31 May 2009
Junky Day
Today we were invited out on a junk by some friends of ours. What a great, relaxing day. The kids behaved admirably, alternating between really good and really cute, as the situation required.
Two Peas In Two Pods
My children are very different indeed.
Kate has always had a propensity towards being artsy. She draws pictures every morning and gets better and better each day. Here are the latest drawings from this morning. There is such a difference between these and what she was drawing only a week or two weeks ago. This is a zebra, with palm trees.
This one is of Kate and Charlie in our new home - note the very large building, with lots of windows (that's also an elephant next to it, go figure)...
She has gotten very detailed about what she depicts. Note Charlie's ears...
Charlie, on the other hand, is very tidy tidy tidy.
And on the balcony...
The best thing about them, though, is how well they get along. Aside from the odd squabble, they are thick as thieves, and Kate always looks out for Charlie.
Kate has always had a propensity towards being artsy. She draws pictures every morning and gets better and better each day. Here are the latest drawings from this morning. There is such a difference between these and what she was drawing only a week or two weeks ago. This is a zebra, with palm trees.
This one is of Kate and Charlie in our new home - note the very large building, with lots of windows (that's also an elephant next to it, go figure)...
She has gotten very detailed about what she depicts. Note Charlie's ears...
Charlie, on the other hand, is very tidy tidy tidy.
And on the balcony...
The best thing about them, though, is how well they get along. Aside from the odd squabble, they are thick as thieves, and Kate always looks out for Charlie.
29 May 2009
Wet Dragons
Yesterday we went to see the Dragon Boat races. Our friend Stephen was racing, so we thought it would be a great day out for the kids. And it was. A wet, great day out.
Surprisingly, it was quite easy to get to; I think that with all the taxis and buses, it really eases congestion. In another city, everyone would be driving their cars there and holding up traffic, looking for parking spaces. With the taxis, there was a slow flow, whereby everyone just got out and the taxis moved on. And then surprisingly (or not really so, given the wet weather), it was pretty easy to move around the crowds. Here are the boats going out for Stephen's first race:
The race itself:
The crowd:
We wandered around a bit in Stanley market (and bought macs for the kids and brollies for us!) and then went to see the guys fishing. As we walked up, one guy was pulling a big squid out of the sea, to the ooohs and aaahs of the crowd around him. The kids were fascinated.
Bait
My adorable kids (we even got ooohs and aaahs from the crowd as they posed for this picture! "ooohhh, how cuuuuute!")
After that, we met up with some friends for a drink and waited for Stephen's team to come. They had won the final race by over a length! The rains really started to come down and I huddled under a couple of umbrellas with the kids. When it eased up a bit, we headed out, just as Stephen and the guys were coming to celebrate! Ah, the difference between the child-free and the child-ed families! We made our weary way home as the others went on to celebrate. A fine, wet day.
Surprisingly, it was quite easy to get to; I think that with all the taxis and buses, it really eases congestion. In another city, everyone would be driving their cars there and holding up traffic, looking for parking spaces. With the taxis, there was a slow flow, whereby everyone just got out and the taxis moved on. And then surprisingly (or not really so, given the wet weather), it was pretty easy to move around the crowds. Here are the boats going out for Stephen's first race:
The race itself:
The crowd:
We wandered around a bit in Stanley market (and bought macs for the kids and brollies for us!) and then went to see the guys fishing. As we walked up, one guy was pulling a big squid out of the sea, to the ooohs and aaahs of the crowd around him. The kids were fascinated.
Bait
My adorable kids (we even got ooohs and aaahs from the crowd as they posed for this picture! "ooohhh, how cuuuuute!")
After that, we met up with some friends for a drink and waited for Stephen's team to come. They had won the final race by over a length! The rains really started to come down and I huddled under a couple of umbrellas with the kids. When it eased up a bit, we headed out, just as Stephen and the guys were coming to celebrate! Ah, the difference between the child-free and the child-ed families! We made our weary way home as the others went on to celebrate. A fine, wet day.
