The Monkey King

The snow stayed on the ground today, but not in a friendly way. It was cold, a bitter and unhappy sort of cold. The surface of the snow crunched as you walked upon it, a frigid hard surface. Basically, it was the kind of day where you fled to someplace indoors as fast as you could. Which, oddly enough, is what we did.

The roads had a bit of ice on them this morning, so Daddy went in to work a little later than usual. Mommy cooked up a nice hot breakfast, and made us all fruit cups which were delicious. Mommy cooks up the greatest breakfasts! She'll make french toast one morning, and then English muffins with egg and ham inside the next. Today we had fried potato slices, with peppers and onions mixed in. Breakfast is always a big and wonderful part of the day. Mommy never lets Daddy go out the door unless he's eaten a whole lot of it! Madison eats too, of course. Today she ate all her fruit cup, and was asking Daddy for his pear slices. Today she said "pear," and I think she's catching on that this is one fruit not to miss out on. Up until now, it's been all apples, bananas and oranges.

First things first though, Mommy called Ba-Ba up, because Madison's grandfather had a birthday today! Mommy handed the phone over to Madison so she could sing "Happy Birthday," which now has more syllables than it used to. Anytime she sings it though, it's well-received. It was great that she got to sing it - he had just gotten in the house from a cancelled tennis game. It's even cold in Florida these days!

It was also Elvis' birthday today. From what I understand, the King was spotted at a grocery store in Tulsa - at least that's what the papers say. I couldn't imagine waiting outside at Graceland this morning. It was cold, cold, cold! Seriously, it's eighteen degrees here right now!

This would be a great reason why Mommy and Madison spent all day inside again - who could blame them? Madison was learning a little more on her click-start computer, using the Disney Princess cartridge we gave her earlier for Christmas. She's really getting good with the mouse, and with some of the keys too. One game had her fitting pieces of a dress together, and Madison would expertly click and drag each piece to the right destination with not a second thought. The puzzle would be complete in less than a minute!

Tonight, we continued our cultural adventure and watched "Big Bird in China" together in bed. Madison laughed a lot at the Monkey King. He'd keep appearing, and then disappearing - teasing Big Bird and his large pet dog. Madison loved it - she likes the Monkey King. Actually, Daddy and Mommy do too. This mischievous Chinese legend is always wearing a smile and always entertaining. He seems to always be in a good mood, and never loses a fight - which is always a plus!

Here's a picture I took in Beijing of the Monkey King. The very first night we arrived in China, Ye-Ye, Nana, Mommy and I went to go see the Peking Opera. Most of that day was spent in bed, recovering from a 29-hour flying experience the day before (extended because of storms over Beijing). Add to that the fact that Beijing is exactly twelve hours time difference, and we found ourselves with some serious jet lag.

It was for that reason that we did not schedule anything in the morning - we waited until the evening so that we could go together to see the Peking Opera. In fact, it was a birthday present for Ye-Ye, who is a big fan of all sorts of operas. Yet imagine getting to see bits and pieces of an original one in China. Mommy and Daddy were looking forward to it too, and were delighted to discover the Monkey King would play a big role in the performance.

It was a memorable night, and it was only a few days before meeting Madison for the first time. In any event, tonight we saw the Monkey King once more - and he made Madison laugh. She was really focused on the movie tonight. The Chinese children singing and dancing had her full attention, and Big Bird's wanderings through familiar locations in China were entertaining for all of us.

The thing is, Daddy and Madison didn't quite make it to the end.