January 27 & 28: Flight to Bangkok
We woke up this morning in our hotel in LA and got ready to get back on a flight, a REALLY LONG flight, to Bangkok. I'm not going to lie, this time I was seriously doubting if this was a good idea. For some reason Costa Rica seemed so much more... familiar. I mean, it is on the same continent and it's not as far from home, and I speak Spanish. So going all the way across the world to a place we had NO IDEA about was really daunting. That morning I was really questioning myself and my decision to drag my family over there. But we went forward! We went down to catch the shuttle and missed it, so we had to wait a half hour for the next one. This made us super nervous because we were probably cutting it closer than we should have anyway, and then we were now thirty minutes later. Our saving grace was that they let us cut in front of a bunch of people in security because of the kids. (There are times when kids make traveling easier!) We got a quick breakfast sandwich and the kids played in these spinning chairs before it was time to get on the plane. We were so lucky and got the best seats on the plane, with a TON of space in front of our chairs. The kids could play down there, Della took a nap down there, and we even built a fort there.
We left LA at 10 AM on Sunday, and landed in Hong Kong at 8 PM on Monday. Talk about weird. Our layover in Hong Kong was short, and we were so so worked and tired that we ended up just falling asleep on the ground in the airport. Then we boarded another flight for a quick jaunt over to Bangkok. We landed at 11 PM there, and after some confusion with finding a taxi (you take a number and go to that stall... weird) we made it to our place and checked in, showered, and went to sleep. I will say that one good thing about traveling and getting to your place so late at night is that you are wiped out and want to sleep, and it's good because it's actually time to sleep there! That's not to say we didn't have jet lag issues... but I do think that it helped.
January 29:
Today we woke up in Bangkok! Wow, that is crazy just even to write that. It has always seemed so foreign and crazy to me and then to actually be here is pretty nuts. We were right next door to a little coffee shop, so we went over and ordered a Thai omelete. Oh my heck, that is so delicious! We were not expecting that and it was insanely delicious. The girl there loved Adeline and wanted to talk to her all of the time, but Della was not feeling it haha.
Yummy delicious Thai omelete
Gross other breakfast haha
We only had one thing on the agenda for today: get vaccines. We ran out of time to get the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine before we left (and it cost $350 per person!) so we decided to get it on our first day in Bangkok (for all four of us it was $98). We went over to the travel clinic and got our shots, and had people fawning all over the kids. Both of them were such troopers for being so exhausted, getting shots, and having people talk to them in a weird language and follow them around taking pictures. It was fun to drive around and see the city. There are so many temples here! In Thailand we are not going to rent a car, we will just get around by Grab (like Uber).
We went back to the apartment and Rusty went out and got some take out. This was our first food in Thailand and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. We got Pad Thai, Tom Yum Goong and some spicy pork dish that the man recommended.
Rusty went into this restaurant to order...
And then the man came out on the street to cook it haha.
We took a really quick little walk around the neighborhood and it was really beautiful! There was a little creek that went through the town and we saw lots of cats with bent tails (after we googled it we learned that's a thing in Thailand). But I think everyone's favorite part was feeding the koi fish at the hostel across the street where we checked in.
Then we all went to bed, and were up throughout the night reading books, playing games, wrestling, and watching shows haha. Oh jet lag with toddlers.
January 30:
Today we spent our morning packing, eating breakfast at that coffee shop again (Della got a free muffin this time haha) and then going to the airport to travel to Chiang Mai. We didn't do ANYTHING in Bangkok at all, so when we went back to the airport I felt kind of bummed, but we have five or six days here before we leave the country so I just have to wait to come back. The plane ride was uneventful. Honestly I was so impressed and proud of how good the kids did considering the super long flights we had just a few days before. But it was a short one hour flight so by the time we got up in the air it was time to come back down.
We got a taxi to our place and this is the nicest place we've stayed in so far! It was really big and had all tile floors and two bathrooms (woo hoo!) It had two air conditioners (one in each bedroom) which was fabulous. But the biggest downside: the beds were seriously so hard. We even googled it and apparently that's a thing in Thailand. They believe that having a hard bed is actually really good for you back. I believe that that is a lie and that I deserve a comfy bed after getting through the day.
January 31:
Today was our first day out and about in Chaing Mai, but really in Thailand too. And I was so excited for this day! We were seeing one of the temples that I was most excited to see and eating lunch at a place that I was so stoked to go to. But to start the day off, we went to a little restaurant just down the street from us to get breakfast. We had no food at all haha! It ended up being a great place and we went back again before we left. The kids loved the fish that you could look at, and we loved the food too. It was awesome!
We got a Grab and headed over to Wat Chedi Luang. What I was not anticipating was that it wasn't just this one temple. It was in a complex with three or four other temples. It was just as beautiful as I had hoped, and the other temples were really cool too. There was one that only men were allowed to go in because women's menstruations were a "humiliation to the temple." Ummmm. WHAT. Rusty got so ticked he wouldn't even go in, even though I wanted him to so he could report back haha.
Superstar Della
This gum tree is an important part of their culture. Apparently, as long as this tree stands Chiang Mai will be safe. But if it falls, the city will shortly fall too.
This is where the Paparrazi thing got out of control with Adeline. People would stop us to take pictures, ask to hold her so they could take a picture with her, and basically ignore the beautiful sites to take pictures of my baby. I was on high alert, but I thought it was cute. Adeline did too haha. She definitely played it up. (Side note: By the day I'm writing this-February 11- we are all over being stopped to take pictures haha).
