Father's Day Weekend

With an almost entire week of rain past, and a week of rain in the forecast ahead, we decided to seize the day on Saturday and get out as much as we could! Ryan was great in taking Hadassah out on a few different outings in the morning, as I was just a bit more tired and had a hard time getting going. Then, after her afternoon nap, we headed out to visit a nearby park.

"Park" here usually connotes a lot of sidewalks with some gardens, a few grassy areas they probably prefer you don't walk on, and often a mini amusement park for children. But, it's still nature and a place to walk and let Hadassah loose to get energy out!

 In the garden area there was a pretty place for a Hadassah picture!

 But then when we turned around after a few shots, we were surrounded - and I mean surrounded! - by a group of people also trying to get pictures. We weren't sure where they all came from, because it was a fairly uncrowded area! Hadassah smiled for a few (I think she thinks it's just part of life now) but then was soon "all done" and we headed on.

 There were many types of roses in bloom! Our camera's auto setting makes taking pictures of them entirely too easy... just hold and click!

 There's beauty even in the dying ones...

 Hadassah soon wanted to go over to the rides area, since she knows what rides are now! Her biggest entertainment was watching people fish for goldfish though. She watched for a good ten minutes as people baited and caught fish fairly quickly, wanting to catch fish herself, and then wanted to go back to see it as we were getting ready to go. The little one likes little creatures!

 We splurged and let her do one of the rides, and her face made it all worth it. :) It was a cool boat that you operated by turning the wheels with your hands.

 Another huge treat was seeing a bunny hoping around in a field. There was a cage and someone watching it, so it seemed like it was someone's pet that they let hop free for a while. This little girl and Hadassah loved chasing and befriending it. So sweet to see how gentle Hadassah acted around it, trying to feed it grass and just loving the whole experience!

 When we were ready to go find supper, we found a long line of people waiting for taxis. So we started to walk to find another, less crowded area to try and catch one, when Ryan saw a bus come and suggested we hop on and see if we could get to the mall area that way. I love how he's always ready for an adventure and willing to try new things! So we got on an all-Chinese bus, rode until he thought we were close, and dismounted in the middle of nowhere. But he has a good sense of direction, so we walked for a while, and when we thought maybe we'd taken a wrong turn and asked someone, they told us it was just ahead on the left. It's always amazing when random adventures work out, and fun to do them together!

After walking all over the mall looking for a new place to eat, we ended up going to a Japanese "Asijen Noodles" place we'd eaten at before. By then, we were more than ready to eat!

 Checking the weather just before bed that night made us glad we spent all the time outside that we did. We are definitely getting tired of rain!

Father's Day (Sunday) dawned, and with it Ryan was, sadly, experiencing intestinal issues. It's the third time in the last few weeks, always seeming to be sparked by eating out at an Asian place, even a better quality one. He was feeling weak and definitely not up to a 45 minute taxi ride, so we ended up staying home from church. He stayed in bed most of the morning, while I took Hadassah out as much as I could before the rain descended.

Thankfully, by lunch he was feeling better, and thoroughly enjoyed the homemade mac 'n cheese I splurged in making. Nothing like good ol' comfort food and I love to bless him any day, but especially on Father's Day! It was a restful afternoon, but he was ready to get out by the time Hadassah's nap was over, as he'd been home all day. But it was raining. And the only things I had on hand to make (since I'd only planned on making one meal that day, since we usually eat out after church) required me to be home for at least an hour to cook. We researched online to see if there were ANY Western restaurants besides KFC, McDonald's, and Papa John's around, but couldn't find any.

He knew there was a mall at the end of line 5 (about 25 minutes away by subway) so we decided to take the risk and explore. And horray! There were more Western restaurants, though still only fast food. But, Burger King was the option he decided on, and their "steak house burger" was actually quite delicious and pretty authentic tasting! Going up a few levels on the way out, we found a Blue Frog bar & grill, that would have been a better, more special choice for Father's Day, but at least now we know it's there! The mall was HUGE. Just kept going and going, with many stores like H&M, Gap, and others.

Monday was rainy, but we made the best of it, Ryan even taking Hadassah out for a long walk with a big umbrella. She came back bright eyed and happy after some puddle splashing too. Spaghetti for lunch always makes for cute pictures, as the little miss thoroughly enjoys her noodles.

Oh yes - why was Ryan home? The Dragon Boat Festival, a Chinese holiday, was this weekend, so it nicely gave an extra day off! We'd made plans to go downtown to have supper with friends, and for an even extra special treat, Ryan got to meet his friend early to see "Jurassic World" - something neither I nor the other man's wife wanted to see, so it made an easy extra Father's day gift for them to go together. :) I made supper to bring them, as they've been so hospitable to us, and we wanted to bless them without inconveniencing them to bring 3 children an hour outside of the city for supper. Thankfully the beef curry & toppings turned out and transported well, and it was a wonderful evening of fellowship, though the ride back on the subway definitely felt LONG. But, it was worth it.

So, there you have it. A great way to celebrate a wonderful husband and dad, with some things planned and some things not so planned!