Penang Anniversary Trip

It is hard to believe it, but on August 15, 2013, I will have been married to Mrs. Emily Lynn Meyer for 15 years!  My how time flies when you are having fun.

In late June, I had a business trip to Penang, Malaysia that Em and I thought would be fun to extend for an early anniversary celebration.  Thanks to the amazing help of our good friends - Ryan and Aimee Bowman - were able to leave the older three kids in Shanghai and have a weekend celebration in lovely Penang.

As this first picture captures, it was a anniversary celebration that had Silas in the middle of the action!

At the recommendation of a co-worker we stayed in the Lone Pine Hotel in the Batu Ferringhi beach area.  One of my personal favorite spots at the hotel were the large hammocks that were slung underneath the massive pine trees on the property.

It was also nice to walk along the beach, which is along the Malacca Straight.

Silas was a big fan of the swimming pool at the hotel as well as his new toy boat!

The food in available in the area was incredible.  A new drink that made us smile was the Chrysanthemum Tea that went by the brand name "Chill"; I called it my "Chill Pill"!

Silas had his first ice cream in Penang and it was a huge hit!

There was also amazing sea food - including Emily's favorite TomYum Soup with shrimp.  As you can see from our table we not only enjoyed the food, but the milk tea and fresh fruit drinks as well!

On Sunday morning we hiked in the nearby Penang National Park, which is known for its dense forest and beautiful beaches.

As some points along the way it was hard to know where the trail was!  In this picture it is on top of the rocks and over the large tree root on the far right hand side.

Here are Emily and Silas braving the forest trail!

Finally after a sweaty 2 hour hike we reach our destination: Monkey Beach!

On Sunday evening our friends Rob and Kay Eberz - who live in the area - were so kind to watch Silas so that we could have a special anniversary dinner. Here we are with our seafood themed dishes.  Both were incredible!

Even more incredible than the seafood, the beaches or anything else I saw in Penang was the fact that I have been married to my best friend for nearly 15 years.  What an amazing gift from God to live out the wonderful blessing of marriage with such an amazing women!  I am convinced the best is yet to come!

Father's Day Celebration - 2013

Today was a very special Father's Day celebration as Emily and the kids planned a day of activities.

The fun began with Father's Day Cards from the older two kids at breakfast.

Miriam thanked me for being her father over these "looooong ten years" and teaching her what faith is.

Asa's was a bit more abstract as he drew a self portrait, declared "I love QQ" (a Chinese messaging tool that I don't think he has ever used) and signed his card "Love, Dad".  He confessed he had done a lot of the card "with his eyes closed" - LOL!  Wow, I love this creative guy!  He can really make me laugh.

After lunch we trekked out to the site of the Shanghai Expo where The Power Station of Art was showing an exhibit called "Andy Warhol: Fifteen Minutes Eternal".  We took the subway to the exhibit, which turned into more walking than we anticipated, but one benefit was running across a photo boot within the subway.  We took a family picture - less Silas - which the kids loved.

Once we arrived at the exhibit, not only did we learn a ton about Andy Warhol's life and work, but the kids had a blast painting their own masterpieces and we enjoyed exploring this huge power station full of art.

Emily and Silas enjoyed some of the Andy Warhol Cow Prints

Asa Enjoyed the mirrors in this exhibit about the impact of China's rapid development.

At the museum, I also got in a picture with my sweetie and the new T-shirt she gave me for Father's Day.  God bless her, she went to all the trouble of taking a silly picture from a small tea shop I like called "Super Daddy" and putting the mascot on a T-shirt for me.  It was weeks in the planning!

For dinner we went across the river to the Pu Dong side of the old Expo site for some American BBQ at Bubba's Texas BBQ.

Her is our whole crew with our great food - notice that Emily has written "Love Dad" with ketchup on one of the plates!

Even Silas got into the BBQ action - here is gnawing on a rib bone!

Dragon Boat Fun - 2013

Over the last couple days our family has enjoyed time off as part of the Dragon Boat or Duan Wu Holiday.

A highlight of lunch on Monday included two baskets of Shanghai's famous "Xiao Long Bao" or steamed dumplings.

