My day today

Today is Monday April 24th, 2012.

Most mondays are a busy day. Catching up after a weekend of fun and letting the house turn to mush. And with my genetic mutation of not having the inner drive to have a spick and span clean home, it was probably already needing a few chores done before the weekend started. Okay lets be honest, my house was in bad shape this last week, throw the weekend in there and it looks like a tornado ran through here. Multiple loads of dishes needing to be done this morning, clean up, and the normal every day hustle and bustle. I woke up with big plans. To be productive from early morning until this evening after dinner was cooked and family night was to be enjoyed.

This is how my day has run. Its all worked out great, but somehow just not enough time in the day!While this isnt exactly the same timeline, it will be pretty close


5:30 Lindsay's alarm clock goes off....uggh that means try to get in the last little bit of restless interupted sleep until Erik wakes up, could be any minute.

6:30 Rise and shine to a little hungry man (he let us sleep in a bit, wahoo!) Cartoons until breakfast time

7:00 breakfast is served. I get on the computer and check email, fb, and look up how to include vinegar into the laundry to try to get the stink out of workout clothes.ERik plays and chats with me. I also pay a bill online before I forget and scan in some documents and email them to the insurance company. Erik is begging me to play hide and seek or shooting.

8:00 I choose hide and seek, we play a couple of rounds and he cant find me hiding on the balcony, because its not one of the usual 5 that you can hide in our closet size apartment. Finally I start making noises and he finds me, when we swap so he can hide, he hides in the same place as last time. This is an ongoing lesson of not hiding where the adults just hid or the same place as last time. One day he will get it :)

8:15 Back to the grind, but trying to involve Erik into the chores. We get him dressed, I help him make his bed. He helps me load the washer and clean a drain with baking soda and vinegar, he likes the bubbling. He runs off to play and I load up the first load of dishes.

9:30 I throw on some clothes and make a short shopping list to take to the markets for dinner groceries. We will be on foot today so just a few things. Get Erik ready, walk to where our second car  is parked on the street, load him in, drive aroudn the neighborhood to find a place to park (it had to be moved by noon). Walk back...there is a park along the way...he wants to stop....I want to get out of the heat, but am trying really hard to get him outside for an hour a day for some type of physical activity (we do lots inside too), realize this is a good opportunity to get some of that in....tell him he has 10 minutes. Walk the rest of the way home.

10:15 Go to the managers office of the complex and going over some business matters with them. Go back to our unit, eat an ice block (popsicle). Get in a snack/mini meal and switch some laundry. Get readyand head out to walk to the shops. Erik walks the trolley about halfway there before he tires of it. I take over, we go into market, get our goods, load them into our trolley, Erik gets to play on the Big bulldozer ride for 2 minutes and then we head home. Walk home.

12:30 Arrive home. Unload groceries, give him another snack/mini meal (he is a bottomless pit with all the walking we do, especially on his little body). I make a couple of phone calls relating to my responsibilities at church.

1:45 Put Erik down for quiet time. Read him a book, sing him a song. Tell him he needs to rest in bed and look at books for a bit before he gets down to play with toys. Tell him he is not to come out unless he needs to poo (he knows all the tactics) and if he opens the door or asks if he can come out he is to get a time out. I know I sound like a mean mom, maybe I am but I am a firm believer in boundary setting for children. I am a bit  more strict right now with this as well, because he is really practising trying to manipulate and if we give him even a centimeter, he takes things a mile. So while he gets freedom and choice in a lot of matters, some things I still get complete control over because I dont think he can handle that freedom yet. Just some of my parenting thoughts.

2:00 Tell myself I can lay down on the couch for 30 minutes before I need to get up and finish my tasks before its time to start dinner prep at 3:30.

2:15 Erik has to go poo. Take him potty....and send him back to his room.

2:25 Erik yells for me and I ignore him. I dont want to fall into any traps. If its urgent he usually continuously yells or starts crying. A few minutes goes by and he yells again, I get up and think great, there goes my half hour nap. Open the door and he tells me he has poo in his pants. I check and sure enough he does. Diarrhea even. I try hard not to be frustrated. I could probably count on less than one hand how many accidents he has had, so I know it was tummy troubles and my lack of coming when he called for me that caused this. I clean him up, stick him in the tub, and here I am typing about my monday. Its now just a few minutes shy of 3 pm and I just had to document this because I thought it was  bit funny. By this time I thought my house would be clean and errands run. My child played with, quiet time finishing up and rolling smoothly.

