Dad's Arrival

For those of you who may still actually read this blog, I give my heartfelt apologies for my completely dropping off the radar. Once Sterling arrived on the island, things got unbelievably busy, especially since we quickly started traveling together and with the kids. (It also didn’t help that all of us encountered a 24 hour flu/stomach bug that had its way with us.) Now, just a few weeks later we are back home and readjusting to life here in the U.S., although there is a sad melancholy for what we just left behind . . . We all miss Taiwan.

Because this blog was started initially to provide a written record of our family’s amazing experience, I still feel the need to record rest of our time there together. So, if you’re still interested in reading, here it goes: 

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If you have read about our adventures with Matsu, then you clearly know Dad eventually reached us in Taiwan. (Insert applause here.) All of us, as you can imagine, were overjoyed to reunite with him and he was eager to catch a glimpse of the kids’ experience of school. So, the very first full day he was with me, I got him on a bike, and took him to see the schools.

My favorite mode of transportation here. 

First, we visited Coco's happy preschool:

Morning dance/exercise routine with all the preschool classes.
The teachers get totally into it. I love it!

Coco, the lone blondie in the group.

Then we went to the older kids' elementary school. It was fun for Dad to see for himself the awesome experience the kids were having. 

As usual, the kids there were ecstatic to see Yi Xiu.

Here we are with some of the awesome staff within the courtyard of the school. The woman who helped us the most, Li Laoshi (in black) is here with her two kids, Angelina and Kevin. These people have been so good to us.

On one of the half days we also got to go to Changhua to visit an old railway museum that hosts on of only three remaining roundhouses in the world. For those of you with young kids, think Thomas the Tank Engine. For train aficionados, this place is really important. The Liu family’s close friend, Gou Gou Baba, was there to host us.

We’d hoped to see more of Changhua with Gou Gou Baba directly afterwards, but that adventure was cut short when the baby started profusely vomiting all over the train tracks, and we had to quickly return home. (Sigh. Darn that stomach bug!)

Taking a quick detour homeward, we made preparations for our impending travels to Sun Moon Lake. This of course, meant a ton of packing and forethought (I will not miss all of that part), but by the end we were finally ready to head off to our next impending adventure: Sun Moon Lake. 

Now how's that view for a teaser?