Our days are starting early around here. Mostly because our children are jet lagged and we can't wake them in the afternoons. This makes for some productive, if cranky, mornings. This morning would have been more productive if we had not needed to call Poison Control (via Skype, transcontinental) because Asa ate shampoo.
Travelin' Man
Another highlight of the Robinson's trip was an afternoon we spent at Mahatthai, a community in which our team works. John brought toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss and gave a talk on proper care of your teeth, with his trusty interpreter, Kieow, one of our staff. The kids (and grownups) learned all about good and bad bacteria, and went home armed to care for their teeth!
Of course, the little ones got lots of attention. Everyone found Brennan fascinating with his white skin and red hair.
And Asa got his introduction to motorcycles, which are an everyday part of life in Thailand!
John and Brea enjoying guaythiaw, a Thai standard, at a stand across the street from our office...
This picture is from our sightseeing day downtown, at the Grand Palace. The kids did amazingly well with a car ride, a Sky Train ride, a boat ride on the Chao Praya, and lots of walking. Exhausting but fun, and no one had a meltdown!
Brennan sucking his thumb and holding Emmy's in the car. He called her "Mynie".
Asa, always with his Dog.
And a big treat for the mommies; the dads took the kids home and we were able to have an afternoon of shopping all to ourselves! We love our children, but it was SO good to have a little time to just be together.
Our girl has finally overcome her sand aversion and was able to play with abandon. She made a Australian friend named Rex, who had an adorable accent (he introduced himself by coming over and saying, "Excuse me, would the little girl like to play with the little boy?"), and that made the beach all the more fun.
Brea's sunset picture.
This boy enjoyed the sand like most people enjoy chocolate cake. Lots of our time was spent removing his sandy hands from his mouth!
Every single Thai person we met asked if we were sisters. Some asked if we were twins. I guess all foreign women look alike!
And another highlight of the past weeks- we welcomed Adele Grace Henry! This beautiful girl and her beautiful mommy are doing great and we're rejoicing with the Henry family. And as a bonus, I was able to show Brea where Asa Bear was born.
Tonight was our last night with the Robinsons, and they brought back some yummy Mexican food (a HUGE treat) from their shopping trip downtown, so we had a great dinner and then enjoyed the cuteness you see here*. Brennan the Fireman will soon be winging his way across the world, ready to battle blazes in Atlanta. We had an incredible time with our friends, and the post-visit sadness is lessened by the knowledge that we'll see them again so soon. Lots of pictures to follow...
The whirlwind that was language school finished up this week, and it was a relief to take my test and realize that I did manage to learn all 44 consonants and the long vowels, and I can read and write sufficiently well (albeit VERY slowly). There's more to learn in the next module before I have the entire body of literacy knowledge, but I'm happy to wait a while on that. For now, I get to go back to entire days of the cuteness you see above (isn't he so cool in his ladybug sunglasses?), and in only a few hours our friends John and Brea will arrive! They are amazing friends to be traveling across the world with an 18-month old to visit us, and we plan to soak them up and have some long-awaited down time while they're here.
Here's my language class. They're from Korea, Indonesia, America and China. I got attached to them, of course. And you can see The Greatest Thai Teacher of All Time, there in the middle in the purple shirt.
In other news, we had a birthday in the house a couple of weeks ago. Those Pull 'n Peel Twizzlers are excellent in a pinch for decorating a cake.
Celebrating Daddy's birthday
And another celebration, for Crystal and Baby Girl Henry who may arrive any time now! These women are my team and my friends, and we had a great time celebrating Crystal and how special she is, and the gift that God is giving to them (and all of us!) very soon.
Can't wait to meet you, little girl!
I was in the newspaper this week, strangely enough! The Bangkok Post, Bangkok's major English newspaper, did an article on Thai language schools and took this picture in our classroom last week. So here I am playing a game with my buddy Esther from Korea. So funny! Of course, my name is forever destined to be misspelled. If you're interested in reading the article (which, sadly, is not all about me and my adventures in Bangkok, but rather about learning Thai), you can find it here.