Building our Family at Home :)

We are so glad to be home!  Ming-Zong is dealing with some major jet lag and his sleep schedule is way off, but other than that is adjusting beautifully so far.  He really loves our dogs (even though he's still a bit scared of them) and really enjoys being near them.  He asked if our big dog Ruby could sleep in his room tonight!  We don't know how that will turn out, but are giving it a shot.  :)  We will be slowly transitioning him into school this coming week and are praying that will go well.  

Playing Games at Wai Po and Wai Gong's House

Other Favorite Pictures from Our Week in Taiwan

Family Adventures

The last few days have been filled with many adventures, interesting meals, and a continued healthy dose of video games.  Mike is an amazing father and he and Ming-Zong are so close they're tied at the hip.  :)  We see more facets of Ming-Zong's personality each day - this is one crazy kid!  :)

 He did this all on his own and came running out of the bathroom.

 He takes extra cute pictures of himself.

 Ming-Zong is quite a photographer.  He picks out all kinds of shots to take and has a good eye for it. 

 In the zone

 Mike tried to let him finish this ride, but Ming-Zong preferred to get run over by his ba ba.

Visiting a wishing well with Gongzhan Wu, Vice President of Gladney and Scott Brown, Executive Vice President of International Programs.   

If I had been an adventurous eater like Mike, I would have tried the various dishes at this table which included "chicken", shrimp that were supposedly dead (eyeballs and legs still attached), shark meat, jelly fish, bean curd, bamboo, and sea urchin.  I decided to stick with my little bowl of white rice and held out for pizza and salad at dinner.  :)  Who knows, I may be missing out on some gooooooooood stuff, but I'm not going to let it worry me.  ;)

Ming-Zong is Feng Kuang (Crazy) :)

Okay, I think Ming-Zong has heat stroke and has gone plum nuts!  :)  He and Mike are in the living area of our hotel room and he is in super silly mode.  First time I've seen this side of him and it's so cute.  We've progressed to a new Nintendo DS game and they are having fun.

New English words today include "a" and "y" (from the Nintendo DS buttons), "hello my baby" (from Spaceballs on TV), and "oh yeah" (we have no idea where he got that).

I think I am officially cured of complaining about Midland heat - Taipei may be the hottest place on Earth.  Mr. Yeh ran us around to various sightseeing areas from 10:30 to 3:00 and I thought we might just melt into puddles.  I am going to pray that not everything in the upcoming days is outside!

We are back at the hotel and relieved to have some downtime in the a/c.  Guess I'm off to rescue Mike from the crazy kid on the couch!  ;)

 All the McDonald's burgers here come with two patties.  I asked Mike to get me one with just one patty.  Apparently something was lost in translation.  :)

 Finishing his rice on a bench. 

 Mr. Yeh and his granddaughter at the Night Market.  She is adorable!

    Just wondering why this sign was necessary!?!?  :)

Ming-Zong is a Video Game Fiend!

Ming-Zong's first night with us went great.  He slept through the night without any problems and woke up happy and ready to start the day.  The three of us would be playing Nintendo DS 24-7 if he had his way!  :)  All he wants to do is race on Mario Kart or sometimes take a short break to play Angry Birds. 

Mike and I are having to work hard to schedule other things to break up video game playing.  It will be easier once we get home and can get on a regular schedule.  It's not so easy here because we don't have as many resources to pull from.  The other issue is it is hot, hot, hot and HUMID outside.  We did find a shaded grassy area this afternoon to throw a football around for a bit.  None of us lasted more than 20 minutes before we were exhausted and covered in sweat.  :)

One thing I will say is Ming-Zong has picked up a few English words from our video game stints.  His newly acquired vocabulary includes "ok", "oh no", and "banana".  :)  He just cracks us up.  He doesn't seem to mind too much if Mike sometimes beats him but for some reason it makes him mad if I do.  Haven't figured that one out yet.

We did tour the upper floors of the Taipei 101 today and all enjoyed that.  So, to recap the day so far - wake up, Nintendo DS, breakfast, Nintendo DS, car ride with Nintendo DS, Taipei 101, Nintendo DS, lunch, Nintendo DS, walk back to hotel, Nintendo DS, football in the park, and we're back to Nintendo DS.  Lord help us!  :)  Mr. Yeh will pick us up at 7:30 to go to the Night Market.  Excited about that!