Then we walked over and got a mango drink before we walked to the next temple: Wat Phra Singh. This one was Rusty's favorite and it was beautiful. It had a big gold stupa and a lot of bells, insense and lanterns in the trees. We walked around here for a little bit before leaving for our final temple.
The last temple we visited today was Wat Chiang Man. Like Wat Chedi Luang, this one was acually in a complex with lots of little temples. Wat Chiang Man is the oldest temple in Thailand, built in 1297. We enjoyed looking at all of the elephants around the base of one temple and then going inside another temple. These really are so beautiful! It has also opened up a lot of good conversations with Henry about religion. He asked a lot of questions about why people were praying and why we don't pray to that statue.
After all of our temple hopping it was time for lunch at Terracotta Garden. I found this place in my research a few months ago and I was so excited to go there! It is this beautiful little outdoor cafe that is full of terracotta pots and statues that have been discarded. It is so overgrown that there is something lost and hidden about it that I love. This was our first time eating out too, so of course we got curry. I was so nervous that the curry wouldn't live up to the expectations I had in my head but IT TOTALLY DID! Woo hoo! I love green curry!
February 1:
Today we stayed home to have some more down time. This jet lag stuff is no joke haha, it really messes with you and with the kids. We did some laundry and played some games and took it easy. Then that night I took a cooking class! If you would have told me when we left that I would ever take an Uber by myself, let alone in Thailand, I would have laughed and said that would never happen. But it did! And although I was SO nervous and watching my map the whole time I'm proud that I am growing. I have some anxiety issues (surprise!) so this trip was stretched and tested me in many ways, but this is a big one. I'm so glad that I was able to take the class! It was such a cool experience, and some of the best food I had in Thailand. My instructor's name was Doh and he was adorable, and a Christian which is fun and very unique here. I made the papaya salad, spring rolls, chicken and coconut soup, pad thai, massaman curry (and the curry paste!), pumpkin and coconut milk (I've never had this but it is delicious) and mango and sticky rice. Then we also made three dishes that are from an indigenous group, and they were really yummy too! It was a really fun experience, and they sent me home with the recipes and a little spice kit to make the curry paste one more time. Hopefully I can do it as delicious at home without help!
February 2:
We got really lucky and ended up being in town for the annual Flower Festival! We went early and walked through Nong Buak Hard Public Park. It had so many beautiful sculptures made out of flowers. It was so impressive and amazing; I've never seen anything like that! This park also had a really cool park that the kids loved playing on.
Then we wandered around waiting for the parade to start and got some Rotis. SO SO DELICIOUS! Also, parades here are NUTS. The cables hang so low over the street that a guy has to walk in front of the floats with a big bamboo pole and lift the cables up so the floats can fit underneath! Also people just jump out in the middle of the parade to take pictures of the floats head on, or to pose with people walking in the parade haha. It was so crazy. But the floats were even crazier! They were all made out of flowers too and were seriously beautiful and intricate. The kids got some balloons that became their best friends for the rest of the time we were in Chiang Mai.
Sesame seeds!
After the parade it was time for some lunch. We walked to a random little restaurant and got lunch. All four of us got entrees and drinks and the total was $8. Wow! And it was really good!
We went home and relaxed for a little bit before heading back out for the Warorot Night Market. This is exactly what I thought of when I thought of what a market would be like here. Crazy food vendors, cool produce and fun little trinkets to buy. We tried some food here, but Rusty was absolutely nuts for this group of mushrooms wrapped in bacon. I thought it was really yummy, but Rusty raved about it for a long time haha. We weren't here for very long because the kids were absolutely wiped. In fact, Henry was on Rusty's shoulders and konked out and Della was sleeping in the carrier on me pretty much the whole time. Both kids slept on the drive home. They are such good sports!
We brought some lychees home!
Rusty's mushrooms and bacon
Trying jackfruit
Some tired babies!
February 3:
Sunday! Woo hoo! This weekend turned into a weekend of markets because we realized that some of them only happen on the weekends. So before church (at 11) we went down to the Chiang Mai Gate market. The cool thing was that we could walk from this market to the church! This market was really cool and had a TON of fresh produce. We bought some bananas for the kids to snack on and a dragon fruit. We found some candles that we figured we could use for Henry's birthday cake and Henry was so excited to be able to buy them himself. We also got some cookie things for the kids to eat. We wandered over to the fish part and I had to turn around because I thought I was going to throw up haha. It was bad.
What is this?!?
On the way to church we walked past this really cool temple and we had some time to kill so we went inside. This one was so amazing! It had a pretty pond and a little walkway that was so picturesque. You also could feed some fish and in my head they were these cute little fish. But oh my heck they were the nastiest, hugest, grossest catfish. Seeing them made my insides shrivel up. But Henry liked feeding them haha.
Then it was time for church! We were so surprised to see so many expats here, but that was a good portion of the ward. This was an actual church building (with the little bidet sprayers in each stall in the restrooms-crazy) and they had headsets where someone translated everything into English. It was so helpful, but also kind of a weird experience for us because we were excited to just be immersed in their church. But it did make it a lot easier to talk to everyone and know where to go. They even have an English Primary President and a Thai President. I went to Nursery with Henry and Della where there was only one other kid (but this is the first time there has been a nursery!) and Rusty went to class.