The reality....there are 4 loads of laundry that need folded and put away. The house still needs picked up. One more load of dishes done. A child to be entertained, and dinner prep to be started. This is a typical stay at home mothers work day. Grand ideas, sometimes little to show physically but I will take it. Maybe I will get a shower  later tonight?!

Most days I do well with the shower thing I must admit but today lacked. Off to get my little smooth boy out to lotion. Hope you enjoyed the peek into my day!

perfect pint size package

Today I was having a rough day. Nothing in particular, just lots of little things that were mounting started to overwhelm me, add in a healthy dose of motherhood guilt and self deprecating thoughts and a meltdown occurred while Erik happily played during his quiet time in his room. I was in my room on my knees pleading with my Heavenly Father to lift me up and give me strength to get through.

I felt better after having a good cry, sometimes I think that just does such a trick.

This little man is just that, I think his spirit is so wise and he has such a sense of humor that he just kills me. Sometimes he makes me want to lock myself in a padded room, but then his spirit speaks to mine and I just want to bottle him up forever.

The past few months he has grown really interested in how babies grow in bellies. Many things are attributed to this. He knows that we (Lindsay and I) would like to give him a brother or sister and he LOVES babies and often hears or requests himself for God to send a baby into mommy's belly. Every time I go to any appointment without him, he asks if the doctor is going to put a baby in my belly and will ask a few times a week if there is one in there. He knows he grew in S's belly. Also we have a close friend who is the latter half of her pregnancy and Erik has seen her belly grow and quite frankly I think it has intrigued him more. Every time he sees her he asks her about her baby, and sometimes not quite grasping the concept fully asks if she is having "another baby." Like one came out between the last time he saw and the current time. Its been really fun, and opened up plenty of opportunity for me to teach him more about his special story. He loves to ask questions about him growing in S's belly and confirm that mommy did not grow him in hers, but that S loves him so much and so does B. A couple of days ago on tv he saw a pregnant woman and asked if that was S. I told him no but pulled out his scrapbooks about his adoption. He had moved onto other things and wasn't interested any longer. That is fine, line upon line right?

Tonight after having a hard day and Lindsay being gone for a meeting I felt like I needed to feel that close connection with him. I needed a renewing feeling with my son. You see.....lately he only wants Lindsay for every.single.thing. I know it's normal and most of the time it doesn't bother me. He has always been that way a bit, those two have a bond I couldn't even try to compete with, but have always been confident in my bond as his mother. I have always been the one that Erik would call out for if hurt or sad. The nurturing that most children desire from a mother. Lately he just wants Dad. I know his love for me hasn't weakened, but I needed a special moment with him. Since I am with him all day its not so special if I get him a treat or take him somewhere cool, that is what is expected from our daytime adventures so I knew I needed something else.

It came to me as we were getting ready for bed. I would not read his typical bed time story tonight, I would read him one of adoption scrapbooks and we would talk and reconnect. He drank every ounce of that up and loved seeing it all. Although he has seen the scrapbooks hundreds of times it was almost like he was seeing it for the first time. He is understanding! He is learning about his miracle! When we got to the end I read him the letter S wrote to him and gave to him before we left Germany. When I was finished he asked to keep reading him his story (I had read it all!) I told him he we could look at them again in the morning when he woke up and told him we needed to say prayers for bed. I said them tonight and spoke of the love that all of his parents has for him, earthly and Heavenly. I had asked for blessing for S and B and given thanks for them. When I finished Erik told me I did it wrong I needed to bless Erik too. So I said another prayer asking for blessings for Erik. I still hadn't gotten it right, so I asked him to pray........this was how it went he opened the prayer by addressing Heavenly Father-thank you, Erik little baby and S and B and then closed the prayer.

I just wanted to squeeze him forever. I am pretty sure he was trying to pray and thank God that S and B loved him and gave him to Lindsay and I. He asked twice more if we could look at the pictures again and talk about S and B. I told him in the morning we could look at it all again and talk more. When I was shutting the door he said, "I lud you." -I love you-

Those are the reminders I need. The ones where he knows just what to say to remind me that my efforts are not going unnoticed by his little hands that can tear up a clean room faster than I can pick it up. The kiss he can genuinely give me that will carry me through his incessant "why" questions that happen no less than a billion times a day.

It was an absolutely perfect ending to my day. Tomorrow will bring new challenges, I still have a sink full of dishes, a messy floor, laundry out the kazoo and phone calls to make, but I have a little man that will make it take three times longer but make me laugh throughout as well. He never ceases to amaze me how flexible he is in our life. He just rolls with it. He must get that from his Dad, both are pretty unfazeable. I am the basketcase. but at least I know they both love me!

