The Most Amazing Sunset

So we wanted to head back to the hotel and it was around 3:45, 4ish. We were all meeting up for dinner at 5. Dave, Lilia & I stood around town for at least 20 minutes looking for a taxi and there were none available! We were so mad. In our city there are taxi's everywhere unless it's raining. It turns out they were switching shifts at that time. So we decided to walk back to the hotel. As we were walked back around the lake we saw this view!!!!! I was SO thankful that we didn't get a taxi. We totally would have missed out on this beautiful portrait painted for us.

Lilia playing with stones

The Lake

Lilia the Tourist Attraction

Everywhere we stopped a crowd drew. It was so funny. Everyone was snapping pictures left and right. One woman handed Lilia cotton candy and wanted a picture with her. She didn't want the cotton candy because it was too sticky. We couldn't stop anywhere without people gathering. We were exhausted at the end of the day.

This walk way had no edges. It made me so nervous, but it's pretty common to have something like this whether it's rocks crossing a water way or a path.

This street had such a rustic look to it.

Friday night down a shopping street

A wonderful weekend!

On Friday Dave, Lilia, myself and the rest of our group took an hour and a half train ride to a city just south of ours. It's a tourist town even domestically. It was such a beautiful city. The architecture was so old and so beautiful. It's what you think of when you think of this country (unlike our city which is so modern.) We explored Friday night after we had a great meal. Then on Saturday we went to the lake. Wow, it was so pretty. There was a Starbucks on the lake where Dave and the 3 girls all went for some quiet time to read. All the windows on the first floor were glass from floor to ceiling. I was told in the warmer months they open them like doors. You were surrounded by green shrubbery and it was really peaceful and relaxing. I want to go there everyday!

A weekend away

This weekend we are going to a nearby city. We'll take the train about 1 1/2-2 hours. This city is known for it's lakes. Lilia loves trains and especially planes. Hopefully she'll do well.
I'll let you know how it goes!
Oh - Lilia always talks about planes. When she does she always says, "Plane, sky, Poppy." (Poppy is what my dad is called.) So dad I think Lilia is trying to tell you something!

Lilia enjoyed dessert

I helped her discover whipped cream. She loves it!

Lilia enjoying sweet potatoes

Lilia

Thanksgiving Day

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! We had roasted chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green beans and roasted vegetables.
To top it all off we had homemade apple and pumpkin pie. Someone even made a pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing.
Everything was pretty good. At least for being here. We played games and laughed. Lilia was the only kid, but she had a great time!

Christmas is coming

The holidays are a bit different here because there is no Christmas music on the radio (if we listened to it) nor is there commercials for toys and the unforgettable, "Every kiss begins with Kay." So gearing up for Christmas comes purely from your own excitement of the holidays!
In the mail today I got a gift from my mom & mother-in-law. It's a 12inch decorated tree. It's so cute. They got it at a craft show. Last week I did a little Christmas shopping because I was without Lilia. I got stockings to hang up and stuff to make my own wreath.
I think I'll start decorating next weekend! I can't wait.

Thanksgiving Eve

I'm so excited that tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We have the whole day off and Dave even gets to play football with friends. We'll have dinner around 3 with other people we know here. There should be about 12 of us. We aren't having a turkey. They are really expensive for what you get. We are getting roasted chickens which will be pretty good. We're having all the fixins that you would normally have. Some people are even making apple & pumpkin pie.
This is my absolute favorite meal of the year. I"m excited that it won't be much different from home!

It's been a while

I feel I have to apologize for all of our daily readers. I know I haven't updated you in a while. No, I'm not mad at you. Lilia hasn't been napping since Friday, with the exception of Sunday. During her nap is when I would generally catch up on life here. So let's see...what's been going on.
Friday & Saturday night for me were girls nights. The one night was casual and we watched Ugly Betty. The other was planned where we shared what's been going on and how we're doing.
Dave babysat Ryan, Lilia's friend and he did a great job with both girls. He texted me at one point after I asked how it went. Here's what he wrote..."No problem. Lilia went down at 7pm. Ryan was picked up at 8. They played well. We can have a dozen kids. :-D"
I had to laugh when I read that! Oh, and don't get any ideas, we're probably stickin' with 2 kids.

Saturday morning we biked around for 2 hours. Not for fun, but because we were lost. I thought I could get us to Decathalon using this nice back way, but we missed our turn. We ended up finding it, but by sheer prayer! I think that's all.

