A Birthday in Hong Kong

 The day after our quarantine ended, it was my birthday, Horray!! Haha. We did a lot of exploring! For breakfast we went to the nearby bakery and picked out something that looked good! No surprise, the kids picked out doughnuts. Haha. 

I had a "Cheese French Toast." It was basically a piece of bread with some egg-cheese mixture cooked on top of it, but the bread was still soft, and not toasty at all.

Isaac had some kind of bun, with a sweet and crunchy top.

We went to the mall that is just a short bus ride away, and in the mall, there is a pretty awesome playground called Snoopy's World! There was a boat ride, and lots of toys to play on.

Joslyn wasn't quite tall enough to go on her own, but they wouldn't let Isaac go with her because he had Monroe, and infants aren't allowed. So this worker said that he would go with her. Joslyn sat like this the whole ride, but when she got off, she said that the ride was super fun!

We also went for a hike on the weekend. There are lots of trails all over Hong Kong. I guess it is one of the major recreation activities here. So this is the trail just up the hill from our home. Not all of it was stairs, but there were definitely a lot of them. The kids did great, and Dorian told me that climbing stairs is his favorite!

On the way back down, we saw a ton of monkeys!! There were so many, and they weren't scared of us at all. We didn't get any closer than we had to, but the kids thought they were so fun! I didn't get any pictures of it, but there was a little baby monkey too. It was so cute! As we were walking by the mom monkey was trying to get the baby to go under the fence with her, but the baby was scared and started screaming. So the mom went back and gave it a hug, and then carried it over the top of the fence. It was all so cute, and reminded me of my own children sometimes haha.

We made it to Hong Kong!

 We made it!! 

When we went to the SeaTac airport, I was pretty nervous. They didn't let Isaac through the first time, and I was so scared that they would do the same thing to us. But they did let us through! Jacquelyn came into the airport and through security with us, and it was so helpful. 

When it was time to board the plane, we went through the gate, and we had to get on a bus to take us to the plane! The kids thought that was pretty funny.

The kids all did awesome on the planes. On the second plane, the flight attendants saw all four of us squished into one row, and moved us up to where there were three empty rows so that we could spread out and the kids could lay down and sleep if they wanted! It was really nice having all that extra space. Dorian slept for a few hours at the end of the flight, and Monroe took three naps. Joslyn didn't sleep at all! 

I thought that the plane would be the hardest part of getting to Hong Kong, but the hardest part ended up being in the Hong Kong airport. Because Joslyn and Dorian were both so tired, it was tough getting them to walk through the airport while carrying their backpacks. So, it took us about four and a half hours to get out of the airport. But the airport staff were so understanding and helpful with getting us through. It was really nice.

When we finally got out of the airport, we got on a bus to take us to the hotel we would stay at until the results of our COVID test came back. The bus ride was quite a bit longer than I was expecting, and all the kids fell asleep.

When we got to the hotel, they had dinner for us. But we were all so tired, none of us ate very much. We just went to sleep.

The next morning they sent us some breakfast too, which was nice. I wasn't expecting any food at the first hotel. At around 9am the front desk called and said we were cleared to leave! So we headed downstairs, checked out, and when we walked outside, Isaac was there to help us get to the hotel where we would quarantine for two weeks! I don't know how we would have gotten there without Isaac. There was a line of taxis waiting outside the hotel, but none of them were big enough to take me and the kids and our luggage. So Isaac took us on the train to our new hotel.

The kids actually had a lot of fun in the hotel room. The hardest part was getting Monroe to nap when the other two were still up and playing. But after the first couple nights we were all on Hong Kong time, and sleeping went better.

In the airport, they had me download an app onto my phone, and gave both Joslyn and I a wristband. And throughout our quarantine, my phone would buzz at random, and when it did I would have 30 seconds to scan both my and Joslyn's wristbands to make sure that we were still in our hotel room.

The only hotel we could find that had a room big enough for all of us was really far away from our apartment. So Isaac could only come once every couple days, and he would bring us groceries. Having picky eaters made quarantine pretty simple. They pretty much ate the same things every day. And the hotel provided breakfast of instant noodles, eggs and toast every day, which was also pretty cool. 

