Our Journey to the Other Side of The World

Dear Children,

It has been quite the week. We've been very busy since the last post and we are now literally, on the other side of the world. Our first leg of the trip lasted about 4 hour from Austin to San Francisco. We were very blessed to have the whole row to ourselves. We could spread out and not worry about bothering other passengers. You guys did amazingly well. Lots of compliments from the people around us.

 We only watched one 30 minute episode of Curious George on the entire flight.

The 3 hour layover in San Francisco flew by quickly. We arrived before Ama, so we walked to her gate and watched the planes outside as we waited for her plane to arrive. We then had lunch and Nathan was able to run around. We found a children's area with a few things to climb and before we knew it, it was time to board our long 15 hour flight.

We had requested a child's meal for Nathan and it arrived first, before all the other meals were served. Chicken nuggets. A bit soggy, but Nathan approved. (Plus, no green stuff)

 After dinner, Nathan watched part of a movie and then we got ready to go to sleep. Nathan slept on the floor starting at his normal bedtime and didn't wake up until about an hour before the plane landed. Hannah slept on me and woke up several times. We walked the plane a lot. While I didn't get much sleep with a baby lying on me the whole time, I did manage to watch a movie and a total of a couple hours of shut eye due to me dozing off. It was a long flight to endure, but everything went smoothly.

When we arrived in Taiwan, it was a bit after dinner time (breakfast time for Texans). We arrived to Gong Gong's home and then we walked to a restaurant to have a late dinner. Nathan was pretty excited about seeing all the scooters and lights at night. We went home and the kids fell asleep quickly after a bath and new PJs.

4 Hours later, they were back up, awake. It was 2:30 am Taiwan time so it's not like we could just go out and do something, so we just hung out and played until the sun rose at 6:30 and went outside for a walk. We walked to the outdoor market and had breakfast at a place my grandfather used to take me when I was a kid. Then we walked to my grandfather's old neighborhood. It is now a historic village and nobody lives there, but that day, it was being used to film a movie. On the way, we picked some raspberries off of trees and ate them on the spot. I forgot that they were there and I remember feeding my pet silkworm leaves from those trees when I was a kid. In the village we found a banana tree, which Nathan thought was pretty cool.

We came home for an early lunch and then we all took a nice nap in the afternoon from about noon to 4. Afterwards, we went to my Aunt's house and met up with the rest of the family. Nathan was a mess. He was grumpy and just not fun to be around. Hannah was a bit quiet, but she was not fussy. We all went out for dinner at a restaurant that serves steamed buns. Hannah slept in the ergo baby the whole time and Nathan only wanted me to help him do stuff. I got lots of practice juggling both kids around. When it got too much, we all went outside for a short walk.

That night the kids were so tired, we just skipped bath and went straight to bed. Poor Nathan was so tired on the way home that he just fell out of the taxi. The second "night" they slept an hour longer and woke up at 3:30.

After Gong Gong woke up, he got us breakfast and then took us all on a motorcycle (scooter) ride to the riverside park. Nathan stood in the front and I sat behind him with Hannah strapped to my back. I wish we got a picture of this because I thought it was quite impressive. We found a playground and Nathan had a great time playing. The grandmas at the park all thought the kids were super cute.

 Nathan loves these exercise machines. They can be found in almost every park.

That afternoon, we all took a super long nap from 1 - 6. Gong gong came in at 4 to tell me the time and then at 5, and 6. Each time he came in, I thought it was morning, and I was really glad that you two were still asleep. When it dawned on me that it was still the afternoon, I tried to get you two up. You two were so tired.

 Tuesday morning, you guys woke up at 4:30. We had breakfast and then we went to a super nice playground that is close to Gong Gong's home. We then went home to rest a bit and then rode the bus and MRT (subway) to meet up with Ama. We went shopping and had lunch at a department store.

The bathrooms were super nice. I was so impressed with the family stall that I just had to take a picture.

There was a mini-urinal inside the women's bathroom. I had to walk back outside to check the door to make sure I was in the right one. I guess they have it there for the little boys that go in there with their mommies. Of course, Nathan was super excited to use it.

Then we went into the family stall. There was a bidet, another urinal, and a tiny toilet. On the other side was a changing table and a small fold down seat with a harness. Why don't they have bathrooms like that in the states for families?

We rode the train back home and Nathan actually got scared of the sounds. I figured he was getting tired. Hopefully our next MRT ride won't be too scary for him.

Nathan absolutely loves riding the MRT trains. He gets so excited when he sees one arrive at the station.

We met up with family again that night and Nathan was still a bit fussy, but not as bad as last time. I had to use ice cream to bribe him to be a "happy boy."

The next night, the kids all woke up at 2:30. After about 1.5 hours, I got Hannah to go back to sleep, but Nathan was wide awake and wanting to play. I eventually talked him into resting quietly and soon we were both asleep. The kids didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning. Score.

This morning Nathan and I went to the park and Hannah napped at home. I really like this playground because it has lots of different things for a little boy to do.

We pretty much just hung out at the house all morning and then took a nap from 2-5. We then packed up and rode a taxi to a night market. There we had some street food and Nathan played some games.

 Nathan really liked eating the grilled scallops. He also drank some herbal jelly drink. Hannah slept the whole time. One of the things we had tonight actually had peanuts in it. The traditional preparation does not include peanuts, but I guess this vendor decided to add that to her stuff. Luckily Nathan only had a bite before I realized that there was peanuts. When we got home I gave him some benedryl and he seems ok for now. I am glad that he doesn't have a super sensitive, life threatening peanut allergy.

Nathan loves playing on my Grandfather's rocking chair. One day he played on it for an hour.

My Grandfather's Rocking Chair

Today was the first day  that we followed our normal nap schedule. Both of you went to bed a bit later tonight, (9:30 and 10:00) but I don't mind you getting up later too, considering that most businesses here don't open until 9 and 11o'clock. Let's see how you two sleep tonight. This is day 3 of us being here. They say expect a day for each time zone you travel through. That would be 13 for us, we may be able to get it done in 3-4, which is what I remember from when I was younger.

It's pretty tough handling 2 sleep deprived children under the age of 3 in a foreign country. I don't know how single parents do it. I'm sure I will get into a groove soon.

Just today, I found Hannah sitting up in her crib. She is now able to sit up herself!

So far, the trip has been rough. We have one more week until Daddy comes. Until next week, 

Love, 

Mommy