Featuring...Archie!

I've been busy posting about the recent visit from our friends, food, culture, etc., but I thought I better keep the grandparents happy by featuring a post on ARCHIE!!! (He is one of my favorite subjects anyway :))

These pretty flowers are on Center Street. I have been wanting to make a family picture in front of them for a long time. How cool is it that Archie is doing the peace/victory sign? He did it by himself!!! (The finger V is super popular for pictures here. Locals think it's something all westerners do but don't know it's the peace sign. They often conclude it's V for Victory!)

Hilarious!

No worries! Archie has not passed out. This is his new favorite position for riding in his stroller. He leans WAAAY over the safety rail and watches the ground move by beneath him. As soon as we set him back upright, he leans over again. The seatbelt keeps him from falling out so I guess it's reasonably safe. I do worry about people accidentally bumping his head, though.

Mickey Mouse!

Archie can eat finger foods now. He's picking up little cereal like things.

Would you want to be in Leslie's class?

Hmmm. I'm not sure I would! Push-ups are one of Leslie's preferred discipline methods. While our friends from Louisville were here, they all helped out with English camp. I think some of them caught onto my methods. More camp pics coming soon!

Louisville Trip Fun!

Seeing our friends from Louisville was such a blessing. We had fun taking them on a tour of the city. In the picture below, we're all in front of St. Sophia Church (a masterpiece of Russian architecture in our city and now a museum).

Hunter also led the group on an excursion to Sun Island!
A view of our city from near the main bridge:

The waterfront:
A funny picture!
Our friends (left to right) Jennifer, Mark, Hanzhu and Lauren


Archie is crying because he knows Joe and Julie are fixing to leave and he will miss them!

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!