The Culture Here

What I love about this country is how practical they are. Almost everything is done for a reason and it just makes sense. For example, there is a new spot the kids play at. It's nothing special, just off of the street and not even in the grass. They don't play at the circle much now (where Lilia was seen doing her fan dance) because it's in the shade. This new spot they play in is in the sun, where it's warm. As the weather gets colder and kids still play outside, they just move to the sunny spots where it's notably warmer.
Something else I've noticed is now that is starting to get into the 40's you see different items out for sale that weren't around 2 weeks ago. Many people here still bike around or motorcycle as their mode of transportation. Well they sell these things that strap onto your calf that are leather on the front side and fur on the back side. That way you stay warm when you bike around.
One last thing that is rather disgusting is a toilet seat cover made of fleece. Now you may think big deal, we have those! Well not like they do. They put the seat over on the part you sit your bare butt on. Um...ew! That's Asian culture for you. They fear the cold and will avoid it. (Side note: nicer homes are heated, but not the same way we heat ours. So if you don't have much money your home is pretty cold.)

Lilia's new winter coat

Last week I went to a children's market and bought Lilia this winter coat. None of us brought one and so she needed one. It is great quality and the coat was only $21. The hat is from America; if you're wondering.

The food market

It is a new day!

We are all pretty healthy today. Lilia was asleep by 7pm. Dave and I both went to bed at 8:30pm. We all woke up somewhere between 6:30 and 7am. I think that we really needed the rest. Lilia and I, so far, seem to be healthy. Dave is doing well also.
It's a beautifully sunny, cold day and Lilia went out on a bike ride to explore where a local bowling alley might be. We rode around for a while with no luck.
I did however stumble upon what I remembered to be a clothes market. We walked in and found that it was a food market instead. On the other side of the street was the clothes market that I remembered from being here in 2005, but many of the shops weren't open yet. After all it was only about 10am and since they stay open late, they probably don't open closer to 11.

What A Crappy Day

Dave was up at 6:15 this morning throwing up. He's so loud when he's sick. It woke Lilia up and therefore I was up too. Lilia had diarrhea after she woke up. Luckily she had feet in pajamas because it helped to capture the poop that was around her toes. We stuck her in the bath and hosed her down.
We were supposed to have dinner with another family tonight. I made chili and a cake. I love black beans in my chili but you can't find them canned here; even at the most western grocery store. So I had to buy them dried. I was a bit intimidated because I've never cooked w/dried beans, but hey let's give it a shot! So I soak them overnight.
Well I bite into the chili tonight, alone mind you, and hmmm what's kind of hard? The black beans are not soft as you would expect them to be. A huge pot of chili that we can't share with friends, the beans are hard and the flavor's off.
I'm sure this would happen to us in America too. I know it would. It's only when you're over seas big and little things are amplified. Tomorrow's another day. Tomorrow's another day. Tomorrow's another day...

At the Aquarium...

The aquarium had all kinds of fish, and a viewing tank for turtles, sting rays and sharks. Lilia really liked the sharks.

The whale (white) is jumping up to touch the ball. (left)
The seal doing a trick. (right)

The Whale was painting

The Whale show

So for some crazy reason the whale show stadium is a 10 minute walk around the lake from the aquarium. Why you ask; I don't know! So we get there and we get some good seats. They start off with a couple of seals doing some tricks. Then they bring out divers (foreigners) and they do some cool tricks. We aren't even half way through the show and Lilia turns to me and say, "All done" and throws up her hands to do the sign language too. I tell her, "No honey, we haven't even seen the whales yet. We're not all done." I managed to get her to stay and the divers put on silly costumes and do funny dives into the water.
Then comes the whales. It was a bit of a let down. I was super excited, but they hardly did any tricks! Oh well. Lilia enjoyed herself and I did too.

A Local Aquarium

On Friday afternoon Lilia and I explored the aquarium at the park really close to our house. It's the same park we went boating at one Saturday afternoon. Well you buy a ticket for the aquarium and it also gets you a seat for the Beluga Whale show!!! I was so excited; like a kid on Christmas eve. I love marine life so much.

Lilia practices her fan dance

The women love to give Lilia a fan to see what she'll do. They smile and laugh at her as she tries to dance with them.

