A trip 14 years in the making. I have been waiting literally the boys' entire lives to take them for their first visit to Taiwan.

Over 16 fulfilling days, we explored Taipei, Jiaoxi, Hualien, Taroko, Kenting, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Chiayi, Alishan and Jiufen, returning to the U.S. just in time for Christmas. The trip was a whirlwind of meeting family who'd only ever seen the boys on Facebook pictures and experiencing everything in the country of their heritage.

I'd been hearing a lot of "I don't like Chinese!" (Ironically, in Chinese.) My goal was to show the boys a REALLY GOOD time.

I ran the kids hard, morning to night, every day. We had a lot of ground to cover! Taiwan is a tiny island nation, about the size of Maryland, and I wanted them to see it all. When we returned to Seattle, they slept 19.5 hours straight, and would've kept going if I hadn't woken them up. My plan worked, because after our trip, all I heard was, "台灣好好玩哦。下次什麼時候去？Taiwan is so, so fun! When are we going back?"

Taiwan stole our hearts: exceptionally safe, delicious, clean — and the U.S. dollar goes FAR.

Day 1: Taipei 101 and Sun Yat-Sen Memorial

Upon arrival in Taiwan, our first order of business was a long-awaited visit to Taipei 101. The best piece of advice I heard was no matter what, to stay up and resist the urge to nap. These bleary-eyed boys took a 13-hour red-eye and made it to Taipei 101 and the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial before collapsing.

Last time I visited (14 yeas ago!) the top level of Taipei 101 was a private club, inaccessible to the public. Now it's accessible, for a price. It's quieter, and feels a bit more exclusive. But the view is practically the same, and the windows at the 101st floor are high up so it's actually harder for a kid to see outside. You're just there for bragging rights.