Five

For some reason Amelia turning five is a bigger deal then her turning 4, 3....

Five is old.  Five is a kid!  Five means school (even though she has been in school since she was three).  I think what gets me the most is how am I old enough to have a five year old?  This birthday I realize how fast time flies and I remind myself I need to enjoy every moment. I know when she turns 10, I will long for the time she was five.

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Amelia's stats according to her...

Favorite food: Strawberry Marshmallows

Favorite color:  Pink and Blue

Favorite thing to do: Play "Frozen"

Favorite Sport: Soccer

I love...Frozen

Most excited to learn..how to read.

Best Friends: Molly and Gephen

Best thing about being five is?  Playing with Legos

Miss about being four: Nothing

Hua Hin

While people back home took the weekend to prepare for the Hawks game, we took the weekend to get some sun on the beach.  It is Superbowl Monday for us (and I have to work), and Friday was off due to Chinese New Year.  It was the perfect time for a weekend getaway to the Royal Beach Resort, Hua Hin.  We rented a van and packed it full of friends, kids and beach wear and drove it three hours south where we met more friends.  It was also perfect timing to leave Bangkok due to elections and protesting.

We spent our days by the pool and at Hua Hin Beach.   When we first checked into our hotel they gave us a tourist guide.  Amelia opened it up and saw they had horses on the beach.  That became her number one mission.  The rest of the time we worked on our tans.  

Don't worry...Liam did have and wore his Seahawk gear.

Hua Hin Beach

Liam on "Jewel".  I asked him the name of his horse and he said it was like Grandpa's Jewel. 

Amelia said her horse had no name.  She got to ride with no one holding and thought that was pretty awesome. 

Sun in the eyes.

Now that I look at this picture it is pretty gross.  One night we met friends for dinner and had one of the best meals I have had in Thailand.  The beef is imported from New Zealand. 

Year of the horse.

Chinese New Year starts on Friday.  That may not mean much to those living in the States, but if you live in Asia, especially China, it is a big deal.  We get off school for the day to celebrate.  The Chinese take 15-30 days off.  This is when most people travel to be with family.

Friday starts the year of the horse.

Born in 1978? 1990? 2002? This is your year!

It has become a holiday I have learned to really like.  The red, the lanterns, and the Chinese dress.  I am hoping it is something I can bring back with me and make it an annual tradition for us.

Below are pictures from Ruamrudee's celebration.  Amelia didn't wear red for the celebration, but she picked out her prettiest dress.

You would think by looking at this picture it is FREEZING here.  It has been record lows, but temperatures are like a perfect northwest summer day.  I have been loving it. 

This past week was also teacher appreciation.  To show respect, each class has a ceremony for their teachers.  Here is Pre-K:

The wai.

Bowing to submission.

Presentation of flowers

Preschool Games Day

Amelia loves sports and Games Day was right up her ally.

Scooting was her favorite.

More scooting

Soccer too.

Made a goal

using her ninja kick.

and of course....my group.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

During vacation planning for Hong Kong, I came across a lot of good sites about traveling there with children.  Even though the city is one of the biggest business capitals of the world,  it is very family friendly with a lot of family oriented, child friendly, attractions.  Disneyland being the number one.

One of the sites mentioned the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in the Disneyland Hotel.  You don't need to have a ticket into the park to go into the boutique, but you do need a reservation. I knew the perfect little princess who would love going, so I made a reservation at least a month before we went.

Amelia didn't know where we going the after of our reservation.  As soon as we walked to the door and she saw the wall of dresses, she became very excited.  

The wall of dresses

The transformation into a princess began with her picking which one she wanted to be.  She choose Aurora from Sleeping Beauty because she had the other dresses.  The transformation is not cheap, but I could justify it because of money for Christmas given by my aunts.  It was worth every cent and every minute of the process.

Amelia's Fairy Godmother Wini.

Getting her crown installed. 

The finishing look before she gets to see.

Her first sight of herself as a princess

After the transformation, she then had a photo session.  It reminded me of glamor shots.  She LOVED it and we got to take a picture home.  

Hong Kong: Disneyland

Living abroad you know that your children are going to be missing experiences that you had as a child.  This is hard, but the trade-off is they are having adventures that you never dreamed of when you were young. Lucky for us, Disneyland is not one of those trades.  Being the main reason of us to go to Hong Kong, it was the perfect American experience I had a child. 

For gifts we are finding that giving an experience means more then a physical item.  It is also a lot easier to give to someone who is not living in the same timezone.   That is how our adventure began.  Wade's parents knew HK Disneyland was on my must see list, so they made it happen.  The kids knew we were going to Hong Kong, but they had no idea what was there.

The Main Street Parade

Once we got off the subway stop at Disneyland it started to click with Amelia.  We thought for sure would figure it out before, but the surprise never revealed its self.    We started walking towards the entrance and she stopped and says "Are we at Disneyland?"  With our yes, the smile didn't stop for the two days we were there.

Poor Liam was not allowed on some of the ride because he was too small.  Here he is waiting for Amelia and me to get off Space Mountain.

HK Disneyland is the smallest of all the Disney's, but the most perfect for young kids.  It was not too busy, we made it on all the major attractions and the kid's little legs were able to navigate through the different lands.  Liam's highlight was riding Dumbo and the Winnie the Pooh ride, while Amelia's was seeing the Princess and riding the roller coasters.

Toy Story was also a hit for Liam.

Cinderella and Belle

Snow White and Sleeping Beauty

Dumbo

Liam on Dumbo

The main man, Mickey Mouse

Breakfast with Mickey

The happiest place on Earth

Hong Kong: The City

Since moving to Asia one of the places on my list to see has been Hong Kong.   It is the New York of Asia, the closest I will most likely get to China (it costs a lot for Americans to go to China) and it is very kid friendly with many attractions, including a Disneyland, aimed for kids. 

Hong Kong viewed from atop a peak.  We took a tram up it. 

The kids did awesome on the trip and were great troupers as they had to hang with me while I figured out the city.  This was an adventure in its self because Hong Kong is not that big, but has millions of people.  Thank goodness for the parks where we could get away from the masses and relieve the anxiety from people being our bubbles.  Wade was not a fan.  However, the food, sights and the reason we went (next post) was worth it all. 

The food here was great.  Wade discovered and loved Dim Sum. 

Hong Kong was cold, but sunny. My favorite kind of weather.  

One of the many public parks.  They also offer free wifi.

One of my favorite dishes was Schezwan noodles.  They are made right before they are cooked.   Liam got to play with some uncooked ones before one of our dinners. 

Another park.  This one had a free zone it. 

On top of Hong Kong

With millions of people on a small island, there are lines EVERYWHERE.  Just to go to the bathroom we would wait an average of 45 min.