Anzac Park

I thought I would give you a tour of one of the gazillion cool parks here. Seriously I am not looking forward to going back to American parks any time soon. They are all pretty much the same and compared to here.....boring!

This is Anzac park and it rocks. Our favorite is called New Farm park but this one leads a close second I think.

Wild Cockatoos. Our families favorite bird here! Actually we have a lots of avorites, so many things I dont even want to think about missing when we leave. I lvoe hearing the cockies and kookaburras. Seriously you should do a you tube search of a kookaburra, it sounds like a monkey sort of and a chortle type laugh. One of our american friends thought they had monkey chickens in their trees when they first moved here before they realized what they were hearing every morning!

 THis picture is not that great, but this is a zip line. Yep you heard me right, a zip line in the park. They call them flying foxes here. A flying fox in real life are the bats. But here at the park you get to fly like the bats and hence the name. So cool. Can you even imagine America putting these in their parks. No way, not even.....too much of  a liability. But here we eat up all that stuff that hasnt tainted Australia.

 Anzac park also boasts a sad pit area that is gated so littles cant wander in or out on their own accord. And this sand pit even has some built toys as well. And the thing I like about gates here, are they are magnetic and you pull up a pin type thing at the top to undo the latch. Perfect for short kids and it takes two hands often.

The main play structure is supposed to be like a homestead I am guessing, the "house" is a typical Queenslander style, water silo's with matching slides for races. A trap door, ramps, you name it, this cool place has it. See saw included. You dont see those in america anymore either, too many fingers injured from the rumors I heard when I was a kid. I wonder what the real issue was.....like I said we relish it all here!

 Anzac park has a beutiful pond with lots of local wildlife around. Many times when I have been there, I have seen people come on their lunch hour and go sit by the pond, how peaceful.

 Another side of the "house". Shows the water pump, which I guess used to actually work but with the drought lasting so long, they turned off the function so as not to waste water. For now the kiddos can still pump it and just pretend they are getting water out.

This was my attempt at showing the trapdoor latter. There is actually no door, it's pretend but I thought it was so cool that the kids can climb up from under the house, its a great hiding spot when playing hide and seek or chase, very commonly used from our experience.

View from other side of see saw/teeter totter, you can see the back of an old school truck that has a flat bed to climb on and steering wheel. Mostly a jungle gym from what I have seen and pow wow meeting place. Just to the left of the picture out of focal range are the swings, dont worry they didnt forget about the swings. There are actually two sets, one to the left and one on the other side of the house. In this pic you can see the sand pit as well in the distance.

 just a cute little man

 close up of the truck.......it is stationary, just looks like it moves.

 A better picture of the silo's.

Are you jealous yet? Yep, we feel pretty darn lucky to have all these cool areas so close to us. Erik was behind in his motor skills upon arriving in Oz. But I have tried hard to take him to all the different parks that I can (each one is different here, although not all as fancy or as big as this) and work on all the skills. And now I am confident he is right on par and some things he actually is mastering before I would have anticipated. Like some of the balancing activities that a lot of the parks have. Now to work on his coordination. Poor kid has little coordination, falls on his face nearly every time he runs at full speed. To the point of not letting him get up to speed unless he is on grass or padding, because he has taken 100 too many faceplants on concrete. One day!

Makka's

So I thought it interesting when I saw this campaign come up for Australian twist of McDonald's hamburgers. I know that around the world, McDonald's (commonly known as Makka's here -although pronounced similar to Makker's because when a word ends with an "a" it seems to get an "er" put on the end of it) seems to try to make a few menu items to the liking of the locals. Lindsay said he saw it over in the middle east, the McArabia and so I thought it cool when one day I saw this ad for the McOZ! When I looked at I couldnt figure out what was different at first. Then I noticed..............have you? Aussie's put sliced beets (better known as beetroot here) on their hamburgers. Quite lovely actually. And while I am here, I took this picture a while back and dont know if this campaign is still running, but thought it was an interesting tidbit.

Heart Scare

In March our family had quite a scare regarding Lindsay. He went in for a routine EKG that has to be done every so many years and it ended up coming back abnormal. Without making the story longer than normal he underwent nearly every possible testing on his heart to find out what was wrong and what treatment would be needed if any. One of the tests he did was he came home with all these probes on his chest and abdomen tethered to a small electronic device that recorded every beat and signal his heart sent out for 24 hours.

