Learning to Ride a Bike by Leanne

One of our longtime goals has been to teach Maddie how to ride a bike. We've tried here and there but usually it's too hot, we don't have enough space, it's too hard or whatever...

But this summer on one of those lovely cool, breezy nights, we packed up the two kid's bikes and headed to the local park for a little practice. What was amazing was that it actually didn't take Maddie very long at all to learn (although even forty minutes when you're the parent running along side of her can seem like a painfully long time!) :-) In the end, Daddy had the magic touch and soon, Maddie was off on her own! It was an exciting evening.

Shaky to begin with...

Innocent (or not so innocent?) bystander

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH........

SHE DID IT!

The next rider...coming soon

clay! by Maddie

I love clay! exspesholy when I have friends over. Me and Erin made ice cream cakes. My friend Analise made Hello Kitty. Lauryn, her little sister made a doll.

Swimming with the Pickerells by Erin

(typed by Mommy)

Analise and Lauren and Sophie are our friends. Sometimes they come over and play with us and then we go swimming. We like to play in the water. And then we go home and play and then I think we eat lunch.

Summer Nights by Leanne

This summer, everyone tried to eat a little better and be a little healthier. We swam almost every day and in the evenings, we would go to the park for a run/walk (and brought Hubie with us). The summer evenings are beautiful in Taipei - still warm but with a nice cool breeze and no hot sun. Half of Tien Mu joined us in the park and it was always a nice family-centric, fun, party-ish atmosphere with everyone smiling and chatting as they ran or walked around the track. If you know me, you know I'm not normally a lover of exercise :-), but those summer nights were so much fun and will remain a favourite memory of mine.

Hubie! by Maddie

It was fun taking care of Hubie. I learned how to play tug-a-war! It was tiring taking Hubie on his walks but it was fun. I wish I could have the same kind of dog as Hubie. he was a good dog but some times he was a little naughty which was funny.oh!he just loved peanut butter. :-)

Kid's Toys

(by Leanne)

This summer, the kids have had a great time just hanging out and playing with their toys. I love the intricate and elaborate story lines Maddie and Erin can spin when they are together!

Going to Analise and Lauren's House

Erin (typed by Mommy):

I went to Analise and Lauren's house. I maded cookies to bring over there. I played at their house. The cookies were yummy.

July 4th in Taiwan

Maddie:

On sunday afternoon I went to ACC and we celebrated america's birthday. I went on a pirate boat race and my team won it!!! I got two chocolates for my pries.

Erin's Housing Ad

So Erin had another commercial shoot today. It went well...mostly :-) It was for a housing development. The storyline involved a very happy young couple, their young daughter (Erin) and a dog so happy with life. Unfortunately the director had hoped to have footage of Erin snuggling with and frolicking with the dog. Oops - he didn't know that Erin was deathly afraid of dogs! Luckily, the director was a really nice and reasonable guy and he took the dog out for the shots with Erin, keeping him in only for the shots with her Polish model "parents". And thankfully, while it does take some time, Erin does tend to settle down and become more relaxed around dogs - which she did. By lunchtime, she was willing to have the dog run around her - as long as he didn't get too close! :-) In the end, the director was happy with the shoot. Phew.

Now we look forward to seeing the cut version. :-)

Easter 2010

This morning, Maddie crept into our room and whispered:"Mommy, is today Easter?" No - I laughed. "Why?" "Because there are eggs hidden everywhere!" "Really?" - I asked. "Yah! Come look."

The Easter bunny, somehow knowing Mommy's love for holidays, had decided to come a week early as Mom would be on a Woman's retreat next weekend.

The girls looked around frames, under furniture, and behind pillows. The Easter bunny had done a great job of hiding the eggs. It took awhile to find them all - especially Maddie's eggs which seemed to be hidden in especially tricky spots! The treats inside the egg included jellybeans and jellied eggs but not the usual chocolate mini eggs. There weren't any chocolate eggs to be found in Taiwan this year, but we heard that Renea Freeman hooked the Easter Bunny up with some candied jelly bean eggs, chocolate bunnies and Easter Jello moulds from the American commisary in Tokyo! So cool! And we're so grateful! Thank you.

