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There was some serious excitement as we got on the ferry to go to a neighboring island. Well, Owen was suspicious, but everyone else knew we were in for a good time.
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Then we hopped on a bus. Hailey conked right out, and when I looked back at them, this is what I saw. That Will, he's a sweetheart.
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At last, we made it to the fishing village of Tai O. We boarded this little boat which took us on a tour of the village, then took us out to the Sea of China to look for pink dolphins.
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The houses are all built on these stilts. It is pretty amazing, and humbling to see how they live.
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The driver really started moving as we got out into open water!
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Will was very concerned that we weren't wearing life jackets, even though I showed him where they were under our seats, and promised to put his on right away if the need arose.
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We missed seeing any dolphins, but had a fun time on the water.
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Walking through the village we came across all kind of ocean creatures just waiting to be bought and eaten ... not by us though...
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These guys were still raw and wriggling.
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Owen was really hoping we'd choose the eel for dinner that night :)
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We hopped on another bus and went to see the big Buddha. It was big!
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We needed a break after coming back down from the top, so we sat down and Ken was giving Owen a bottle. We heard some noise in the plants behind us, and I thought it was a dog, so I got closer to shoo it away. Turned out it was a cow and her calf. Just chillin in the middle of some greenery, surrounded by lots of concrete and hundreds of tourists. Cool.
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Once the cows got bored of us, they wandered off into the crowd. As we left, I saw them near a concession stand at the entrance of the Big Buddha, standing in line while people scratched their backs.
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Owen, trying to determine if he is a fast enough crawler to catch up to those cows.
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It was later when we got back to the city, and we hurried home to have a New Year's Eve party of our own (which consisted of a pancake dinner with ice cream and an early bed time for the kids. Definitely not what it would have been like with our friends, but still happy :)
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We could see all the fireworks at midnight from the awesome view of our apartment. Happy New Year!
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The next couple days we were lucky enough to spend with some good friends of ours, the Woodruffs, who we haven't seen since they moved from VA a couple years ago. They flew in to Hong Kong just to be with us! We felt pretty special :) We made the most out of it by staying up way too late talking and playing games. Here's the whole group of us!
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We went to a park, which had a nunnery attached to it. It was beautiful and quiet. A little too quiet for the kids, but they were good sports.
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While it might look like Hailey is being shy, she is really just being grumpy.
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Thank goodness for big brothers who can tickle her and get a smile!
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There were little padded stands where people who are worshipping can kneel on. The workers didn't want the kids sitting down on them, and Will had some questions about it. Next thing I know, Tyler is running towards me almost crying, saying "Will said he doesn't want to be part of our religion anymore! He said he believes in the Buddha now so that he can sit on the bench!" Is it bad that I kinda really wanted to laugh? We had to reassure Tyler, and have a chat with Will about his religious beliefs. And pull him off the stand :)
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Good looking kids!
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Hailey really had a thing about pictures this day!
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We spent a whole day at Ocean Park, which was an amusement park, and the kids loved it. We saw a couple shows, went on rides, and saw one of the coolest light/firework shows at the end of the night. Never mind that there were so many people that in order to see the show, we had to stand 3 of our kids (plus both moms) up on the upright trash cans, it was totally worth it!
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We also managed to get a sitter and have a night out on the town. While we didn't find quite what we were looking for, we ended up with awesome food and great treats :)
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Our last morning together, the guys watched all 6 kids and let me and Heather go to Stanley market ALONE. Pretty sure we enjoyed it all the more for that! We spent quality time shopping, sightseeing, and eating :)
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Our last afternoon in Hong Kong, we hiked a trail that ended up being a lot longer than we thought. But beautiful as well!
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I think there were maybe 9,000 steps, or maybe that is what it just felt like!
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| At the top! Or at least, at what the Hamblin clan decided was the top. We kept thinking the end would be right around the next corner, and after having that happen at least 4 times, we stopped. It was almost dinner time, and we hadn't brought any snacks or water, so we made a team decision to end early :) |
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We loved our time in Hong Kong!
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