We went home and relaxed and then went back out for Tha Pae Walking Street Market. This one was also right next to a gate into the city (Tha Pae). There are six gates that go into the city that still stand. There used to be a wall and a mote around the city, and now only pieces remain around the "old city". I had read so many reviews online that said this was too crowded and busy and so we were hesitant but decided to give it a try, and I am so glad that we did! It was crowded yes, but it was so amazing to see Chaing Mai totally come to life! It was amazing. We ate some more food like pad thai and those little meat balls on the skewers that are everywhere. Henry got some chocolate covered strawberries, and we all shared a mango with sticky rice and some coconut ice cream. I got some elephant pants and an anklet. It was a successful outing!
February 4:
Today was a low key day, not surprising given the day we had yesterday! We hung out and got caught up on work and then just let the kids run around and do whatever. We needed some stuff so we went out to two different 7-11s, both within walking distance. 7-11s are everywhere here, it's crazy! That's pretty much where we do our smaller grocery shopping. Then on the walk back we passed Burger King and went in for lunch. This was our most expensive meal in Chaing Mai haha! But we enjoyed thinking about my dad while we ate there, one of the only people that I know that like Burger King haha.
Henry invented a game called Bally Ball. You basically just throw a bouncy ball and then have to go and catch it, but this room was perfect for it.
Della is playing hide and seek
February 5:
Today was a big day out for visiting some more temples! The biggest one was Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. It is up on a hill overlooking the city in the National Park. We got a Grab up there and on the drive we passed a lot of little shrines on the side of the road. At every single one the driver would honk the horn twice and then put his hands together and bow his head. After the initial impressions have worn off, Rusty and I both mentioned in Doi Suthep that it is so different to see people worshiping statues. Anyway, we got to the temple and walked up to the entrance and saw a beautiful, huge staircase leading up to the top with beautiful dragons on both sides. It was so spectacular and imposing, definitely a very different temple than the ones we have seen so far.
We got up to the top and enjoyed walking around and seeing all of the temples inside. They had these little gold bells that people bought and hung up around the temple because then you would be protected. There were so many cool Buddah statues here made out of different things. At the end there was a beautiful view over the city!
After the temple we found a place for lunch! It was super tasty. Henry saw the menu and the told the waitress, "Can I have the shrimp please?" Hahaha. Oh man.
Adeline always made me put my arm around her in the car haha. It was so cute!
Then it was time for our next stop: Wat Umong! I think this was the most unique and peaceful temple that we saw while there. It had these tunnels that you could walk through and little alcoves with statues. It was really interesting and exciting to walk through! Then there was a little pond where you could feed the birds and the fish. A pigeon tried to attack me! Rusty laughed his head off and I almost died haha.
Then it was time for our last temple of the day: Wat Suan Dok. This one was really impressive as well! We didn't even go inside because we felt like the views from the outside were so beautiful and we were kind of tired of seeing so many temples haha. There was a sprinkler on that Henry had a great time running through for a few minutes.
After this temple we went to a restaurant that had really good reviews and got take out and then got dessert from Mango Tango (mango and sticky rice). This was all SO SO SO good. Oh man, seriously. So good. What a good day!
February 6:
Today Rusty and I had appointments to go and get traditional Thai massages! I was pretty excited to try this, even though all that I knew about them were 1. They were super cheap ($8 for an hour) and 2. A guy on the plane to Bangkok mentioned something about pulling? Anyways, Rusty went first to make sure that it was a legitimate place (even though I read like a million reviews online haha) and he had a very different experience. He had a guy and circled that he liked "hard pressure" for his massage, so he came home pretty sore and worked. His mattress was also on the floor, so the guy was just kind of laying on top of him haha. This is my favorite story. We went over to the mall to get some groceries and eat a roti (one of our drivers told us that the mall had good rotis. The place we found had a guy that put raw egg in our banana nutella roti, so it was like scrambled eggs and bananas with nutella on top... definitely not delicious. Later we found out that it is actually a thing here though haha. What?!
I learned from Rusty's mistake and circled "light pressure" and I had a fabulous time! It seriously felt so nice and relaxing, and it was easily the best massage that I have ever had. I will say that I was so shocked when the lady climbed up onto the little table with me hahaha! She was up there for most of the massage, and I know that they talk about a full body massage for the person getting the massage, but man she used her whole body too. She would grab my foot with her hands and push my body away with her foot haha. It was nuts but it felt really good.
Then I met Rusty and the kids back at the mall where I left them. We got Della some shoes and then ate some food at McDonalds before getting a tuk tuk home. Oh, and Henry fell in love with this car track so we got it for him for his birthday and he was so thrilled!! Our tuk tuk ride was exciting to say the least. The guy missed our turn so he just started backing up. BACKING UP on the six lane, super busy road. Rusty and I thought we were all going to die for a little bit haha.
