Go! Go! Lamigo!

As in, the Lamigo Monkeys. As in, the Taiwan professional baseball team located in Taoyuan just north of Taipei.

We headed to the game via High Speed Rail. Getting around this city is so easy and convenient. And cheap. We've really enjoyed that part of it.

Two peas in a pod. 

Brian, who we met at AIT yesterday (seems like a week ago), offered up some tickets to the baseball game. Super nice guy and great to talk to. He worked behind homeplate tonight and his only stipulation to the tickets was that we promised not to heckle the ump. ;)

He warned us that the crowds are crazy and there's nothing like it. He was right. We knew he was right when these two set up shop right in front of us.

Yes, those are trombones.

Then the drum arrived...and the big flags, and the trumpets, and...you get the idea.

And the bad, really bad cheerleaders. 

So me moved down a few sections (you can sit wherever you want once you're in the park). The kids got some noisemakers and we were off to a great start. 

While Brian worked hard running the game, 

We found ourselves on the big screen. Twice in the first inning. He told us ahead of time that they love to put foreigners on the screen..and it's nationally televised. We're stars!

The home team, the Lamigo Monkeys, had tons of fans. 

Now, you have to understand. Each side has a "band" of sorts, cheerleaders, a guy with a microphone, and sometimes fire and smoke. WHILE the game is being played, the announcer is introducing players and such, and each side is doing cheers and chants. Each side's band is playing, waving humongous flags, and it's being led by a guy with a microphone and his own sound system. The fans all have noisemakers and megaphones. You can hear both sides chanting, the ballpark announcer, and oh yeah, the game is being played. It's completely insane. 

My favorite was the microphone guy on the Lamigo side. He's a Psy wannabe and I think he's pretty big stuff in these here parts. 

It was so entertaining and fun to watch. We were so tired after the zoo that we almost didn't go. We're so glad we did! A big shout out to our new friend Brian and his wife Belle. We appreciate his generosity so much!

We are now preparing for tomorrow morning. It's an early trip to the airport and we'll begin our journey home. It's difficult because we are all ready to be back home, yet there are a million more things to do here in Taiwan. And I know tomorrow will be hard for Katelyn, whether she shows it or not. The definition of bittersweet. 

Taipei Zoo

We went to the zoo today and it's a beautiful, clean place.

We all had a great time except for the heat. By my calculations it was 120 degrees and 175% humidity (or 92 and 81% humidity). The place is clean and it only cost us $7 for admission for the whole family!

We saw all sorts of animals and the kids ran ahead, lagged behind, bickered over space at the exhibits, begged for water, and complained about having to carry water. Just a normal day at the zoo. Ha!

First subway ride as a family. As soon as she heard the camera click, she whipped around and gave me the "No!" look. lol

Our picture to send to Eskimo Joe's wearing our shirts and traveling the world. ;)

Nathan glanced at this sign and thought it said "no make-up allowed." He tried to tell me I couldn't go see the koalas!

Waiting on the shuttle with my almost 12 year old.

Three in one.

The reptile house had an interesting section...on copulation, including close-ups! I saw it and took a photo. Then Matt rounded the corner and I pointed it out to him. "Oh my gosh mom." lol

If you can climb it, stand on it, or go across or over it, Katelyn does. 

Elephants!

Nathan's dramatic pose.

And our girl after carefully posing her cat.

We saw some very interesting exhibits...

The Panda House was the highlight for all of us. 

Hot but fun!

To prove we were both there. :)

Outside the zoo there were several peddlers selling knick knacks, fans, hats, etc.. What I couldn't comprehend was the layers and layers of clothes they were wearing! 2 to 3 shirts, gloves, long pants, socks, and full face masks and hats. I nearly fainted just looking at them. 

Getting subway tokens for the ride home. 

The subway stop near our apartment. Notice we finally have a smile from our girl..and now Nathan is throwing up the two fingers and not smiling. I can't win! 

