Day 13 Pictures

And finally we get to the end of the line with the picture posts. A final 6 pictures for the last full day on the ground. I took none on packing day so this is it, the final set. Our final dinner, Grace and Lydia at the table.



After food the kids play a bit.



Julia looking a little goofy here. It's what she does.



Grace had to basically force Lydia to let me hold her.



Playing at the department store after the meal.



More play.



That's it, all done. 12 days of pictures (2 through 13) with none on the plane and none on my last day. Hope you enjoyed. It would have been better if they had all been in-line with the text as the trip went on but that would have been a pretty tall task. Maybe next time, though I doubt it.

Next week I should be back to my normal retarded self. I'll reply to the various vacation comments in one last post about the trip. But then after that we're back to reality. The girls come home Saturday, late night. So by midnight Pee Wee's Big Adventure will be all done.

Day 12 Pictures

Day 12 was a pretty low picture day, just a few from the ride up and a few from Julia all dressed up for lunch. And yes, I realize that at this point I just keep posting pictures of my daughter. I guess we got pretty boring by the end of the trip. Here, she makes like a circus seal and does tricks with the paper cup.



Random buildings on random landscape.



An entire hillside of graves. We were on the highway and going into t tunnel that goes through the hill here.



Julia looking uncertain, but cute.



Bouncing around in the lobby of the Japanese restaurant.



Looking like she's about to take off running, probably because she was about an hour past her nap time.



Another day of pictures in the books. One more and that's a wrap.

Day 11 Pictures

Another day of pictures for your viewing pleasure, sitting down to post just after Cabrera popped a home run to tie the Yankees home opener here on Tuesday night. My strange fascination with baseball continues on into day #3 of the baseball season. Anyway, only 3 days of pictures left, including this one.

Julia with Nat's cousin's son, in the upstairs apartment. She loved playing with him, which a lot of times meant playing with the fax machine.



Nat's mom and aunt seemingly share a moment.



Ah good old authentic Taiwanese food. Gotta love it.



Out for a quick trip while Julia naps, and we stop and get a snack because we hadn't snacked in 12 minutes or so.



Nat's cousin's kid, who was a bit of a monster. She didn't much care for Julia.



Concentration young Jedi...



Juuuust taking the baby for a walk....



Nat's aunt, dad's side, and her husband.



Juuuust using the baby's head to play the keyboards...



Nat's cousin's wife, not the mother of the child, and the child giving us the evil eye waiting for us to leave.



Nat's cousin to the left, dressed for the incoming freeze, inside the house. And more evil eye.



And more good old authentic Taiwanese food for our daughter.



Day 11, in the books, and it's starting to rain out. Bottom of the 7th, bases loaded, 1 out, score tied 2-2, and Matsui comes to the plate. He hits a hard shot up the middle, and the second baseman boots it, runner scores, and the Yankees go up 3-2 and need a mere 6 outs to win.

Day 10 Pictures

We're almost there, everyone. After a few more days of this I can get back to my fascinating life of biking and, well, not much more. Even though there's not a lot of feedback, the hit numbers are way higher than when I'm not on vacation or posting pictures. So I guess you guys like it. I'll try to include more pictures in my daily life.

This is tough to really see, but this is a dry river bed. Off to the right you can see the trickle but in the rainy season this is apparently as wide as the picture.



Another of the random landslides you see all over, out of focus as usual.



Julia sitting at the tea table with us, when we visited the tea farm. She looks a little chubby here for sure.



Making tea the old-fashioned way. If you really want, come to the house and I'll make you tea this way. You have to ask nicely though.



Outside the tea room, another currently dry river/stream bed.



At the house of Nat's oldest aunt, her dad's side. This is their grandson, who Julia isn't impressed with, apparently.



Doing a little close up action with the little meatball. This kid said little but was afraid of nothing.



Julia warms up once she finds his stash of toys.



Off to dinner, Nat's youngest uncle, dad's side, his wife, and the 3rd uncle's wife.



Nat's dad and granmother, in a rare sighting outside the house.



Nat's 3rd uncle looks on. Again, I don't understand a damn word he says but he seems like a really nice guy.



Finally it's bath time. At a loss for bath toys we resort to empty tea bottles.



And that's day 10 in the photograph books, the quick version. I'm running out of things to say about the trip.

Day 9 Pictures

Let's fire it up for day 9, a pretty low-key total here which is why I'll pump this one out quickly.

This, my friends, is a real scooter parking lot. This is half-full at best. The left side of the lot here goes off further and at this point in the day is yet to be filled up.



In the office, the makings of a Chinese Fire Drill.



Right before we took off for Lotung Nat's dad put this on her. She refused to take it off.



Out of the tunnel we catch a glimpse of the sun.



A quick stop at Nat's aunt, I think her 5th aunt but maybe her 4th. Nat's cousin to the left, then clockwise is his assistant, his mother (Nat's aunt), Nat's mom, his wife, then Nat.



I plopped Julia in the stroller and took her for a walk while they talked. This is where Nat's mom went to school 50 years ago.



This is a rock in the school yard. This reads, "Whiteys go home." The script on the right says, "Nah we're just busting your chops."



Day 9 in pictures done.

Day 8 Pictures

I uploaded both day 8 and 9 tonight, but it's already 9:30 and I just opened a beer as I watch the the Nationals play the Braves. So I don't know if I'll get them both posted tonight or not because I'm so riveted to the game (game = beer in this equation).

This was the day we went to Nat's oldest aunt on her mom's side and yet another political discussion broke out. Here Julia occupies herself with a scale and a mirror because the conversation wasn't to her liking.



We take our shoes off in our house, which is the norm here as well. These people have a lot of shoes.



Outside the apartment this is the bustle of a Sunday morning. Remember around Calvin's apartment there was nothing open to eat breakfast. Here, a different story. Calvin is definitely in the wrong part of town for food.



The towering presence of Taipei 101 in the distance, behind the tons of smog hanging over the city. Note the 7-11 sign.



This picture epitomizes that my daughter does learn some of the things I teach her.



We went out for a walk while everyone else protested something or other. Here Julia is mad because we won't carry her. So she stops and makes a stink. We just walk away.



Eventually she breaks and runs back to us. Love this picture.



After the the demonstration, the stuff becomes fodder for the kids to entertain themselves.



We break open a bottle of wine and they let Lydia drink some. Hey, I don't raise the kid I merely report the photographic facts.



Day 8 in the books.