February 7:
Wow. The Elephant Sanctuary. I don't even know what to write about today it was that phenomenal. It is my favorite thing I have done in Chiang Mai (and Thailand) and maybe ever haha. It was amazing! So it started with us getting a grab to a hotel where the elephant group picked us up. Our tour guide's name was Pooh, and he was hilarious and so nice. We had about an hour drive to go out to the sanctuary where the five elephants had a ton of land to roam around. Pooh gave us a quick little introduction to the five elephants, who had all been rescued from a circus, riding camps, or logging. Then we pulled up and immediately saw these beautiful, majestic elephants just standing there! I was so excited. We got out and put on the clothes that they gave us to change into and then Pooh wrote our names on our arms as they would look phonetically in Thai. This was a really cool touch! Then we went over to say hi to the elephants for a few minutes before our briefing.
For our briefing, we got a basket of bananas that we could feed them. Their mouths are giant and really soft and wet, and if you feed them a banana they kind of eat your whole hand which is slightly alarming but it's actually okay because they only have four molars way, way in the back. Because Henry was a little nervous of this, he got to just put the banana in their trunks and then the elephant would feel herself. We went out to feed them and Adeline was just not having it. So we tried just taking turns, but neither of us wanted to miss out. Luckily for us a worker came over and offered to take Della around with him. He was awesome and she loved him so much, she didn't even cry. I think she was just so scared of the elephants that she didn't care who had her haha. They walked around in the field or sat in the shade always where I could see her. Also, as another bonus I asked when we got there if they had anyone take pictures of us (one of my friends said that their place did) and they said no, but then a guy followed us around with my camera and took pictures of us the whole day! I was so grateful and impressed with this company. To feed them you would take the banana piece and say "Bon" and the elephant would life up their trunk and then you could place the banana in their mouth.
Feeding them the bananas was my favorite part, and they are so funny. There was a toddler aged elephant named Lanna. She was so cheeky and tried to steal the bananas out of my basket all of the time! She also was trained at the circus to give kisses, so you would lift her trunk up and say, "Choop Choop" and she would suck on your cheek like a vacuum. Seriously one of the most hilarious things I have ever done!
After the bananas we had some more time to just be around the elephants. Pooh told us to lure Lanna over with some bananas to a grassy field and she was so set on getting them from us haha. Then we walked up and another one could smell them so she lifted her trunk up and just started smelling everywhere haha.
Then they took us over to a little cooking area where we got to make some medicine/food for the elephants. We ground up sour tamarind, sugar cane, and bananas to make a sticky, gooey ball. Then we walked over and fed it to them. This is supposed to help their digestion. I tried some of the tamarind and it was so sour!!
After their medicine we got to give them a mud bath! Most of them did not want to go in there right then, and I actually really liked that because it let us all see that they are really in charge of what they do. So we got to give two of them a mud bath, and then those same two went over into the clean water where we scrubbed them down. But this one had a bonus because Lanna decided she wanted to join us. She is nuts and wanted to wrestle but she is a huge elephant! More than once I was scared for my life, and one time she started backing into me kicking her legs out so I just jumped out of the water and scrambled up to land haha. There was a time where she tilted her head and looked at me and Rusty with this one crazy eye and then charged at us... we laugh about that all of the time. She was flopping around in the water, spraying people with water, and she even took a lady's shoe and threw it in the pond! Then we stepped on Rusty's shoe and picked it up and tried to eat it haha. This girl was crazy!
February 8:
Today we took it easy in the morning and then headed out for some temples that we wanted to see at night. We actually had really bad luck with this. One temple that we wanted to see didn't have the lights strung up on the trees like I had seen in the pictures and one didn't have any lights on at all! And the restaurant we tried to go to was closed... It was a rough night haha. But we ended up walking over to an ATM to get some cash and then wandering around a Friday night bazaar and getting some rotis before heading back over to the restaurant. It was still closed (they were taking a break) so we went to the one next door and it was SO SO GOOD! We needed to try Khao Soi before we left the north, but honestly I wasn't that excited about it because they said it was a soup. I don't really care for soup so it wasn't that high on my list. But man it was delicious! It tasted just like a really delicious curry with noodles and crunchy onions on top. Rusty and I both totally loved it and devoured it, and Rusty got a really yummy red curry too. The kids both got pancake plates and they were in heaven with the chocolate syrup and whipped cream. So the night wasn't a complete waste. :)
February 9:
Today was our last day in Chaing Mai, and we had one last thing we wanted to do. In Thai tradition birthdays are not that important. In fact, if you don't know the exact date of your birthday it's not that weird. But there are a couple of things that they do, and one of them is gaining merit at a temple by doing something good. You can gain merit in a few different ways, but the one that stood out the most to me was by releasing an animal. I knew that was something that Henry would really be excited about. So we found a temple that did that (Wat Chai Mongkon) and went over there. There were absolutely no tourists, and it all felt very authentic. Inside the temple a monk was giving people blessings and prayers by tying the strings on them. We wandered around for a while until we found the place to buy the animals and then Henry got to pick what he wanted. He chose two fish, and I chose a dove. We walked down to the pier and released the fish first. Once they went into the water these giant fish (remember the giant catfish?!?!) came up to the surface. So... I wasn't really sure if we released those fish to freedom or to become a meal, and that was kind of off putting for a while haha. But then it was time for the dove, and this may be so cliche and dumb but it was actually really beautiful and peaceful to me. I loved doing that!
February 10:
Today we got up early to catch a plane to Phuket. Like really early. Like at 4:00 AM. The kids obviously didn't want breakfast that early, so we just left. Once we got to the airport we had to immediately go through security with everything: carseats, stroller, bags, kids. Then we had to go to the counter to check our bags and carseats. After that, we went through security AGAIN. Then we went to wait for our flight, but no food places were open yet and the kids were so hungry. So they had a choco pie for breakfast haha. We managed to get something quickly before we had to get on a bus to take us out to the plane. Yikes.
