Botanical Gardens

 There is a beautiful botanical garden within walking distance of the apartment. We walked and got to a field where the boys could run and yell. I think Jack needed that.

 Blake worked on transferring his pacifier to his toes and back for 10 minutes straight.

 Just love these girls.

 "Should we step in it?" This question from Siah wouldn't have surprised me at all. He asks "should we?" a lot. 

 Slowing down to nap speed. We contained all the kids on the way back instead of letting Jack and Josiah walk, it took about half the amount of time to get home. London fell asleep again. Different carrier, but it must be a comforting sway!

Well, life is beautiful.

 We are installed. We eat, we sleep, we nap, we play, and while I would love to tell you of crazy adventures, mostly with five kids, 3 and under, we are grateful that there is "nothing to report."

 So, here are some highlights - our air conditioner spewed water all over us in a grand death plunge, Jack was bit by a spider and his hand swelled up, Aliyah broke out in hives, Josiah is learning to share like boot camp has arrived, and we talk over, above, and through it all and love being together. 

  Jack is learning to use chopsticks. Aunt Kimmi's chopsticks to be exact.

 We have had some of the best food of my year in the last week. My stomach is singing happy melodies of lunches passed now.

 A couple of days ago this sight became extinct. This position steadily moved from 1:00 am to 4:00 am. There was an awkward couple of days getting up at 4:30 or 5 and now everyone is sleeping until around 6, give or take an hour. Jetlag offers heavy weight training in walking in grace. God's grace. Grace that lets getting up at 3 am be funny, finds toddlers falling asleep in funny positions adorable, and provides a good dose of sympathy for others ailments of insufficient sleep.

 My sister and her food art. Pretty fun. The majority of our breakfast conversation centered around that single cherry on the table. Obviously it was necessary to work through strong feelings involved with such a limited prize.

 My older two boys have long reminded me of uber enthusiastic golden retriever puppies with happy faces flying by, powered by flopping appendages, occasionally leaving a wake similar to a wagging tale's affect. Throw Josiah in and I do believe we could call them a litter. Maybe we'll change to "pack" once they are old enough to let go of our hands.

 Free entertainment for Blake.

 London periodically puts on Kim's scooter helmet and says "Ride. Scooter. Yes. London. Please?" He hasn't gone on it yet, but we pass them all the time and he is very excited about the thought of one day one taking him on a ride. Maybe. In a parking lot. Maybe.

 There really is no discrimination between the 5 kids as they all rush from playing with one to a another without a pause to change their games. Blake gets involved with playing car trip just as much as Jack. I love that. I wondered a lot if having another playmate constantly around would isolate either Jack or London, but they all mesh well.

 There is an awesome ballpit in the basement of the apartment building. Jon and I ventured out with the five one afternoon.

Uncle Jon has a soft spot for nieces. I don't blame him. Aliyah is so sweet. She is really pleasant all of the time, has a tiny ornery streak that makes her eyes sparkle, soft hands, and a quick smile.

Jon has Aliyah in front of him, and I am wearing Blake. The best part of this walk was that London fell asleep on the way back, and I couldn't figure out how to tuck his head in, so I held it up with my hand to stop him from flopping. Pretty hilarious juggling act.

Tune in daily from here out! I realized I could give my Mom a Mother's Day gift from far off. We will post a picture a day in honor of our two moms for the rest of the month. (They both have requested more, we are happy to oblige!)

Chasing Cats

 "What do you think, are the moms going to tie us up again?"

"Oh, probably. We aren't even the ones that need tied up!"

Going anywhere we are outnumbered on every front. More kids than adults, more wannabe communicators than chinese speakers, and more to see than time between naps allows. Kim and I "wear" Blake and Aliyah to keep hands free 

 These three. That's all. 

 Three boys 14.5 months apart. Herding cats.

 We walked through a beautiful park to the children's library. Gratefully it was only threatening to rain.

 I'm not sure if we really look like this, perceive ourselves to look like this, or look like this to the world around us. But, we don't mind. It is smashing good fun to all be together.

