Catch up

Jeff mentioned that we had a full Sunday and that is why I am (again!) late with my usual Sunday post. Little did we know that on top of being exhausted from a busy Sunday (isn’t Sunday supposed to be a day of rest? I’ve got to work on that!), I was also getting sick. Not fun. I had about 24 hours of fever and terrible aching. As I sent Jeff off to work on Monday morning, I didn’t know how I was going to cope. Plus, I felt terrible because I was supposed to go to IDC (Immigration Detention Center) with him to take the Dhakals things they’ve been without for too long. A dear man in the ward suddenly called Jeff up, and asked if he could visit the Dhakal family with him. In no time, it was arranged for him to meet Jeff on Tuesday with all the supplies for the Dhakal family, plus some serious medication for me. Thanks to him, we knew the Dhakal family would be taken care of, and Jeff could arrange to come home and take care of me! What a blessing!

Now that I'm feeling a bit better, I'm ready to start playing catch up! Because of our fun trip to Khao Yai last weekend, I forgot to post a couple of my favorite pictures from the previous week. Jack had a short day, so we had some extra play time together and made the most of it by heading to the pool! Jane loves water, like I've said a million times, but our pool is COLD, so she mostly just plays beside it with her dishes, or around it with Jack. I don't care what she does, she has fun!

I loved this series of my two together. Very typical of trying to capture a decent picture of them together. Trying to do what mom asks...

getting a little silly...

and I've lost them completely, but who cares? I LOVE watching them together!

There have been a few things lately that have indicated that maybe we've been in Bangkok too long. For one, for a split second, while the kids were playing in the pool (above) and I was sitting beside the pool watching, playing, and reading my book, I actually thought, "I sure wish someone would come and take my order for a smoothie!". Usually, when we're relaxing by a pool somewhere in Thailand, that's what happens, but I'm embarrassed that I'm getting used to it.

Another one is that it seems totally normal to me here to take many of my clothing repairs to someone else, rather than doing them myself. I've repaired a few things, replaced buttons, fixed a seam, but almost anything beyond that, I just take it to the streets! This lady replaced a zipper, took one of Jeff's shirts down a size, and repaired some pants, all for 100 baht (~$3)! Just can't beat it.

I know I probably mention "mom guilt" way too often, but feel it when my kids are completely unaware of normal American things... like Slurpees. We were walking along and it was really hot, so I marched Jack into a 7-11 for water, but I found a Slurpee machine! I was thrilled, and immediately started filling one up. Jack stood in awe and finally asked, "Mom, what is that?". As he realized how delicious it was, he kept asking, "what do you call this again?". Sigh. I felt it again when Jack asked me the other day what hot chocolate was. Double sigh. Have we been here too long, or am I just not doing my part as an American mother?

So, moving on. Jane was invited to a trial ballet class for 2 year olds. I thought it would be a total joke, but honestly, she loved it and did really well! I was doing most of it with her, so I didn't get many action shots, but it was a fun time, and who can not enjoy seeing Jane in tights and a leotard. She was the most beautiful ballerina there!

Jane especially loved running around in circles and using all the fun props. Wings, tiaras, scarfs, and baskets with petals. She is such a girl, and I'm loving every minute of it.

These are the Flammers from Logan, Utah. They are in our ward, but we've never had a chance to get to know them because they live about 11 hours south of Bangkok. They come up when they can, but it is quite a trek! They are about 18 months into a 27 month contract with the Peace Corps, and I am completely in awe of what they are doing down there! I like to think that if Jeff and I didn't choose to start our family so soon, we would have done something as adventurous and selfless as they have, but we both agreed that we probably wouldn't have had the guts! So, here's to people who leave their comfort zones way behind!

One of our biggest adventures this week was just getting home! We got off the train and it was raining - no big deal, right? It wouldn't have been if we could have gotten a truck to take us down our soi, but they were all full! So, rather than waiting another 10 minutes, we chose to just walk it. We knew what we were in for, so Jeff put Jane on his shoulders, Jack was willing to swim, and I rolled up my pants, which just happened to be white. So smart. At one point, the water was up to Jack's behind. Thank goodness for an adventurous little boy! If you can't tell, they actually are walking on the sidewalk.

So, how do you celebrate the 4th of July in Thailand? Lucky for me, I ran into an American at the Chokchai farm last weekend who let us know about an awesome Independence Day Picnic put on by the American Chamber of Commerce. I was thrilled! We spent Saturday afternoon at a park full of Americans, which felt really weird to begin with, but eventually it felt just right. I got to eat delicious Mexican food, Jeff and Jack got hot dogs off the grill, and Jane ate free Dairy Queen ice cream. Hey, it's the 4th of July!

They had soldiers in uniform standing at attention for a while, and whether it was intended or not, they turned into picture props. Mostly for the Thais who were there, they just took turns standing with them and taking pictures. I watched these young men have absolutely no expression through all of this and wondered if they were loving or hating it. Jack was in awe, and as I explained to him what they do and why they do it, I got pretty emotional. It was nice to watch understanding dawn on my little boy as he realized these men are real life heroes.

