Aunt Nellie Visits!!!

Welcome to Hong Kong, Aunt Nellie!!!

We haven't seen Aunt Nellie since we were home at Christmas, so we were very excited for her visit over spring break. It just so happened that the stars aligned and the kids spring break (2 weeks long) coordinated with her spring break. She booked a ticket (sorry, no upgrade to business class available) and flew the 16 hours over the North Pole to spend 8 days with us. 

Up first was a visit to C's school to be a spectator for Sports Day. Sports day is basically the equivalent of our "field day" at Marion Local. However, the entire school year leads up to game day. Every Friday, the entire student population (84 children) are divided into 4 groups of various ages. The groups stay the same for each quarter as they accumulate and earn points while competing in various logic, humanity, citizenship, and various other types of academic games. The final competition was the Sports Day games, which families were invited to attend. It was located in the big grassy area at our Community Hall, which is a 5 minute walk from our house. C's team is called "Dragons", which happens to be his football team name, so he wore that uniform. (The teams had to dress in their team color, in this case, blue. This is a big deal to the kids because they normally wear uniforms). For the record, his team won!!!

Preparing for the games. FYI, that is his girlfriend standing behind him!

Up next, a night out for the adults. After school, we helped the kids settle in for the evening with Margie, and then we hoped a ferry and taxi into the city. Hong Kong is a large city, so it is best described by the districts and streets. The trendy restaurant area is known as SOHO. We decided on an Italian place and filled ourselves with some nice carbohydrates before hitting the bar district, Lan Kwai Fong (LKF). There are around 100 plus dining and drinking establishments in these areas, so there is something for everyone! 

On of Mark and I's favorite hang-outs is Al's diner in LKF. (Don't get the wrong idea, we go out very seldom in LKF, but when we do, we always stop here). It's a great place with indoor/outdoor seating, video screens that play music video's from the 80's-90's, and people dancing on the tables...makes you feel like you are back in Ohio! We also toured another favorite location, Insomnia. This place has live music that absolutely rocks. The are open until like 4 a.m. but we always leave at a respectable 1:45 to catch the last ferry back to our island :) 

Anyways, LFK is always an eye-opening event. People are dressed up in formals, super hero costumes, in just underwear, the possibilities are endless. BUT Nellie was in for a special treat, because Hong Kong was celebrating the Hong Kong Rugby 7's. The Rugby 7's are a rugby tournament featuring teams from all over the globe. Rugby players are nuts, but Rugby fans are more nuts!!! Basically, if you have ever attended HineyGate, think that on serious steroids for the party atmosphere. We met so many people, I can't think of another place that you can talk to people from so many different countries in one night, but anything is possible in Hong Kong. 

Over the weekend, we went to visit Big Buddah, just the girls. Unfortunately, after we rode the cable car, it started to rain. We had to walk and climb the stairs in the rain. However, E had a great time jumping in any puddle she could find. Of course, I forgot to bring an umbrella, which is a staple in the subtropics. 

Bamboo growing in the gardens around the village in Big Buddah. E loves bamboo, as it feeds the panda bears!

 We also went to Disneyland, just the girls. The little man can be quite a hermit when he chooses. He was in football camp this week from 9-12 daily, plus he was running a fever off and on with a cold. He didn't really have the energy to devote to sight-seeing, football, and the NCAA March Madness, so guess which activity lost!

Riding the tea-cups with Aunt Nellie! 

Main Street U.S.A with Sleeping Beauty's castle way in the background.

Once again, just the girls headed to Ocean Park, which is a large amusement park and aquarium on Hong Kong Island. Of course, it had to rain off and on, but it didn't stop our fun. We were able to see the panda bear cubs, lots of fish, a few sharks, and ride the carousel. Overall, a success for E!

 

She loves the goldfish!

Finally, we spent lots of time eating and enjoying time together just doing nothing. Unfortunately, our weather was not fantastic, but we still had fun :)Thanks for visiting Nellie, we will see you in June!!!!