Ever since we decided to come to Thailand, Riley, Joel, and Theo have been planning on joining us for the Christmas holidays. The plan had been to meet up in Chiang Mai since there are international flights into its airport and it's a good-size city. But, when we got to Chiang Mai, we discovered it is not a very pedestrian-friendly city. There is a lot to see and enjoy, but there are also a lot of cars, motorbikes, trucks, tuk-tuks, songthaews, etc., to the point that, as we reported early on, it can be difficult to cross the streets. Mary noticed that we were seeing virtually no infants or toddlers on the street and we were told that parents keep such young children at home.
So Riley decided to explore other Asian cities from the perspective of their baby-friendliness. We decided on Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. It sounds historic, beautiful, and pedestrian- and baby-friendly. And it will save Riley, Joel, and Theo several hours of travel time from LA compared to Thailand.
Theo needed a passport, and Riley and Joel set off to get a passport photo of him. They couldn't get one without him smiling (even though the State Department says you're not supposed to smile in the photo). This is the photo they sent in with his passport application, and they have now received his passport with this photo. It has to be one of the sweetest passport photos ever!
For years, Riley and Joel have taken some of their high school students on tours of UC campuses to show them the opportunities available to them. Over this past Veterans' Day weekend, they took Joel's nephew Daniel on a tour and Theo got to tag along. Here is a picture they took at UC Berkeley on his 9-month birthday.
No comments:
Post a Comment