When it was finally time to leave, we were all so excited. Monroe seemed really confused about why we were leaving the room. He was so interested in everything outside!

To get home, we had to take two trains and a bus. It took quite a while, but we were all so happy to be in our new home and all together at last!

Dorian's 3rd Birthday

So Dorian's birthday was more than a month ago now, but he is a big 3 year old now! He has been very interested in all things physical, always wanting to run,jump, climb, race. He still loves all things cars and trucks, planes and helicopters. A year ago, Dorian would barely say anything, and now he is quite the conversationalist! He will talk and talk all day! He is still shy around other people, though, and often has a hard time going places without mom and dad (like nursery). Dorian has brought so much joy and laughter to our family, and we are so glad to have him!

Isaac and the kids have recently been into the titan games and so for the morning of his birthday, we did a Swift family Titan game. The kids did a lot of strength and agility  activities and had a lot of fun!

Then we played outside in the snow, where Isaac built a snow fort out of the snow on the picnic table outside our apartment!

The only thing Dorian told us he wanted for his birthday was more legos. He loves building with legos, and was so excited when he got to pick out this lego buldozer!

Washington Trip

This summer, my little sister, Pamela, was getting married in Tacoma. So we decided to drive out and make kind of a longer trip, and spend some time with family! This trip was so nice for us! We had so much fun seeing everyone, and just hanging out!
We stopped in Yakima and stayed a few days with my parents. The kids loved that we were finally getting some extended time out of the car. They especially loved that there was a back yard they could just go play in without needing Mom or Dad with them!
After that we went on to Puyallup and spent some time with Isaac's family! Again, the kids absolutely loved the enclosed back yard, and they loved the legos! And we all really enjoyed just relaxing, playing games, and having fun!
Jacquelyn and Doug watched the kids so we could go to a Mariners game.

Of course, we went to my sister's wedding!

We went to Lincoln Park in Seattle, where Joslyn got to try out her new kite she got for her birthday!

We went to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium! The kids absolutely loved this! Especially the Aquarium and touching the sting rays and sharks!

Of course of all the things at the zoo, Dorian's favorite was the lady bug on the trash can! Can you find it?

And it's not a real trip to Washington, unless you go to Mt. Rainier!

Fun in the back yard, using hose connections as microphones!

On the way back to Minnesota, we got to spend a day with Joshua and Rebecca and their family. During the whole trip up to this point, every time we got in the car Joslyn would ask, "are we going to Agnes' house now?" She always has so much fun with her cousins! I didn't get any pictures, but we had a lot of fun. The sand dunes were such a big hit with the kids!

The next night we decided that instead of getting a hotel, we were going to camp. It was rough without enough sleeping bags for everyone, and no pillows, but the kids still thought it was great and had a really good time!

 

It was a long, and very fun trip. It was so fun to spend time with family, and really nice to spend time with just the four of us on the long drive. But we're glad to be back and be getting back into a routine again!

Joslyn's Birthday!

This post is really late! About a month ago, Joslyn turned 4! I can't believe how big she has gotten! She is so kind to other children, especially to Dorian. She always helps us (and other people at the play ground) understand what Dorian is saying, and she is always eager to help others. Recently she has said the wants to be a mom that is an astronaut, a doctor, and she wants a horse when she grows up! She loves to laugh and be silly, and she is such a great little singer! We sure love having her in our family!

This year Joslyn's birthday kind of went on for a whole month! She really wanted to have a birthday party with her friends in Minnesota before we went on our trip to Washington. So we made her a Lego Batman cake, and had some friends come and play!

Then on the day of her birthday, we were in Puyallup with Grandma and Grandpa Swift. So we had some family come over, and she got to have this beautiful cake that Grandma made! With a heart inside!

And some more birthday fun in Puyallup!

And then, because we forgot to bring her birthday presents to Washington with us, she got to have another birthday party when we got back to Minnesota! (Sans cake and ice cream this time.)