sorry

To apologize, I've posted this really cute picture of Castle to distract you.
But the lack of activity here may be due to:

a) Sunny days

b) House hunting

c) Making offers due to b

d) Catching up with friends because we've been away / so busy

e) More sunny days

f) Watching playoff hockey

g) Watching THE Royal Wedding

g) Deciding between hardwood and bamboo flooring in our new home!

Easter

What a splendid weekend!

We went to the aquarium.

Walked around the park, literally.

Took in some wildlife, on land...

and in the sea.

And had church in a fancy theater!

Life Saver

The Pogy travel bed turned out to be the most useful thing in our travels.  Not only did we use it at night, but we used it during the day for Castle's naps too.  We were often on a bus for an hour or two going from place to place, and fortunately for us it was a roomy bus.  So instead of holding Castle the entire time, he napped like every good boy should in his portable bed.

Baby Carrier

Castle did super in the Ergo baby carrier on the China leg of our trip.  It was a little rough going for him when he was in it all day, yet he still managed to nap and flash smiles to all the locals who were all too curious about babies, especially a mixed one.  

He attracted so much attention that we had to learn how to say "don't touch" in Mandarin.  We were not trying to be rude, but we wanted to protect him from germs.  We tried.

The Ergo baby carrier is good for front carry, but the buckle dug into my hip on the back carry, if there was padding underneath it would have solved the problem.  Castle also liked to lean to one side and rub his face on the strap, which gave him really bad rope burn on one cheek.  All of his sunscreen rubbed off and he got a sun burn after just a couple of hours.  We took to covering him with my scarf.  It worked well for short hikes, but I would not use it again on an all day hike, mainly for Castle's comfort.

If I was to choose again, I would purchase the Baby Trekker over the Ergo.  One of my friends has this and it has worked very well, with padding underneath all the buckles, and it has more carrying positions, so more variety for me and baby.

Adventure

Despite our best efforts to keep our baby away from germs in our recent travels, Castle managed to attract quite a few virus anyway.  The doctor was concerned about his well being so Castle stayed a week in the hospital.  Which means we stayed a week in the hospital.  Which means we missed our flight.  Thank God for travel insurance.  (Do not go anywhere without travel insurance!)  

By this point we were used to hospitals, and Castle was as happy as he could be during the entire ordeal.  He was having so much fun we wondered if he was actually sick.  

With Grandma, having a blast.

We are back!

Our trip turned out to be much longer and much more adventurous than we had planned.  

We are exhausted and jet lagged, especially Castle.  

I will update more after we get our hours and days straightened out.  

It's good to be back!