Taichung - November 2009

Mingdao school is having the kids memorize a story and perform it as part of a school wide competition. These pictures and video is from round one. Ailey was the only kid that didnt bring props or a costume. If it were a Chinese speaking competition, we'd put a little more effort into it...

Phuket, Thailand - October 2009



Ailey discovers self portraits...




Amazing sunsets...




A panoramic shot worth clicking to enlarge.


Ailey ate ribs for lunch 5 days in a row, topping the old record of 4 set by her cousin Alex in 2002.




A little tennis action. Throwing balls to Ailey for half the time, trying to return balls to Mihwa without getting scolded the other half.


big mudbugs.


Outside Lotus restaurant, the hawkers sell makeshift hot air balloons which makes for a pretty sight as multitudes of them drift up into the night sky.



The waterslide NEVER gets old...




Ailey did batik every day, culminating in this monstrous masterpiece which we hope to frame and prominently display in our apartment if we can convince Ailey not to use it as a sarong. She spent at least 3 hours every day working very cautiously and intently on her batik and really started to master the fade and shadowing.








The tuktuk ride home from Lotus, always a fun trip.








Lots of fresh fruit - coconut, mango, long-an, Singha, etc...




Ailey represents her grandpa's Cardinals in the pool.


Unfortunately, Ailey picked up a hitch hiker on our way out of Thailand and ended up spending 4 days in the hospital back home to cure her of what presently appears to be salmonella poisoning. She was a trooper through it all though, recovered quickly and was even asking to do her homework after teacher Amy and teacher Jenny came to visit.






Homework with an IV in your writing hand is no fun.



Removing the IV...

Random Activities - Taichung, Rocktober 2009

A Sunday morning of cupcake farming with dad...

A Saturday morning at the science museuam with Portia. Here inside the giant bubble machine...

A day out with mom and dad, tandem bike riding through the pear orchards of Taichung.




Chinese bees... presumably for pollinating the pears.



















Ailey's new hamster Lyra and her crazy cage that is one giant wheel with the living quarters suspended within.