Day 3

Day 3 –
Today was another wonderful day! First we took a taxi to the Grand Palace to see where the King of Thailand lives. Actually the king who is in power now doesn’t live there, but Kings in the past have. We thought taking a taxi there would be cheaper and better than paying for a tour, but we were a little overwhelmed when we arrived and saw how huge the place was. It was also the last day of the season which is a big day in Thailand, so the Palace area was very crowded. We had no idea where to go or what to do, so we decided to pay for a guide to show us around and we found a really nice and helpful young guy. He took us around the palace grounds and we were amazed at the ornate buildings and beauty of it all. We were able to enter the temple and see the Emerald Buddah who was dressed in his “rainy season costume”. The next day, his outfit was changed in a big ceremony for the next season. There are 3 seasons in Thailand and the Buddah has an outfit for each one. The King will be celebrating his 80th birthday on Dec. 5th, so we saw many signs and people wearing yellow shirts in honor of him. We saw the balcony where he will address the crowd on his birthday.

After we spent a couple of hours at the palace, our tour guide walked us through a crazy and busy marketplace to the canal area. Here, we boarded a long tail boat and went on a tour of the canal for over an hour. It wasn’t exactly the clear and peaceful waters that we are used to, but it was really interesting to see how the Thai people live on the edge of the river. We were dropped off near the What Phao temple, but Allie wasn’t feeling great and was more than ready for a nap, so we decided to find a taxi and head back to the hotel. We tried out the Thai restaurant in the hotel for lunch and then went up to the room for a rest break. Kelsey and I did some more shopping and then returned to the hotel to get the girls and Jason. We went to a very Americanized mall down the street where they had a HUGE Christmas tree and some pretty decorations. We ate at a Japanese place there and then walked back to the hotel. It had just gotten dark and this was our first experience in the street in the dark. It made us a little nervous, but we made it back to the hotel safely. We were all tired and ready to go to bed again!!

Day 4

Day 4 -
Today we went on a tour starting at 6:30am. We got on a bus with about 8 other people and headed to the Floating Market. The tour guide was very funny – he had the most interesting accent we had ever heard!! We drove for about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the market and enjoyed seeing the huge city along the way. We got on a boat and rode for about 20 minutes down some canals where we could see more of the traditional Thai homes. When we arrived at the floating market, they let us off the boat and we walked around and shopped for a while. It was a very fun experience. We were finally able to taste a few of the snacks from the vendors . We had been warned not to eat food from the vendors in Bangkok as their booths and food are not clean. After some shopping time, we got back on the bus and went to a wood working village. We were able to see the workers making the most detailed and incredible wood carvings that we had ever seen. If we’d had more time, we might have been tempted to order some of the beautiful furniture. The prices were expensive, but reasonable considering the detailed work that went into the pieces.

The next stop was supposed to be a temple, however, as there was a festival of some sort going on that day, we were unable to find a place to park the bus. The traffic on the street was unbelievable!! We drove on next to the Rose Garden. It’s a place that actually used to be a garden with roses, but is now a resort. The big attraction here was the buffet lunch, elephant show, and Thai cultural show. We enjoyed all of these things and the girls were even able to ride on an elephant which was fun for them.

We headed back to the hotel and arrived about 5:30. Kelsey and I went out to pick up a few last shopping items. We came back and enjoyed a wonderful massage at the spa in the hotel. There were massage places everywhere in the malls that were tons cheaper, but we were too nervous to do those there not knowing for sure how they’d be, so we decided to spend the extra money. We definitely enjoyed ourselves. We went to the bakery in the hotel to get dinner and saw the staff rolling out the red carpet for a wedding that we had seen in the pool area. We waited for a while to see who was coming, but got tired of waiting. We later found out that the King’s daughter was attending the wedding and we were sad that we hadn’t waited to see her!! We went upstairs to eat our bakery food and then went to bed.

Day 5

Day 5 –
Now that it is almost time to leave, we are adjusting a little more to the 3 hour time difference between here and Guam. We finally slept a little later this morning – 7:00 was better than 5:30!  We enjoyed our last day of breakfast at the hotel buffet, then went to the pool for one last swim. The pool was very cold, but Adysen and Allie enjoyed themselves anyway. After baths and packing, we walked to Starbucks and enjoyed one last coffee! Then, it was time to go. We were sad to see our vacation end, but we have lots of wonderful memories that we will keep forever!!

We're going to Thailand!!!!

I am SO excited!! We starting planning this trip many times over the last few months, but stopped as we were unsure if we wanted to spend the money right now. Anywhere we go from here is SO expensive as flights fromm an island in the middle of nowhere for 5 people are costly! Last week we decided that we will be greatly disappointed if we don't get to go to Thailand while we are here, so we scrambled around to get it planned at the last minute. It all fell into place today and we will head out to Bangkok early next Thursday morning for 4 days!!! I think it will be a trip we will all remember - I'm sure plenty of pictures will show up on the blog soon! :)

Thank you Veterans!

Living on a military base has definitely given us a new view on people who serve in the military. The sacrifices that they and their families make for our country is just amazing! Adysen had an assignment last week to make some signs honoring some Veterans in our family and I wanted to share them. She chose her Great Grandpa Bill and her Great Uncle Bubba. The signs are now hanging on the "wall of honor" in our school. We don't take enough time to honor and thank the people who have fought for the freedoms of our country. THANK YOU!!!!!

Trick or Treat

This Halloween we had Alice in Wonderland, Sharpay(from High School Musical) and a pretty princess. Here they are....

A busy day

Well the camera stayed busy today...... First, Adysen dressed up as her favorite storybook character. She chose Piper the Mouse. The 2nd grade students read the book with their character in it to the younger kids. Adysen was the cutest Piper ever!!






Then, this afternoon Allie won a prize for her entry into the Red Ribbon week poster contest. Her picture was chosen from many entries in K-2nd grades. She was SO excited to win!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Of course we'll have more pictures after the actual day tomorrow, but I wanted to share the fun we've had getting ready for the big day. Here is the yearly pumpkin carving ritual and a few of the girls in their Halloween shirts just because they are cute!

More changes for Allie....

Allie failed her vision screening during a check up a few weeks ago. She went to the eye doctor yesterday and we learned that she would indeed need glasses. The bad news is that she has an astigmatism, but the good news is that it does have the potentinal to improve over time as her eyes grow and change. Her prescription isn't too strong at this point,so we are thankful for that. We had to pay WAY more than what we pay for Adsyen's glasses in the states, so we hope that this prescription works for her and that this pair lasts until we get back to the 2 for $99 deal at Eyemasters this summer!! Anyway, here she is...........

No Teeth!!

Here are a couple of other pictures that I got today that capture the toothless grin even better! :)

Snaggle toothed girl!

After a LOT of hysterical tears and MAJOR drama, Allie has lost her front 2 teeth and has the toothless grin that I always LOVE!!! :) You would have thought she was dying with the way she screamed when we pulled them, but those pesky teeth are out now! I'm excited because she was supposed to have her school pictures taken today, but they postponed them until Friday, so now we will have that toothless grin captured in her first grade photos!! I love it! :)

What a pretty girl!!

Kelsey went to a dinner with the youth group on Thursday night and I thought she looked SO pretty, so I had to share these pictures!!

Another proud girl!!

Thank goodness Allie got her vest and book tonight! I was worried because she SO wants to keep up with Adysen and she was ready with her memory work, but one of the requirement is to attend 2 meetings in a row and she didn't do that since she was sick last week. Thankfully, they didn't count that against her, so here she is with her new Awana getup!! :)