School

Dominic has had a couple of things going on at school that I went to take pictures of. But they somehow didn't make it on the blog. So I'm going to put them together.

The first one was when his teacher revealed what she was having. The kids have spend the entire school year guessing about it and they all had their assumptions based on the most hilarious reasons. One boy thought it would be a boy because he was a boy. One girl (whose mom is a nurse) was sure it was a girl because she'd heard that you get more nauseous with girls. 

Beth-Anne chose a cute way of revealing it to them. She had several of the upper grade kids spray her and Matthew (her husband) with silly string. They would know when it came out either pink or blue.

The anticipation was killing some of them.

 It's a boy!!!

 Dominic was thrilled!

 The kids LOVED the silly string.

 It MIGHT have made little man a tad bit crazy. =)

 This last week Dominic had to prepare and give a presentation on a country. He chose Thailand. He had to research and then present a talk about the food, clothes, major religion, and one of their festivals or holidays. Typical boy he really got into the food and holiday part. But he totally blew off the clothes. When asked to talk about it by his teacher he made the comment -

"This is what they wore in the 19s and this is what they wear in the 20s" Then he moved on to the more interesting topics.

When someone asked a question about Buddha he went into this long story about Nebuchadnezzar and the golden statue. He seemed to be under the impression that they were the same. When Beth-Anne realized where he was going she corrected him. He recovered very quickly with -

"Well you know how they bowed down to the golden idol? Well that's how they bow down to Buddha." It was a very well played save. =)

 Showing everyone Thailand on the map.

Caitlin wants so desperately to be in school. So she loves these opportunities to visit Dominic during school. She seemed to think she was helping him with his presentation.

Dominic got extra credit for bring some food from his country. Part of his presentation was about how they eat food differently. His examples were the black beans in ice cream, coconut milk in spicy soup, and sweet mixed with sour.

So to help illustrate this he gave them spicy mangoes. The kids were NOT impressed. He followed up with lychee candy and chocolate Pocky sticks. That seemed to go over much better. Caitlin helped pass everything out.

Thailand Outfits

We purchased Sabbath outfits while in Thailand. But when we returned there was always a reason that we couldn't wear them - too cold, outside church, camping, etc.

So this last Sabbath we pulled the shirts and dress out and wore them to church.

I had a mini photo shoot before church.

 It was still a bit chilly and the slits on the sides of her dress went pretty high. This was Caitlin's compromise.

 

One of our friends who came over for lunch after church was gracious enough to take some pictures of the four of us.

Our final Thailand moments

We came back to Bangkok with Laura and Madeline for our last few days in Thailand before heading home. We tried to fit as many things in as possible.
We stopped at this ice cream shop for the kids to try tiny ice cream cones. It was Madeline's birthday and this was one of the ways we celebrated.

We stayed at a more "upscale" hotel from the last one. I thought I'd taken pictures and when I got home realized it was only in my mind. But it looked, for the most part, like a hotel here in the states. The lobby was open to the outside, as were the hallways. But once in the room the air conditioner and lights would turn on if you put the key in a slot.
The breakfast buffet with American/Asian food

The kids sitting on the steps by our breakfast table

Family portrait in the elevator

 We went on a boat ride on the river. On the way to the river we walked through China town.
Dominic eying the octopus

Stopping for some orange juice

 It was a holiday and for some reason feeding the fish was part of this. Everyone had bread crumbs or dog food to feed the fish. Quite a few people offered to share their food with our kids.

Our boat

 I had no clue that Caitlin was losing her skirt until today when I went to add the pictures to the blog I'd written earlier. Who knows how long it was like this. =)

Caitlin talking with Ms Laura. She's still talking about her.
Laura must have really made an impression.

 Our driver stopped the boat so he could buy his lunch from this lady.

Some of the homes on the edge of the river. The poverty was sad. But these people are so incredibly happy and unselfish. They smiled and waved at us and when given the chance were more than willing to share what ever they had.

Visited some temples

 My kids think they are so cool. Guess they're right. =)

And of course, more shopping, eating and massages.

A ride in a tuk tuk

 Some of the ice cream while shopping at the mall.
Jon had the mango and sticky rice ice cream. The green rice weirded me out.
 

I chose a more traditional one.

Sadly we had to end our trip eventually. But it was a wonderful experience that hopefully our kids will remember forever. I fell in love with Thailand and hope to return some day. The people are so sweet and when I return I definitely plan on returning during mango season . =)
I'll be posting more scenic pictures on my blog It's My Life.

A huge thank you to our friends who served as amazing tour guides and hosts during our wonderful stay.

Riding Elephants

One of the major things that I wanted to do while in Thailand was to ride an elephant. I’ve always wanted to do that, but my recent foray into collecting elephants certainly inspired this as well. We drove to a place that the Ashlocks felt was humane towards the elephants. I wouldn’t have enjoyed the ride if they yelled or beat the elephants so I’m glad they were conscientious about this.

