Babycenter said our little tyke was as big as a kumquat at 10 weeks... and it just stuck. So here we are, a Korean-American and an American-American, starting a family in Macau.
I am coming off a week where I felt the world was conspiring against me.
Complaints about the dog.
Complaints about scooter riding.
Calling someone's BS at work.
And then over the weekend something very special happened.
Our Capoeira Mestre - a very esteemed individual - had a special surprise - his first student ever from a long time ago came to Macau as a surprise.
And it was so incredibly moving - just to see and be part of all of the love and emotion of the room - and I felt really lucky to be part of something so... I dunno. It was hard to describe.
I genuinely appreciate the Capoeira family - such a nice group who are all about family and community and warm fuzzies. It has certainly made my Macau experience so much better this time... for my kids to be part of a big community... I am sorry... I am not the best at describing matters of the heart. It was amazing to be part of something so great - especially when I can have such a coat of expat armor over me most of the time...
Anyway - here are some pictures.
Charlotte kick playing Jenny - awesome!
Sophia in on the fun:
Mestre Eddy and his first student Contra Mestre Andrezinho:
And now some pictures from when we went to the Macau Tower and got in trouble for having fun. Blah:
I forgot to mention that Sophia sings that Taylor Swift song Trouble... except she sings about a shovel. "Oooh! Oooh! Shovel Shovel Shovel."
Matt went to HK last week - and we went too on Friday. I took care of the girls for 3 days by myself. And I am proud of myself as that is the longest stretch I have been on my own. Yay for me.
Charlotte was not so into the hockey tournament - probably a lack of sleep, a lot of queues and just the general noise of hockey was enough to do herself (and us) in. Next year we will probably keep her in Macau.
For us it was pretty good - the last time we were here (really here) was 7 years ago when Janice and Jason met.. and now they are married! Yay! Hockey tournaments! We are much older and more parental now, but it is fun to remember when we were young... once.
We stayed at the Hotel Panorama in my old stomping ground of TST. We went to Signal Hill Park behind my old place and I don't think I ever went there before (despite living there for 2.5 years) Joe H. met us for breakfast. It was a lovely morning in my old 'hood - but I certainly would not want to live there now with the kiddos.
Mother's Day we went to Altira for brunch. And then Matt took Charlotte to the Red Market area and she bought me flowers... her face was beaming and happy and it just made my day!
Janice and Char at Pizza Express. My fave 798 Unit & Co is gone now :(.
Nothing brings a family together better than an iPad :) :
Sorry sorry - I tried to get this out before Sunday was over but I was trying to balance sleep (and being up at 5:15) and finishing the blog (and my computer has 1 GB left of memory... if someone can help me strategically get rid of my .raw photo files please let me know)... and sleep won last night.
Just a few funny things that have happened recently:
The other day I catch Charlotte saying "What the hell?" on the way home. Naturally I ask her where she heard such a thing, and she cheerfully responds "Daddy." Turns out there was some dumb parking maneuvers at the school in the morning. So now we ask her to say heck - which is still not the best but better than hell.
Sophia and Charlotte always get lollipops at the grocery store. While Kathy was here they went to the store and bought nothing else... so Kathy told the girls to stand in line to pay for the lollipops. They asked why because they thought that the grocery store gave it to them for free (because I always pay while buying a slew of other things). So they honestly believed that the lollipops existed, just for them to have anywhere they wanted for FREE.
Matt and I went to see Katy Perry in concert on Friday and the girls really wanted to go. We went to lunch at our favorite Japanese place earlier in the day and Sophia was a grump, saying "I don't want to go to Japanese!" I ask her where she wants to go and she whines, "I want to go see Katy Perry." All while wearing an Elsa dress (of course).
Last week the girls and I went to HK for 2 days to get China visas... $1500 USD later we got them for 10 YEARS. Joy was an awesome host (we did not plan to stay the 2nd day but was advised to to ensure that we could get the 10 year one). We played London Bridge and the girls loved it while wearing Joy's tall shoes.
Charlotte is getting very good on her balance bike - she is 85% there on her peddle bike without training wheels. All within 2 weeks.
Sophia is amazing on her scooter too - she turns and brakes (unlike her sister).
Here they are on wheels at the Macau Tower:
Here is Matt at the office- he is going for Halloween as Bunsen Honeydew:
Matt trying to teach the girls golf:
The brood going to the grocery store:
Putting air in the balance bike:
Dawan the photo bomber:
We went to the park near the gas station by our park and subsequently got lectured in Cantonese for letting Dawan off her leash:
Macau Tower dinner - The Singing Bean Cafe does not have enough staffing to open the outside seating so we waited a while to sit:
Days in HK:
The view from the Courtyard by Marriott HK:
Joy had Play Doh - and the girls were thrilled!
We went to HK Park and Zoo:
We gave Dawan a long overdue haircut - she is now a labrador!
Tamar organized the kids in our building for some water hose fun - a great idea and a great day on Friday May 1!
Sophias kvatch:
Jessie met us for a brunch at Sky21 - surprisingly kid friendly! Great choice Jessie - thanks for spending the day with us as daddy watched the fight of the century!
