Food, Shopping, and Sightseeing

We are back, from time with my dad and brother, from our family vacation, and from being without internet. I thought I would start with some pictures, and commentary, from my dad and brother's visit. Most of their time was spent doing our regular, ordinary, day to day things, which to us has become normal and uninteresting but to them was completely abnormal and fascinating. They are also the things we have so few pictures of, yet with a dad and brother who wanted to capture every moment, I now have lots of pictures.

Here is Adam (my youngest brother) and I running errands. I think on this trip we were picking up some scrolls I had made, as well as going to a lady I met to buy some jade and pearls for people back home.

Jacob enjoying time with grandpa. Jacob is a cuddler and he gave grandpa and uncle Adam lots of his attention. It was great!
Adam was sleeping in the living room, on cushions. Each morning at 7:00, when the boys were released from their room, they would make a bee-line for uncle Adam. This picture was taken on our walking street, or the street in our town where we do much of our shopping, for pretty much anything you could ever imagine. I have had all our curtains made here, bought rugs, dishes, clothes, hardware, cleaning stuff, food (butter specifically), you name it. My dad and brother bought lots of small stuff to bring back home.One evening Jared took Adam and dad out for street barbecue. They ate 40 skewers of meat between the four of them! These barbecue places are all over the place, literally, in the summer time. People just set up tables with barbecues and little stools on the sidewalks and have meat for you to select and cook. (Not very kid friendly, as you can guess.)Another evening we went on a walk along the waterfront. Our family does this from time to time and have discovered that as soon as we stop for a few minutes, people seem to be magnetized to us. My dad was able to get a pretty good shot of one of these moments.One morning we went to a museum here in town. Next door is a field full of old military planes, tanks, guns, etc. They are all available to climb on, maneuver, go inside of, etc. Wow, did the boys have an awesome time!
Here I am at our market, just across the street from our apartment, buying eggs.

Jared and Adam on the bus, heading downtown.
Adam at the supermarket, one we frequent mainly to buy diapers, and other specialty stuff. He is scarring us all by pretending to actually try 'stinky fruit'. It is currently in season, and has an extremely strong odor detectable from the other side of the store. It's real name is durian, I think.
Enjoying popcorn, on the couch, before boys head off to bed. My dad makes the best popcorn!Having my dad and brother here was encouraging and uplifting for us in many ways. I think we saw our city in a new light as well as our lives here, as we began to envision things through their eyes. We are also excited to have them head back home and bring news of us to others. They had the opportunity to actually experience our lives in Asia, if only for 10 days. Now we cannot wait for more visitors!!!