The kids did awesome on the plane, and then the drive down to the hotel too. Our check in here was pretty awful, and it involved some lady that didn't speak any English at all saying some things to us and then leaving us at the elevator holding a key that said 1203. We were on the bottom floor and all of the rooms started with 2,000 so we were pretty confused. Eventually we just started knocking on doors and asking people and a really nice little girl came out and showed us where to go. Turns out, you take the first elevator up to floor six, and then find the next elevator and take that one up to
floor two. Yeah, we never would have found it on our own haha. BUT within a few
minutes we were in our swimsuits and enjoying ourselves in the most beautiful
pool! This pool has an awesome view, and it also has a really shallow circle
pool that is just the perfect height for the kids. We love this pool!
View of the pool from our balcony
February 11:
Today was our first day in Phuket and we went down to the Aquarium! This wasn't a big aquarium, but they did have a lot of things that I have never seen before. We saw some catfish that only swim upside down, some giant groupers that are bigger than Henry, and the weirdest shaped fish ever. Then the cherry on top was that we did little fish pedicures! Haha it was so weird and Henry would not even put his feet in it for more than two seconds. After the Aquarium we went out on the beach and saw these beautiful long tail boats on the shore and played on a little swing and watched these little hermit crabs.
Then we went to a little place called The Cove to get some lunch. Phuket is so much more expensive than Chiang Mai, but our entrees were still only about $8 each and look at this view! We really loved being able to just sit back and relax and look out at the beautiful bay.
So I mentioned that it is so much more expensive here. In Chiang Mai a Grab was about $2 anywhere we wanted to go, and here it is at least $15 to go one kilometer. So we decided to rent a scooter today to get around the island. It was $7 for 24 hours instead of the $90 it would have cost for us to get around today. Fitting all four of us on that scooter was hilarious and actually a lot of fun! We stuck to side roads as much as possible and went pretty slow. We all had helmets which was even more hilarious haha! Our first stop was the Big Buddah which was absolutely stunning and so impressive! It is absolutely massive and still very detailed. This is one of my favorite things I've seen here in Thailand and the views from up there didn't hurt either.
After the Big Buddah we went to the Red Duck to get some lunch. This is by far one of the fanciest places we have eaten at. We tried some golden bags for the first time and they were so so yummy! I got a salad that turned out to be nothing like a salad at all haha and Rusty got a pad thai. The kids got some shrimp fried rice to share, and Adeline got a virgin pina colada. Actually I ordered it but she didn't really give it back after she tried it.
After lunch we went over to Karon Viewpoint and it was stunning! Then we headed down to Kata Noi Beach. We had heard such great things about this place, but apparently we were there at a time when there was an algae bloom because it was pretty pond scummy haha. And while we were in there we kept getting little stings. Turns out it was "sea lice" or baby jellyfish haha. So, needless to say this was not our favorite beach. We even forgot to take a picture!
February 13:
Today we chilled at home, played in the pool and just took it easy! Rusty still had the scooter until 11 or so, so he took it to the grocery store that is further away and got some stuff for Henry's birthday. Tonight when I was putting the kids to bed it broke my heart to say goodnight for the last time to my three year old. I can't believe he will be four tomorrow! I told him four things that I loved about him, and he liked it so much he asked for ten things haha. I told him the story about when he was born and he loved hearing it. I sure love my Henry.
February 14:
Today was little man's birthday today! (And Valentine's Day, but we are just skipping over that holiday this year haha). This morning he came in our room and was so excited! "Is it my birthday or no?!?" Haha. Then we called Grandma and Papa and then had a cupcake with five candles. So in Thai culture, they don't really celebrate birthdays much. But if they do candles they put an extra one on for a year of good luck. We decided to do that! The cupcakes look pretty haggard because Rusty had to go get the groceries on the scooter and the cupcakes didn't make it hahaha. Oh man. Also, they only have trick candles here haha. Seriously.
Then he opened his presents, and you guessed it, no wrapping paper haha. So they were wrapped in plastic bags but he didn't seem to mind! He got a toy car, a car track, and a flying thing he saw at the night market in Chiang Mai. He was so excited!
We got a taxi today and drove to the upside down house, Baan Teelanka. When I started researching Thailand I found this and showed Henry and he got so excited about it and wanted to go. This is also one of the few times that he asked me to take his picture haha! He got so excited for the upside down car.
Then we went out to Bang Tao Beach, and this beach really saved our perception of Thailand beaches haha. It was a beautiful beach and it was really calm and perfect for the kids to swim in. We found some shade under a tree to set up our camp and then played in the water and sand for a few hours!
It was time for some food and we found a Mexican Restaurant with really good reviews! And let me tell you, I love Thai food. But after three weeks we were ready for something new. This place was DELICIOUS. Expensive, but delicious. It was really weird to walk into a Mexican restaurant and be greeted in the Thai language though haha.
We got home, I taught some classes, and then we had round two for cake and ice cream. We sure love our Henry and I hope he had a great day. He kept saying, "Best birthday ever!!" So I think we did ok. :)
February 15:
Today was another stay home and swim in the pool day! It is nice to be able to relax at home but also have something like the pool that is so much fun for everyone! It's fun too because it is so close that we can split up. Today Henry and I had a special date just us to the pool! Our favorite game is to throw coins in the water and then find them.
