Kadoorie Farms

After day 1 at Disneyland, we decided we wanted a low key day at home to rest and recharge before we went back for day 2.  After a morning at home, Kara and I decided to take the older kids to Kadoorie Farms and leave Patrick and Katherine home to nap.  Tommy and Charlotte were excited to take Lilia on a double decker bus.  The kids had a great time looking at all the animals and exploring the gardens and various hiking trails.

Checking out the pigs

 

Charlotte posing in front of the statue

Birthday parties

Charlotte went to her friend Allyson's birthday party this weekend.  She was SO excited.  We bought a gift at Disneyland last weekend and she has asked me about wrapping it everyday.  The party started at 2, but she was very concerned about being late and asked me many times when we would leave and told me she was ready.  She got the present and told me she would just hold it and wait about 2 hours before we needed to leave.  (she quickly gave up that idea).  Allyson's invitations had my little ponies on them and when Charlotte was picking out her outfit, she saw this outfit with a rainbow ribbon and decided she would look just like Rainbow Dash.  I don't think anyone at the party saw the resemblance.

Charlotte's outfit

Rainbow Dash

Charlotte had a great time at the party.  They had tons of food and she had a great time running around and playing with her friends.  

A few weeks ago she had gone to a different friend's Frozen party and had a great time as well.  Most of the little girls wore Elsa dresses.  Charlotte wore her Anna shirt.  She has a really great group of kids in her class and they play really well together.

Charlotte with her Dolphin glitter tattoo

Disneyland-Day 2

Kara wanted to spend 2 days at Disneyland.  The second day, we got there right at park opening (it opened 30 minutes earlier than Monday, presumably because of the holiday) and went straight to the back of the park which we didn't get to on Monday.  We rode 4 rides without having to wait in line at all.  We spent most of the morning riding rides, then when the park started to get busy, we ate lunch and went to a few shows.  We watched the afternoon parade and shopped for some souvenirs and were ready to leave.

The girls in front of Small World (Tommy and Uncle Patrick went to ride Space Mountain instead)

Katherine loved Small World

We were excited to ride the Disneyland train.  It had been closed for construction of the new Iron Man ride they are building.  This was the first time it was open.

The kids loved trying on the different hats while Kara shopped for souvenirs

This Olaf hat is adorable, but not very practical.  How are you possibly supposed to keep it on.  

Overall, Disneyland was a hit.  I think it was the highlight of the trip for Lilia.  She was looking at Tommy's atlas and confused why she couldn't find Disneyland on the Hong Kong section.

Chinese New Year-Disneyland

We were so excited for Aunt Kara, Uncle Patrick, Lilia and Katherine to visit over Chinese New Year.  They arrived late Saturday night.  After spending Sunday exploring the local area and resting to try to recover from their jetlag, we headed to Disneyland on Monday.  The kids had a great time riding all the rides.

On the Disney train

Cousin love while waiting in line

Perfect sized seats.

The first thing we did when we got there in the morning was get line tickets for the girls to meet Anna and Elsa later in the day.  They had been at Disneyland the last couple times we went, but the line was always too long (or closed) for a meet and greet.  After lunch it was our designated time.  Patrick and Tom were happy to take Tommy to another part of the park to ride a roller coaster while we waited.  We only spent about 10 minutes in line.  Katherine was scared, but the big girls were very excited.  I am happy that is checked off the list.

Charlotte with her Anna pigtails and Lilia with an Elsa braid

We stayed until the night parade.  They put on a good show and I thought it was worth staying for.  Unfortunately, since it was so crowded, we had to get spots for the parade and wait for awhile before the parade started.  It had been a long day and Lilia was still jet lagged, so she ended up falling asleep about 5 minutes before the parade started.  It had been a long day for everyone and we ended up carrying 4 sleepy (or asleep) kids out of the park.  It was an exhausting, but fun day.  

Hiking

One of the great things about living in Hong Kong is the warm weather.  The weather is warm enough to be outside all year, we just have to keep an eye on the pollution levels.  Not having a car, we do a lot of walking to get places.  The kids have built up a good endurance and are able to walk much further than when we first got here.  We really enjoy going on hikes.  Hong Kong is 40% county parks and nature reserves so there are many hiking trails.

In January, I decided I wanted to start doing more family hikes.  I had been looking for a hike to do that wouldn't be too difficult.  I found a website that listed top HK hikes in different categories (most challenging, most romantic, most scenic, etc).  I decided we would try the best hike for families.

The directions for getting to the hike were a little vague.  We spent some time walking back and forth before we were going the right direction.  When we finally got to our turn, there was a huge hill to walk up.  Charlotte was pretty tired by the time we got to the top.  I then realized (after 30 minutes of walking) we were just at the entrance to the trail.  The trail (which was a paved road that had the occasional car) continued straight uphill.  After awhile, there was a old house they had turned into a museum that we enjoyed going through.  After we walked uphill for awhile more, we were all pretty worn out.  The kids did some complaining and were wanting to take frequent breaks for drinks and to eat the snacks I had brought.  We were almost ready to turn around, but then we noticed a wooded trail on the side of the path to explore.  It was called Sir Cecil's Ride.  Suddenly the kids had a surge of energy and started running up the steps.  We walked around a little more and decided to turn around and head home.  The kids said they didn't want to do another hike for awhile.