27 May 2009
Poor Uncle Ray
The other day James took the kids swimming. They came home giggling and guffawing. I looked at them, confused. James said,"Charlie, do it again!" and Charlie did this:
Kate giggled and giggled and said,"Charlie has a big belly!" And I asked, "Who has a big belly like that?" wracking my brains, trying to think of who we knew who has a big belly....and Kate answered,"Uncle Ray!"
Kate giggled and giggled and said,"Charlie has a big belly!" And I asked, "Who has a big belly like that?" wracking my brains, trying to think of who we knew who has a big belly....and Kate answered,"Uncle Ray!"
24 May 2009
It Couldn't Last Forever
So the beautiful, hot, sunny weather has gone away the past couple of days. The view from our window now looks like this:
Upon a closer look, the trees look like this:
And the sea view includes surfable waves:
And just as an aside, this REALLY BIG cargo ship went by yesterday afternoon:
On a lighter note, our new bed arrived. I had had it made so that the bottom of the bed cleared the wall plug behind it, as we had to conserve every centimetre for walking space between the bed and the wardrobe. The result is a very tall bed that Kate has to hoik herself up onto, and Charlie needs a stepladder! Even I get a little vertigo looking down from it. Yesterday morning, Kate came into our room with a picture she had drawn of our new bed. The big 'C' thing on the left is the moon.
Upon a closer look, the trees look like this:
And the sea view includes surfable waves:
And just as an aside, this REALLY BIG cargo ship went by yesterday afternoon:
On a lighter note, our new bed arrived. I had had it made so that the bottom of the bed cleared the wall plug behind it, as we had to conserve every centimetre for walking space between the bed and the wardrobe. The result is a very tall bed that Kate has to hoik herself up onto, and Charlie needs a stepladder! Even I get a little vertigo looking down from it. Yesterday morning, Kate came into our room with a picture she had drawn of our new bed. The big 'C' thing on the left is the moon.
Oedipus Complex
The other night I was getting ready for an evening out. Kate came into the bathroom and said,"Oh my goodness, Mummy, you look lovely!" I said, "Thank you, what do you think Daddy will say?" and she said,"He will say, Oh my goodness, Alicia, you look lovely!" It was all very sweet.
Then Charlie crashed through the door, halted, then said,"Marry me, Mummy!!"
Almost reduced me to tears. Except it would have ruined my mascara.
Then Charlie crashed through the door, halted, then said,"Marry me, Mummy!!"
Almost reduced me to tears. Except it would have ruined my mascara.
18 May 2009
We're In!
We moved into our new flat just over a week ago. It's been a hard slog for me this past week, sorting everything out and putting everything in its place...even though we got rid of loads before we moved, we still have a lot of stuff. Especially kids' stuff. Kate and Charlie had a bunch of toys in each of their old rooms, plus we had a lot of toys and outdoor stuff downstairs. The reason I wanted to have them share a room here and have a playroom was really to contain all their stuff in one place at the end of the day. Well. Now that all of their things are in one place, it is stunning how much stuff they have. I've organised it all, but there is definitely some culling that needs to be done.
BUT. Aside from the few things that still need to be done, I am happy with the place. I think we are all going to be very happy here. The kids have loads of things to do here - indoor and outdoor play areas, indoor and outdoor pools, art classes; there is a cinema and shopping centre nearby (not shopping-shopping, but supermarket, bookstore, etc. - safer that way), great walks...and everytime I look out our window I get hypnotised by the view.
Here's a funny little photo of Charlie - he woke up one morning and was pootling around. We finally got up and were in hysterics.
In case you don't get it immediately:
BUT. Aside from the few things that still need to be done, I am happy with the place. I think we are all going to be very happy here. The kids have loads of things to do here - indoor and outdoor play areas, indoor and outdoor pools, art classes; there is a cinema and shopping centre nearby (not shopping-shopping, but supermarket, bookstore, etc. - safer that way), great walks...and everytime I look out our window I get hypnotised by the view.
Here's a funny little photo of Charlie - he woke up one morning and was pootling around. We finally got up and were in hysterics.
