The weather is....CLOUDY!

Bless my husband - this has been his view the whole trip since Monday and he has been a trooper! No complaints from him although I'm sure he must be hot as heck with Colby pressed up against him all day and his back is probably killing him from wearing the carrier constantly. He's such a good dad.

I had a few comments before our day actually begins and since the boys are still sleeping, I thought I'd start today's post and then I'll maybe a. not forget to say these things later and b. perhaps actually succeed in posting today's post today! (I failed - it's now Saturday morning here. I was too tired last night to finish.)

It's cloudy again, and I hope the rain will hold off. I guess we'll see.

The boys are snuggled up together in the bed and if I could take a picture without waking them, I assure you I would. This is priceless time and it makes me fall in love with Steve all over again. I always knew he'd be a great dad and every time I see it play out it makes me so thankful to be so blessed. Now if I could just get him to wear cute jammies like his son, they'd be a matched set!

It's been chilly here without the sun and damp, too. I wasn't expecting this and as I'd wasted valuable suitcase space for China on longsleeve stuff and pants that I never wore, I didn't do it this time. Mistake. My poor blue sweatshirt, worn on the plane and nearly every day since is getting a little worse for the wear. I'm terrified to try to wash it, though, as it's the only warm thing I have and the t-shirts that I washed 2 days ago in the sink and wrung out WELL are still not dry. I think I'm going to have to take the hair dryer to them later on.

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There was NO NEED for a warm sweatshirt today! It may have been cloudy, but chilly it was not!! It was balmy today - sultry perhaps. Sticky for certain. Very little rain, though, and we were all glad of that!

The boys slept til 8:15 and I let them, so we were scrambling to get ready in time to meet the Echols for breakfast downstairs. Steve got Colby ready while I showered and then I decided to take him while Steve showered. I figured plan A was to take him downstairs to breakfast (as much as the boy loves food, it takes him a year and a day to eat it) and plan B (with a screaming contingency) was to return to the room and get the carrier and an umbrella and head out for a walk with him. I am THRILLED to report that Plan A worked out just fine for me and there was not a peep out of him as soon as I closed the door to the room! We even did great when Steve arrived and then he asked to go to Steve and I let him of course. HUGE steps! Emma was keen on taking photos of us all at all stages of breakfast this morning, much to our amusement. She is a 4 year old photographic prodigy, I think. She's enthralled with the camera and is having a ball taking photos of everything in sight. She is just the cutest little girl.

After a leisurely breakfast we caught the bus to the MRT station and the MRT to another bus. Ha. We needed to recognize the characters for Wuali as the bus was not labeled in English. Taxi drivers were everywhere offering to take us up for $400NT (the bus was $160NT for the four adults), but we were steadfast (and besides, it's always nicer to be able to splurge on a cab coming home when we're all tired than to waste it on the way there). While we were waiting, several young women approached us and were just enamored with Colby. They commented on how handsome he was and asked his age and asked if we were from America and told us they were from Taiwan. And then they went away for about 17 seconds and were back to ooh and ahh over him again. They were sweet. We waited in line through a couple more buses and several more taxi offers and finally boarded the bus. The Taiwanese are fantastic about giving up their seat to anyone with a small child (even the teenagers!) so we all had seats in a matter of seconds. Buses here are definitely geared toward transporting as many people as possible at a time, so there are relatively few seats - to get one is a rarity.

As soon as we headed out of the city, it was green everywhere. We went up into the mountains and they are just covered in lush, green foliage. Between being in the city all week and coming out of winter at home, I don't think I realized just how much I've missed green trees until today! The bus rumbled up a windy road toward Wulai and eventually came to a stop in a parking lot. We paid our fare, hopped off, and snapped some quick pictures of this cool bridge. It was then that we noticed it - a strange warm feeling on our skin and a flood of bright light into our eyes.... THE SUN!!! Of course we'd brought rain coats but neglected a hat for Eight Ball.

We walked a ways up the road and came to a long road full of shops and food stands. Steve's eyes lit up like wildfire when he saw.....foods on sticks! We found some really cool beaded hats and I thought we might get one for Colby. I tried one on him and he immediately plucked it off with delight (mental note to self - getting hats with chin straps when we return home!). We walked a little further and decided to get some lunch. The woman at the front of the restaurant we chose assured us there were pictures on their menus. Not so much. Eric knows how to order two things in Chinese - beef and beer. They didn't have beef. So we ordered beer and chicken and some veggies for Emma. The beer was good, the chicken was good, but the chicken was literally just the cleaved up hunks of a whole chicken. Interesting presentation for certain! We ate and chatted and had a great time. We could see the bathers in the hot springs behind us (down on the banks of the other side of the river - not directly behind us -- that wouldn't be very appetizing at all!!). We could tell for certain that we were in a tourist town when we got the bill. $20 for a small plate of cleaved up chicken, some glutinous rice, 2 beers, and the veggies. WOW. We did sit at table #8, though, and I wish I'd taken a picture of the table number - it looked just like an 8 ball.

We walked to the end of the street, all the while Steve drooling over foods on sticks, and crossed a beautiful bridge. We attempted to decipher the tourist map and then we attempted to look confused. Neither one worked out for us. We spotted a sign for a tourist train and started up a flight (using that term loosely) of stairs. At the top we found more shops and the ticket counter. $50NT for a one way ride on the train up to the waterfall. Bargain if you ask me. Well...if you asked me before we rode it. Just kidding. It was a true experience!!! We went rattling along in these tiny cars - jostling and jolting the whole way. Suddenly we whipped into a dark tunnel. We joked that it was Six Flags over Wulai. It was a little like the zoo train on crack to be honest. About 5 times faster and joltier at least! Colby slept through the whole thing. I said we should write a book entitled, "Colby "8 Ball" Gannaway eats and sleeps his way through Taiwan". ha ha.

