A Park Tour of Hong Kong

Today started out with promising weather and after being cooped up for a day, we decided to head out to an area of Hong Kong called Happy Valley. This was our first time there and we managed to hit three parks and a restaurant. All within a few hours. We met up with our Texas friends (and personal Hong Kong tour guides(:) and started our day at the Happy Valley Racecourse.  They race one night a week and it is open to the public during the day. There is also a playground here, which was our intended destination. It took us quite awhile to get to it, but it was worth it. This was another well done park in the middle of congestion. Before we started playing, it was sunny enough to apply sunscreen to the kids. Within about 20 minutes, the ponchos were on and the umbrellas were out. We took shelter for a few minutes and then decided to move to an indoor play area not too far away. This was a padded room similar to what we found a few weeks ago and the kids were loving it...until they closed for an hour to sanitize it. I am finding that they do that very often here...just close down a place in the middle of the day to clean it. The kids were disappointed, but we had no choice and had to move on.  After finally finding a place to eat - this proved more difficult than it should be - we went to another park and had a pizza picnic (nothing says picnic in 90 degree heat more than hot from the oven pizza). Everyone continued having fun despite our numerous setbacks...this vacation is forcing the girls to become more "go with the flow" type people. In the long run, this ability to be flexible with plans will be of benefit to them.  I try to remember that as I feel like I am traipsing all over town - and frazzled - with three kids, one of which is a wannabe independent and, turns out, quite stubborn, little two year old.  Ahhhh...I'm enjoying the peace and quiet now as I reminisce about our daily Hong Kong Adventures....time to unwind...Have a wonderful Thursday!

This picture of a soccer pitch is for my nephew, Trevor. He is what I think about anytime I see or hear anything soccer related. And look at how I used the terminology correctly!

Cole and his 2 1/2 year old buddy. Could they be any cuter?

It was neat being on the field as people were training. We were dropped off at the wrong entrance  and had to walk through the entire park to get to the playground.

A lot of the parks here include an area with exercise equipment. This was almost more fun than the playground.

This is for my sister in law, Christie. It's hard to tell, but it's an elderly Chinese lady doing Tai Chi in the park.

Working out!

Cole and his buddy found the only dirt at the park. I caught Col trying to take off his shoe a few times to fill it up. Not a chance!

Five minutes of fun at the indoor play area.

This Pizza Hut had no indoor seating and just a walk up window. I felt like I should be ordering a soft serve cone, not a pizza...mmmm...soft serve...wonder if they have that here? Must find out.

Our pizza picnic.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop putting your pizza in the drinking fountain?" Reason number 1,052 on the "how boys are different from girls" list.

Syd was a stellar big sister today and played with Cole for quite a while at the park. Not an easy task.

This man sat and watched the kids play for a long time and was quite animated about it and was interacting with the kids. That was fine until his helper asked to take a photo of the girls...then, it turned a bit creepy.

 Tomorrow, weather permitting, we are off to see the world's biggest sitting outdoor Buddha via glass bottom cable car.  I will be resting my clicking finger in anticipation of the beautiful sights!