February 16:
Today was a big day! We had been so dang excited about doing this tour, but after the Bartons said they didn't think it was that great we were a little bit nervous. Well I don't know if our tour was different or we are just really easy to please, but we had a fantastic time! Today we did the Phang Nga Bay tour. We woke up pretty early and had a taxi come and take us to the big marina, about an hour away. Adeline got sick and threw up in the car so we had a small hiccup while we cleaned that up. Oh, and I don't think the taxi driver liked that very much haha. Anyways, we got to the place and got checked in, had some snacks, and then headed over to get on the boat!
Our first stop was a private little island where we just got to relax. Henry played in the water, Della made friends with some people from the UK, and we found lots and lots of treasures. Rusty and I couldn't stop looking at the horizon and seeing all of these crazy islands just popping straight up out of the water! It was unreal. Seriously, it was beautiful.
After this island we drove around up close to some other islands and saw some monkeys and caves! We were not expecting to see monkeys at all, so that was a pretty cool bonus! Then it was time to jump off the boat and swim around to cool off.
Then it was time to go on a little kayaking tour! We had a guide take us around and we got to go into some caves before we got to see a "mini James Bond Island." One of my favorite parts of today was kayaking into that huge cavern! So unreal!
It was finally time to see the James Bond Island! Full disclosure: I have never seen that movie, and that is not why we were going there. The whole bay just looked so beautiful (it is) and the island looked impressive and unique (it is). We climbed around in some caves before going over to see the island and then we took off again!
By now we were starving and luckily for us it was time for lunch. We went to a little city built up on stilts in the bay. It is all Muslims that live here, and it was fascinating to walk around.
Our last stop was a little cave they called the ice cream cave because the opening looked like a scoop of ice cream and some stalactites that looked like an ice cream cone were inside. The kids were asleep so Rusty was going to go and I was staying with them, but then a really nice lady that we talked to at lunch offered to stay with them so we could go together. We hurried through and then went back so she could have a turn, but it was seriously so nice of her! Then when it was time to get off a man in our group that we hadn't talked to came up and offered to carry our backpack so that Rusty could carry Della and I could carry Henry. I was so touched by how kind these people were!
February 17:
Sunday! One good thing about this trip is that I feel like
it is really making me appreciated Sundays, and how important it is to have a
day of rest and reflection. We had a hard time finding directions to the church,
but we made it! It was a cute little branch with maybe like twenty people. It
hit me when we were singing, half in English and half in Thai, how cool it is that
this gospel unites people all around the world. The gospel is open to everyone!
Heavenly Father loves everyone! How cool and amazing is that? They gave out
these little Chinese bean buns and the lady told me that it was sweet. It had
green inside, so I figured maybe a little custard? Maybe lime? So imagine my surprise
when I bit into a warm, runny, guacamole tasting thing. Hahaha yikes. Rusty
kept getting after me for my face because apparently it was showing some mild
surprise.
After church we walked over to this park that was giant!
There were so many toys, and I love that each country has different toys. The
kids loved playing here, and there were some chickens hanging out too haha.
After the park we walked to a restaurant where we got some of the yummiest food
here in Phuket! Then we got a ride home and spent the rest of the day home relaxing.
Rusty got to go diving today! He had a fantastic time and
said that he loved it even more than Costa Rica. He saw lots of animals like
rays, sharks, jellyfish, and a huge school of yellow fish. That was his
favorite part, swimming through that school of fish. 😊
The kids and I stayed home and did some preschool, laundry, cleaning, and
swimming in the pool. I worked that night and we ran into some issues with
Rusty not being back yet haha. Like, the kids came in during my class demanding
that I turn their show back on and then Della wanted to be involved in the class.
Whoops.
February 19:
Grouper eating a catfish
A giant clam!
Ghost pipe fish
February 19:
Today we got another scooter and headed over to Ao Sane Beach to do some snorkeling! It was really amazing snorkeling too! We saw tons of fish, giant clams, and I even saw some squid! I've never seen those before so that was really exciting for me! It was really rocky there, and we were planning on heading over to Nai Harn (right around the corner) after our picnic but Della cut her leg pretty good on a rock so we headed home to keep her out of the sand and water. We did stop for some really tasty lunch on the way back!
February 20:
Today it was my turn to go scuba diving! Rusty’s experience
was so wonderful that I was a little bit nervous that it wasn’t going to live
up the hype, but it was really amazing! Both Rusty and I have said that this is
some of the best diving we’ve ever done. The coral structures are just so
unreal! There were some chimney coral that were as tall as me! And some fan
coral that was just massive. I didn’t even know they could get that big. And
the colors! Woah! So a taxi driver came and got me and drove me over to the
dock area. Then we got in a CRAZY truck where people are hanging out and you
have to run to get on and that took us over to the boat. This was a huge three
story boat that had a kitchen, bathrooms, and its own air compressor. They gave
us breakfast and then we went out for our first dive! This dive was my
favorite, and I saw some cool animals like a baby black tip reef shark, a giant
school of yellow fish, sea stars, crown of thorns, and tons of anemones and
urchins. After lunch we went out for our second dive and here we saw a turtle
and a billion jellyfish. There were some fish that were eating the jellyfish so
there were bits of jellyfish floating around. Apparently a piece of a tentacle
came and landed on my face because it started burning like crazy haha! Then we
went to our last dive where we saw two cuttlefish! I have never seen those
before so that was amazing. They were doing a little mating ritual, so they had
the most amazing colors on the outside. It doesn’t show up in the pictures which
is a bummer! We also saw some lion fish, a seahorse, and some really cool
unique fish called ghost pipefish. One of the weirdest things we saw was a devil
scorpion fish moving along the seafloor. It was walking on its back fins!
