Yesterday after rest time I took all of the kids to Trash Mountain to try to take advantage of the beautiful fall colored leaves that are sprinkled throughout the park on many of the trees. We originally planned to go on Saturday, but due to a constant drizzle and the cold that has become more of a daily presence we decided to forgo that plan and head to the supermarket indoor play area instead to let the kids expend some energy. Unfortunately, maybe a little too much energy was put forth, as one of our friends' daughters who joined us there ended up falling on her arm at an awkward angle, leaving us concerned that she had possibly broken a bone. Kevin took the little girl (Katelynne) and her dad to a Chinese hospital for an x-ray, with one of our best national friends here, whose mom is a doctor and whose friend owns and drives a car, guiding them along the way and through the process (the Chinese hospitals kind of work on a take-a-number and get in line system, and can get really difficult to navigate if you're not very familiar with the process--and if you're not ready to be a little bit on the pushy side in order to keep your place in line!). We were all so relived to find out that Katelynne's arm was okay, and had the added blessing of having her dad have his ear checked out, only to discover that the pain he's had for the past several weeks was due to a pretty serious ailment--an infection along with a perforated diaphragm. Again, thankful that he was able to be checked out and get the medicine he needs too to be on the road to recovery! It was a great reminder of how blessed we are to have such an incredible network of friends here who will drop whatever they are doing to help us when we are in need--even when it means spending literally all day at the hospital working the system!
Anyway, back to the photo op. I wondered if we maybe wouldn't draw a crowd, as most of the time when I have all 4 out in public together this is our trend. The funny part was how many others there at the park had the same thing in mind of trying to capture the beautiful fall leaves--which meant LOTS of people and LOTS of cameras at the park! The kids handled it beautifully, with Karis turning a little bit pink in the cheeks as she murmured between her lips while smiling, "Mom, all these people are watching us!" And sure enough, the crowd and the flashes that were present were pretty unbelievable. If I wasn't so intent on capturing the most ideal expression on each of my four monkey's faces I would have stopped to count how many were gathered around at any given moment. But alas, I was determined (and I think succeeded!) in getting all four of mine at least looking in the right direction at one time! The other truly humorous moment was when one mother was bold enough to step right up to where my kids were posed on the rock wall and insert her probably 2 year old into our family photo op! I didn't have to say anything, but made it clear that I was intentionally NOT trying to include her little one in our family shot, hoping not to offend to greatly!
After we took the pictures for 20 minutes or so, I rewarded the kids with some free time to explore. They had a blast making "jelly" out of the red berries they found and squashed between leaves and collecting sticks and other treasures under the cover of the low-hanging branches near where we were. The kids loved the outside play time, and we finished up our evening by trekking partially up the mountain and then back down closer to where the three wheeler awaited our return.
As we finished our walk, I took note of the array of clothing that the people jogging past on the path were wearing (they have added in the last year a path that is paved officially for jogging or walking, which is truly a rare find indeed, making the path well-traveled most times of the day). We saw a little bit of everything, but the most amusing was the man jogging (and I'm pretty sure not just in a hurry to get from one place to another!) in a dri-fit style t-shirt, but also wearing a men's blazer (or sport coat)! I wish I could say that this is unusual, but I regularly see people on the jogging trail in clothes not very many Westerners would consider proper sports apparel. Especially in the shoe category! Authentic running shoes that are of good quality here are REALLY expensive, much more so than most nationals could afford, which I assume is why I see so many people walking or running in shoes that definitely leave something to be desired in the support category. It makes me sad and concerned for their joints, knees, and backs each time I see it!
The other photo is of the boys last week and their first week of Tai kwon do lessons. We found a place here in our apartment community and after a few times of observing the instructor at work, decided it would be a great fit for our boys. And they LOVED it! It was so fun to talk with them about it after their first class, hear their enthusiasm over the kicks and punches and the possibility of moving up to eventually achieve a black belt. Kevin stayed with them the whole time to help translate as necessary (their instructor is a young Korean man, who we discovered is like-minded, which probably has much to do with his a-typical kind demeanor towards the kids). The teacher uses both Chinese and Korean in class, and occasionally sprinkles in some English for the sake of Eli and Hud! We are super thankful for this opportunity for them to be able to participate in some sort of organized sport, and Kevin and I both feel strongly that sports are a great way for kids to have character-building opportunities and life-growth chances that they could otherwise not be confronted with as much. It should also provide some great exercise, which will be especially beneficial as the winter is fast approaching! We have just started counting down the days (only 8 now!) until the heat is turned on as our apartment floors are starting to feel cold in spite of the wool socks we're wearing! :)
