Halloween

Halloween Night.....what fun we had. The kids school had a Fall festival and they had so much fun. Josh's class worked the Haunted House and let me just say, Josh had a BALL scaring all the kids. HaHa He scared the heck out of me when I saw his face painting. Lizzie enjoyed all the games and of course painting the drum.
Finding costumes over here was a bit of a challenge, but the kids didn't complain. I think this was the first year that Lizzie did not go as a princess, hee hee.
Trick-or-Treating was a little different this year. The candy they gave out at the Fall Festival was not your usual candy. So when we got home from school we walked over to L's Place ( a grocery store located in our compound) and picked out M&M's, Skittles, Reese's Cups, and gum. The girls that worked the store were fascinated with Josh's face and took pictures of him on their cell phones. Josh just ate up all that attention. Once we got back home I had the kids ring the doorbell and I came out and gave them candy. HeeHee. Different, but they still got candy!!

Lizzie Birthday

Lizzie turns 8!!! We had a quiet celebration here at home for Liz's 8th birthday. It was a challenge to find gifts. I found a mall that was as close to any American mall I could find and they had a whole floor for kids. There I found her a new outfit, crayons ( always a hit with her) and Lego's. She was very happy and surprised, not once did she complain about the number of gifts or the fact that they weren't BIG enough. She is such a happy-go-lucky girl!!

Kids Assembly

Josh and Lizzie both "perfomed" at their school assembly. Lizzie's class talked about "The Weather" and she was also one of the student of the month. :) I uploaded some video from her performance.


Josh was in a skit about Jason and the Argonauts. He was a zombie. I uploaded some video from his scene, but it is hard to see him, he is in the back. :(



Ok,well I tried to upload video, but it was taking over 2 hours and was STILL not done. I will try again later. So enjoy the pictures.

Old Quarter Tour

As a new member of the Hanoi Women International Club, I was taken on a tour of the Old French Quarter in downtown Hanoi. It was amazing. Here below are some of the many sites we saw.

This, I thought, was too funny. While on a bicycle taxi I saw this guy walking down the street lean over and ask one the drivers for a lift. So this poor taxi guy not only had to peddle for the lady in the seat but also for the guy on the back of his bike.



Here is one of the many store fronts that you see along all the streets of Hanoi. The famous Budda Belly..hee hee. Apparently you want one of these in your stores and homes, it is said to bring good luck and wealth.



There used to be 4 gates leading into the City of Hanoi, but now only one stands.



Here is a typical Pagoda in Vietnam. You bring food, drinks, and money to the altar then say your prayer.


This was ( and sometimes still is) the way the old homes were used by the people. In the front of your house was where you sold your goods, the back of the house is where you made the goods. On the second floor is where you lived and invited your close friends to dine with you. The picture with the altar is on the second floor and custom dictates that you NEVER show your bottom to the altar, it is very disrespectful.


And last but not least a couple of pictures showing the "old toilets". Enjoy!! Hee Hee

Dinner :)

This is what our house-helper made us for dinner. Home made spring rolls and fried rice ( not pictured though). They were HEAVENLY!! Even when I took a bite out of one and saw a tentacle, I still ate two more!! LOL Can you believe it??!?! Check out Lizzie eating them...and "NO" I did not tell her about the tentacle. Hee hee And of course we have Josh...eating Mac and Cheese. SHOCKER!! Although he did have some fried rice. Oh, and she also made my kids home-made cinnamon rolls today. So good and not all that sweet. She is awesome.

Lizzie on Drums

This is for Angie Klovstad!!!! Here is Lizzie at her drum lesson. LOL I thought I had taken some video but I didn't actually hit the record button, BUT I will do that at this Saturday's lesson. Lizzie has got some good rhythm and keeps the beat really well. That is her instructor Tuan ( pronounced Two-nine). He is awesome on the drums and plays in a Jazz band. He gave us directions and over Fall break we are going to go and see him. :)

Steve and I

This is Steve and I having lunch by one of the pools here in Ciputra. It is a Australian restaurant called J.A.F.A. The food here is pretty good and it is only about a 10-15 minute walk from our villa. :)

Moon Festival

Tet Trung Thu ~ Mid-Autumn Festival/ Moon Festival/Children's Festival

"Tet Trung Thu is the Children's Festival, which comes at the time of the harvest moon. It is a grand party for the kids, who are given gifts and candy in abundance. The children are honored and reminded to show love and respect to one another and to be good citizens. The Moon Festival originates from a Vietnamese folk tale about a naughty boy named Cuoi, who always played tricks on people. Consequently, he was taken up to the moon to look after the heavenly cows all by himself. He is sad and lonely there, so every year at the full moon, children play drums, do the dragon dance, and march with lighted lanterns to let him know that they are thinking of him and wish for him to join them on earth. Moon cakes are a central feature of Tet Trung Thu. These cakes are made of rice flour and filled with peanuts, lotus seeds, duck egg yolks, raisins, green beans and more. At night, children march through the streets with their lanterns, playing cymbals and drums. Lanterns can be in the shape of fish, boats, dragons, or other animals. Many areas of Hanoi have a Dragon Dance; young men from the local dinh (dinh means the local community) dance through the streets. If you leave your door open, the dragon will enter and not leave until it has been appeased with an offering of money, which goes to the dinh. With the energy of the dancing young men and the loud beat of the drums, the children are delightfully frightened. Even for a grown -up, it can be a little hairy to offer money right into the mighty mouth of the dragon." Taken for the book, Hanoi Guide
Wanted you to get a feel for what we went through this past weekend. Josh's class put on a little performance of the Dragon Dance. It was cool. I wish I would have had a video camera with me. The music was amazing...I felt like I was in a club back in Austin. LOL And the little boy who dressed up as the dragon was a total HAM, which the kids all loved. Josh was a little em brassed, but this was his first time introduced to this festival. I thought he did just fine. Even Lizzie's class sang a song, but I couldn't get a good picture. :( But it was entertaining none-the-less. Those are the first set of pictures.
The next set of pictures are from our little community here called Ciputra. They put on a little show here as well. We missed the dragon dance ( we were so bummed), but we did get to play in the bounce house and see the different lanterns and people. Lizzie was a little overwhelmed and wouldn't get her picture taken with the man dressed up as the Pig. Haa haa We didn't stay to long, it was VERY loud, again club music playing, but it was still an experience that we enjoyed.

Lizzie's "All About Me"

For the past few weeks Lizzie and her classmates have been sharing their culture with each other. It was kinda hard, since our boxes hadn't arrived yet, but we managed. She wanted to bring in her American Girl Doll, that was something that was unique to American. But we decided to bring in some the American Girl Doll books instead. On Friday all the students brought in food that was from your country. I really wanted to make Apple Pie, but I didn't have my baking pans, so I made Chocolate Chip Cookies. All the Korean ladies thought they were so good. LOL Ya see, the cookies here are hard and crumble easily. The spring rolls were AWESOME!! Some of the students dressed up in the home-country style. It was great to meet some of the moms from all the countries. Everyone here is so nice. The lady is purple is the teacher's aide for the class.