Silas also enjoyed lunch, especially the the black rice coconut pudding.

After lunch we explored the the nearby Jing An Park where we not only discovered an old garden, but also...

a rampart that was build during the Easter Jin Dynasty, which was between 317 to 420 A.D.

On Tuesday we had the chance to join friends for lunch and enjoyed singing Karaoke together - even Silas got into the action.

We ended the day by breaking into some fresh crayfish that Emily picked up at the gate.

Children's Day 2013 Celebration

International Children's Day is a Chinese holiday our family - especially the kids - have fully embraced since arriving in Shanghai back in 2007.   Here are the kids before the older two headed out to their school celebrations.  Indeed - "Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!" Psalms 127:4-5. What a gift to parent with my best friend - Emily Meyer! 

This year's celebration began at school on Friday (May 31).  Here are Miriam and Asa outside there school where they only had a half day of school and it was entirely focused on carnival type activities. Asa's favorite was the dart game and Miriam liked the lily pad jump.

On Saturday, the celebration started when Emily and I serving the kids breakfast in bed.  They were thrilled!

We served the kids their second course on paper plates with honorary titles related to their names and our prayers for each of them.

Later, I took each of the three older kids on a "Daddy Date".  What a treat to spend time with them and get to know their unique personalities better.  

My first date was with Asa who ate his chocolate cake treat as a fast as he could and then promptly ran outside to smash bugs that were landing on the store window.  I learned that Asa isn't a big talker, but loves a good adventure.

Here are a couple of highlights from our adventure in a new part of our neighborhood - a massive blow up crayfish.

And a lamb stick from a street vendor

On Sunday (June 2), I took our girls out - starting by taking Miriam to a book store where she picked up a copy of "Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: World War II".  This girl loves to learn!

We then went for an ice cream treat that featured a huge chocolate ball filled with a variety pack of flavors.

Here is the description of the "Belgium Blossom - AKA the huge chocolate ball!

My last date was with Salome (AKA: Lo Lo) who I took to get a donut and play a game of memory.

She enjoyed a strawberry smoothie with our game of memory - which features cards that follow a "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" theme.

Our date concluded with a small ride outside a grocery store in our neighborhood - one of Lolo's favorites!

I love the mix of Chinglish on the side of the car!

Daddy's School Visit

This past Wednesday (May 22) I joined other parents in visiting Miriam's class and it was a treat to get a glimpse of what her day typically looks like.  After the visit, I was even more proud of both Miriam and Asa for how well they are doing in this challenging environment.

The morning started with a flag raising ceremony.  Can you find Asa in this picture?

This is a picture of Miriam's homeroom; you can see the parents lined up on stools in the back of the classroom.  The first class was Chinese and they read a story about famous Russian poet; I honestly understood about half of what they were talking about.

The next class was music class music class  that started with the kids sing as the teacher accompanied them on the piano.

The piano-led song soon was soon turned into a "rap" that the kids danced to and ended with a "peace sign" salute!

When we returned to Miriam's homeroom there was a break between classes and it was a delight to see how much Miriam enjoyed talking with her classmates.

Before the next class (English) there was a song that blared over the loud speakers to lead the kids in their eye relaxation exercises.  You will note that Miriam is not participating as we actually found the exercises gave her pink eye and other nasty eye related illnesses!

The next class was the foreigner taught English class where Miriam was definitely the most active in class room participation.  Her teacher is a New Zealander named Ben and he did a great job of building a lesson that was interactive.

The main focus of the English class was an egg drop experiment where they were required to break into small groups.  Here is Miriam intensely discussing what their group should be called.  They decided to call their group "sweet"!

Next was an English class led by a local teacher and then lunch, which I was able to enjoy as well.  It is actually not that different than the cafeteria food in my office complex and the kids all ate at their desks.

Finally, before leaving I stopped to see Asa's classroom.  Here is Asa getting ready to leave class to go to play practice.  Miriam and Asa are both staring in a play that is part of a district-wide public service announcement contest; I hope to be able to have a video to share on this soon!