Expensive Waffles, Afternoon Naps and Yakult

Craig and Graham have a pretty quiet life during the week. The weekends are usually more fun. Not long ago they had a chance to eat one of Craig's favourite foods as an afternoon snack.

The photos were taken before the rather expensive waffle came. Craig didn't allow a photo to be taken. He ate the waffle much too quickly.

Weekday afternoons at home can be very relaxing. Graham sleeping like this while his Dad reads is not uncommon.

Graham likes playing with his cousins Soit-Jade and Yu-chi.

The girls are much better at drawing than Graham but he's got time to catch up.

He received plenty of encouragement from Uncle Guapo and Mum.

Craig has been enjoying his Saturday morning soccer lessons. He normally does quite well in the one-on-one exercises but can get a bit lost in the bigger games. Still, having fun is the main thing and he's doing plenty of that.

One evening, Craig was unhappy with his crayons because all the blue ones were getting so short that even his little fingers couldn't keep hold of them. So, a trip was made to buy new ones.

Both boys love Yakult. It was a very warm night and Dad wanted to make sure Mum could have a short rest before they returned home. Craig finished his so quickly that he had to spend a few minutes inspecting his new crayons while Graham kept drinking but he didn't seem to mind.

The Boy Artist

Craig is a real lover of waffles. He especially likes waffles that come with ice-cream. Sometimes, when he's with Dad, Craig will get to eat almost all of the waffle by himself.

Recently, Craig has been practising his artistic skills.

His Mum decided to hang big sheets of art paper on the walls and let him use crayons.

The only problem with the arrangement was that Graham felt left out! So he had to be included in the (ahem) drawing.

Graham seemed to like drawing but wasn't too impressed with Dad taking photos of the artwork in progress.

The labelling of the figure with green skin and blue eyes might look strange to some people but it is, in fact, Craig's representation of his mother.

Craig and Graham both worked very hard for a while.


They didn't quite get it finished before bedtime but that just meant they could have more fun the next day.

Two Boys Playing

Graham continues to live the good life with Dad at home during the week. He's started drawing.

Or perhaps scribbling would be a better word.

Craig's favourite thing to do on a hot summer day is go for a ride on the MRT. He especially likes the Wenhu Line because he can sit right up the front of the train and watch the world go by.

Sometimes the rest of the family come along for the ride.

When he's at home, Craig spends some of his time building with Lego and blocks. He knows Graham will knock down whatever gets built but he doesn't mind.

There was a recent trip to the park where Craig bumped into one of his kindergarten classmates. She tried to lead him away by the hand but Craig wouldn't go. She settled for running around hand in hand.

On one very warm evening the boys went for a walk. They went to the rooftop playground on one of the Mitsukoshi department stores.

Craig is almost too big for the jungle gym there but he still spent some time climbing and sliding.

The two of them had fun throwing little plastic balls at a target.

Graham's throwing was not surprisingly good but he seemed to have a really good time.


Sometimes, Graham's days at home with Dad are not very exciting but, at the very least, Dad knows what makes the boy happy. Yoghurt is a favourite when it comes time for an afternoon snack.

Birthday At The Beach

Last weekend was slightly special because it was Craig and Graham's Dad's birthday on Saturday. It was even more special than that because the boys were taken to the beach at Bai Sha Wan. The trip on the MRT was uneventful.

A ride in a taxi from Tamsui caused trouble for both boys. Motion sickness is never fun. After arrival at the hotel, Craig immediately tried out his bed. He seemed quite happy with it.

The next order of business was lunch at Hana's Beach Cafe where Dad had one of their excellent mango smoothies to celebrate the occasion.

The weather was perfect for an afternoon at the beach. Craig had a good time but Graham isn't quite so excited about beach activities.

Graham and Mum stayed for about two hours before they headed back to the room. After they'd left, Craig and Dad went up to the far end of the beach where there were no waves. Craig stayed in the water with Dad for half an hour and they had plenty of fun.

But Craig started to get hungry. After a nice bath and an early dinner there was a walk on the beach.

Eventually Graham brought the walk to an end by sitting down in the water thus requiring a change of pants.

Craig's Dad forgot to take a camera to the beach on Sunday morning. Following an uneventful bus ride back to Tamsui and then lunch, the boys played on a nearby jungle gym.

Craig showed off his backwards-sliding skills.

And Graham was quite adventurous climbing on this thing that is obviously meant for bigger kids. It was a nice end to a good weekend.

Parks Are His Life

It's been a couple of weeks since anything new appeared on the blog. The recent weeks have included events such as a weekend celebration at Craig's new kindy. The kindy couldn't be much closer to home. It's right across the street in a church. The event started early and Graham didn't walk over there until after his (rather late) breakfast. His second cousin Ying-chi,who lives downstairs, was there to say hello.

The big fella at the back of this photo, You-ding, is almost the same age as Craig. He's another second cousin and lives immediately upstairs on the fourth floor.

There was some singing and dancing at the event. Craig's Mum did a lot better than Craig at following the movements and singing along.

Another recent event was Craig and Graham's Mum going back to being a working person. That means Graham spends all day with Dad during the week. It also means that Graham goes out to the park as often as the weather permits.

This is Graham's favourite slide.


He can sometimes play there for quite a while.


He also likes this little rocking horse. Despite it being designed for use by up to four children Graham will often wait for others to get off before getting on to rock by himself.

He has a rocking-good time.


Craig gets out of kindy at 4:30 and has plenty of time before dinner to play. Unfortunately the weather has been a bit wet recently so most of his playtime is spent at home.

He's become quite good at constructing things with wooden blocks.

The design of the tunnel on the left was Dad's but Craig did this one all by himself by re-creating a tunnel that had been built a day earlier. The design and construction of the tower on the right is all Craig's.

Graham's adventures at local parks also feature a lot of walking up and down things like this concrete bench.

It's important for Graham to get exercise but his Dad would prefer it if the boy found somewhere he couldn't fall down when just going for a walk.


Graham's days are much happier when they are filled with playing in parks.

Where he can occasionally get his hands on other children's toys.

At home, a new tub was purchased to be used as Craig's bathtub.

It was first employed as a toy and the boys had lots of fun being pushed around.

But, it was a very cheap thing and the wheels on the bottom soon stopped turning. So, the boys had to just sit in it.

Graham is rapidly becoming a proper toddler who can play with his brother. Whenever wrestling starts he loses every time but Craig has been very good about being gentle with his little brother, so far.

Little blokes like Craig and Graham don't appreciate the difficulties of international travel. They don't know nor care that Aunty Suprana lives in faraway London but they both seemed quite happy to receive hugs from their aunt when she recently arrived for a brief visit. Being a kid is good sometimes.