Today has been a day of emotions.

Apprehension and Dread. Our hen Freckles wouldn’t move from her outdoor nest last night despite our pleas, bribes, and prods. I woke up worried that she’d either be a pile of feathers (attacked overnight while out from the protection of the coop) or that she would be egg bound. I had read that if she were egg bound, she’d need a warm bath and a vegetable oil vent massage which I would hate administering as much as I’m sure she would hate receiving. Fortunately she made it through the night alive but she was drenched this morning from overnight rain showers. She was scratching around for bugs by the time I went out to feed her. Ultimately I think she was just a little broody and the rain washed away her hatching intentions.

Gratefulness and Relief. Archer has been coughing for the past couple of days. Last night he was particularly wheezy so I called to schedule an appointment with urgent care first thing this morning. After the doctor checked him over she mentioned that she should send him on to the ER if she were just looking at his breathing rate, which was much too high, but that his other vitals were not as abnormal. After receiving steroids and a double breathing treatment, he was a new man.

Boredom and Annoyance. I don’t do well with nothing on the calendar. I like to be busy and after a few days staying in due to rain, it was beautiful out, but we needed to stay in so Archer could recover. We wasted away most of the day watching too much TV I had serious cabin fever.

Extreme pride and Happiness. It was really already past “brushing teeth time” but in order to salvage a little piece of the day I encouraged the family to go on a “family walk” (with Archer in a stroller). Violet wanted to ride her bike as usual. When Ben added air to the tires the training wheels got knocked about rendering them ineffective. Ben said he could either try to fix them or take them off. Without hesitation Violet announced she wanted them removed. I couldn’t believe it was happening. Teaching Violet how to ride a bike had been on my to-do list for probably a year but I kept waiting for the perfect circumstances… great weather, trip to a nearby park with lots of big flat safe areas to learn, after long talks about readiness, etc. It turned out this monumental milestone of childhood wouldn’t happen according to my prescribed notions, but naturally and spontaneously.

I suited Violet up in protective gear while Ben took the training wheels off. Violet talked about how the girl around the corner, who was a year younger, already knew how to do it so she thought she could handle it too. There was a flicker of worry when Violet first sat on the bike. She mentioned that she wanted them back on, but after a little encouragement from Dad she was game again. Ben talked about it being easier with speed and the basics of stopping. They headed down the street together while he held her torso. He was barely holding on that very first time. They changed directions and headed back towards the house. I hope I’ll never forget the feeling I experienced when I watched her take off from him, Ben waving his arms to show me she was on her own. I could feel a mix of love, happiness, pride, a sense of honor, and everything else good rising up from my chest and bubbling over in my eyes until I had to blink away tears to see how it ended. Violet is a super star. She didn’t fall once. She wanted to keep riding over and over until well after dark. She is so excited and proud. What a day!

Easter morning our kids wake up to a string tied on their doorknobs. They follow the lines which take them to each of their easter baskets. Archer was sick with a fever during this time. You can see the bed set up in his room where I slept the night before.

Violet picked out this sweet little dress for Easter. Since Archer was sick we stayed home from church that morning, but she wanted to wear her dress anyway. She is standing next to our newly planted cedar elm.

We had Easter dinner at Tootie and Unky Gar Gar’s house. I brought Archer and tried to keep him quarantined in the back room but he just had to come out to enjoy the cascarones, so lovingly made by his aunt and uncle.

Archer, Violet, and Grammy on a ride at the bluebonnet festival.

Violet and Grammy keeping tradition alive. The picture I took right after this one shows Violet with her hands in the air.

V and Daddy on the slide

Hmm, this doesn’t look like much fun.

I guess he liked it after all! He didn’t want to do it again.

The next weekend found us “camping” with friends. Our family had one of the youngest campers that weekend so we were spoiled with the spacious, climate controlled house. These girls went to preschool together.

Archer wanted more “mushroom sandwiches”. He decided a few days before this trip to start potty training. I brought our little training potty and lots of outfit changes. He did pretty well, considering.

My top ten (no, eleven) trip to Taiwan (Heart of Asia) observations!