We fed some of the elephants while we waited on ours to be “saddled” up.
The kids were a bit tentative at first. And it was mainly because the elephants were a bit snotty. =)
I got sneezed on a couple of times. It's a very strange sensation.

 Jon and Dominic got on first. Caitlin and I climbed on next. And by climbed on – I mean literally stepped on the elephant’s head to get to the seat. Jon and I each had cameras so we could take pictures of each other.

Caitlin and I got on and the elephant started backing up. I was a bit dismayed to realize that our seat didn’t have a bar across the front like Jon’s. But Caitlin hung on very well and we enjoyed out trip. The only scary part was when we went down a super steep section on the trail and I had to wrap my arms around the bars and Caitlin to keep from slipping off. But it was all part of the adventure and a definite highlight to the trip, in my opinion.

After we left the elephant place we headed to Khao Yai Park. Caitlin kept asking when she would see the monkeys. Before we left Caitlin kept telling everyone that we were going to the jungle. And in her mind that consisted of three things – elephants, tigers and monkeys. And since we’d seen the first two, then we must be going to see the last ones soon.

We were going to go up the mountain into the park and eat a picnic lunch. We stopped at a scenic overlook on the way up and Caitlin got her first glimpse of a monkey. We opened the door and he tried to steal our food before we could even get out.

We saw them quite frequently on the road our entire time in the park. We even stopped the van to feed them bananas from the window once.

 While eating our lunch we also fed the local deer. Caitlin is getting quite good at attracting the local animals. =)

After lunch we headed to a water fall. In the rainy season it’s rushing over the ledge. But since we had arrived during the dry season it was just a trickle.
 

We stopped for ice cream and Thai food on the way home.
 
 

Another couple of random odd things -
We drove through a movie set in the park as they were getting ready to film a motorcycle scene. The actor and actress were getting their makeup on and they were getting the camera ready. It was mounted to a remote control helicopter. So cool.

As we were leaving the park they were setting the fields on fire. We saw this frequently while in Thailand. I guess, even though it's incredibly dry, they don't have to worry about it spreading.

Fun in the sun

After we returned home from our excursion we took a few days to let the kids relax and catch up on sleep. We certainly didn’t sit around though. Everything Laura does takes longer here. The food is all made from scratch, the clothes are hung up on a line and the heat slows everything and everyone down. So we helped with the house work a bit and explored around town.

We went for walks, ate at restaurants and food courts, took bike rides, had massages, went to the market, and visited local places. Naturally I took a million pictures. I thought the locals might mind my taking pictures of them, but they seemed to enjoy it and almost expect it.
This lady was feeding the monks. Out of respect I stopped taking pictures when she began the worship part. But she kept looking at me like she wanted me to take pictures so I started again. She got the biggest smile on her face.

I’m going to throw some random shots in here and put a description with it. If I wrote a blog for every day  or every different thing, I’d have to write 15+ blogs and I doubt anyone wants to read that much.

I have fallen in love with anything mango. At the food court they make the best mango smoothie. I’m not exactly counting, but I think I might have had 3-4. Now I’m just waiting until they open again so I can return.

Jon and I went on a bike ride by ourselves to explore. We stopped in Muak Lek for ice cream.  After they serve you ice cream, they give you a glass of ice water. We are actually liking this concept very much now.

Caitlin’s hair is long and she gets so hot with it down. So Laura or I have put her hair up each morning. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how well it stayed and how tolerant Caitlin has been. Usually she cries when I brush her hair. But I think the relief of being cool outweighs the ouch.

I love this picture. The kids were playing so sweetly together and I had them pose for a picture. They have been amazingly good on this trip. There have been the usual squabbles and complaints, but no more than usual.

We went swimming at the local pool. It had several water slides and water features and we would have stayed all day except Jon and I went through 3 swim suits between the two of us. Apparently one of the slides had a tendency to rip holes in the bum of our suits. Not cool to have that much skin showing so after we’d gone through all of the suits we’d brought with us, we called it a day. =)
 We had to wear swim caps the entire time. Thankfully the kids thought it was funny and didn't fight it. I, on the other hand, felt rather uncool and wouldn't let Jon take my picture. Well that and the fact that I had a hole in my shorts more often than not. =)

After we left the water park we took the kids to the coconut ice cream place so we could share the experience. When the lady noticed Caitlin "drinking" the last bit of ice cream and Dominic using his fingers to make sure he'd gotten every last drop she gave them more ice cream. Jon and I were sadly not cute enough to warrant this.

Dominic LOVED the little fish ponds on campus. He caught tadpoles and tiny fish, he played ninjas with the leaves and got very, very wet every time we took him down there. Jon and I joked that we should have just taken a vacation to a pond since he enjoyed it as much as everything else.
I'm very thankful for my children who enjoy life no matter what.

Just a cute picture that Jon took of Caitlin.