New hair cut for Joel

Joel was on his way to get a haircut and Dylan just happened to be in the lobby having a smoke with Jackie - so Dylan went too.

Yes, Joel is twice her size - it's not just your eyes.

The salon, in the first floor of her home

New Motorcycle

Joel and Dylan spontaneously decided to buy a motorcycle together. It will be nice for Joel to have when he is in Taiwan and for Dylan to have the rest of the time.

Dylan is trying to work the owners down from $500 USD, unfortunately they didn't budge.

Mama is in the background loading Evie up with sugar treats

Visiting with friends

Our friend Jackie that works at our apartment was kind enough to take us to lunch. Here is Jackie and his girlfriend Fish with Evie. They took us to Mr. 38, a restaurant famous for great Curry. The food was excellent. We will certainly miss seeing Jackie everyday.

The kids enjoyed running around outside after lunch. The weather was perfect.

Evie and her little buddy, Jackie

Victory...

A little loving for Ethan

The boys, just chillin'

After dinner we said goodbye our friends Mary and Kevin who own a pastry shop next to Uptown, the apartment we stayed at two years ago. Kevin and Mary are always so kind to give Evie a treat when she visits. Of course she is all smiles about her treat, we are too.

Sometimes the kids just don't cooperate for a picture. This was one of those times. Kevin and Mary are so sweet. We look forward to seeing them again when we visit Taiwan

Trash Day

Video: I have totally taken for granted how simple the trash service is in the US. We just fill our trash can and put it by the curb in the evening and usually before it's light out the trash can is emptied and ready for us to refill. Can you imagine putting your own trash on a trash truck not to mention waiting around to do it. We all know what an inconvenience it is waiting around for a service person to come to our home, even if they give you a short window or tell you when they are coming - it's still an inconvenience.

Steven and Jesse Wilde

Joel took Evie on a motorcycle ride this morning and then we met at FM Station for breakfast.

Evie knows the routine, this is her and Joel's place for daddy-daughter time

Of course the mini cakes are Evie's favorite treat, they are half whip cream covered in frosting.

Ethan is in a cute new phase where he holds out his hand for yours when he is nervous about going up or down something

Ethan and I caught a ride home with Joel and Evie. It may seem sketchy but it felt safe. Maybe we're just so used to seeing families riding on scooters here that we have convinced ourselves it's okay. Joel is heading to APRO today with Dylan and Steven, the photographer we met in Taipei (who lives in Canada). He is taking some factory photos to complete the Tomac story for Bike Magazine. His wife Jesse and son Edward are coming to hangout while the boys work.

Jesse and I were on our way to the park near Dodi's house and ran into her walking to the park with Isabella. Randomly Jesse and Dodi know each other through Dodi's husband, Monie. Dodi is also from Canada. I guess it's small world no matter where you are. This is Evie's friend Heidi. Heidi doesn't seem to mind Evie dragging her around the park.

Dodi creatively engaged the kids in a game of Simon says

Isabella is only 2 1/2 years old but has great balance and quite fast on her little run bike.

After the park we walked to McDonalds for lunch. I later found out that this was Edward's 1st time at McDonalds. Sorry, he's the little guy hiding behind the paper bag.

This is Edward.

And this is Isabella

After the guys got home from the factory we went to Tunghai University so Steven could take a few pictures of Joel and Evie on the motorcycle. It's a busy area with a lot of character.

Steven is taking pictures of Joel and Evie riding up this tight little street. Steven is a great photographer. If you get time you should check out his work at www.stephenwilde.com

Evie loves going for a ride on the motorcycle. There was so much to look at that she certainly didn't notice she was being photographed.

We ate at this great little noodle shop before Steven and Jesse headed to the train station and back to Taipei. They depart for Canada in the morning.

Steven and Jesse Wilde

Meat, it's what's for dinner...right?

Just a few scooters...

Lala Mountain

We are on our way from Taipei to meet Dylan and his girlfriend Kate, who will pick us up at the train station in Taoyuan.

From there we will drive to Lala mountain where we will hike and enjoy (unknown) activities Kate has planned. As we were into our drive an hour on windy mountain roads, we found out that the drive was still another two hours and the same conditions.

Many of you know that Joel gets terribly motion sick. He was already to the point of throwing up and the kids weren't helping much either, they took short naps in the car and were tired and getting restless. Another two hours for Joel in the car feeling the way he did would have been impossible so we made the decision to stay at a hotel we passed on the side of the road. We assumed that Dylan and Kate would continue to Lala mountain and just pick us up on their way back down the mountain the next day when they were done hiking.

After Dylan got us our room they started unpacking their bags from the car too. They decided to stay with us...as much as we tried to convince them they should continue on, especially with all of Kate's planning. We didn't want to ruin their trip too but as we have learned it is hard to change the mind of a Taiwanese if they have already made a decision. In the end, it still turned out to be a nice trip and it was nice to spend time with Dylan and Kate.

Our hotel for the night.

Not as nice as Lala mountain, but it was nice to be out of the car and let the kids run around.

Dylan and Kate thought out the entire weekend. They brought sparklers for the kids, which we all enjoyed. They even remembered it was Ethan's birthday. They researched a bakery to stop at on our drive but we couldn't find it. We thought we might be able to find a cake when we got to Lala mountain but turns out our plans changed slightly.

Dylan and Kate were thoughtful to bring Ethan a birthday gift. His first race car. He of course loved it.

We enjoyed dinner across the street from the hotel. There was a play area next to the table with stuffed animals, books and games that the kids used. The kids were pretty entertained which allowed us to enjoy a peaceful dinner.

Evie is wearing her 'apron', just like our waitress.

Taiwan has a very strict no drinking and driving law, so the guys decided to enjoy a beer since we didn't have to drive that night.

Video singing Happy Birthday to Ethan