Lilia chatting on mommy's phone

Knitting Season

It's knitting season here and everyone is either knitting sweaters for their children or crocheting slippers! There are always women knitting on the corner and the stuff they literally whip up is amazing!

Lilia's Nature Room

I went to the flower and craft market and got some fake birds, butterflies, flowers and leaves and put them around Lilia's room. The birds are her favorite. She shouts, "Birds" and points to them when ever someone new comes over.

An American Dinner

The other night I made a fabulous meal that we enjoyed in the states and I was able to recreate it here. It was pulled pork bbq sandwiches on delicious rolls with mashed potatoes and green beans. There is a near by grocery store that has fabulous breads. This country is liking bread more and more. Side note: I found a french cafe that sells croissants and french baguettes that are to die for!!!

Yu Garden Tourist Area

Traditional architecture at a tourist spot.

Early morning view

This is the view of the building from our balcony.

Lilia and her (girl) friend Ryan playing.

Here are a couple of street food vendors. The first one is candied fruit. The asian's love it, we've never tried it.
The second picture is like a corn cake. Sounds delicious right, well no it's gross. We got 2 and took a couple of bites out of one. It all ended up in the trash. Hey we tried it though!

Reading together

The Weather

I'm sure all let you know throughout the winter what it's like here. I've heard that the winters are cold, maybe similar to where we live even though we are at a much lower latitude. The thing that makes the winters hard here, from what I've heard, is that there aren't many heated places. You walk everywhere, take the train, taxi or bus so you're outside a lot. You aren't in a heated car in between places. I've heard stores aren't heated ans sometimes restaurants aren't either. Apartments, ours included, have hardwood floors over concrete and concrete walls so nothing holds the heat in. What was our air conditioner in the summer is now our heater. We also have them in the bedrooms too, but not the kitchen or bathroom. So we'll see how it goes. They sell space heaters, you wear thermals under your clothes all winter long and drink hot drinks often. I've heard those are some of the tricks!
We have entered jacket/vest season. It's chilly in the house already. At least we'll be gone most of January in Thailand for our winter break.

Lilia does 2 new things that are so cute.
1. You hear the phrase "xiao xing" often when the kids are playing outside. It means "be careful." Well she's been repeating it and using it in the correct context. This morning she was playing on the bed. She stood on the pillow and was putting her one leg towards the side dresser like she was going to step to it and was saying, "xiao xing." Dave and I just look at each other and laugh!
2. This morning Dave sneezed and she said, "Bless you, bless you." Again so cute!

Breaking local news...

So get this...there is this construction sight out our balcony. It's so ugly and when we had the windows open it let so much dirt in. Plus at times they have worked for 24 hours straight several days in a row. We don't totally hear it; it's background noise. Every once in a while you hear it.
Anyway, the news is they are building a power plant. The complex we live in has over 10 buildings, with anywhere from 12-30 floors. Some of these apartments can cost anywhere from $300,000 - $700,000. And that's US dollars!!! So earlier this week there were protesters (crazy thing for this country). The construction sight hired military guys to protect the workers.
Dave and I saw all these guys, at least 50, lined up against the wall with camouflage outerwear and orange hard hats. We had no idea what was going on. We thought maybe the workers were suspended or something. This morning my friend told me that they are the military guys. It rained all day so neither protesters nor military men were around, but wow. And all this in our own back yard! Don't worry moms, we're safe!

The joy's of living in another culture!

So just now, 7:30pm, I went to turn on a light and I blew a fuse! Lilia just went down and Dave left about 15 minutes prior for a guys night of X-box. I called all of my friends in the development and NO ONE answered their phone! Not to mention their husbands were probably at the guys night too and they couldn't leave their sleeping children. So I called the married-without kid friend in the complex. She and her husband weren't around, but she tried to guide me through flipping some switches to no avail. So we thought of asking my neighbor. She taught me how to say, "Can you help me," in the language. I knocked, said my phrase and she understood!!! She came over, flipped a switch and lights were back on.
I must admit I was freaking out for a moment, but everything turned out all right!

My kid is so smart

Yesterday Lilia and I were looking in the closet for something. She spotted a box of cough syrup and the picture of the box was of a cartoon man with a big smile on his face and his hands raised in the air. She pointed to the box, without any prompting, and said, "Happy."
Just another one of those, "my kid is so smart," moments!

Bath time laughs