Let's Go Berry...

This is for you, Aunt Julie!

Suksan wan Songkran

For a break from your everyday routine, you might try a 6 hour drive northeast of Bangkok to the Isaan region of Thailand for a celebration of Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year. We had the chance to visit friends there last week and join in the festivities of a small town, and it was truly like stepping into another world. It gave us a new perspective on our cozy lives of beds and indoor plumbing!

theirs is the house on the right

sticky rice soaking to be prepared later in the day

Songkran is the most celebrated Thai holiday, and just about everyone goes 'home', which usually means back to the home of their parents. Traditionally, water was poured out as a blessing (particularly to the elderly) on this holiday, and it has evolved over time into an enormous country-wide water fight. People ride in the backs of trucks (sometimes 15 or 20 people squeezed in) with a huge barrel of water and douse passing trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, etc. And people station themselves on the side of the road and use water hoses, bottles, cups, buckets- whatever will hold water- to the same purpose.

Asa gets his gun ready for some water play

Our time upcountry included dancing in the streets for hours (to deafeningly loud Isaan music, with people throwing water constantly), watching traditional Thai dance, visiting a park where crocodiles roam free (so we hear; thankfully, we didn't see!), walking through rice fields, and eating mangoes right off the tree. The children did extremely well with all of the stimulation, sleeping with pulsing karaoke through a loudspeaker right outside the window much of the night (open, with no screens), eating little but rice, egg and fruit for 3 days, chasing ducks and chickens and getting LOTS of attention. Emmy really disliked the water play; having wet clothes is not her cup of tea. But other than that, all was well. Here are some of our favorite pictures (I apologize that there are so many; it was hard to narrow them down)...

this fellow is being carried (with much revelry) to the temple to enter the monkhood

And here are our precious friends who were so gracious to invite us into their lives for a few days. They live in Bangkok and have a roadside satay stand (so yummy!) at the Sky Train station nearest to us. Tim got to know Pii Niam (the wife) when he was in language school (he was a frequent lunch customer), and we have since spent a great deal of time together as families; in fact, they call us "little brother and sister". It is a privilege to have the opportunity to know them and to share with them our lives and our hope in God, while learning so much from them.

Our visit was to Pii Niam's husband's hometown, where they know everyone. They showed us the house where he was born, and we walked in the fields that housed elephants and water buffalo when he was a child. Quite an adventure for us city folk!

Puuying ruu Puuchay? (Girl or Boy?)

This is the question we invariably get when we meet someone new. We always say, "He's a boy. We haven't cut his hair yet". So we decided it was time to clip those beautiful curls- bittersweet for all of us. This is what we were aiming to tame...



We get in some good vocabulary practice while I try to keep him happy...

Another little piece of babyhood behind us...

...and our big boy rides off into the sunset.

Not your average Grandpa...

We went to the King's park a few weeks back and happened upon an outdoor aerobics session. You can find people exercising (in the cool of the evening) all over the city and fast-paced aerobics to techno beats are popular. I had to get a few minutes of this elderly (ha!) man who isn't letting his age slow him down at all. I love how he motions to the others the end of the clip as if to say "Come on people? Why are you slowing down?"

Visit with Granna

Tim's mom, or Granna, as she is known to those little people who love her best, once again braved the 24 hours of travel to visit us. She left almost a month ago, so these pictures are sadly out of date, but I'm posting them for posterity. We were able to do some really special things while she was here, and here are LOTS of pictures (with a wee bit of commentary...):

First to Khao Keow, the open zoo that we love...

These cuddly (though large and hairy) bitarong were out, and they were SO much fun!

Now Emmy's preschool summer party...

Brother helps her get ready...

dancing with her friends...

and we all enjoy watching our girl.

Then off to the beach for a few days. We went to Hua Hin, the oldest beach resort in Thailand, only about 3 hours away by car.



We had the fun of celebrating Granna's birthday while we were at the beach. Funny story: we had her birthday dinner at a pizza place and had birthday cake after. After we had sung and were enjoying our cake, we heard the music playing over the loudspeaker..."Have yourself a merry little Christmas...." So Granna had herself a merry little birthday!



We had a girls' afternoon excursion to the Jim Thompson House, former home of American expatriate (JT) who revitalized the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 60's, then disappeared mysteriously while on holiday in Malaysia in 1967. His home is gorgeous, traditionally Thai, and filled with amazing Thai art treasures.


And Granna gave our friend Pii Niam a run for her money in an international air hockey game at the Tesco Lotus play area. This place is crazy but fun, especially if you're under 12 and have a high tolerance for chaos.

Thank you for coming to see us, Granna, and here's to many more Thailand adventures!

a boy and his dog

Normality

As we live in Thailand, one of the things I ponder, and sometimes struggle with, is normality, or lack thereof. We don't live completely like Thais and we don't live completely like Americans. We're just different. As it's summertime, my friend Crystal and I have been enjoying taking our kids to the pool several times in the last couple of weeks. It gives us a lovely feeling of normality as we enjoy sitting at the pool with our children, and swimming is the only outdoor activity you can really do during the hot season, so it's great for all of us. We usually go to the pool at the King's park. It's a wonderful pool, but has some interesting rules, like the one that says all females must wear a swim cap (hence Emmy above). Today we went with our friend Jan to the pool at the school where her kids attend (no swim caps required), and it was a good morning of talking with friends and watching our kids play.

At lunchtime we went together to eat. This is where I started to ponder the question of normality. Thinking of my former life, a lunch after a morning of swimming would probably mean loading up in the car and driving to CFA or somewhere similar. Here's what we did. Walked a quarter of a mile or so from the school in the blazing sun (weather.com said it was 97 degrees and felt like 109- I believe it) to a string of outdoor stands. Sat around a folding table on red plastic stools (babies on our laps). The kids ate fried rice with chicken, I ate stir fried noodles with veggies, and we had fruit shakes and watermelon. While Asa and I waited our turn at the fruit stand, some women took an interest in him, as usual ("I'll take the farang baby; put him in a bag"). It was crazy hot, but the stand was covered and the food was really good. Then we walked back to the school, hailed a taxi (our car is still in the shop), and came home (2 adults and 5 children in the taxi). I just had to laugh as I sat sweating, feeding Asa bites of rice on my lap, at the contrast between this life and what might otherwise be.

Budding Photographer

I walked in the house the other day and found Emmy in her undies (which is how she most likes to be), with the camera hanging around her neck. She immediately announced, "I'm going to take a picture of you, Mommy", and then proceeded to show me her documentary of life in our home. Her artistic endeavor entertained her the rest of the afternoon. Here are a few of her shots...




Just give us a call if you want to schedule your session. We're currently waiving the sitting fee:).

Who Needs a Swimming Pool?

Our favorite moment: when Emmy got stuck in the bucket, panicked, and exclaimed, "Help, help, I can scarcely move!". Always the proper one, that Em:)!