Perspective

Pool Time! We have a pool in our building which makes it easy to go for a little bit here and there. The girls love to swim!

This was their first time back in a pool since last summer. The smile says it all.

The architecture here is amazing! This was taken poolside and is a reflection of another building.

This is after Cole's 3 hour nap when we were trying to wake him up. He was so out of it. Todd laid down with him for a minute and dozed off, too.

We didn't think the girls would need a nap. We were obviously wrong as they both fell asleep hard at about 6:30 p.m.

One of the many views from Victoria Peak

Surprisingly, there seemed to be a whole town on top of the mountain. The first store we saw when we got off the tram was a Starbucks.

Photos from our hike...

Skyler spotted this snake as we were walking. She also spotted the lizard and a few snails.

Skye was in good spirits despite being so sweaty she lost five pounds (or so she thinks).

Our first two full days in Hong Kong has been full of adventure as we are trying to figure out the lay of the land. Yesterday, we all went to the grocery store to pick up the essentials.  Between that and trying to figure out where to go for lunch and how to get there, our morning was over. When we were planning this trip, we spent countless hours going over the pros and cons of where to stay. We knew we wanted a serviced apartment and there are several to choose from. Without actually being here, we could just go on what we saw online and what Todd's co-workers that live in HK could recommend. We couldn't be happier with our final decision. Our apartment is wonderful. We have 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with plenty of room for the 6 of us to spread out. The views are fantastic and the staff has been very helpful. It is, however, nowhere near toddler proof as we quickly discovered. We actually requested that they take all the decorative items out of the apartment as I know they wouldn't end up in the condition in which they started.  After our long morning, we came back to our apartment for Cole to take a nap while Noelle and I took the girls swimming.  To try to get through the jet lag phase, we woke Cole up after  3 hour nap. It literally took us 45 minutes to wake him up. He wanted no part of it. As we were waking him up, both of the girls crashed on the couch around 6:30. There was absolutely no waking them up. They were so soundly sleeping, a marching band could have come through here and they wouldn't even stir. This altered our dinner plans postponing them for a night with a new plan heading into today.

Today, we got an early start in hopes of wearing the kids out in the morning and taking earlier naps to try and get our bodies back on schedule. We took a tram ride up to Victoria's Peak. Cole was thrilled to ride on a "choo choo" and the views up there were breathtaking. It really gave us perspective as to how huge this vertical city is. We went on a 3km hike, saw a lizard and a snake along with plants and trees we've never seen before. It's very hot and humid here, but the kids did great. I won the sweatiest of the group award as I hiked with an extra 30 lbs on my back. Cole liked his view at 5 ft while we hiked and walked a bit when we stopped for the scenic views and some photo opportunities.  Skye said that she should now be able to be carried on my back as she must of lost 5 lbs sweating today (there's a 40 b weight limit for the carrier).  Overall, the kids did great and only said a few times that they would rather be swimming in the pool than hiking in the heat.  We successfully wore them out . They all napped for about 3 hours. Waking them up was a little easier today. I hope jet lag is behind us.

Everyone seems to really enjoy life here. Sydney has already said that the 15 hour flight was worth it!