Monkey Island (Huo Dao) - Sanya, Hainan, China

OK, The name says it all - we took a cable car over the ocean and went to an island full of monkeys!

There were rules which mainly consisted of not feeding the monkeys any snacks brought along - which we did or consuming anything for yourself - which we did.

We did however pay for all of the kids to feed the monkeys some sort of air crisp thingys - pretty cool, the monkeys came in droves to grab some from their hands. It freaked Avery out a little. One monkey tried to steal a can of club soda from our friends backpack - I posted the video clip on youtube - you can see it here: MONKEY THIEF.

Two monkeys tried to attack Colten - I'm not sure if it was becasue he was their size but both grabbed onto the sleeve of his shirt before being shooed away - - it scared him in the moment but never slowed him down to try to interact with them.

There were lots of little babies which were just adorable!

And yes we let some sit on our heads - - to this day, Andrew can't stop talking about the soft monkey paws on his face and I can't stop thinking about monkey balls being on our heads...

Guanyin of the South Seas

Guanyin of the South Seas at Nanshan Temple in

Sanya, Hainan Island, China

The beach in Sanya, Hainan Island China

This is the beach view from our room. The weather was super nice - especially since it was freezing when we left Nanjing and now we are running around in tanks and shorts.

 

Avery enjoyed being buried in the sand!

Happy New Year 2012 - from Sanya

Last year Andrew and I were fortunate enough to be in Pittsburgh, to see what turned out to be the very first NHL Winter Classic game played at night. We spent the New Year weekend there - alone... YES! with no kids, it was a first for us in 9 years and it was great. While on a dinner cruise to bring in 2011 we had a conversation about where we had been the year before, and how our lives had changed so much in the course of ten years and wondered where we would be for the next New Year's Eve celebration. Well, you could have never convinced me at that moment I would be on a tropical island in China, of which I never even knew exsisted just months prior.  It's amazing what life brings, and how fast things can change - - for the good and the bad. If there is anything I have learned over the years its that what matters is the moment. You can prepare for the future but not to the extent of sacrificing happiness now - if you do, you will always be planning and never living.

This NYE we celebrated with friends, good wine and a nice BBQ on a 25th floor suite balcony and life is good...

Here's to good company, prosperity, happiness & health.

Happy New Year 2012

I wonder what next year will bring...