He came home with these on a friday night and saturday morning I had planned a fun date because his birthday had been earlier in the week and we didnt get to celebrate. Problem was our date was to go take pictures with his new present (a tripod to use with our camera) just for fun and to get out for some one on one time but Lindsay still had all these electrodes on and the electronic thing. Not a huge deal but its still hot here and we were outside and we were getting sweaty and he didnt want them to get itchy or slide from being too sweaty so our date didnt last long.

Plus along with this testing came a fair amount of concern and stress as to what this could mean for our family. He was not allowed to fly (non-flying status) as soon as the EKG came back abnormal and without a flying status that means potentially his career was on the line. If results came back with something being wrong or that the Flight doctors deemed not suitable for flying our lives would majorly change. From worst case scenario being us leaving the military and not sure what to do or staying in the military and cross training into a different career (that was actually Lindsay's biggest fear) to the best case, getting a medical waiver and continueing in the profession that he LOVES. I was a wreck but was trying to hold it together best I could.

Prayers were answered and in the quickest manner! We thought once we heard the cardiologists results it would still take about a month for each military (Aussie and American) to decide if they thought Lindsay could gain his flying status back. But we exercised faith and starting playing the what if game. Tentatively thinking about the possibility of our time in Oz being cut short and such. But nearly two days after the cardiologist gave us the results that Lindsay does indeed have an irregular heartbeat but he is healthy and doesnt need any treatment, just suggested getting his heart checked out more often to make sure everything stays looking good, we got word from both countries that he was given medical clearance and regained flying status! YAY for us!

I know that we are very blessed in many many ways to have a stable job with great benefits. One that offers us opportunity  to travel and gain experiences that most dont get to have. Lindsay is in a profession that he absolutely loves and I think would do for the rest of his life if the military worked that way. We are so blessed. Those three weeks were not fun for me in the least. Lindsay is so chill that he did well. Not to say he wasn't worried or stressed because I know he was but I think I was the mess. To think about all those changes coming so quickly.

I had selfish thoughts too....if we move now or soon, that is one more time I have to start from ground zero in creating a support network for myself in a new place, one more time I have to put myself out there to make new friends and get to know the best places to get the things I need/want. One more time to set up doctors and car insurance and all the other crap you deal with every time you move to a new town whether near or far or in another country. I just didnt want to think about doing that again so soon. Establishing new people and places for Erik and dealing with a new career. Not to mention learning what the heart problem would entail and dealing with that.

But the Lord blessed us and although a HUGE curveball was thrown into our lives and blindsided us we came out not much worse for wear. We are so grateful!

I have been stretched beyond my limits (or what I thought were my limits) a lot with this military assignment. I have learned a lot about myself....strengths...weaknesses....coping skills..........priorities....patience......true wants/needs...........and many other countless things. This assignment has been absolutely amazing in so many ways and sometimes I have days where I just wish I could call up my mom or Lindsay's mom or my best friend and her show up on my door step 10 minutes later. But I have learned that it is not good to dwell on that wish nor be jealous of those who have that, because frankly that is not my reality nor will it be for years to come. I have to find ways to cope now that will help me now. I need and want to embrace and capture everything I can get while I am here and now so that I can look back and know I have done my best in every way possible and didnt continuously crawl into a deep hole that is so easy to do sometimes.I have to look for the bright side, the silver lining, and usually that means looking at the two leading men in my lives to ground me.

Still not Immune

I am still not immune to the pains and yearnings that infertility cause and it drives me absolutely NUTS!

 I have been given the opportunity and blessed to become the mother of this sweet little boy! I have been a part of one of the most miraculous experiences I think one can be a part of in going through the adoption experience. I imagine its probably pretty similar to giving birth to a child. You see things from an eternal perspective and get a small glimpse into life before coming to earth and what our potential is beyond. You see a small innocent being that relies completely on you as a parent to take care of them for every single thing. I am humbled by the blessing of becoming a parent. Transitioning from life without a child to being a parent was a BIG transition for me. I had yearned for a baby for years. When that blessing was granted to me I was so thankful and willing, but it was completely overwhelming in every regard. I loved it and struggled at the same time. I loved the cuddles and coos and the small things in life and was trying to find new ways to cope with the undescribable exhaustion, the helpless feeling and the insane amount of guilt that all of sudden weighs on your shoulders. And just when I have felt like I am starting to get a hang of the role called motherhood, Erik hits a new stage of development and I am trying to find my bearings again. Its a constant learning and stretching. I am up for it, but some days I feel like it is beyond me.

