home with us and it still works!

Some of the fabulous dumplings we had!

The aftermath of our dumpling lunch!
Do you think we liked it??

Ollie is 7 Months Old!!

Today is Oliver's 7 month birthday!
We are still amazed every month by the new discoveries he has.  We have just recently started with solid foods.  So far he has eaten everything we put in front of him.  And by everything, I mean: sweet potatoes, carrots and pears.  Piccadilly has also discovered a new positive side to having the baby around, namely: sweet potatoes, carrots and pears.  Ollie thinks it's hilarious to stick his hand covered in food out for Piccadilly to happily clean; while both Ryan and I try to instill some order to feeding time between the two of them!

Ollie also enjoys going outside to 'play' with the neighborhood kids.  He mostly just watches them now, but is riveted by their activities! We can no longer leave him for even a split second on an elevated surface because he is rolling every where!  Trying to take these pictures in the laundry basket was tricky, even with both Ryan and I there.

I thought I would start off the pictures with a side by side view of just how much our little man has grown!

1 month old 

7 months old!
Look at those thighs!

Ollie attempted a couple forward rolls with this one.

I love his expression and the drool/snot!
We are experiencing our first real stuffy nose.

We also like to grab everything now, like the sheet they are sitting on. 

One of our new favorite positions to be in!