Yangshuo China Trip--Pictures added

We recently took at trip to what many consider to be China’s most beautiful province, Guilin. A 2.5 hour plane and 1 hour car ride brought us to Yangshuo. The scenery was striking! Lush green trees and plants covered the sides of the Karst hills. Karst is a type of hill that is very rounded and made of limestone. Almost like an oval rather than the jagged topography we have in many mountain and hill sides in the US and Europe. They are very graceful and plentiful. Supposedly, the flat lands have sunk leaving all the Karst behind. Not sure if I buy that explanation given how flat the land was as well the fact that there was more flat land than hills.

During our long weekend retreat we had the opportunity to visit villages where there was no running water except by hand pump, climb up 1,000 feet to the top of Moon Hill (800 steps each way) in the 95+ degree weather, see water buffalo up close while they were taking a dip in the river, watch a pirated copy of “Transformers” at the poolside restaurant while we ate a late dinner, wander into a tourist trap complete with crepes, fire cooked pizza, and French cuisine.

The natural beauty was something we had both longed for as it is rare in Shanghai. One night, we were fortunate enough to buy tickets to Yangshuo’s famous water and light show. Going into I thought it was going to be a bust, but tickets were hard to come by for the sold out shows. How good could a performance be if they had only 50,000 people to draw from in the town? The evening started off a little rocky when we were swarmed by 20+ people with cameras and video cameras taking pics of Ty. Thank goodness he was in his infant carrier for protection. The 1.5 hour performance was incredible. We were amazed!!!!! If they can put on a performance with singing, water displays, gymnasts, 100+ children in costumes that lit up as they “walked” across the water in a town like this I can only imagine what the opening and closing ceremonies are going to be like for the Olympics in Beijing 2008. I guess you will all find out as the director and choreographers that put on this production have been hired for the Olympics. I would not miss it!!!!!

What we did not long for, nor anticipate, was the greediness of our hired driver who every day refused for over 1.5 hours to drive us to places unless we paid him more money. We were quickly reminded by this guy’s actions that though we have the privilege to visit this beautiful land, we are still outsiders and should be taken advantage of. The tourists that visit this area are predominantly Asian so we stick out pretty easily.

The most important thing I have taken away from this trip was how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to become educated people. There are many farmers and painters that are affected by China’s one child policy and must decide whether it is better to have their 7-13 year old educated or use them in their fields or shops to help provide income for the family. Those that are lucky enough to go to school must pass a test at age 13 to see if they qualify for high school. If they do not pass their families will need to pay a very large sum of money to attend school. A sum, that given their poverty, they cannot afford.

I was very moved by the fact that Tyler has every possible advantage to learn and create a good and happy life for himself simply because he has the freedom to go to school. I hope that in the years to come, we will be reminded of our trip and explain to Tyler the importance of being able to attend school and choose one’s own path in life. It is a honor and gift that should not be taken lightly.

***Check out our pics of Yangshuo in my China album online*** You will find a link to my albums in the upper right hand corner of my blog

Ty & Truf Double the trouble, double the love

Give a call over to our house and you may find yourself listening to converstations that seem normal to us, but not so normal to the caller:



"Truf, walk away." "Defend your bone!" "Ty, if you are going to kiss Truffle, please close your mouth." "No, Truf does not need any more Cheerios." "Truf, I love what you have done with Ty's hair." "Truffle is not for climbing, Tyler." "Yuck, how am I going to get scrambled egg out of your fur?" and now my favorite..."TYLER, that food is Truffle's, not yours!"







If you have had the pleasure of spending time with both of our boys, you know that Peter and I consider them to be brothers of a sort. They can usually be found hanging out together, with Truf keeping a watchful eye on whatever Tyler is doing. Letting out a growl at people in our yard (yup, he now growls after the break in) when Ty is playing by the window. Now that Ty is more mobile, the rivaly has escalated to new heights. Truffle and Tyler have taken to playing tug of war with one another on a daily basis. First it was using diaper wipes, then bones, and most recently my headbands. They love the give and take. Truffle puts up with a lot from Tyler and now is reaping some of the rewards when Ty eats. As soon as Tyler sits in his chair, Truffle bolts into the kitchen and lays at Tyler's feet eagerly awaiting the scraps.







