week 71_Vacationing in Olympia

The Chinese New Year holiday is celebrated for an entire week here in Taiwan (5 days off work), and I am so impressed with every one's ability to set work aside and take the week off. Of course there are certain jobs that continue to operate through the holidays (sorry husband! ~ the newspaper still printed every day), but for the most part everything closes down and people understand that you will not be replying to those emails for at least a week. Because everything closes down, it also means that the city of Taipei becomes much quieter, and most people spend lots of time with family and friends at their homes. Your favorite restaurant may not be open, but Mom is sure to be fixing those Taiwanese holiday goodies.

Since I am not from here and have no family in the area, it is the perfect time for me to get away. So I did just that and spent a week of relaxation in Olympia, WA with my Brother, Sister-In-Law, adorable niece Zoe, and my Dad! My brother and sister-in-law may be wondering why (for the second year in a row) I chose Olympia WA as my Chinese New Year vacation destination, but for me it is the perfect quiet getaway - with good food, good company, a book to read, snow on the ground (the only snow I'll see all year!) and plenty of time with my favorite niece. :)

Snowy Olympia ~ even though it was 'on the way out' this is still a LOT of snow

Was waiting to post this until I got more photos from the trip (from other people), but time has flown, so you will have to enjoy the limited (and still very cute) pics of trip I ended up with!

My beautiful niece (#1 reason for the trip!)

and my furry companion Marcello (possibly #2 reason for the trip!)
Such a sweetie!

I had some great company while I was there! :D The week went exactly as expected - with lots of Zoe time, plus a little bit of catching up with my brother and sister-in-law, some quality time with my Dad, and lots of rest, relaxation and great food!

Giraffe musical rocker that J, Chrissie, & I sent Zoe for her first Christmas

Zoe and her Giraffe!

There were some fun times, and there were some fussy times, but I am so pleased to report that the Giraffe rocker is definitely a hit! It seems that even when other toys didn't work, rocking to the music would calm her down almost every time :D (hahaha)...and now I know all of the baby music songs by heart! Yep.

Tired baby

Think Zoe was tuckered out from all of the fun time with company?! Probably not... but she is very cute when she sleeps. :) Favorite Zoe moment of the trip - when she first wakes up from taking a nap lying next to you and she has a huge grin on her face, trying to wake you up, whispering "yeah" --- So cute!