VISITORS!

More visitors are coming....

But this time they're not coming to us. 

YOU'RE the ones getting visitors!

WE'RE COMING HOME!!!!!!!!

I'll be in Charlotte June 30-July 26. 

Michael will be home until July 12. 

Mark your calendars :) 

We'll be spending most of our time in Charlotte, but I'm hoping to make my way towards Raleigh once Michael leaves. 

More details to come on specific plans. 

We're SO excited to see ya'll!

xx,

Lauren 

A little of this...

It's Monday, again, and thought I'd share a bit of our weekend with you. 

We spent Saturday evening here. 

(Just kidding. They did great.)

There were a few teaching moments. 

And some difficulty with the pins. 

It was a fun afternoon though, and after a few games we ended up here.

We were at "Little Sheep" in Causeway Bay. It was my first hotpot experience and we all loved it. The food was amazing.

Lots of lamb, beef, and veggies. 

Literally, the BEST Xiao Long Bau in Hong Kong. Many of you are aware of my love affair with this dumpling, and most everyone who arrives in Hong Kong experiences the same devotion to it. This "party in my mouth" was the best yet. I'll take you when you come! :) 

  

We stopped in Happy Valley on the way home.

And watched a dog skateboard.

We met some more friends for Sunday Roast at the Pawn.

And found out the BEST news ever!

Daria and Simon got ENGAGED! AHHHHH!!!

We couldn't be happier for them. 

Hope you all had great weekends too!

xx,

Lauren

Da Buns

Yesterday was Buddha's birthday...a holiday in Hong Kong, and a day off for Michael. In addition to the big man's bday, it was also the Cheung Chau Bun Festival. 

Cheung Chau is a small island about 10 km southwest of Hong Kong. It is a small fishing village, with narrow streets and no motor vehicles. The Bun Festival is an annual event held in Cheung Chau that includes a parade, lion dances, and THOUSANDS of people on this tiny island. Of course we wanted to check it out. 

Bad idea.

I know we've been here 9 months, but we still have much to learn (like NOT going to Cheung Chau on the day of the bun festival). We waited in line with the locals for an hour to board the ferry. 

We arrived in the middle of the parade.

It was hot and crowded.

Children are held up on sticks to look like they're floating. Strange. 

We wanted to check out the tower of buns. 

Yes, this is a tower of buns. Buns that look like this:

At midnight, there is a bun scrambling competition where people climb the tower.

I'm not kidding.

We didn't stay to watch. 

We'll have to go back when the festival is over. It really is a cute little town, but yesterday, it was just chaos.

To all those new expats out there: Never go to Cheung Chau on the day of the bun festival. 

Love, 

Me

Bee. Bee. Queue.

Friday night was my first Korean BBQ experience...Technically, it was Korean BBQ. Japanese style. Close enough.

Our good friends KC and Chris rave about it, so we've been trying to go for weeks now. Korean BBQ is basically Wagyu beef and vegetables that you cook yourself on a grill that's in the middle of the table. Similar to fondue, but grill-style. It was such a fun night with amazing company. 

Afterwards we stopped for a drink along the Knutsford Steps...the LKF of Kowloon.

We call Kowloon the "Dark Side," as we don't venture over there quite often. KC, Michael and I stopped for a quick drink and then called it a night. 

******

We had a nice Saturday. We spent some time at home and hiked up to the Peak in the afternoon. We had dinner with some friends Saturday night at a new restaurant and came home to this:

Dudley found the bag of Orbitz gum and Neutrogena Soap the Hendrix and Hendrick's brought me.

He also decided to break into my gym bag and leave everything sprawled in the hallway. 

Lucky for me, not all the gum was destroyed, and only 1 bar of soap suffered a causality.

Oh Dudley.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

xx,

Lauren

Last

We left after breakfast and made our way to the airport. 

Mark had his first ever blizzard. Can you believe they have a Dairy Queen in the Phuket airport?

We got to Hong Kong around 4:00 pm, and the Hendricks and Hendrix didn't fly out until Midnight. 

The girls went back to the Ladies Market for some final purchases.

Kendra bought Mark a killer watch. He was stoked.

I hope it's still working.

We met the boys for a quick drink before heading to dinner.

We took them to Causeway Bay and ate at SML.

 We walked through the MTR to the Airport Express looking like kindergartners with our backpacks.

And finally, had admit it was DAY 10, and the trip was over.

I stood there crying as they boarded the train...

I was sad to see them go, but more than anything so thankful for the 4 of them.

They flew to Asia for us. 

They used all their vacation days for us.

They skipped time with their mother's on Mother's Day for us.

They humbled me, and 

I love them.

So. Much.

Thank you for an amazing trip.

xx,

Lauren