and then they went to Hong Kong...again

Ah, back to civilzation. That's what Hong Kong feels like. Only a 2 hour flight and I wonder why we don't go more often. Ususally because we are spending too much time at the beach! We had been looking forward to getting back to Hong Kong for a while and it finally worked out over Easter break.

In the Philippines (which is about 80% Catholic) they take holy week pretty darn serious. In fact, so serious that in our building they shut the power and the water off. Ok, that has nothing to do with the church but because EVERYTHING is closed they use those days to make major repairs hence the no water, no power.

We skedaddled to the local Shangrila and "pre-vacationed" at the pool for a couple of days before we headed North for cooler temperatures, better food and most important fantastic shopping. Oh, we threw in a trip to Disneyland of course and even let the Easter Bunny visit. I must say the funniest part of the trip was when Holden had a melt down in Tiffany's. "MOM! the only things girls want are diamonds and looking at jewelery is NOT fun." "Really Holden, looking at jewelery IS fun and girls want more than just diamonds silly, they also like bags and shoes and pearls." He seriously had a melt down with phrases like "this is suppose to be a FAMILY vacation, we are suppose to do things that the whole family likes, this is stuff you can do in Manila." Honestly, where did I go wrong with this kid? Needless to say, this cut my shopping trip down to size and we headed to do things the WHOLE family likes...you know, like Disneyland. HA!

Disneyland was a treat as always. We went on Easter Sunday. Still trying to figure out if that was a good idea! It was crowded but mostly with just adults. The ratio of adults to children had to have been about 6:1. It made me wish there was an express line for people WITH children in tow.


I have said it before, and I will say it again: traaveling with kids is hard work. Especially at Finnley's age and with their food preferences, or shall we say pickiness. There was one moment at lunch where Nate looked at me and said, "how do people back home do this alone?" and every night we fell into bed absolutely exhausted. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up, we can't move home.

For it's size Hong Kong is suprisingly efficient. We made it places in record time and for as many times as we have been now, it just seems easy. But it is crowded and there isn't anyone to lend a helping hand. Yet another reason Manila was calling my name to come home.