ZZZZZZZ. Snuggled with their comfort blanket and puppy, the kids are at home.
Wildlife up high.
Wildlife up close.
Wildlife in the trees.
Wildlife down low.
Where did Hannah go? Space mountain not her favorite?
What? Daffy isn't real?
We visited a beach for a little vacation. Joshua remembered how to swim.
We share the road.
We share the road.
We get an icecream cake that is purple... and tastes purple. The kids loved it.
We find friends at the zoo.
We enjoy Indian food.
We decided Hannah's cookies looked like seeds.
We celebrate 32 years!
We are tired, but this photo was faked.
We are ready to see the beasts!
Watch out for the beasts!
Walking shoes.
Up to the top.
Two pieces of furniture could not fit through the door, so our friends came over and helped us saw it up. Yes, our new furniture.
Trying to keep in line.
Trampoline time, the more the merrier!
Tombs line the trail up.
Tired? The kids lay down on lunch time stools.
Time for a grand day out with the animals!
This restaurant's performers sing and dance.
This picture window makes a good picture.
This mountian has stairs!
This is the way to travel!
This is really exciting!
This is a tractor, called a "push-pull" named after its work. Nose uncovered, they are very loud on the roads.
This is a popular way to ride here.
This day trip took us to a very poor, but beautiful city.
This all melted by noon.
This adventure would never fly in the States, but here, balls inflated with air and filled with small children are let to float around the lake.
These rolled papers covered a doorway.
These children look out on the trash collector.
The view from our apartment.
The view from here.
The trip back in the boat found four exhausted, but happy people.
The tranquility of the forest.
The nurse checks for hand foot and mouth disease before letting the children in.
The kids share a snack of fried breads, filled with meats and jams.
The kids got these great boxes to play in! And all the adults got was a washing machine.
The kids found this play ground still accessible to them.
The goat herd wears a rain covering made of natural needles and bark.
The clay for a wall.
The children pass morning exercises on their way.
The bowling attendant brought us warm, wet towlettes. I wasn't sure what to do with them. Joshua asked the lady what they were. Hannah already had decided.
The balloon lady.
The artist at work. The kids had these boxed colored, painted, and covered in stickers!
The alleys were extremely old, and only used by foot and bicycle.
Take a walk on the moon!
TCKs: Third Culture Kids. A mix of both cultures they have lived in. Here Joshua eats American spaghetti with chopsticks.
Sunshine and flowers.
Somebody come and play!
Somebody come and play today!
Snow is a rare sight in our city. This was the first and only time we saw it.
Smile! It is tarzan's tree house!
Smile!
Sharing the back seat with out the constraint of car seats is a hands on experience.
School was not cancelled due to the snow, so off we went!
School time!
Rooftops of the ancient city.
Roadtrip sights.
Riding around the courtyard on training wheels.
Ready to be boiled and eaten!
RIding around the carousel.
Pot stickers, filled with meat and vegetables.
Posing in the rain.
Play ground time!
PLAY GROUNDS! We were prepared for most play grounds to be built at an adult scale. Everybody likes to exercise during the morning.
Our trunks bedded with us in the hotel our first nights in East Asia.
Our hotel has bowling. One morning the kids and I tried it out.
Our furniture arrives!
Our friend helps us seal the dough.
Our first photos of our time outside of the States. We have dinner during a lay over.
Our dinner of fish.
On to school.
On guard!
Ok, I will come play with you!
Now it is time for our morning exercises!
Noodles and rice at Disney Land.
No, I am the real Buzz Lightyear!
No one had scrapers or equipment for this day.
No furniture, but we do have computers in our new apartment.
Nature's beauty.
Mommy squeezes in for a photo with Pan Da.
Mommy ices the rest of the cookies.
Mille Bornes is a familiar game.
Meow. Hannah Kitty wears ears.
Mail from the States! Whoopee!
Let's swing together!
Let's stop to play. This game on the foot massage exerciser the kids call "Hello, Goodbye" as they swivel back and forth.
Let's play!
Let's go!
Let's fight Zurg like Buzz Lightyear!
KFC! We eat some familiar food.
Jump! Jump! Jump!
Joshua's dead fish.
Joshua's Jesus cookie is on the cross.
Joshua with his class.
Joshua walked on water.
Joshua sets up in the TV box, with a light and a snack.
Joshua peeks in on a napping Hannah.
Joshua on some beautiful furniture made of tree roots turned upside down. And a huge disc of tea in the background.
Joshua hydrates next to a skeleton display.
Joshua has conquered the two-wheeler!
Joshua gets assistance from his friends.
Joshua finds a playmate in the sand box.
Joshua explores a painted forest.
Joshua enjoys his birthday presents.