We are headed to the baseball game after we cool off and have some snacks. The kids are such troopers and we're having so much fun!

Joe's shirts and a little Asian girl with an American family

And you get tons of curious looks, questions, and neat discussions.

We "relaxed" in the apartment for a couple of hours and it soon became clear to Andy and me that the kids needed to be OUT and about.

So we put on some Eskimo Joe's shirts and headed to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. Chiang ruled China for 22 years and Taiwan for 30. He is a very revered political figure here in Taiwan. His Memorial has amazing architecture and buildings. In the center is a large open square full of tourists, families, and joggers (like on the Mall in D.C.). It was the perfect place to let the kids run off some steam and see another economical (meaning "free") historical site.

I encountered a gentleman from Berkley, CA. He is a professor of Geographical Informational something. He was born in Canada and flew in the Royal Air Force. He noticed my shirt and we talked about my beloved O-State. He told me all about his son who his is traveling with, and that he plays NCAA hockey in Michigan. They are on this trip together and headed down to Tainan tomorrow to see some spotted, spoon-billed something or other that has appeared down on that part of the island for the first time in 37 years. Then, he saw Katelyn and started asking the typical questions. He was fascinated by the entire story and very kind about it all. It's always heartwarming to get such a positive response.

In the taxi on the way home, we freaked out the driver a little. When we piled into the cab I think he hardly glanced at the "American family." Then he heard this little Mandarin speaking girl and unbuckled his seatbelt and whipped around to see who owned that voice. We drove for about 20 minutes (traffic) and then as if he couldn't help himself, he began to speak to her. We caught a few words and realized she told him she was 7, that she was from Taiwan. Then we think he asked basically how she ended up with us. He replied a couple of times "good, good."

I have to say that was nerve racking. We didn't know what he was going to say or ask. And we didn't want him to say something negative or say something that isn't true. He was nice and I think it was fine, but it was an interesting situation that we hadn't thought about in advance.

Anyway, it was a fun afternoon. Our first full day as a family of 5. It was awesome!

Hailing a taxi. 

The Great Arch leading into the Memorial

Off and running!

National Memorial Hall

All three wanted to run up the stairs. Sure crazies, please do! Katelyn was leading the pack which seems to be a common occurrence.

In front of the Chiang Kai-Shek statue. Katelyn was mad she had to pose aGAIN for a picture. lol

The view from the Memorial towards the Arch.

Shanahan Family :)

And believe it or not, these are everywhere. I've seen people using them many times. Pretty interesting. :)

An afternoon with our Katelyn in Taipei

This child does NOT like cameras. She's laughing and giggling...until she spots me with the camera. Here I caught her with one of her usual smiles. And after I took the picture I showed it to her and said "See? I like your smile!" and she stuck her tongue out at me! lol lol Anyway, in the photo below the boys don't look good, but it's one of her great smiles so I had to share. 

We took her to Taipei 101 and she loved it! We let her choose lunch and she immediately spotted McDonalds. Whatever you want my dear! She is a great eater too..dumplings, hamburgers, rice, you name it, this child eats it. 

One of her serious poses.

Then we went up in the tower. She gasped out loud as she realized we were at the top. She didn't look for very long, but I loved that she enjoyed the view. 

We got to see a huge storm moving into the city. It was spectacular!

Looking down on her native land. Love this picture.

She really does fit right into this crazy family.

We did a bit of shopping and this is my new family walking through the mall. She often holds Matt's hand. 

She got to choose one toy at the store and she chose a Lego set...all pink and green and yellow. No imaginary force fields to shoot at with this Lego set!

Favorite Katelyn-ism today? When she reached over and very disapprovingly moved the hair out of Matt's eyes. All he could do was laugh. She definitely likes to mother the boys. At least that's what I call it. Matt calls it bossiness. lol

We're going to chill out at the apartment for the rest of the day. We've got her Visa in hand and will just relax now. We've had some busy, big days so it's nice to enjoy "home" for a bit.