Welcome to the Siberian Tiger Park (Part II)

Who could resist a photo opp with such a cute cuddly tiger cub. Smile Josh and Michael!

Uh-oh! Is Michael being eaten by the tiger?

Archie's not so sure about this...



We enjoyed the English on the signs at the Park. The opening sentence says "Tiger is the creature of the Nature, throug millions of years of differentiation and fnally.developed in Siberian..." What does it mean? Your guess is as good as ours.


This sign is advertising the Liger area. I thought that was another English mistake at first, but I have now been educated. A liger is a real term for a cross between a male lion and a female tiger.

Think they mean "walking" not "wacking" area here though.

Archie got a little tired of the tigers and fell asleep on the bus. How cute!

Guess he missed the sign for the designated resting area!

The park also had a little museum. Anyone want to buy some tiger tongue?

And, here's the group of locals who just couldn't resist getting their photos made with TWO white guys!

Welcome to the Siberian Tiger Park (Part I)

Welcome to the Siberian Tiger Park, home of between 400-500 tigers (plus a few lions and other species of wild cats). We recently had some friends from America come visit so we took advantage of the opportunity to visit a local tourist spot we still hadn't seen. This is Post I from the Park. (I'll be posting the remainder of my FUNNY park pictures soon along with pictures from the rest of our friends' trip.) Mark (pictured below) is pointing out one of the main attractions: Feeding LIVE animals to the tigers. We didn't want to fork over 100 Yuan for a live pheasant, but thankfully some other tourists did and we got to watch and make pictures. Maybe next time someone will go for the whole cow! That would be a sight to behold.

Below is my favorite series of shots!








After a meal like that, I guess even tigers need to take a rest.

We rode around the park in a little bus. These tigers were walking along the road in front of us.

One more feeding shot:
Stay tuned for Post 2

Eating like a big boy!

Ha ha! We were eating at a restaurant with some visiting Americans, and they thought Archie eating off my chopsticks was pretty funny! When they decided to take a picture, I did too! Archie's feasting on some "Cold Dish that Families Often (Eat)" (lit. translation :)). What's in this often eaten dish? Tofu strips, carrots, cucumbers, some weird noodle like things and a sweetish vinegary sauce. One of my favorites and Archie's too (although Hunt doesn't care for it much). I could not feed him fast enough. If I stopped to take a bite, he would grab my arm in an attempt to redirect the chopsticks to his mouth!


Here we are at another restaurant with some of my friends! Archie's not looking at the camera - must be looking at the pork and cabbage dumplings he's craving! YUMMY!

Archie has learned about the summertime delights of watermelon. The only problem is he makes such a big mess when he eats it, I have to take his clothes off except for his diaper!

Hokie Baby!

Do the Hokie Pokie and turn yourself about! Well, nevermind, just enjoy how cute Archie looks in his Hokie onesie and hat from Grandma and Grandpa DeJ!

I thought this lion statue was pretty funny! Don't worry, Archie, it's not a real lion!

Walk with me down Center Street!

December brings a winter wonderland, but July brings summer flowers to Zhong Yang Da Jie or Center Street (the most famous street in our city). We recently took several groups of folks on a tour. They all had fun so I thought I'd offer a virtual tour to everyone.

Family portrait in front of Saint Sophia Russian Orthodox Church (now museum). Our city is heavily influenced by Russian architecture.

Better view of the church

We had three babies with us so we were a bit of a tourist attraction ourselves. I told Hunt if I had charged $1 for every photo and video they took of our kids, I'd be rich! It's not often they see white babies. When they do, they squeal in delight, "He's REALLY white!"

Closeup of the babies and their mamas

I spotted some cute triplets and couldn't resist snapping my own picture.

The inscription on the topiary says "Yi Fan Feng Shun" or Smooth Sailing (lit: one mast wind smooth).
Me and my boy!
Center Street ends at the Song Hua River.

We checked out one of the big malls on Center Street. Inside we found a pretty fishpond.

I think Archie wants to go fishing.

What a hot day! Here's a Russian boy taking advantage of the drink stand.

Sometime I want to visit the inside of this Russian coffee house. Does anyone know if Russian coffee is similar to American coffee?

Some favorite folks in Asia!

These are some recent pictures I've snapped of Archie with some of his favorite folks in Asia. The list is nowhere near comprehensive, though. Archie loves everyone he meets, and we have lots more friends than these! He also wishes he could be held and photographed with all his friends and family back home!

Archie with Han Chengzi, Leslie's first Chinese teacher

Archie with Li Teacher (our current Chinese teacher)

The above two pictures are some of our Korean-American friends here

Just because he's cute on the little throne!

Mom still counts as a favorite person, right?

Grandpa DeJ loves it when we capture Archie doing "You're #1" in pictures!

Cuddling with Daddy!

A day in the life of a baby!

OK! These events actually took place over a few days, but you get the point.


I LOVE TOYS! I have discovered my toy box. While Mommy was cleaning her room, I scooted over to the toy box, grabbed the sides, and forced my little body up to see what was inside. It's the closest I've ever come to pulling into a standing position (and I'm still probably a ways off).


Yum! I love bananas! I can eat them like a big boy now, too. (No more banana mush for me!) This is thanks to a nice fruit vendor who saw Mommy carrying me in her front pack carrier and thought I looked so cute she just couldn't resist grabbing a banana off her display rack, peeling it, and giving it to me before Mommy could stop her and tell her I was too little to eat it by myself. Oh well, it kept me occupied on that bus trip home.

One of my aunties watched me the other day while Mommy was teaching. She has a little boy four months older than me. I learned to scoot in his little walker. He's too big for it now. Maybe he'll teach me to walk soon. He's pretty good at it.


This was my first time riding in a shopping cart. I somehow managed to get my leg through the wrong bars. Mommy and Daddy were worried I would cry while they pulled my foot out but Daddy kept hitting the tickle spot on the bottom of my foot so I laughed through the whole process. Let's do it again!