Here and Awake

 We had too many phases to write out even an hourly report of the ensuing 14 hour flight that turned into a 19 hour flight in the belly of our fully booked, flying whale. So, I will just hit some highlights for you. 

Jack - The unrealistically good traveller. He stuns me with his patience and quietness on long car trips, and ran a five star plane trip to match it. He stayed awake until almost 1 am our time when I told him he should go to sleep and he simply did. He has had the least trouble with the time zone change because he then slept about 6 hours all together during the right night time. He slept through all but one of the served meals and didn't eat much of the one he was awake for. Maybe he travels like Jon, who doesn't eat much at all en route. Truly I was incredibly grateful for no fussing, whining, or wiggling on Jack's part. 

London - Our almost two year old has an almost two year old's sense of sitting still. He had a little bit tougher time as he is accustomed to wandering silently and constantly most days. He did better than I expected and also did not cry more than Blake. Score. London was a big fan of the snack bag and ate his weight in raisins, pretzels, protein bars, fig bars, clementines and fruit snacks. A couple of funny moments of his included him losing one of each of our earbud covers and the lid to Jon's chapstick. He compulsively collected and stashed everyone's trash and was ecstatic when pick up times came around. Once I showed him how to work the seatbelt latch he practiced repeatedly, I wish the carseats would buckle so easily! During one long non-sleep filled sleeping time, he slipped to the floor to play with his backpack and Jon drifted off. When he woke London looked up at him grinning with his face and arms covered in purple marker. I saw him a row behind an hour or so later and panicked because it looked like he had hives in the shadow of the dimly lit cabin. It was a fun thing to try to explain to all of our concerned neighbors.

Blake - I am happy to say Blake slept some. When we got on our long flight he had fallen asleep during boarding in my baby wrap. As we sat down, a kind Chinese lady sitting behind us grew very concerned that he would be cold and tucked my whole torso in snugly with two cabin blankets and then carefully balanced a little airline pillow on top of Blake's head to protect him from the air blowing down. I silently wondered if I would be sweltering the entire flight under her attentive eye, but once he woke and I showed her how hot he feels all the time she was supportive of not overheating. :) I found out that the stewards let you stand in the back area even when the seatbelt light is on as long as you are holding a crying baby. Bonus. Blake crying during the supposed landing of the flight to Taipei was the only time I felt significantly overwhelmed, and I cried with him. Over all, he is in one piece, and I don't think we could have done anything differently. The turbulence bothered him a bit, but I had some motion ease medicine that you dab behind baby's ears and he fell asleep shortly after each time I used it.

 As we began our descent to the Taipei airport, they closed it due to storms. We diverted to the southern end of Taiwan and waited in a long line for our turn to get gas. They turned the plane off, ending air conditioning and screen use, and we waited for 3 hours. Our back section was alive with people talking and mingling. The stewardess (who uncannily resembled our dear Manna, and turned out to also be from Thailand) gave the boys drinks and invited them to look out her window while sitting on top of a box plastered with "do not sit" signs. They made it as pleasant as possible. In the end we moved from a 9:25 arrival to a 2:35 arrival. It was a good moment to step off the plane.

 The boys somehow caught on that 3:30 was time to sleep. That was the last time they have slept at 3:30 to this date. We are still working on that...

 Jon began to feel some really strong effects of lack of sleep, and was able to sleep a  bit in this classy airport nursery. I was super impressed with this little space designed just for us. Blake was relieved to be free from being touched for the first time in 30 hours.

Jack slept in a little cubby room at the back. London ran wildly around trying to stay awake. 

 A short high-speed rail trip later, enveloped by a lot of extremely helpful strangers that kept us on the right track, followed by a short car trip with DANIEL!!! we finally reached our destination. The sweet home of my sister and her family. Never has a reunion on an hour of sleep felt so utterly overjoyed and exuberant. Kim and Daniel left the first couple days of our trip blank to let us eat and sleep at whim. The boys have been crashing about finding the best hiding spots here, new rules, new friends, and shrieking with laughter and songs almost non-stop.

 These two pictures make my heart really happy. Jack and Josiah holding hands, and Blake and Aliyah laying side by side. So close.

Off to clock in for my 3 hours of sleep. Good morning, America!