Thursday, August 31, 2017

Vacay Round Up

 We let our kids play video games, something that at home they have no chance to do!
Game on...
Ping Pong Tourney. For prizes.  Our friend won and Mommy came in 3rd place. It was more intense than we thought it would be.

Fire show.

Cuteness. And growing up so fast. 
 More video games.


hair braiding.

chocolate dipped bananas. What is NOT to enjoy at this kids club?

The beach swing...

Floaties off, trying to teach this girl to swim!

And the super cool event of scuba diving in the pool. Only Sophia tried this. She did great.

David and our friend honing their Thai kickboxing/ fighting skills.

And on our way home...
 (Tobin shooting his webs at you!)

Cuteness, Again:
 Tired and content.

More Vacation pics: Phi Phi Island and more

Bella Girl, who incidentally now wants to be called by her real/full name: Isabella.
Mountains and beach.


Rescued turtles each with a different deformity making them unfit to return to the ocean.

And yet an even bigger puffer fish.

On our way to Phi Phi island and others surrounding Phuket. These are some of the most beautiful in Thailand (perhaps the world). The movie 'The Beach' was filmed here. An hour boat ride out. All except G took dramamine.
 This was one of our greatest family adventures to date.

 The waters were gorgeous.
 Finally a beach where we can swim.



 We left that cove for another.
 A lagoon where we could jump from the boat and swim awhile.


And we all snorkeled too and saw some awesome sea creatures. The kids thought this the most fun. All their nature science books came to life here.

And then there were the monkeys...
 Finally at the bigger of the two Phi Phi islands for lunch and browsing.



One more stop for swimming and fun...
 And right off the docks at the Marina back on Phuket we saw this jelly fish eat a small fish....




July Vacation...Phuket

Puffer fish on the beach...
We played in the surf without really swimming (see warning sign below)...but the kids loved the beach every day...
Sand play and fun creatures to find.

Great friends...
It was rainy season and currents were strong. About four days in we asked a worker at the resort whether it was for real...he said 'do not mess with the currents around here'. So we didn't. Thankfully the place was amazing and we had a day adventure to nearby islands, all making this a fabulous vacation.




The kids club was amazing with some very creative crafts, events and movie night every night at 7 pm.






twice a week movie on the big screen at the pool! Sing. A movie we had only seen in Chinese.
more to come.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Fun with Friends and Sophia's Real Birthday

6.30.2017

After Fusion we met with a big group of friends from all over SE Asia. 
This coincided with Sophia's actual birthday. We were busy all day every day but this evening we headed out to the beach and for ice cream to celebrate.



Our hotel was right on the beach, on the gulf of Thailand.

Gorgeous view.
 But most of our time was with new friends and old, and our kids LOVE this time of year.

After a week of meetings we headed on vacation with some friends, a family of 7!
This is how we roll as 13 waiting for our flight to Phuket. And yes, our ten-year-old is sitting on daddy's lap in the background. Treasure those moments!

Crazy hilly islands...as our vacay adventure begins!