Trip to KK

Heather and Scott came to visit us, so we used it as an excuse to travel around Malaysia a bit since we haven't seen much yet (until now we've spent more time going to other countries...)

KOTA KINABALU on Borneo

Day 1 - Wildlife park

Riding the Borneo pygmy elephant. 

More elephants.  It was hot

Joseph and Heather were chosen to participate during the Orangutan show.  They had to use that stick the guy is holding to move a piece of food through the plastic box.  The orangutan had to do the same thing with another box.  The orangutan won.  I surmise it's because he's had a lot of practice

 Here we are in front of Malaysian Tigers.  Joseph was pretty stoked about this one.  We got to see tigers, bears, elephants, orangutans, plenty of monkeys, and the saddest-looking leopard we've ever seen, in a cage about the size of a large closet

The hotel was right on the harbor, and had great views from the pool deck

 
Jofess was going for the camera here...

Day 2 we jumped on a boat for Mamutik and Sapi islands, a short ride from KK.  Buddy was a little wary of the getting on and off the boat, but he loved the ride

Ah...paradise.  Mamutik island (the first one we visited).  The water was warm, clear, and the waves were tiny.  After a little bit of anxiety at the beginning, Buddy loved it.  By the end of the day he didn't want to get out of the water

The lifejackets probably helped Buddy's confidence quite a bit.  Both boys loved floating around with them on

We didn't really want to leave this beach...

Sapi Island.  Just as beautiful as Mamutik, and better snorkeling.  Lots of interesting fish and other creatures swimming around.   Here Erin is doing her best impression of a starfish that has washed up on shore.  Jofess is counting the sand crystals

Of course there were plenty of people who wanted pics with the boys.  Here is one group of nice Chinese ladies who got about 3 seconds with Andrew before he ran off

Day 3 - Waterfall

We took a taxi about a 30 min ride away to a waterfall in the jungle.  Entry fee: $0.50.  We decided that was a pretty good deal

The upper falls.  Notice the bathing Indians

The lower falls.  Scott and I headed over to jump off a cliff into the deepest pool

Scott and me on the cliff

The lower falls had kind of a little waterslide in them.  You can see here I'm making friends with the locals

As you can see, we got a lot of sun on this trip--nice and tan

My second jump.  Much better form that the first time.  The water was only neck-deep, so I had to be careful when I landed to angle in and not hit the bottom too hard

We headed home on Day 3.  It's about a 2.5 hour flight from KL to KK, and the boys did really great.  Andrew watched Wall-E on Scott's iPad (Thanks Scott!)

The last night (before we dropped Heather and Scott off at the airport), we headed to get some dinner at our favorite little Taiwanese joint near Bukit Bintang in KL.  The food was great, and it was a fun last activity before we sent our guests on to Japan.  We loved having Heather and Scott in town!  Until next time...

Andrew starts school

Our little Andrew is not so little any more. He is 3.5yrs now and this month started at the big international school with uniforms and everything.


The start was a bit rough with some behavioral issues like not wanting to follow teachers instructions and sit on the mat. But now he is doing better (not perfect, but better). We sent andrew with a shadow to help him transition (a trained therapist from his autism early intervention school) but the teacher does not like it and asserts she can handle him herself. So we have a bit of a conflict there, but the best thing about that is that it is showing us that our two years of working overtime to healing and recovering Andrew (not to mention spending loads of $--sigh) is working so much that the teacher keeps asserting he is acting no different than the other kids and she doesn't see why he needs any extra help or support.


The students get new library books every day to take home to read. He keeps checking out this same book from the library--they try to get him to pick other books but he really likes this story about a girl who can't stop jumping


Good job andrew, keep up the good work

Love mom and dad

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Quick vid in honor of our friend Eric

I posted a bunch if raw footage on you tube last month of the boys saying happy birthday to Eric and Courtney edited it. here is the finished product
The above pics have nothing to do with it by the way...just took them and haven't posted them yet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8gjcu-cXTY&feature=youtu.be
I will add at the end Andrew got up and didn't think his fall was a big deal. Lol
E
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Guess where this is...

 Heather my sister came out to visit so I took her here...

 Ten bucks if you can figure out where this is...

 Ha long bay in Vietnam

 Here we are hanging out on the floating fisherman's house.  Our guide is on the left.  A fisherman actually lives here and keeps his catch down in the hole.  This house is completely floating like the other ones you see in the background.

Ok holding this crab was taking my life in my hands -- it was so wiggly

he asked us to take this picture for him and email it to him after the trip -- he was so proud to show us the right was to hold a crab -- we were flipping out

there is our blue kayak -- we kayaked around the village and through the cliffs

Just for fun

 

Is our family nuts or what?

 

 We went to the science center a while back and after we left before we put the stroller in the back of the car, the boys begged to play in the back of a car.  Aaaah, the little things that make these boys excited...
I have learned that for them the joy they get from playing in the back of the car is right up there with getting to drive through our carpark level B3 (as our assigned spot is on level B2 so hence B2 is boring, but B3, which looks exactly the same as B2, is the most exciting place in the world).

Joseph did some volunteering at a local Indian temple, then served food at an orphanage, and then got to eat a big Indian feast with his "other" family (aka Helen's family)...




The priest gave him some little jello type treats and even though we told him we wouldn't open them for him, he still would not give them up nor put them down. See above.




Check out the cool shrine in the background












This is Helen's family. Everyone got together because it was the year anniversary of her sister's husband passing away. Their culture has a tradition where a year after a death they meet and give some food and offerings to the poor.




The guy to the right of Joseph in the red is Jagen. He is Helen's oldest son and is in a lot of movies and theatre performances here in malaysia. How cool is that. He is a big fan of Joseph. I am sure one day Joseph will be a big fan of him too.




Joseph was a little shy at the orphanage, but what brought him out of his shell was the motorbike sitting out front. He went nuts and made the best zoom sound effects.








Fun day! Thanks Helen! And thanks Jagen for the pics.
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Location:Joseph's day out