Joshua does some excavating.
Joshua cools off with a strawberry drink in the afternoon.
Joshua comes up with new uses for the shoulder rotation exerciser, a rocket ship!
Joshua at work at his desk.
Joshua and his masterpieces.
Joshua and Hannah share a ride.
Jet lag catches up with the kids after dinner at a neighbor's house.
I smell a cooking show!
How high can you swing?
Home within our home.
Home Depot apron is an important accessory.
Heavy load, divided by two.
Happy Birthday, Joshua!
Hannah's pet fish.
Hannah's icing ended up in her mouth.
Hannah wears a ski mask in the hopes that it will deter her thumb sucking.
Hannah watches her little ball leave the nest.
Hannah sang and danced with the performers!
Hannah refills her bucket for the sand box.
Hannah plays ball in a house.
Hannah loved the water.
Hannah looks on.
Hannah in a house.
Hannah hugs Jessie from Toy Story, then quickly runs away.
Hannah hitches yet another ride.
Hannah hitches another ride.
Hannah hitches a ride.
Hannah helps me cook in the kitchen. She is as handy as an appliance on my counter.
Hannah has quite a few cookies to ice.
Hannah dozes in her window seat with her babies by her side.
Hannah decorating Easter eggs.
Hannah could not hide her lack of appreciation for the sea food.
Hannah can't resist petting.
Hannah bolts, but one child takes this very seriously.
Hannah awaits her breakfast with classmates.
Hannah and Mommy steer in circles, a ride Mommy rode as a child.
Good morning, Hannah!
Get 'em, Hannah!
For a Mommy's birthday celebration we eat Indian food.
Family vacation to Disney land!
Family time!
Family stops to rest.
Excuse me, do you have your license?
Enjoying the sunshine.
Easter is finally here! Sunrise from the roof top.
Easter cookies rolled out with a dumpling roller.
Easter cards and decorations.
During long bus rides, Hannah often ends up in a kind stranger's lap.
Double decker buses! What a ride!
David was entertained by the fish heads.
David chows some yummy KFC icecream.
Daddy sandwich.
Daddy climbs Tarzan's rope.
Daddy and Joshua tackle a lego project on the rug.
Cycling tandum.
Buzz! We've seen all your movies!
Breakfast? It is rice tortillas with shredded potatoes and greens inside.
Breakfast in bed for Daddy's birthday!
Breakfast in bed doesn't work as well in a loft, so we have "Breakfast on Daddy" instead.
Beautiful tile roofs.
Beautiful girl.
Beautiful girl.
Beautiful city from afar.
Beat Daddy!
Balloons for sale.
Another appliance, another box to decorate with a friend.
An old city gate, mostly made of glass, catches our attention.
An inviting path leads us down the mountain.
An exhausted girl.
An elegant temple emerges from the landscape.
Almost there.
All of his favorite foods for dinner!
A woman with a basket back pack goes through trash.
A whole group of people exercise to music in the morning.
A teacup built for two!
A special treat: Lotus Root. Starchy like a potato and grows underwater.
A nearby park is a lovely place to visit.
A more modern street. These green 3 wheeled vehicles were the town's "taxis".
A man carries his caged bird cages fashioned after a design hundreds of years old, past drying grain.
A lakeside walk.
A herd passes by on our descent.
A detail of the gate.
A climbing wall in a nearby play area.
A beautiful entrance greets us for a day hike.
A beautiful city from afar.
A beautiful bridge.
Sleeping beauty awakes from her nap in her bay window above the parking lot.
The view from Joshua's loft bed.
Lego central in Joshua' room.
The flowers make their plea.
The children on a boat full of flowers.
Joshua gets a kite flying lesson from a grandparent.
Jumping on an inflatable climbing wall is fun for all!
Hannah seeks an escape.
First day of school, here we come! I dressed myself!
First day of school, here I come!
More pictures of scenery.
This farming community is found in the countryside.
Beautiful countryside.
Hannah makes a new friend at a theme park.
Hannah makes another new friend.
The clouds dance across the sky.
Hannah and I on a school field trip.
We take a ride around the park.
All of these dinosaurs were found in the surrounding area.
Hannah tames a wild dinosaur beast.
Pickles are hard to find, but making our own is lovely.
Hannah helps them pickle by hammering on the lid with markers.
Time to dance!
Lego maniac.
Lego maniac maniac.
Hannah's school staff stops by for a visit to check on her when she gets hurt at school.
Hannah took a trip to the hospital when her ear was cut at school.
Lego maniac maniac maniac.
Traditional clothes dress up our Third Culture Kids.
IMG_3254.JPG
IMG_3255.JPG
IMG_3260.JPG
IMG_3302.JPG
IMG_3309.JPG
IMG_3311.JPG
More lego mania.