Peter and I supervise but are hands off for the most part letting them resolve things. It is also funny how each one vies for "Momma Time" with me. It is great to be loved.













And, yes, Tyler was caught red handed the other day with his hands in Truffle's bowl and 3 kibbles in his mouth. YUCK!

A Banner Week

Ty has finally done it! The littlest Klug can now walk a bit unaided. He is so proud of himself when he realizes what he is doing. Truf sometimes prefers that he stay crawling so he has a tendency to knock him over when it suits him. Brotherly love!

Tonight, Ty and Truf (T2 as we call them) decided to play tug of war with a diaper wipe. They are pretty evenly matched for strength and both are rather sneaky with their techniques. Truf prefers to swing a paw over the top of the wipe while Ty cries. Surprisingly, both methods work on swaying the advantage in their favor. I truly feel that I have two boys....well sometimes three :)





This week, Tyler also chose to wean himself. Time for this Momma to bust out the champagne I have been chilling for a few months. I received the special bottle as a birthday/Mother's Day present. Yippee! I will miss the special time (11.5 months) we shared though freedom is a great thing, not to be under estimated.

Ty and I have substituted snuggling while he drinks his bottle and from time to time, Truf can be found joining us. Time to start using up the stockpile of formula I accumulated. We are definitely a snugly family and Truf is king snuggler. Well at least for now.

Not your local Super Walmart!

A few interesting observations while walking through my version of "Super Walmart."

~Live eel tank for you to select dinner and carry out in a plastic bag ---while still moving

~Dried pig carcass face and all for you to do I don't know what to

~Square table of ice quartered off to separate the meat from the chicken...you literally pick your own pieces, or put them back after you decide against that one

~The smell of "Stinky Fruit" wafting through the store. Apparently this is delicious but who is brave enough to get over the stench.

~Random bare bottomed toddler squatting in the aisles peeing. And yes, I did mean the aisles and the mother did nothing but walk away from the mess leaving other unsuspecting shoppers to walk through it. Hmm, I wonder what they do if he does #2?

Yes, this was my "fun" of shopping yesterday to pick up some basic foods, cleaning supplies, and diapers... I guess I should have handed the lady some. Just kidding. This is not a rare occurance as the young kids wear split crotch pants to, ahem, "facilitate" squatting. Diapers are relatively new here to the mass market. They are also not as advanced as ours back home. I had heard of them using the streets and gutters but never before have I witnessed a kid peeing (on purpose) in the middle of the pot and pan aisle.

I am again grateful and appreciative of the little things that remind me of "home." AND that I can find some diapers here because I would not want to bring a squatting Tyler back home to you. Then he'd never fit in. Might be fun for shock value though. Maybe I will have to work on that ;)

Sticky Mess

Tyler is starting to enter the self feeding stage. Yesterday morning, I decided that rice cereal would be a good medium for practicing his use of a spoon. It started off so easy!

Here is how that worked out for us:

Shortly after putting his hand in the bowl, Tyler decided it might be fun to fingerpaint with the cereal. This is about the time I looked up from my camera. Note to self: Never look away from Ty when eating. Not even to delete pictures to make more room for snapshots.

Once the rice cereal started to dry into a concrete-like substance it was time for a scrub down in the tub. Boy was it fun while it lasted!

Did I mention he likes Pizza?? On a recent night out we also discovered that Ty eats garlic bread and bruschetta. Could we have some Italian blood in the family?

Heck, we'll take any excuse to go visit Italy again. Ty, keep dabbling in Italian "cuisine" and I'll work on Daddy to take us back to Tuscany!

More Summer Photos

Hi, more pics have been uploaded to my web album. Check them out when you get a chance.

My First Trike Ride

Ride may be an overstatement. Tyler checks out his new set of wheels for the first time. The Scuttlebug is one of the prized handmedowns we hand carried from the US. Definitely worth the luggage space as it is only a matter of time before Ty is off and scuttling about the house. Truffle is going to LOVE that I am sure!

One of the many tips I picked up from the PDX crew was to let the kids roll their trikes and cars inside the house. Great idea that I will be putting to use in our house as it will save Ty massive bug bites and the heat stroke we might encounter outside. Our house is set up well for the Indoor Indy as there is a great loop between the foyer, living room, dining room/kitchen, and utility hallway. Complete with a little zig zag by the garage door.