junked and joyfilled

we spent today on our friend's sheri and mike's junk.

the weater was perfect, no one is seriously burnt although we are all sun kissed. (at left, jj poses with miss gail from small world.)

we headed out to soko islands, the southwestern most islands of hong kong's 262 islands. the islands surrounding are owned by china.

we tossed out the anchor, and everyone put on their bathers, and swam to the shore. we made the kids eat a sandwich (pb of course) before leaving the boat. they loved being in the water. charles made a boat. (at left, the junk in the background, seb and a new friend tubing, jj and the boston whaler captain in the foreground.)

at one point, jasper pushed in pierre (no worries, he is an excellent swimmer, his brother would have been on the south african olympic team if they were not residents of hong kong during his swimming years), and because he was so close to the edge, the movement caused him to fall in as well. (pierre had encouraged jasper to push him in). he went splashing into the water, and under. an armband slipped off (oh am i so glad i insisted on those bloody armbands). pierre saw what was happening, and as jasper was surfacing, he pulled him up. that was the drama for the day. (close up of seb and his new friend having a fun time tubing.)

the kids all went in the motorboat and were pulled in innertubes, oh they had fun. (at left, carys & sela talk to each other while tubing at a relatively quick speed! jasper in the foreground.)

but oh they were loud on the boat. after lunch, when most of us were surrenduring to the waves relaxing slap against the side of the boat and it's rocking rhythm, only carys fell asleep, while jasper and sela and seb played around. oh they were loud. really really loud it seemed. are other people's kids this loud? were mine a problem? was everyone criticising my parenting skills? hard to say. thankfully, i didn't spend a lot of time guessing on that topic, i was too busy eating, talking and laughing. it was a great day. i used to hate junk trips, on a boat all day and you never knew if you were going to get trapped by boring business associates who got even worse when under the influence...but these days, junks are great. we love them. LOVE THEM LOVE THEM LOVE THEM.

here are some pictures courtesy of magnificent. he is very tired, this is a very nice thing for him to do. (carys & sela wave to their adoring fans aboard the junk!)

Comments

[Maureen aka Mo (Grandmother)]

What a gorgeous day for the whole gang of you - LOVED the photos. Thanks so much for posting them. Ahhh JJ - falling over the side -that's our boy!

Love, M xox

[Gdad Blake]

We couldn't say if the little nippers were too loud. The noise of our happy laughter drowned out everything else.
Love to all.....Dad

[Auntie Pammie]

Great pics!! Thanxs to MC for posting , the kids look great, and glad to hear you had a great time!! Love Auntie P xoxo

[Sheila]

Great pictures - sounds like you had a wonderful day on the water, in spite of JJ's swimming adventure.
It looks like you could use some child-sized PFDs. Could the family send you some by mail from Canadian Tire, or can you find them in Hong Kong? Our kids are required to wear their PFDs in boats, and playing near the water. They are fun to swim in too, if it's deep water.
I hope you get to go Junk-ing regularly this year.

[Boulder]

Oh Tess! I can't fathom a better way to spend a day than this. I'm insanely jealous of the junk, the whaler, the tubing, the day spent in and around the water with friends. Sounds heavenly!