In case you don't get it immediately:
08 May 2009
Tireder than God
This week was the kids' first week of school in HK. The first day, Kate went bounding into class, and I had to call her back to give me a kiss goodbye. Charlie is only going in the afternoons, and when I took him in that day, he saw Kate coming out of the lunch room and freaked out, wanting to go into her classroom. I think the teachers thought he was having separation issues, but it wasn't separation from me he was having issues with, it was separation from his sister! Then when I went to pick them up, Kate had gone into Charlie's classroom to 'pick him up' from school. This she has done every day this week. And every day on the way home, Charlie squeaks,"Kate pick me up school, Mummy! Kate pick me up school!"
Today I missed the Mother's Day celebration at school because I was holed up in the new flat with IKEA, who was delivering (yes, they do that here!) and building (and that too!!) our wardrobes and TV cabinet, in preparation for the sea freight delivery tomorrow (gotta have something to put all our stuff in). It took the guys from 10:30am to 3:45pm to do it all, and there were four of them. It would have taken me at least a week, 24/7, to do the same. Well, if I would have finished, and not just left everything half done and wandered off, disillusioned.
After we got home from school today, I thought we would just have a special trip to McDonald's for dinner (I didn't feel like cooking is the direct translation). After she finished eating and while she was waiting for Charlie to finish, Kate leaned on me and said,"I'm tired Mummy. I'm the tiredest person in the world today. I'm tireder than God. And he gets very tired because he has to stay up all the time and watch us, and see who is being naughty, so he can tell Santa who to bring presents to."
Tomorrow we move into the new flat. I am so excited I can't even say. We will have OUR STUFF back! When we were getting ready to move and I had to sort out the house, I had posted up a quote from Karl Lagerfeld: "We should not get attached to things. The thing is to do things, not have them." That got me through all the trials and tribulations of selling things and then pretty much chucking everything else. I was getting really good at it - if in doubt, throw it in the skip. We were going to come with as few possessions as possible and be minimalists. Which is great; I fully intend to (try to) keep things pared down and get rid of things when new things come in, all that sort of stuff. But I have to say, after being in a place that's not yours, without all of your things, there is nothing like your own STUFF.
Today I missed the Mother's Day celebration at school because I was holed up in the new flat with IKEA, who was delivering (yes, they do that here!) and building (and that too!!) our wardrobes and TV cabinet, in preparation for the sea freight delivery tomorrow (gotta have something to put all our stuff in). It took the guys from 10:30am to 3:45pm to do it all, and there were four of them. It would have taken me at least a week, 24/7, to do the same. Well, if I would have finished, and not just left everything half done and wandered off, disillusioned.
After we got home from school today, I thought we would just have a special trip to McDonald's for dinner (I didn't feel like cooking is the direct translation). After she finished eating and while she was waiting for Charlie to finish, Kate leaned on me and said,"I'm tired Mummy. I'm the tiredest person in the world today. I'm tireder than God. And he gets very tired because he has to stay up all the time and watch us, and see who is being naughty, so he can tell Santa who to bring presents to."
Tomorrow we move into the new flat. I am so excited I can't even say. We will have OUR STUFF back! When we were getting ready to move and I had to sort out the house, I had posted up a quote from Karl Lagerfeld: "We should not get attached to things. The thing is to do things, not have them." That got me through all the trials and tribulations of selling things and then pretty much chucking everything else. I was getting really good at it - if in doubt, throw it in the skip. We were going to come with as few possessions as possible and be minimalists. Which is great; I fully intend to (try to) keep things pared down and get rid of things when new things come in, all that sort of stuff. But I have to say, after being in a place that's not yours, without all of your things, there is nothing like your own STUFF.
03 May 2009
Pretty Boy
I thought this was funny - the other day, Kate stuck one of her little hair clips on Charlie and he was pretty proud of that.
But today I woke up and found that Charlie had been into the paints.
I was actually pretty impressed at his skill, considering this is the first time he's done this. I'm not much better myself, and I've been doing it for years!
But today I woke up and found that Charlie had been into the paints.
I was actually pretty impressed at his skill, considering this is the first time he's done this. I'm not much better myself, and I've been doing it for years!
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