Playgroup (by Tirzah)

On Wednesdays Mummy and I go to playgroup. Before, we tried one at Keegan's school, but Mummy said it messed up my afternoon sleep time and I got too grumpy, so we postponed that one until I am a bit older.

We catch a train from Tai Po Market to the Chinese University.

Then we ride in a shuttle bus to Joanna's apartment.


Look how tall it is!

Mummy and I have made some nice friends at this playgroup. We play with the toys, then we do singing and a Bible story, then we do colouring. Joanna is sitting on my left; it's her apartment where we meet.

Today on the train coming home I showed Mummy and all the other passengers how to do a pole dance.

Hide and Seek

Craig took this short video on his iPhone, so this is our first attempt to download a video clip into the blog.

Waterfront Park

Today is a public holiday in Hong Kong known as the Chung Yeung Festival. Supposedly it is a day to respect and remember one's ancestors, but we were just happy for the chance to sleep-in after our busy church camp on the weekend.

Around mid morning we took a taxi to Tai Po Waterfront Park. We had seen signs for the park while on the bus, but this was our first opportunity to visit it.




At the entrance to the park


The children were happy to spend time on the playground. In Hong Kong all the playgrounds seem to be kept in excellent condition, with no graffiti or broken equipment. My only complaint is that they usually don't have enough shade, but the Waterfront Park was an exception.


This is a designated kite-flying area


The Insect House (we didn't go in today)


Lovely promenade beside the water


This spiral look-out tower is 32.4 metres high and gives visitors a panorama view over Tolo Harbour, the Tai Po Industrial Estate, and the countryside all the way to mainland China's border.








Water feature


The park has a 600-seat amphitheatre


This woman was having her graduation photos among the flowers and waterfalls in the park.


Fish pond beside the rest gardens




Designated pool for model boats


Craig liked this model submarine best (approximately 50 cm long)


And Keegan liked this remote truck


Picnic time (Nothing fancy, just sandwiches, juice, and bananas.)



Plenty of walk-ways and bike paths



The girls played on another playground...


...while the boys played cricket. Keep that arm straight, Keegan!



Keegan hits it for a six!


Later another boy asked to play, so Craig taught him a few basic cricket tips.



We were sad to leave the park, but Tirzah needed an afternoon nap. We will definitely come back on another day!

Church camp

This weekend we attended a day camp with families from Sha Tin Church at a site called Breakthrough Youth Village. It would have been easy to make our excuses and not go because we are so new to the church. However, so far it has been hard to get to know people in the congregation, and this was a good opportunity to change that. So we stepped outside our comfort zone and booked in to the camp.

Of course we were very glad that we went. Tirzah enjoyed the attention she received from all the young people. Keegan was thrilled to play soccer and cricket after so long. During breaks Jemilla played computer games in the library with her friends, and she said that was her favourite activity. Craig happily volunteered to play the drums with the music team for one session. And my weekend highlight was the talent show. We also met some lovely families from places like New Zealand, the Philippines, the UK,and the US, just to name a few...




Catching the train to the pick-up point


Praise and worship time


Pastor Dale Hanson introduces camp speaker Rev Peter Hurricks from New Zealand. His topic was "Growing through Changes".



We watched this excellent video by The Skit Guys called "God's Chisel". It's definitely worth nine minutes of your time to press the play button.




Tirzah happily played up the back of the hall during the meetings


Fun and games during the break time


This was some sort of "mummy" contest with toilet paper


I'm not sure what the aim of this game was


Playing soccer (Keegan was always goalie)


Chinese food for lunch



And a barbecue for tea


The Talent Show was fantastic! There was a texting contest, hilarious skits about finding a wife, and even the Harvey kids participated. Jemilla sang the books of the Old Testament...


And Keegan did a drum solo.


Sunday morning praise and worship time at camp


Traditional camp photo


Family photo (Sorry about Tirzah's blink!)


And here we are on the bus back to the train station