Summer's Coming to An End

With the cool weather coming through, and as our little girl gets older and more robust, we've been spending more of our weekends at the beach. Last weekend some friends took us to a beach we'd hadn't been to before. Hidden away in a slightly more remote part of Lantau island, Pui O is less crowded than the other beaches we usually go to.The beach is very long and flat which makes it a very safe playground for the kids, and a "worry free" day for us adults :).

Har har... Mama tells the funniest jokes

Photo break

Ah... now this is what you call relaxing. Comfy seats, cool sea breeze, nice shade, now all we need are some ice cold drinks

"May I take your order Sir?" (If only!)

The most comfy chair of all!

Mia's first real play in the sand (the colour of the sand looks rather yucky but it's a natural mix of black, white and yellow sand)

And look at the mess she's in!

"Baking" their birthday cakes

Catching some waves

Heading home after a long day's play at the beach

Loving the cool sea breeze

And the lovely sunset

Out cold

Here are some shots from our junk trip last month. After days of strong wind, on the day we took the junk out, we were extremely lucky to be able to reach Sai Kung where we finally got to stop at Billionaire's Beach. The beach was beautiful with its powdery white sand and clear water.

Catching some cool breeze on our second junk trip for the summer

Our Mei-mei

Speeding back to the junk after our lunch stop

A lucky head rub!

A squeeze and a hug from Koh-koh

Daddy and his babies

Daddy's little girl

Tasting her first croissant

Bit of action for the day - HK customs speeding after a small boat

Wonder what they were looking...

Cruisin' home with the wind in our hair (even if it's only a few strands!)

Sunset over Central

Perfect end to the day

Ah, a familiar sight after each boat outing

Lantern Festival

This year we celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival in Stanley. We started off the night with a rather unconventional "chinese festival" dinner at a Spanish restaurant where we enjoyed some good food and drinks, and great company. However with four toddlers and two babies in tow, dinner soon went from being relaxing to slightly stressful and finally chaotic! So we quickly moved the party outdoors, along the esplanade where the kids had a fantastic time running around with their "old fashion" lanterns.

Lanterns, lanterns and more lanterns at Sheung Wan (not sure why I'm looking so stunned!)

Theme for the night - DRAGONS!

A rather unconventional Mid-Autumn dinner - tapas and sangria

Our two little Miss Baldies (almost 1 year old and still no sign of hair!)

The dragon keeper

Mia's first lantern

More fascinated with the wire rather than the fish

Walking the dragon

Mia and Zoe with their little fishes

An unavoidable accident - there's always one at every lantern festival!

Emeric, Ryan, Samuel and Fabian with their "pets"

Four boys and two little ladies

Ah, those lanterns sure bring back childhood memories

Who said only the kids can have fun? :)

Fascinated by the little light

Budding engineers at work

Perfectly done

Busy Weekends

The weekends come and go so quickly these days. Friday is usually a busy day for us, with Ryan's school in the morning and taekwondo lesson in the afternoon. By the time we get home, all of us are exhausted so it's nice to know that we can sleep in tomorrow, of course that is if both kids cooperate! A couple of weeks ago we spent a relaxing day at Peng Chau with some friends. After a leisurely lunch at tiny restaurant which serves surprisingly good pizzas and fish n' chips, the kids worked off their lunch running around madly on this vehicle-free island.

Deep in thought as we sail out into the open sea

Entry for "Mother and Daughter Lookalike Contest"

Our destination for the day

A local fisherman unloading his super big catch

A bit of exercise to work up their appetites

"Ryan Air"

Koh-koh's cheer squad!

Modern day lanterns, not quite the same as the ones we used to play with as kids

Little Miss 10-month old!

Shad's parents stopped over for a few days on their way home from Taiwan last week. We had a lovely visit and as always, Ryan and Mia loved all the attention they got from their grandparents. With reliable "babysitters" on hand, Shad and I managed to sneak out for a much needed body and foot massage session one night after the kids had gone to bed. Ahhh... two and a half hours of pure relaxation... priceless.

Kids getting reacquainted with Ah Kong

Mia and Ah Ma

Little Miss Big Eyes enjoying a night out

Cooling down at the AMC pool

Human merry-go-round

Playing catch with the baby

"Rock climbing"

Free floating

Hitting the showers

Oh so very glum...

Finally... a smile!

Hodgepotch of cuisines for lunch - laksa, hainanese chicken rice, nasi goreng, club sandwich, fries and spaghetti carbonara