Oh Captain, My Captain

Just as I was fascinated by the greenery of Hong Kong Park in the middle of skyscrapers, I was equally surprised by seeing this:

amongst a skyline like this:

We had gorgeous weather today and decided to take a 2 hour harbor cruise to get a more encompassed view of Hong Kong and some of the 260 surrounding islands. We were lucky enough to be one of two families on a huge boat, giving us some running around room (for me and the kids....I was in photo heaven, not knowing where to go first and snapping away like crazy).  The tour didn't disappoint. The views were breathtaking. It was nice to have a bit of serenity in an otherwise completely fast moving, congested city. The harbor is one of the busiest in the world and the boats move in and out of "boat traffic" at the same frenetic pace the people walk and the taxi drivers drive.

There have been quite a few Chinese ladies enamored with Cole.  At home, he may elicit a few smiles and waves, but here, they want to touch him and hold him.  Cole is not shy like his sisters were at this age and usually loves the attention.  He was even fist bumping our tour guide. Picking up a stranger's child is a cultural difference I haven't gotten used to, but on the boat, where it was just us, I let our tour guide play with him a bit. She ended up letting him "steer" the boat and after a few seconds of hesitation, he took advantage of the opportunity.  They had a blast. There were so many perfect photo opportunities as the scenery kept changing that I had a difficult time narrowing down the ones I wanted to post. So, here goes a photo bomb of sorts:

This is the ship we were on. There were only 3 other people on it besides us.

Daddy's girl

We have seen animals in unexpected places here. This dog was on a ship passing us by.

The "captain" started off a little hesitant, but soon got into it.

One of my favorite pictures from today. They look gorgeous!

Syd playing "pony boy" with Cole. Both of the girls have really stepped up in the big sister department!

Serenity

Dragon boat races

Cole thought I would like his soggy cracker...

After our cruise, we headed into SoHo for lunch. This is a largely expat area in the mid-levels. There are Italian, Irish, Australian, Mexican, and many other types of restaurants to choose from. After lunch, we treated ourselves to some Ben and Jerry's. Skye's two front teeth have been loose for quite some time. Of all things, ice cream is what helped her finally lose one of them. She's very excited to get a visit from the Chinese Tooth Fairy tonight. She learned about tooth fairy customs from around the world in school and tells me that it's actually a mouse fairy here and she needs to leave her tooth in a cup. The tooth will then be replaced by candy and a toy. I can't find any information to back this up, but I will take her word for it and see what the  "mouse fairy" brings her.

Tomorrow is Father's Day and is Todd's day to choose what he would like to do. He is an incredible father and deserves all the pampering in the world. Happy Father's Day to Todd and all the other wonderful dads out there - my Dad, my father in law, Tim, my brother, Greg and countless others.  We love you and miss you and are so thankful that you are in our lives. The kids and I are sending virtual hugs across the globe to you!