And maybe that is because it is, I know that I can't parent alone. I have a companion who is there to help, and most importantly....I have a Heavenly Father who is there to comfort, guide, and lift my burdens. Together the three of us make the ultimate team!

(mum and baby koala at the local koala sanctuary)

And having experienced the joys of motherhood I thought that my infertility would fade a bit. I am pretty proud of myself because I have felt that I have conquered the unwelcome visitor of infertility pretty well. He doesnt come knocking half as often as he did before Erik joined our family. And for the first couple years of Erik's life, I actually did not yearn for more or have baby cravings or anything. I knew I would love more children and was so grateful that I had been blessed with even one spirit to raise under my care.

(mum and baby kangaroo at the koala sanctuary)

And while I am still humbled that I have been blessed with the best possible adoption and birth parents and opportunity to even raise 1 child, I still want a larger family.

I often keep my optimism by listing things in my mind that are a positive for not having children biologically and just having one child. Are you struggling with infertility...do you know some one who is....here is a list. And be warned, some of these things are very vain and superficial, but they help me feel better about my situation and push through my pain. And I do know there are plenty of cons to my situation as well, I dont like to focus on those.

The silver lining to my life....

1. I dont have to plan one on one time with my child, because he gets all day every day. That makes for one lucky little boy!

2. Due to the fact that we only have one, it is very easy for me to go nearly anywhere with him and that offers him lots of different experiences that he may otherwise miss if I had a gaggle of children that my heart wants. He also is one ace of a traveler, one well behaved child when he has to attend a meeting with me because Lindsay is out of town and its easier to take him than find a sitter, and he is one reverent kid wherever we are out and about (most of the time, and yes I realize your children can be this way with siblings)

3. With one child we dont have to split money among more children so we can spend more money on him to do things, etc. And while we try really hard not to spoil him and we are working on good ethics, morals, and values. The money isnt stretched as far.

4. My body is still fairly nice looking under my clothes because it hasnt undergone the changes of stretching and expanding to grow a baby and then nourish that baby. And while I would rather have those changes, I feel proud that I have kept my body healthy in either preperation for that opportunity or just because it is good for me and I have been taught to keep good care of my body. I am confident in my body and that feels good.

5. We will never NEED a large car or large house to accomodate our family.

6. I get to sleep through the night nearly every night.

Mostly I am grateful that I have been chosen by not only my loving Heavenly Father to raise one of his choice spirits, but I was also chosen by Erik's amazing birth parents to raise him. What an honor! I am doing the best I know how. I am not perfect, nor will I ever be but I hope at the end my life, I will be able to report that I did my absolute best, I gave it my all, I didnt shrug my work or responsibility but rose to the challenge.

And thinking of this important role of mine lately my unwelcome visitor has been knocking at my door. I have been strong at not letting him in, but he got louder and louder and busted that door down. I will admit....

I am really and truly baby hungry right now.

I want to snuggle and cuddle a new born, I want it all over again. I cant believe how fast Erik's life has flown and to know that his may be the only one I get to do, its so frustrating and hard. I want not just one more kid, I want a large family. And now not only do I not only not get to plan my family, I am getting older. My biological clock is ticking, so even if all our children (hoping that we have more come to our family) come through adoption, I am not keen on raising a newborn past a certain point in my 30's. And alas I know my plan for my life is not always what is best. I know that Heavenly Father's plan for me is best, I just want to bang my head against a wall sometimes. I want to be able to say lets try for our next baby and within a few months have that baby growing in me. I want Erik to have siblings, I want, I want, I want. And you know what my dad used to say when I was a kid when we started a sentence with that phrase?

How does it fee to want?

That my friends is a great way to put things in perspective. While that particular example of wanting a baby may seem a bit far fetched, it isnt because I want a baby, but I am not the one if to know if I need it. I believe that there is a much larger plan for me than I know of. That I have the opporutnity to be blessed with all those righteous things in the next life if I live faithfully.

And who knows maybe that unwelcome visitor has charged through the front door of my heart more because right now it seems I am surrounded by pregnant ladies and new babies. And while I can cope and am genuinely happy for each and every one, and wish no ill upon any of them, I wish I could join the club. There are always pregnant wome or someone with a new baby and normally I can handle it with no problems, but I am weak right now. *side note: if you are fertile and pregnant and want to be sensitive to a friend who is not fertile, give her the blessing of letting her know at the same time as everyone else or first. She will feel like you pity her if she is the last one to find out. The last thing she wants is pity, she just wants to be like everyone else and support in the hard times.