WHAT?! Nuts! It was a great day of diving for sure!
Rusty and the kids had an adventurous day too! Before taking
the scooter back they drove up to a viewpoint and then checked out a beach by
us. Adeline loved sitting in the front, and Rusty said all three of them just kept
yelling “Woo hoo!” the whole drive haha. I love these people.
I got stung by a jellyfish haha
Today we hung around at home and played in the pool! We also spent some of the day packing because we were heading out to the beach tomorrow so we wanted to get a head start.
February 22:
Today we got a scooter to head over to Nai Harn beach for our last beach day here. We had lunch and then found a salon for Adeline and I to get pedicures while the boys got hair cuts! Della loved it so much she just kept giggling the entire time haha. At the beach it was blisteringly hot. We had to find shade and then run out to the water as fast as we could haha. The water was beautiful and Rusty and I enjoyed people watching. A lot haha. Then we went back home!
Today we had quite the experience haha. We got up really early (4:30), and had a cab waiting to take us to the airport an hour away. We realized when we got down to the taxi that we didn't know where the passports were, but we decided to just go and use our 50 minutes of cushion time to find them at the airport. We got there and unloaded everything and then Rusty remembered that he had put them up on a high shelf in the bedroom. We didn't have time to get them, so we called the housekeeper and she brought them halfway. Henry got carsick on the way and threw up in the car. We missed the flight. Basically it was a disaster haha. Eventually we got on the flight and then made it to our new place in Bangkok. We were all so exhausted and I was sick with a cold so we just stayed home.
February 24:
Today we were still recovering from the crazy day that yesterday was, and I was sick and Adeline was starting to get a little sick too. We stayed home and watched shows and played games!
February 25:
Today was our first, and only really, day out exploring around
Bangkok! We went to the Grand Palace for our first stop and I didn't know it
could be that hot haha. The taxi driver let us out on the wrong side so we had
to walk for a while to get to the main gate. Then we got there and got an audio
guide and started walking around and we were so sweaty and hot that it was hard
to focus on what we were seeing haha. This place is massive though, and the architecture
and buildings are so unique to Thailand. They are beautiful. There are six
giant demons guarding the entrances to the main square, and there are really
beautiful murals that tell the story of a king. There are also these little
demons that are holding up some buildings, and Henry was particularly
fascinated with those.
Henry loves these pamphlets every time we get them
One of these buildings houses the Emerald Buddha, which is a really big deal here in Thailand. Some people say that this is the most sacred site in all of Thailand. We went inside and it was so small; I don’t know what we were expecting. But it was really small. Henry kept calling it the baby Buddha haha.
After this we got a tuk tuk over to Wat Pho, which has the Reclining Buddha. This was really impressive and cool and incredibly huge! Just how long it is was pretty amazing. And while you are in there walking along the front you hear all of these clinking sounds. We couldn’t figure it out until we got to the back side and the whole length walking back has bowls on the wall where you donate money.
By this time we were ready for some food, but mostly ready to sit somewhere that is air conditioned. I had researched good things about a tiny little restaurant called The Sixth that was within walking distance so we headed there. When we got there we were the only ones, which honestly made me a little nervous. But within a few minutes they were turning people away because all of the tables were full. This made one lady particularly mad and she just stared at everyone through the glass door… maybe trying to make them eat faster? I don’t know but Rusty and I couldn’t stop laughing about it haha. Anyways, the food here was SO good! And they had this really yummy peach and mango soda that is the best thing I’ve ever drank. So so good. And we ended with our last mango and sticky rice. I will miss that.
Our last stop for today was Wat Arun. Honestly, we were all so tired and we had already seen so many temples in Thailand that we were pretty close to calling this one off but I am so glad that we stuck it out! This temple is unlike anything we had seen. It is so unique and beautiful! It is all made out of broken pieces of china, and the overall effect made it look like something Gaudi would have made in Barcelona. You can walk around on the outside of it and see views of the city and river, and we just thought it was really amazing.
February 26:
Today was a big day trip! We got up early and went to the
Sheraton, so fancy, where we got on a big tour bus. We met our tour guide,
Donna, and then started our drive North to Ayutthuya. Our first stop there was
The Grand Palace, where the King lived when this was the capital of Siam. I had
no idea that this used to be Siam! I was not very excited about going here
because I just wanted to see the old temple ruins, but I was proven wrong.
These grounds were gorgeous. We walked around and listened to Donna’s tour and
then had some free time where we climbed the tower and then took the kids back
over to the pond to feed the fish. We completely lost track of time and I
looked down at the clock and it was 9:51. We were supposed to be back at the
bus at 9:50 or they would leave us! So Rusty and I each grabbed and kid and we
sprinted across that place and through the parking lot haha. It was very
stressful and we were very careful after that to never be late to the bus
again.