Glass bottomed Maokong Gondola

1) I’m a typical American big space-taker. I like to spread out with all my stuff, and spaces in Taiwan are smaller, from apartments, to restroom stalls, to crowded sidewalks.

2) Scooters are everywhere! Streets are banked with rows of scooters; in traffic, they’re like hordes of insects surrounding the cars.

3) We took a lot of cabs and the traffic was scary to me. Lanes are just a suggestion, merging is every man for himself, and the scooters are swarming. But it works, with no road rage! Americans would be killing each other.

Red is a lucky color. Chinese New Year decorations are on the door behind Violet.

Violet serving the fried rice while Ben prepares the tea

4) The Mandarin language is daunting. Getting the correct intonation on each syllable seems impossible, and the written characters are so complex. It’s all Greek to me!

Traveling Annie and Violet with the Ding Tai Fung guy

5) I like the New Taiwan dollar (NT). Just dollars. No extra tax. Coins: $1, 5, 10, 50, bills: $100, 500, 1000. When you buy a Starbucks frappe for $135 NT, that’s all you pay. (That’s about $4 or $5 US) It was odd to be charged $135 for a frappe, pay with a $1000 bill and get $865 change! Also cool: they don’t expect tips.

Ximending Shopping District

6) I can spend money anywhere, no language barrier! I say, “How much?”, they whip out a calculator to show me the amount. No problem!

An interesting display at Longshan temple

7) I like the newspaper in English, the Taipei Times. I learned a lot about Taiwan and surrounding countries by reading the front page. And it has good crossword and sudoku puzzles.

8) Surprise! I love the food. Pork dumplings, beef noodle soup, fried rice, sweet potato fries, breakfast pastries, egg tarts, candied strawberries on a stick, bubble tea. I did pass on the cold dressed fungus, and what looked like raw pork intestines.

Watching the students at the Chiang Kai Shek memorial

9) People are out and about…families in the parks on Sundays, shoppers, walkers, scooter riders, groups in Starbucks. And I don’t recall seeing anyone overweight!

Sweet potato fries with a delicious seasoning

10) The world is small. I still played Words With Friends, used my Visa card, used an ATM, and was comforted by the familiar: Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Starbucks, 7-11, KFC.

11). Bethany is amazing. She planned and executed a life-changing, never-to-be-forgotten trip for Violet and all of us. I am so grateful for the opportunity to go. My connection to my granddaughter’s homeland is complete (for now). Thank you, BBVA!

On his actual birthday, at home

Archer had the best birthday celebrations a three year old could ask for.

The weekend before his birthday we had a family celebration. That morning Archer and Violet went to an Easter egg hunt at Grammy and Poppy’s church.

We celebrated as a family with a Superman themed party. I purposefully didn’t pack any Superman shirts for our trip to Taiwan, in part out of hope that with distance Archer would see other shirts can be just as cool. As soon as we got back, however, Archer has been insisting on wearing his ratty old shirts.

Archer hitting Daddy with cascarones (confetti eggs)

After that we went to Grammy and Poppy’s house for a superman themed party with cake, a pinata, too many presents (almost all Superman), and Archer’s favorite, silly string.

Something just seems so wrong about this.

On his actual birthday Archer and I went to a fabulous bouncy house place and we went to Chick-fil-A, Archer’s favorite restaurant, for lunch. We had birthday cake after dinner.

And then a few days later we had a joint birthday party with three other little boys. It was a Baby Mama’s birthday extravaganza. Sixty guest were there to help us celebrate. Ben, unfortunately, was in NYC for a financial tech hackathon.

Baby Mama’s with the birthday boys

The Baby Mama’s crew minus one. Valeria traveled from Miami to see us!

The joint party was absolutely awesome. It had a construction theme and was so well done because there were so many of us working on it together. Kids were greeted with hard hats, we had a dump truck filled with brownie bites and gummy worms, lots of other construction themed food and decor, matching shirts for birthday boys, construction activities, and a petting zoo.

Violet was in heaven holding chicks and ducks. Apparently the birds are usually rambunctious but Violet got her birds to sleep. The petting zoo ladies kept commenting that she had a way with them. Violet sat there for so long they finally had to ask her to leave so other kids could have a turn. She LOVED the petting zoo.

