Winter Break Pt I

A lot has happened since October. We have had a lot happen to us in the past several months. We believe we will put several posts to keep events separated.

We started our Winter Break in Hong Kong. We have a few more things to see in our backyard that everyone tells us we must see. Plus, we wanted to stay home for Christmas this year instead of trying to figure out when to squeeze the holiday in while we travel.

We spent a day hiking at Lantau Island. It was great to get out and about. It was a rigorous hike up and down a mountain. The kids enjoyed the hike despite the occasional gripes along the way up. Some amazing views of Hong Kong during our hike.

Walking up the mountain...are we ever going to get to the top?

From there, we went to Hong Kong Disneyland. We spent the day with the Carpenter's (friends of ours in Shenzhen). We believe that Disney is one of America's great exports. Mickey is enjoyed by everyone!

Disney knows how to do an American Christmas.

Our final day was spent at the museums in Hong Kong. The Space Museum was a favorite. Thomas enjoyed the moon walk simulator. Jonathan and Nicholas were too short and Mike was too big and Krisite had no desire to try it. We all tried the space walk simulator. It was designed to have a laser light hit 3 objects on a wall while simulating how a space suit that is used during NASA space walks reacts. We couldn't believe that Kristie was able to meet the objective with no difficulties. All the males in the household could not believe our years of training on the Nintendo Wii did not transfer over to the simulator. 

Our pictures did not do the show justice.

We completed our Hong Kong journey with the Symphony of Lights over Victoria Harbor. It is the longest running permanent light and sound show. It is worth seeing if you are spending time in Hong Kong. It was a great way to end a day of touring with a latte and hot chocolate.

Our family returned to Shenzhen hoping to wait for Santa Claus to arrive. Unfortunately, fate had a different plan. Nicholas had the misfortune to fall from a zip line at the playground by our house and managed to break two bones in his forearm. Dad and Nicholas made a trip back to Hong Kong where Nicholas had to have surgery to put pins in his arm in order to hold his bones in place for six long weeks. This of course was Kristie's biggest nightmares about moving overseas. What if one of the kids gets hurt? Fortunately, Hong Kong has several fantastic hospitals. The doctors and nurses at Adventist Hospital took very good care of Nicholas.

What a Trooper!