Our next stop was the one that I had been so looking forward to,
and it was beautiful. I wish we could have had more time there! We saw some
ruins of the temples and then we also saw the Buddha face in the tree.
Our third stop was at a temple that was the only one that was not
burned and destroyed when the city was invaded.
The last stop was full of locals selling goods and a giant outdoor
reclining Buddha. Adeline had fallen asleep on Rusty, so he stayed in the bus
with her. I went with Henry and we took a picture and then quickly came back
because the locals were SO pushy and followed you around trying to sell their
stuff. I literally had no money because Rusty had the wallet, and the lady
still wouldn’t leave me along about buying a flower for Buddha. Then she would
get really mad at me and leave, and come back. So we just got back on the bus
haha.
Then it was time for us to get on the boat! We had a nice buffet
lunch while we cruised along the river back to Bangkok. Each of us enjoyed
watching the boats on the river and the houses on the banks. Henry particularly
loved seeing some tug boats pulling HUGE barges down the river.
Once we got to the dock, we got a grab to take us back home.
Traffic was a nightmare! It should have been a fifteen or twenty minute drive,
and it ended up being an hour and a half. It was so atrocious! I’ve never been
in traffic like that before. We are not big city people haha.
Today we had plans to go out and see some more temples, but Adeline
was really sick and the rest of us were fighting it off. So we stayed home
another day and just relaxed and packed and got ready to go to New Zealand!
We pretended to be airplanes coming in for landing!
Working
February 28:
Today we had our flight to New Zealand, but it wasn’t until the
evening so in the morning we took the kids out to the Funarium. Again, the
traffic was so bad! It turned our fifteen minute drive into an hour and ten
minutes. What is with this city?!! But once we got there the kids were SO
excited that it was worth all of the traffic. They had the chance to just be
free and run and scream and climb and touch everything and not be told no. They
had a blast, and Rusty and I were actually really impressed with this place.
There was a climbing area with lots of slides, a bike/scooter riding track, a
baby area, and a ropes course. So many things for the kids to do! We played
there for a few hours before going back home to finish packing.
We were very careful about our time for this flight considering what happened last time. It was an hour drive, but because of the bad traffic we allotted two hours. Then we gave ourselves two hours to be at the airport. So our flight left at six, and we left our place at two. We triple checked the passports (even Henry asked in a nervous voice if we had them) and made it with three hours to spare to the International Airport. I couldn’t find the Qantas check in area so I asked the Help Desk and she told me that we were at the wrong airport. WHAT?!?!?!?! NOOOO. So we freaked out, ran back out to the curb, pulled a taxi over and asked if he could get us to that airport before 4. It was 3 now. He said yes. So we got in and he kept asking for money for the tolls, but we didn’t have any cash! We had perfectly used it all up because we were supposed to be leaving the country. Finally we let him know that we would have to go to an ATM to get money to pay him. Well, he kept his word and we were there at 3:50. He could tell I was nervous and when we pulled up he was like, “See, see? It’s ok. Before 4.” Haha. So we go to check in and there was quite a stink about making sure we had our flight out of New Zealand or they wouldn’t let us on the plane. Luckily, I had just booked that flight the day before. Phew.
Then we made it through security, but we were “detained” because the stamp on our passport said that we would leave on Feb 26 but we actually were leaving on February 28. I have no idea if this is some arbitrary amount of time or if they put it in wrong when we told them the date we were leaving, but either way they detained us and made us sign paperwork saying that we were offenders of “overstay” and made Rusty run back to the ATM to get more money to pay them in fines. Super lame.
Before we got on the plane Della pooped out of her pants. We were all stinky and sweaty from our nervous BO, so we changed. Then we got our first lucky break and had no one sitting next to us so we had four seats on the plane, and they were in the front so we could use the bassinet. It was a way smaller area than on the flight to Hong Kong, but we would take whatever we could get. The flight attendant made us wake Henry up and move him from the floor to the chairs though. Stupid.
We landed in Sydney and then got on an Emirates flight to Christchurch. We were on a huge two story plane, the largest commercial passenger plane in the world! At first we though it was a Boeing 47, but it turned out to be an Airbus. Still cool, but not as exciting as if it was a Boeing. This flight was painless and fast, and before we knew it we were landing in New Zealand.
Henry's Highlights:
- He turned FOUR YEARS OLD!
- He really is loving all of the new languages we've been around. Asked me to ask our taxi driver how to say, "marshmallow" in Thai
- Asks a lot about Buddah
- Says: "Can I have this or no?" and "I thought we could go to the pool... or something". At the "or no" and "or something" he moves his head from one shoulder to the other and always moves his hands like he is making a popcorn ball haha. It is my favorite
- Calls his wiener "peenie" because we have talked about penis and weenie
- Says mango "meengo"
Adeline's Adventures
- So cuddly!
- For some reason, every time we get in the pool or the ocean she will love it for about two minutes and then she says, "All done" "all done" "all done" haha. But in like a lazy voice
- Keeps throwing stuff off of the balcony in Phuket
- Has as many words she can speak in Thai as in English
- She wakes up in a happy mood every. single. morning.
- Adeline gives the best bear hugs in the whole world!
- She loves to dance, but she just moves her arms in the most awkward way and it is hilarious.
- Della is seriously so weird. She loves to put things, ANYTHING, on her head.
Extra Pictures
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