Dr. Graham

On the first day of Chinese New Year the boys were packed into Great Aunt From the Fifth Floor's car to be taken up to Taiwanese Grandma's house in the hills. It was cold and wet, the way it seems to be every year at this time.

After an uneventful drive, Dr. Graham was in the house!

It is not known what Graham was listening to when he pressed the stethoscope to his belly. Soit-Jade was laughing at the toy koala she had just put on top of Graham's head.

She really amused herself.

Meanwhile Craig was busy building ........ this.

Soit-Jade and Yu-chi then began playing a dress-up game on a computer. Barbie was dressed over and over again.

Craig had some fun playing mini-air hockey with Uncle Guapo.

When Craig lost interest, Mum was in straight away to challenge.

Meanwhile, the girls couldn't tear themselves away from the dress-up game. Graham watched for a while.

But then he found Mum's phone unattended. He played Angry Birds until the battery was almost flat!

The mini-air hockey battle had moved to a new location.

Craig also showed off some climbing skills just before the return journey.

Mum put a full battery in her phone as soon as she arrived home which was a good thing because she received a Skype call from Aunty Bess. The only bad part was Graham paying no attention because he'd found another device to play Angry Birds on.

Evil Sugary Drinks

On Chinese New Year's eve the boys were playing quietly at home.

Their home was suddenly invaded by all the other kids that live in the building. (You-ding and his sister left before any photos were taken.) Ying-chi didn't want her photo taken.

All of a sudden it was action stations.

Silly games were played at a frightening pace.

Craig was more involved than this photo suggests.

The little tunnel was a favourite.

Ying-chi and her brother Ke-jhen decided it would be fun to write "Ying-chi was here" and Ke-jhen was here" among Craig and Graham's drawings.

It was all very noisy

and silly.

Even the little ones had no complaints.

Despite cold wet weather outside some of the children had become very thirsty. So, they were all given little cans of soft drink!

There was enough for everyone to have one each.

Ke-jhen really liked getting all of that sugar into him.

His little sister was happy too!

Lots of sugary drinks before they were sent home.

Chinese New Year Highlights Part 1

The blog hasn't been kept up do date very well recently. About a million photos of the boys have been taken in the intervening time so some of them should probably appear here soon. With that in mind, back at the beginning of February, just two days before Chinese New Year, Craig and Graham went to their favourite park to soak up some sun. By coincidence, Craig's former kindy teacher, Ariel, was there with a class of kids. The other kids were ignored while Ariel caught up on the latest Craig-related news from Mum.

These Korean dancers were practising in the park. They were part of a group of Christian missionaries who were hosting a party later the same day. The party was to be held right across the alley from the boys home.

After the kindy kids and teachers had left Mum had a chance to relax out of the sun. Graham preferred to play on the see-saw.

The next day was Craig's last day at his Saturday classes in the northern suburbs. Graham doesn't like the long walk from the station to the place.

Craig usually has a great time at these classes. They do lots of fun stuff like gardening that he would otherwise never have a chance to do.

Graham was given some flowers by one of the women. He doesn't seek the attention, it comes to him. Perhaps it was because of his new haircut.

This lone photo was taken the next day at a tiny park behind a local supermarket. The purple "tree" in the background is actually a dead tree with hundreds of little lights on it. It's very cute.

Craig had been running out of wearable socks. So he was ever-so-pleased when he and Mum found cheap Angry Birds socks. Craig now has three pairs.

On the second day of the New Year, according to tradition, Mum's presence was required at the house in the hills.

The boys had fun playing mini-air hockey. Graham had a tendency to cheer whenever a goal was scored and sometimes he would cheer without one being scored. He's going to be a fine football supporter one day.

Mum and Uncle Guapo were very busy making pizza bases for lunch.

The first homemade pizza came out quite well.

Some leftover dough was turned into noodles.

A second pizza was needed to feed the hungry hordes.

The second one looked just like the first and tased just as good.

The noodles were also excellent, thicker than you get normally and chewy in a good way.

Finally, Mum could stop to eat.

Then the boys went off to a park to play.

The park was small with just a see-saw and a big concrete slide. Craig likes to slide together with Graham but sometimes holds on a bit tight.

Craig was joined on the slide by his cousins Soit-Jade and Yu-chi.

Graham preferred to sit beside Aunty Jessie (aka Yu-fang).

Graham had to be dragged away to join in the sliding but he had a good time once he started playing with the other kids.