Kaid turns 7

Amanda's parents recently got Kaidyn hooked on Warhammer figurines. It has been their thing to take him to hobby shops and as a result, Kaid loves all hobby shop items.

He got his first Warhammer set when Amanda's parents came in the spring and he is a BIG fan. Basically I end up gluing the little figurines together and then we paint them. Kaidyn then orchestrates huge battles in our living room.

So, it was no surprise when he started talking about having a Warhammer themed birthday. In June. His birthday is October 16. He talked about it through the summer and nearly every day he asked how many more days it would be until his birthday party.

At the party the boys played a little Warhammer and then ended up in a fierce Nerf battle. Then Amanda brought out the cake and Kaid was still wearing all of his protective gear from the battle. It seemed normal at the time!


The best part was when Amanda brought the cake out and he said, "Oh Mom, you did a great job. That's the best cake I've ever seen."

It was a wonderful 7th birthday for our little dudey!

Fall

Fall has somehow disappeared and I have no clue how that happened. Thought maybe I should blog a bit about a few things we've done since September. We went to The Hard Rock a few times...


We went to the Mid-Autumn Festival again this year (and this time Amanda wasn't in charge of face painting):

We headed over to Shenzhen one weekend. Kylisha had a volleyball tournament there so we booked a hotel for the weekend and thought we'd watch her play volleyball, do a little shopping and then go to Happy Valley the next day! Sports over here basically suck! The kids (especially girls) barely have any opportunities to play (especially here in Macau). The kids aren't as into sports here and the venues are difficult to find and book. So, it was no big surprise when we found out Kylisha's volleyball tournament was canceled (3 days before). BUT then it was re-scheduled in Guangzhou (which is nowhere near Shenzhen) at the last minute. So, we were stuck with having already paid for our room in Shenzhen (and we had invited another family to join us)! Not happy! We ended up sending Kylisha to Guangzhou while we still went to Shenzhen, but we hated not being able to watch her play.

While we were in Shenzhen we checked out a Wal-Mart. It was interesting. VERY different from the Wal-Marts back home. For instance, instead of giant bins filled with DVD's or towels, there were giant bins filled with dead animals (or sometimes live ones). The place was also BEYOND packed. Imagine your worst ever Christmas shopping experience and throw in tripe, pig faces, and 37,000 Wal-Mart employees!

After shopping for the day we headed out for Teppanyaki. It was a bit of a gonger to find, but we were very happy we found it! Basically, for about 20 CAD it was an all you can eat feast. They give you a menu and you order whatever you want and then the guy will cook it in front of you. It was delicious and Amanda really wants to take her parents if they come back again in the Spring.




The next day we went to Happy Valley which is basically a small amusement park in Shenzhen. It was pretty much what we expected it would be (after having already been to the water park in Zhuhai). There were lots of great water rides for the kids and Kaid (and Amanda) both thought the place was wonderful.

Safety first at Happy Valley...

Langkawi, Malaysia 2011

Here are some photos of our fall break trip to Langkawi, Malaysia.

We spent a wonderful week with the Hargreaves clan on the beach and poolside! We met our great friend Tara and her wonderful daughters Kyana and Chloe. Chloe was born last October so it was killing Amanda not having met her yet, despite numerous skype calls. We actually celebrated Chloe's 1st birthday during the trip and what better way to spend your first birthday than a day in Langkawi with Uncle Les.

We stayed at the Berjaya Resort and it did not disappoint!!!!! It was, by my account, the perfect vacation lounging and eating all week. Although Tara is a Flames season ticket holder, it was tough to say farewell to her and the girls at the KL airport.

We enjoyed it so much that we are already planning a return trip in July 2012!

ShangHai

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Learning 2.011 Conference in Shanghai at the beginning of September. It was a great conference and I really learned a lot about how to integrate more technology into my classroom.

As an added bonus I also got to spend some time exploring Shanghai. It is definitely right up there with Hong Kong as my favourite Asian city. It's architecture is amazing and the mix of old and new throughout the city is incredible. My favourite area was The French Concession. We found an amazing bakery with delicious treats...





Here is The Bund at night...









Here's me in front of the Maglev (magnetic-levitation) train. It goes over 400 km/hr and it's actually a magnet that levitates above the track...



We checked out The Jazz Bar at The Peace Hotel. Amazing music and mojitos...




Okay...in the French Concession Karen and I walked into a clothing store and I saw this cat. I thought it was fake. Not so...


In Fuxing Park my friend Karen and I tried our luck in this little beauty. We would not make very good hamsters...


We spent some time in Xin Tian Di and . AMAZING little streets and alleys lined with cool little shops and great restaurants with patios perfect for people watching...



Lots of yummy food...



I am very much hopeful that someday I will be able to visit Shanghai again (hopefully with my family). Next time...the Science Museum!

86. Learn some tai chi

There's a lot of tai chi around these parts. Any given morning in any given park you can see individuals or groups of people practicing tai chi. When we were on Halong Bay they offered early morning tai chi on the deck of our boat and Lynn and I eagerly signed up. Kylisha slept. Lynn and I both really enjoyed it and I can see why people readily do it here. It is peaceful and calming.

Here is a ridiculous photo a lady took for me specifically for the blog...








57 finished...43 more to go!

96. Take a ride on a junk

A junk is basically an old school Chinese boat. When we were in VietNam we took a cruise on Halong Bay on a junk boat. The cruise we took was pretty amazing and the best part about it was that it was Lynn's birthday while we were on board. We did a little kayaking, explored Halong Bay, and had an amazing birthday feast! Kylisha and Lynn were swimming before dinner and Kylisha got stung pretty badly by a jellyfish. Her entire arm blistered immediately and she said it felt like she had been electrocuted. The staff on board quickly rubbed lime all over her arm and covered it in burn ointment. Good times.





Halong Bay is gorgeous and we were so blessed to be able to be able to spend Lynn's birthday with her there!!

56 down. 44 more to go.

63. Ride on a train

When we went to China in Beijing we were supposed to take an overnight train from Beijing to Xi'an but the lady booking our train tickets didn't book our train tickets. So, we had to fly. But, in VietNam we took an overnight train from Hanoi to Sapa and it was interesting. And something I never want to do again. First of all, the train was old and noisy which made sleeping difficult. Plus, the gentlemen in the same train as us were chain smokers and gamblers who spent the night laughing and drinking. THEN, the train kept stopping. It would be traveling a long at a reasonable speed and then abruptly stop. Of course, I assumed the train was stopping because we were being hijacked and therefore, I ended up getting zero sleep! But, it was an experience and Kylisha and Rachel really enjoyed it. Here's a pic of our little sleeper car:



55 finished...45 remaining.

41. Eat Pho and vermicelli in Vietnam

Eating Pho in VietNam is easy. You can get it everywhere! It's mostly served for breakfast and is very similar to the Pho found in Vietnamese restaurants back home).





BUT-finding vermicelli like back home proved to be VERY difficult. Back in Canada when you eat at a Vietnamese restaurant you can order vermicelli and it will consist of noodles, some veggies, and usually some spring rolls and pork. We assumed this type of dish would be readily available in VietNam...and it wasn't. First Les and Jordan tried last December, and then we tried this summer to find it. No luck. You can get Vietnamese noodles and spring rolls and pork are plentiful, but apparently putting them all together on one plate is something unique to North America (unless we missed something while in Vietnam). Regardless, the food there is our fave. And here are some pics of some Vietnamese/Cambodian deliciousness:































54 down, 46 left to go