Pre-Christmas

Well the cake is made, Santa's elves have been hard at work and all that is left is to make cookies for Santa:)) So before the craziness of the weekend stars (and boy am i happy Christmas is on a Saturday this year:)) Here are some pics from the last few weeks.

With their robots.



Looking for bugs in a tree stump at the Confucius temple Taichung.





Having a cooking/making tea session. They play so nicely together and love making "tea".



Wearing their scarves from South Africa...got really cold a few weeks back but back to being temperate now.



We went up to Taipei to pick up some goodies Sandy brought over from SA for us, so made a day of it and went to the zoo...of course always a favourite.

Maya was not sure about going into this little "cave". She drew quite a crowd with her dancing jig and so followed the photo session:)



Where is the tiger? Where is the tiger? Oh there it is!

Lunch in a sunbeam.

Fun and games on the hippo (with the other five thousand people that decided it was a good day for the zoo:))



We took the" train" back down to the entrance.

Maya and her "padkos"

Only in Taiwan...large poops to play in outside the bathroom....no comment!

At Peggy's building they have a great kids play room...ball pools are always a hit.



We have not bought play doh for a long time because of the gluten content but decided to give it a try in supervised sessions...Dylan saw this advertised on TV and really wanted it. Must be the influence of the bakers in his family :)



Maya LOVES her glasses and even took them to school one day but the teacher asked for her not to bring them as she was way too entertaining and distracting with them on:))





Christmas things set up for photo ops outside Park Lane.



MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Sun Moon lake and the tree is up!!!!

We have not been out to Sun Moon Lake for ages (actually more like years) We are going to be spending New Year's there and so we decided to take a drive out that way to check out the new route etc... We went to the peacock garden and Itaho tribe area. Great day with perfect weather. A lot has changed in the area since we were last there most noticeably the cable car that now connects the lake with the Formosan aboriginal park. Did not give it a whirl...save it for another day...if they can get me on a cable car that is:)*scared of heights*



Maya scouting out for tunnels...we have this ritual that we all call out when going through tunnels...she LOVES it and as soon as one tunnel is gone she is looking for the next!


In the tunnel:) AHHHHHHHHHH!

Pretty Maya in her traditional hat.

More posing:)

With bubbles, binoculars and glasses (in back) she is ready to go on her next adventure!


We decided to put the Christmas tree up this weekend. At the bookshop the kids chose some party hats. Dylan has just put this on Maya's head to get the decorating "party" started. They had a ball and were singing "We wish you a merry Christmas" the whole time.




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Birthday and stuff

On a boat ride at Feng Le park. We have not done this for ages and the last time we did Maya was quite scared but boy has that changed. She was very excited to look at all the ducks, turtles etc..while daddy and Dylan pedaled like crazy





We did celebrate with cake etc on the Sunday before my birthday but somehow forgot the camera:)Monday birthdays can be blah but the fam picked me up and surprised me with an evening out. Went to Mitsukoshi where they have the Christmas decorations up and a big plastic snow globe. The lights inside were a little overwhelming for D & M who just stared with mouths agape after the initial excitement.





Post dinner coffee...and pre Maya's cup of juice falling onto the upholstered chairs and carpeted floor....Still had a fantastic birthday thanks guys!!!!!!

Flying cow ranch

Last weekend we went up to Flying Cow ranch and the kids had a fantastic time. Although we took a round about way to get there..the whole day was fantastic. The place is huge and there are all sorts of activities going on and animals to feed etc...which was fun too but so was just running around in the greenery:)


Maya in posing mode above and Dylan in posing mode below...moved backwards into her to pose with her but she was having none of it that day:)

On the way to the ranch at one of the rest stops we came across a real gem...fruit ice pops with nothing added. A lot of the ice pops here still have some sort of milk added which Dylan cannot have so we stay clear of them and NEVER buy ice cream out..they only have what i make at home...BUT these were pure fruit and super yummy.....they devoured them..Maya may look like she is frowning but it is the cold:)




At the ranch one of the guys made this flower for Maya.

And Dylan with his sword:)

Feeding the goats.

Highlight was the pony rides!!!





Snacktime





Another highlight was this old tractor...which the kids tried very hard to get working again:)





Dylan loves flowers and he especially loves picking them and giving them to me....we decided we should rather just look at this one and leave it here.

On our horse carriage ride....Just prior to this I had taken Maya to the bathroom and the soap dispenser instead of dispensing into her hands was at a weird angle and shot right into her eye!!! You can see her left eye was still a little red from the whole ordeal!!!