Most of Erik's friends his age, have a younger sibling already and are either pregnant or planning on getting pregnant in the next year. And to think if we would have gotten pregnant when we wanted originally we would probably already have 3 or 4 kids. I would be getting close to finishing our family and here I am. I am lucky I have been given the chance to start and truly I am grateful to have one child, I hope that I dont come across and ungrateful. Its just odd to see where I am in reality and where I thought I would be.

So today I am here to tell you that becoming a mother has definitely not cured infertility. I knew it wasnt a cure, we were counseled about this in the beginning with one of our social workers. I just sometimes wish that this trial would end, but I fear this is a trial that will stay with me for my whole life. It will be one I endure until I leave this world. Because even when I am at an age where I am beyond raising little ones, the pain will still be there. I will endure it to the best of my ability and it will remind me on those hard days of parenting that this is exactly where I want to be...with my child...learning and growing with him. I will love him and teach him about love and I will finally allow the unlwelcome visitor to come, so that the quicker I can get him to come in , the quicker he will hopefully leave again and not visit for a long time.

To answer some common questions I get about adoption while we are here in Oz.....no we can not adopt while we are here. Thus Erik will be 5 when we move back to the states, if we get another amazing adoption quickly he will be close to 6 or just older. That is not unheard of but not my ideal age gap. But yes we will try to adopt again upon our return to the states. We will try for a time until we decide that the time has come to fully accept Erik as being our only child from there on out. I have gotten pretty far at accepting that already but have not lost complete hope as I know we still have time to have a miracle biological baby or another adoption.

All right rant over, lets kick this said visitor out the door!

One of many

This is one of many crazy signs along the streets that lets you know when you can/can't park, where, etc.

So do you understand? Let me explain.....The right side means no parking from that point in the arrow the direction is showing (to the right). The left side is obviously a loading zone but tells you there are certain hours when you can park there giving the hours and times.

These signs are everywhere and some are tow zones and some are not, some have way more writing and some are a bit simpler but either way it usually is not a quick glance to know if you are allowed to park there or not, you have to stop and read it, which can make for angry drivers behind you in certain driving conditions.

The other signs that are pretty confusing although most of the time I can figure them out now are the signs with the roundabouts and what roads/centers come off the exits or which directions the lanes of the roundabout go. I would love to steal a picture one day but usually we are speeding around the roundabout and there is no time. Especially when Lindsay drives. No joke...Erik yells out "RALLY CAR!" driving around turns and curves here, especially if Lindsay is driving!

Our first known visitor

I say our first know because back in january we had someone who stayed with us for a week. His name was Scott, we met him at church and he was from the states and was here for leisure and work. We thought we could help him out and gave him Erik's bed for the week. It was fun getting to know him and trying some Aussie things we hadnt tried yet, like vegemite. While I dont hate the vegemite, I dont think I would ever crave it either. But I digress, maybe I will post about that soon.

So our first visitor that had made plans to come stay with us came in February! Yay! We were so excited! Matt came through Brissy on his way to and from backpacking in New Zealand. We didnt see him long but we had a lot of fun in those few days. I took him out to the koala sanctuary, we walked around our suburb and yes we took him to Chinatown for a scrumptios meal! And I think it's safe to say that he got a good fill up on Ginger Beer. Which by the way is not beer (kind of like how we have Root Beer), its like gingerale on steroids because its less sugary and has a bunch of real ginger that settles at the bottom you have to shake. Me not so much a fan, but Matty, well we kept him stocked up-he had consumed it previously and knew it was yummy to his tummy.

 The two men being goofy, neither would give me their real smiles because they were too busy catching up.

 Driving and loving having a friend here. Seriously Matt, you totally helped ease some homesickness, for me at least. It was so great to have you!

So we went to a nicer restaurant in China town that we had never been to before and it was AWESOME! It wasn't chinese but I can't remember which asian cuisine it was, just that it was good. It was a buffet where you order off a menu from a list of dishes. You just order a few at a time but can continue to order as long as you are hungry. You cook your own meats and veggies on the grill in the center of the table. And when the gril gets icky they come and replace it with a new one.

below is the seafood plate with calamari (my fave) and prawns from a local beach

We had some simple sushi rolls, edamame, dumplings, some type of fritter

 the fresh seasonal produce....pumpkin, zuchini, corn, onion, mushrooms

 chicken and corn cooking

mmmm makes me want to go back. It was a fun experience and good food. Definitely another must for next time we have visitors come.