August 10, 2015 - Professional photos

So - again with the 'so busy' excuse... but really I am!

Back from China and going to 'Merica in 36 hours...

We took some professional photos for my 40th birthday.  Taking professional pictures is kind of like being pregnant- the process is not the most fun (I have sympathy for models) but the results are great!

Thanks Jef Cris for taking these amazing photos!

So - I will get a proper update in next week from somewhere in Wisconsin.

Anywhoo, here goes!  It looks like there are more than this - but we will start here...

July 31, 2015 - Bikes and Swim

Sorry - almost another week goes by and I am blogging.

I am busy!  Work is busy - and that is no excuse.

Matt accidentally lost my work notebook at Yum Cha and I am gutted.  I am trying to get over it but I love taking notes and this had all my Cold Front opening notes!  Ugh.

We spent last Saturday with Justin biking around Fisherman's Wharf.  So fun!

Stop motion - Char is biking!

And Sophia is a speed demon too:

Where has my baby Sophia gone?

Yum Cha:

Char the photographer:

Char's pictures:

Trying to get Sophia to go underwater in the pool - success!

The daddy swim train:

July 21, 2015 - Bye Paul and Chimelong and No More Diapers!

So we bid adieu to Paul.

How valuable he was to me professionally and personally.

Thanks for a great 2.5 weeks friend - let us do it again sometime (under different circumstances).

Andrew and Emily came to town - for their 10 year wedding anniversary!

They convinced us to go to Chimelong.  In the heat.  In the summer.

Because this is how the Bolsteins roll.  And this is how we roll with them - hot and themed and entertained!

In parenting news - we are finally done with diapers!  Yay!

I was hoping to have a celebratory bonfire of diapers in our backyard... but alas the toxic fumes (and the lack of a backyard) makes this improbable.

We got Sophia off diapers with a sticker chart (of 25) and the promise of a princess rainbow cake.  So I delivered... although making cakes is not my forte (nor is its associated structural engineering).

But the girls were happy - and that was all that mattered.

The girls have discovered my dresses - they are not too big on them!

Princess Rainbow cake - a diaperless celebration!  Cakes by V I am not!

Bye Paul!  Here with Iris in Zhongshan:

The 3 of us:

We went to Kafka in Paul's last night in Macau - yummy and cool space!

This thing was an amazing butter - sugar- caramel - bread pillow goodness!

Chimelong Ocean Kingdom - we did not stay too long but we will be back when it is cooler.  With Amanda and Alicia in tow!  Very decent for a mainland park.

Sophia not so into the photos:

Some dolphin character!

The Bolsteins!

Love this photo - photobomb by Sophia, Matt and I in matching T-shirts, Charlotte's finger on the side:

Over the top themed hotel - literally:

After the theme park - swimming!

And finally a photo from a few weeks ago - the girls and Jenny and Jason at The Ritz Carlton for a night in the suite.  So spoiled!  Even we did not get to go visit!