The first tooth lost since he was a year and a half in an accident.
Let's celebrate a lost tooth with icecream all around.
Yes, Hannah dressed herself this morning.
Rice harvesting is a hands on job.
Harvested stalks are bundled together.
Harvested rice is raked out to dry.
Rice bundles are kept for pig bedding.
This farmer peacefully looked out over his land.
The red clay stands in sharp contrast to the blue sky.
Landscape.
IMG_3642
IMG_3643
IMG_3650
IMG_3655
IMG_3659
IMG_3684
IMG_3701
IMG_3732
Tile roofs up close.
These hundred-year-old windows now covered in modern class.
Joshua does some drawing in the light of the window.
A wall made from clay.
A hundred year old doorway.
This door is decorated for the new year.
IMG_3882
IMG_3898
IMG_3904
This man becons people to come eat tasty noodles.
Silk making up close. Tiny worms are stripped of their coccoons which are stretched across this arc form to dry.
The boiled silk worms.
We came across a Deaf girl in her parent's shop.
A clean stream makes for a refrigerator.
Joshua explores a stone mosaic.
These poles used for hanging up corn to dry make a nice climb.
Daddy takes Hannah up a corn drying pole.
This man wears ancient clothes for visitors.
Family photo up close.
Family photo from afar. This was the way homes used to look hundreds of years ago.
A garden caught my eye.
The homes surrounding the garden.
Stone steps on a pathway on the way to the garden.
IMG_4074
Does that flower smell good?
These performers showed off instruments on a walking bridge.
IMG_4098
Hannah finds a comfortable seat beside some dancers taking a break.
We make pot stickers (called Joudza) by hand.
The kids help out stuffing dough with meat and vegetables to boil for lunch.
The roof over the home where we stayed.
Peeking in on a neighbor's wedding.
A dream come true. Riding atop a horse, clothed in fur, holding a gun!
Smile!
This hat was photoworthy.
We climbed this 5 story pagoda for a view of the ancient city.
At the foot of the pagoda.
Beautiful carving, beautiful girl.
Peek a boo!
The view from the top of the pagoda.
Let's climb back down now.
Hannah plops in the center of harmony.
The girls try on some national outfits.
To we look authentic?
Daddy and Hannah look great!
Joshua poses on a hike down to a famous river.
The descent to the river has stairs
The view of the river was worth the hike.
Daddy and his children!
The view downstream.
This waterfall on the side of the mountain didn't get us too wet.
What a view!
Water comes, water goes.
Time to go back up.
This breathtaking view was captured on the walk back up.
STA_4845
David made it all the way down to the river's edge.
What a handsome guy.
Hannah's school takes another field trip. We loaded up for a whole day out.
Cool shades!
We found some cornfields ready to be harvested by hand.
There were steps cut in the dirt so parents and children could ascend to the apple orchard.
Hannah the harvester.
How about this one?
Mother daughter date.
Tasty lunch: rice, eggs, meat and vetetables, and vegetable soup to wash it down.
Hannah finds some friends to dance with during lunch.
We won second place in the apple carving contest.
Joshua, our soccer hero.
Funny, yet an antimidating foe.
What ball, where?
Joshua takes on the intimidating purple goo at a fair.
Hannah, takes on a wall of balloons.
Are you comfortable handing that girl a dart?
Joshua's turn.
Now Hannah takes on the purple goo.
Lego time.
Joshua celebrates his heart birthday. He became a Christian on this day and we went to Pizza Hut to celebrate.
We celebrated with him!
We took a trip to a nearby city for a day out.
Hannah takes a walk through the park.
IMG_5833.JPG
IMG_5837.JPG
IMG_5884.JPG
IMG_5890.JPG
Yes, another outfit of Hannah's own making.
Joshua and Daddy on a new Lego adventure.
This park had a beautiful lake to walk beside.
Uncle Daniel came to town and took loads of photos.
Here, Daniel and Joshua pose in front of two enourmous rocks.
Joshua considers all the rocks a climbing paradise.
We all had fun trying on these costumes.
IMG_6029.JPG
IMG_6047.JPG
Exploring the rocks was an adventure for Joshua.
A photograph of the photographer.
IMG_6157.JPG
Joshua was fascinated by these dancer's instruments and they let him try them out.
IMG_6208.JPG
IMG_6209.JPG
IMG_6214.JPG
These dancers took a break from their routine.
Lots of beautiful places to take photos.
IMG_6246.JPG
IMG_6263.JPG
David helps prepare Thanksgiving dinner.
What a spread!
The kids make a gingerbread house with Uncle Daniel, as is their tradition.