At Archer’s third year well visit he was 36.4 lbs (88%), and 38.5″(76%). They took his blood pressure for the first time (normal) and did a vision and hearing check. Archer was told to raise his hand when he heard a beep in his ear. He was so cute, as the beeps got softer, his hand raises got lower.

Here is the interview I got from my newly turned three year old:

How old are you today?
Free year old

What will be the best thing about being three?
having my birfday cake

What was the most important thing you learned when you were two?
Drinking nemonade for the rest of my life

Who is your best friend?
Kafryn (our friend in Nashville)

What is your favorite toy?
Candy machine when you put money in it and you get gummies (gumballs)

What’s your favorite food?
Chicken nuggets

What makes you happy?
The bouncy house and ketchup

What is your favorite show?
When you give a cow cheese. When a cow is hungry you give it cheese. I watched it with Grammy. (no idea)

What is something you’re really good at?
My skateboard. My own skateboard. (He doesn’t have a skateboard.)

What do you not like?
My own diaper.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A tiger. A square tiger. No, Superman. So I can save the day.

What’s your favorite color?
Lightning blue.

Archer likes to talk about rockets and space, Lightning McQueen, and Superman. He says “dabwoon” for balloon. The last thing he got trouble for was for kicking a chicken. I stomp when the chickens get to close to my feet (they like to peck them) and I think he just got confused. When given two options (do you want crackers or pretzels), Archer almost always chooses an unlisted and unavailable third choice. He isn’t very distractible when upset. Archer likes to be silly and to make people laugh. He is in a very small co-op preschool with one other boy. Archer just recently started taking Chinese.

Happy Birthday, buddy boy!

Relaxing by our gate in Taipei

Travel back to the U.S. was overall a lot easier. For starters the flights were shorter thanks to tailwinds, I guess. The majority of the main flight was made at night. Also, Archer slept a decent amount this time which made a world of difference for us both.

I had energy to enjoy Tokyo’s airport this time. Ben and I snacked on sushi and some tasty tofu-wrapped rice bundles. The kids enjoyed running around and making friends (who were headed to Guam) in the airport play room. At the gate, Vickie got singled out for a bonus security screening. They said it was random but I think she’s just a pretty suspicious looking character.

In the playroom in Japan. Poor girl was made to pose with the new pop up book I just purchased.

We were cutting lines left and right along our journey home. Vickie’s extra security screen gave our party the opportunity to pre-board. At Taipei, security in Narita, and in U.S. customs we were ushered into “family” (shortcut) lanes. It was nice, yet guilt-inducing.

The most memorable experience coming home happened as we were starting our decent into Austin. Without warning we hit major turbulence and took about three big dips. I have never experienced turbulence to that degree, and based on the screams around me, I think it was a first for others as well. Violet still had an iPhone out and was smiling into it. I think she just thought it was a fun amusement-park style bonus the Captain threw in for our benefit. Archer woke up and clung to Ben’s arm like a monkey. The Captain didn’t say anything at all, which was a little disconcerting, and the flight attendant only alluded to it solemnly. I shot up prayers left and right and we were all very relieved ultimately to be on the ground safely. It was a big enough deal that United sent us an email “to reach out to us about our experience” the next day.

Jetlag was a bear. I took the longest to adjust. The afternoon fatigue was so great I felt like I was in my early stages of pregnancy again. Archer woke for the day, several days in a row at 3 a.m. until my well traveled friend Andrea suggested a Benedryl treatment. I tried it the next morning when he woke and he was back to sleep within the hour until a much more reasonable 8 a.m. Finally now, about nine days home, I’m starting to feel like my old self again.

Ben has said multiple times that it was the best trip he’s ever been on. I felt like the pace of the trip was perfect. There were several times during the trip my heart was full of joy. This usually happened while watching the kids run around playgrounds, having a grand old time, enjoying Taiwan on their terms. Another special moment for me was watching how very excited Violet was to be meeting with her Taiwanese mom. We hope to get back to visit in five years or less. I bet we’ll be there for a longer period of time then. I’d LOVE for us to take language classes. Isla Formosa!