When the hunt was over, we made yummy French Toast and talked about why we celebrate Easter. Happy Spring everyone!

Easter Hunt is On




Easter Loot - YUM!



Making French Toast with Daddy

Flying Cow Ranch

Our other totally kid-centered day this week was Thursday. We had already planned a sleepover with Analise and Lauren that night and then Rod invited all of us to join him, Jaya and Asha on an outing to the Flying Cow Ranch... we eagerly said yes.

The day started out miserably. The temperatures had plummeted to the low teens overnight and the rain clouds had moved in. Traffic made the normally 2 hour drive into a 3 hour plus one! Not to mention that even with two GPS gadgets, we still got lost - TWICE! Rod's GPS took us up onto a mountainous dead end so we decided to use Peter's system - which led us literally right into a rice paddy! We almost gave up and turned back a few times but each time said - let's just try a little longer...

Eventually (and using the old fashioned system of following road signs and not the GPS) we made it to the ranch. The rain fortunately stopped just as we arrived and although it was cold enough to turn us into human popsicles - at least we stayed dry! Once there, we bundled up and looked around the ranch. Although there were no flying cows to be seen, we did see ducks, fed sheep and rabbits, held butterflies in our palms, drank fresh farm milk and made ice cream. The girls loved the rabbits and shrieked with glee at the butterflies stuck on their legs, arms and hair! The girls also all talked the brave talk about milking cows but in the end, when it came to looking at the sheer size of the living, breathing animal, it was Asha, Maddie and Analise who were actually brave enough to try it! Although their attempt was over-in-the-blink-of-an-eye, they still earn bragging rights for actually trying! :-)

Another cool Taiwan find that we can't wait to try again - when it's warmer that is!

Girl's Day at Flying Cow Ranch

Feeding the Sheep

Maddie tries milking a cow

Butterfly Whisperers

Feeding the Bunnies

Enjoying the ice cream we made

Baby Boss City

This week marks Spring Break for us. Poor kids. Mom and Dad are snowed under with grading, house cleaning, errands, course work and a WASC report. It's not a lot of fun. Well - actually, we've arranged a play dates everyday for the kids and we've set two days aside that are entirely kid focussed so it's not all that bad for the kids ... but Mom is lamenting the fact that we aren't on the Boracay beach :-)

Monday was the first kid day. We took Maddie and Erin and two of their friends (Analise and Lauren) to Baby Boss City. It was a hoot! The indoor theme park involves little rooms dedicated to learning "jobs". The kids put on uniforms, learn different occupations and "earn" babybucks that can then be spent on food, manicures, treats or saved in the bank. Mom and Dads have to wait outside and look through the glass window. Still, it's pretty priceless! :-)

Although the activities all take place in Mandarin, we were fortunate that at each station there was someone who spoke just enough English that they were able to let the kids know what they should do. The kids did six stations in all - They really loved the Astronaut station (going to the moon), the Dunkin Donut shop (donut decorating) and the baby nursery the best. With the Dairy farm and the airline flight attendants following close behind. The only one that was a bit of a bust was the Quality Control Officer at a soda plant. Although they earned a free Grape soda for their efforts, they didn't actually do anything so it wasn't as thrilling as the other stops. But in all, the day was a blast!

Although on the expensive side, we did promise the girls a trip back in the summer because we never made it to surgery, the archeology site, the Beauty salon for hairdressing and manicures, pizza making, or the myriad of other fun sites that called out to the girls. Another great day in Taiwan!

(PS) Maddie had a hair cut and style the day before - hence the pretty (but straight) 'doo.

Flight Attendants

Nursery Caregivers

Astronauts collecting rocks on the moon

Gotta love the free samples when working at Dunkin Donuts!

Erin's pick was the Dairy barn - she desperately wanted to milk a cow!

Ending the day with Subway and decorated donuts that just couldn't be saved any longer!