Tom and the kids on Sir Cecil's Ride

Tommy has been very motivated to climb Cloudy Hill which is a large hill by our house.  The trail is accessible from our neighborhood and I have climbed it several times with friends.  Tommy and I attempted to climb it with friends earlier this year when it was still very hot.  We made it halfway before turning around.  He was pretty exhausted by the time we got home.  Early February, Tommy decided he was determined to climb to the top.  Charlotte said she wanted to go too (although she didn't want to go to the top).  We all went and Tom and Tommy were going to go as far as they could and I was going to turn around with Charlotte when she got tired.  (I didn't even know if she would make it to the start of the path, you have to walk uphill in our neighborhood quite a bit before you even get to the entrance.)

Ready for a hike up Cloudy Hill.  A princess dress is perfect hiking attire.  

On the path

 Charlotte made it much further than I expected.  She made it about 1/3 of the way,  The last part was a stretch of many, many stairs.  She was practically running up the stairs.  She was excited to get to the top where they had a picnic area and she could eat the snack I brought.  Then, we headed back and Tom and Tommy continued.  They only made it to the halfway point before turning around.  

The next week, Tommy wanted to try to climb it again with Tom and Uncle Patrick.  This time, they made it further than before, but turned around before reaching the top.  It was very foggy, so they couldn't see the top and Tommy was very tired (he had been sick the day before).  They decided it was better to turn around early since they didn't know how much further they had to go.  I think they made it about 3/4 of the way.  Patrick tried to run ahead to see if they were close, but must have turned around right before he reached the top (there was no visibility)

Tommy with Patrick in the background.  You can see (or not see) how foggy it is.

Tom and Tommy at their turnaround point

Tommy and Uncle Patrick 

Last weekend, Tommy decided he wanted to try it again.  He decided he wanted to try it with me.  He was so excited.  He did great the whole way.  He was even running up the stairs toward the end of the ascent.  He definitely had more energy than I did.  He was so proud of himself when we reached the top.  He can't wait to do it again.  He had plenty of energy, even on the way down.  He told me he was ready to do it a second time right then.  I told him we should wait for a different day.  

Tommy at the top of Cloudy Hill

Tommy in front of the power station at the top

Chinese New Year celebrations

Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday of the year here.  Both kids dressed up in traditional Chinese costumes for school.

Charlotte with her lai see packet

 

Charlotte's class also had a CNY performance.  All the kids dressed up and they sang songs in Chinese and did dances.

Charlotte lined up with her class.  She is in the pink dress in the left corner.

The lion dance.  Charlotte is playing a drum in the group on the left.  She told me she had to play the drum loudly to scare away all the bad things from last year so they would have a good year.

Charlotte with some of her friends after the performance.

After the performance, the teachers gave each of the students a lai see packet.  A lai see packet is a red envelope given to children or employees/service workers for Chinese New Year.  They usually contain money.  Typically, each packet is supposed to contain a single bill and it is customary to go to the bank to get brand new bills for the packets.  You never give an amount of money with a 4 in it because the Chinese word for four is very similar to the word for death.  The lai see packets the kids got at school contained a gold chocolate coin.  It was good practice for the kids to learn how to receive the packets.  They are given and accepted with two hands and the kids said xiexie ("shay-shay" thank you in Chinese) to their teachers.  

I have been substituting teaching at the kids' school occasionally.  I worked most of the week before Chinese New Year.  The last day before their school break for the holiday was February 13th (or 13 February as they say here).  It was interesting to me that the whole week Valentine's Day was never mentioned at school.  Charlotte didn't bring home any heart crafts or anything.  The whole week was focused on Chinese New Year.  I loved not having to send valentine cards to school and not having the kids bring home 25+ Vday cards with candy.  (I did see several Valentine's Day promotions at many of the restaurants around town, so I know it is something they recognize here, although it could be something they promote to just cater to the expats).

Tom's birthday

We had a good time celebrating Tom's birthday.  It fell on a Saturday so we had the day to spend together.  We started the day with breakfast in bed for Tom.  We made pancakes, eggs, fruit, yogurt, and tea.  The kids had made cards for Tom as well.

After a lazy morning, we went to the country club for lunch.  Tommy and Tom went out for a hike and Charlotte stayed home to help me make his cupcakes.  We combined several different recipes and made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chip cookie dough inside with peanut butter frosting. Charlotte loves to help me cook/bake.  :)  We also made some homemade pizza.  Both kids helped decorate the pizzas.  Since Tom's birthday is on Valentine's day, they decorated it with a heart.

The cupcakes were amazing!

 Tom's birthday was also a big day because that evening, Kara, Patrick, Lilia and Katherine were coming to visit.  We were all very excited to see them.  Their plane was arriving after the kids were going to be asleep, so they made signs to show them where they were staying and where Tommy and Charlotte were sleeping (Tommy was giving up his room and bunking with Charlotte for the visit).