The waterfall was very beautiful! It's the tallest waterfall in Taiwan - so now we've seen both the tallest building and the tallest waterfall and we joked that we are probably some of the tallest people, so we're on the tall tour. Ha ha ha. Okay, bad joke, but it was funny at the time.

We stopped and Steve saw....foods on sticks so we decided it was high time he had some. One thing looked like a corn dog so I said he should get that and he said that was no fun - it was a corn dog, but I gave him a sly look and said..."but what if it's not? duhn duhn duhn...." His eyes lit up a bit and he walked right over and ordered one. It was a corn dog. BUT it did have strange orange sauce on the outside before they were done and who'd have thought you could go half way around the world and order a corn dog from a street vendor? We walked a little ways further and I saw some popsicles and decided to have one (heck, my hands are free...why not? ha ha). I picked a random color and got guava. YUM! Nicole got a mango one, though, and hers looked really yummy too! Emma got something that looked a bit like a cross between a push up and an ice cream cone and it came inside of an egg. Strange.

We took a closer look at the waterfall and then some clouds came up over the top of the mountain and it started to sprinkle, so we headed back toward the train.

The ride down was rougher than the ride up, if you can believe it - much faster and much more rocking. Colby was awake for this one and got quite a charge out of it! When we got down to the bottom of the hill, Steve said he'd like to have at least one more food on a stick before we left. No problem - they abounded. Colby needed a diaper change and I noticed that the women's room had a diaper deck in it. We decided to tempt fate and Steve unfastened him and handed him over (after much shuffling of umbrellas and our "gear" and the help of Nicole and Eric). Not a peep. I walked away, changed him, and walked back with no huge tantrum! I love it! I am always a little trepidatious about taking him in public as we are already a spectacle as two Caucasian people with an Asian baby, but a further spectacle that I make no effort to take care of him - so to then add an enormous tantrum when I hold him....no thanks. Luckily, we've actually seen tons of dads carrying their babies in carriers just like Steve is, so that's been nice.

I found a beaded bracelet I liked and bought it for myself at about the same time Steve noticed that they had coke in glass bottles (I have a Pepsi bottle from Egypt and another from somewhere else, although I can't place it right now) with Chinese on them so he bought me one of those as well. A little ways further up the street we saw some candy being hand pulled and bought some. We thought it'd be like taffy, but it was actually a lot more like delicate peanut brittle with the taste of cotton candy. YUM. Not much further (and not wanting to travel more then 8 feet without eating....) we saw a steamed bun "factory". It was really neat - about 8 people working in cooperation to have a little steamed bun assembly line and as Colby hadn't eaten much at lunch and was now very fussy we thought we'd get a couple. They were big - probably about 3" in diameter and only $0.50 each (US). We got two with the local special - bamboo and pork inside. We all scarfed them down (the cleaved chicken bits long having left us) and then saw the next food on a stick purchase - a gelatinous yellow looking stuff that might have been custard or possibly pineapple...certainly dare worthy. We bought some and learned that it was millet cake - another local specialty. We got ours dipped in peanut and it was actually very tasty. Colby was beyond fussy, so Steve moved along to meet up with the Echols and I dashed into one last shop to get hats for the kids. Colby got a black one that I think will suit him (if he'll ever leave it on!) and Kailin got a pink one with some little bells that I think she'll like a lot. The kids were both tired and cranky and we caught a cab back to the MRT station. It was a nice one with a double back seat, so we weren't so cramped. We hopped on the MRT and then caught the bus back to our hotel. We stopped at a little "junk store" on the way home and picked up some Chinese spoons and some melamine plates I'd seen there the day before and got Kailin a Minnie and Mickey apron that Steve found. I bet she'll love it!

We decided that 8 Ball needed some time out of the carrier, so we went back to the room and Steve stayed with him while I went to Mary's for burgers again. It's not inventive, but when you're looking for take out sometimes it's easy. I got Colby a couple of fried eggs since he likes them pretty well, but he still preferred our dinner over his. We had a great time playing, though, and I can tell that we're making strides. (The picture on the right is him laughing and giggling - I realize now that it looks a bit like he's having a fit!) He shared his bink with me on the bus ride up to Wulai and we played several games of "heads together" on the MRT. He actually came over and laid against my legs for a bit at one point. We'll get there. I can see the improvements and it does my heart good.

Soon it was time for him to go to bed and he did a lot better - much less fussing! He ended up staying in the pack 'n play until 4:30 (when he decided to get up for the day. We had other plans. Now it's almost 8 and he's still sleeping peacefully (in our bed, though)). For those who have been asking me about sizes for Colby, I've been holding off since I'm trying to get a good idea myself. We've been layering him as he's accustomed to it and we also don't want to get a scolding from the granny police like we did in China. The 24 month pants I brought are way too big and the 12-18 month (Old Navy) fit exactly now, but won't in a few weeks (length wise). So.... my best guess is that he's a solid 18mos now and will likely be 24 mos by summer. Does that help? I apologize for not being a lot of help, but he's not going to let me try clothes on him at this point - that's for certain. If anyone is dying to get him something truly useful - what we could use are cute hats with STRAPS or some other mechanism by which to keep them on his bald head! I brought some baseball hats for him, but he won't leave them on.

Okay, time to shower and get ready for the day. We're touring Keelung today and it's the Echols' last day. We've invited them to join us and we're so happy that they've accepted!!