taiwan times

Here are some pictures letting you know about how our trip went to get to Taiwan. It was quite the adventure, we were really exhausted when we got here but now are not really suffering much jet lag and we've only been here 48 hours! Because I have to be up every 3-4 hours to feed Dana, I'm not really noticing it anyway.

This is Eli at the airport during our 6 hour layover, it was about 1:00am (our time) and he did not slow down! There were so many "trucks" to push around, he tired himself out really well. It worked out reasonably well as a result as he slept for a large part of our 11-hour flight, with only 2 major meltdowns (that did not really last that long) in total. I think that was about as good as we could expect for a two-year old. I was certainly glad that I brought some extra clothes for both kids, nothing like rinsing Eli's poopy shorts in an airport bathroom during turbulence!

And here's Dana in her stroller at the airport. She did really well and we were glad to have a place to lay her for her naps on the plane. Neither Eli nor Dana seemed to have any ear-popping pain during the take-off or landing which was great.

This is our house for 2 weeks; very, very, very nice and spacious, supplied with more toys than we left behind even! It is located on a boarding school/international school compound, a lot of staff have gone back to the States for the summer so we are able to use it. It has air-conditioning and that is really a necessity here. I am reminded so much of Thailand with the heat and humidity here not to mention the delicious fresh fruit that we are able to buy at various markets within walking distance. I am becoming a bubble-tea addict. It is iced green or black tea with tapioca balls in it with an extra big straw to suck them up. Really tasty and thirst-quenching.

Eli has made some friends with the neighbours by "borrowing" their toys. If it has wheels, he loves it and claims it as his own and attempts to drive it away.

There is a park right behind our house and Eli has taken a liking to the swings. We had a hard time getting him off and he likes to be pushed so he goes high, although his face at first betrays a look of terror. Scott has started getting up early to go for runs and I joined him this morning at 6:00am (if we go later, it is too hot). We went at the 400m track which is near the park. It feels good to jog again, I'm super slow, but you have to start somewhere right?

and off we go

It's about an hour until we leave for the airport, Eli is still napping and so is Dana. I can't put a picture on here right now because we can't think of where we packed the cord for the camera to go to the computer. Oh well, I'm not about to make a huge search for it now. We're feeling pretty good and we're ready to go...generally encouraged and excited. Our flight leaves at 1930 and we get to Vancouver for a 6 hour layover and then back on the plane for our 12 hour flight to Taipei, Taiwan. It will be early Monday morning when we arrive (local time). At last, the long awaited airplane ride for Eli. Let's hope we all do well and can nap lots! I'll hopefully post again when some of the dust settles soon...