I didn't really want to pose by the soldiers (give them a break!), but the kids were excited to salute like them!

Do you think Jane likes Jack or something?

They had a nice program with the soldiers posting the colors, the singing of the national anthem, and the ambassador reading a part of the Declaration of Independence. It was nice to have something that felt familiar on one of the best holidays of the year. I missed our usual traditions with the family, and this didn't quite replace it, but it was nice to have something to help us celebrate being Americans. What a blessing it is!

The park was full of games, treats, and blow up toys to play on. Jack did everything else, then had his sights set on this one. He waited in line for almost 45 minutes to climb this big blow-up climbing wall. When he got up there to do it, the pegs were way too far apart for him, which probably explains why everyone else in the line was at least 3 years older than he was. But, this kid was determined! He did his very best, and after getting a bit frustrated, Ming Wei, who had just shown up, grabbed the rope and pulled him the rest of the way up! Way to go, Jack!

The big finale of the day was the fireworks show, which was amazing! I thought it would be a nice, small show with maybe a few overhead. Oh, no. It was amazing! They were huge, and right over our heads, and went on forever! I was so impressed, and once I thought of it, realized I shouldn't have been surprised. Americans aren't known for doing things "small". Jeff, Jack, and I loved the fireworks, but Jane wasn't too excited about the noise, poor girl. She was so looking forward to them, but I forgot to warn her about the noise! She probably would have enjoyed them more from a little bit farther away! Notice Jack's feet in this picture. Muddy and shoeless. His shoes were nowhere to be found after the climbing wall, and the water from the dunk take flooded a good part of the park, so we were all a little muddy on the way home. It's been almost 2 years here that we have left our shoes unattended all over the place, and the place where his shoes go missing is at an event full of Americans! Someone must not know the rule of leaving with the shoes that you came with.

On to Sunday. Yes, it was busy! But, in a good way. We met a family at church from Phoenix, AZ, and invited them for dinner. It was fun to try a couple of new recipes (I don't do this very often right now!), and have some new company! Scott comes here on business a lot, but we'd never met. He just happened to bring his wife, Dana, and daughter Janice with him this time. Jack was totally enthralled with Janice the entire time and she was amazing with him! After we put a completely exhausted Janie to bed, Jeff and I were able to have a nice visit with Scott and Dana.

So now that you've spent all this time reading about our week, I hope you haven't regretted it. I realize I'm super wordy, but in some ways, I'd rather write more than less, just so I don't forget. I know myself, and I know I remember things better when I write them down. Although I am feeling better, I'm still not at the top of my game, but hoping I can be soon so I can really enjoy having Jack home with Janie and I full time for just 2 short months. I'm looking for fun science, art, and cooking ideas to fill our summer time with, so any ideas you've got, or websites you use, pass them along!

So... we're moving to Australia.

Just kidding. After the long day we've had, I'm giving Mindy an official break from the blog tonight. Check back in a day or two.

Khao Yai

If you read my blog regularly, you probably know how much I LOVE living in the city. Ever since my first visit to San Francisco at the age of 13, I have dreamed of living in a big city. Visiting Boston, Berlin, Vienna, and of course, New York, only made me want it even more. I'm such a dreamer. Unbelievably, this is one dream that I'm actually living right now, which sometimes I still can't get over. I love being right in the middle of it all. I love traveling by public transportation, walking all over, and seeing the daily hustle and bustle of life that reflects the country I live in, and I absolutely love opening our draperies in the morning to the sunlight and a gorgeous 15th story view. You couldn't pay me to live anywhere else in Bangkok. I will admit though, it does have it's challenges. I often get "mom guilt" when I think of some of the things my children are missing out on by not living in the Utah suburbs like I did. They never get to just ride their bikes out on the sidewalks with all their little friends. They don't have a sandbox or nice, soft grass like I grew up with. (I won't get into the things they do get here, because I'm talking about my "mom guilt" items.) So, as I was really feeling the guilt this last week, I realized we needed a break from city life and got on planning a couple days of fresh air, clean dirt, and good family fun.

Jeff and Jack went for a Father and Son's outing to Khao Yai National Park last year and had a great time. I'd been wanting to go somewhere in the mountains, and since this was only two hours away, I thought it was the perfect getaway. So we booked a hotel, hired a van, and off we went!

We left early Friday morning and unfortunately hit some famous Bangkok traffic, but it didn't delay us too long. It was fun to be in a too-big van for just the four of us, where we could stretch out, wander around, tell stories, read books, and even watch a movie. I loved watching the scenery slowly change from the big city, industrial areas, industrial, industrial, and finally a little nature! Khao Yai literally means "big mountain", which I guess in Thailand, really is considered BIG. The size wasn't what I loved about it because it pales in comparison to the Wasatch mountains; I loved how GREEN everything was. You don't really even see the mountain, you just see mounds of trees that completely cover the mountain. Just green, green, green.

We stayed at the Sak Phu Duen resort, just outside of the park. Businesses here use the word "resort" a little more liberally than we Americans do, so I wasn't sure what we were in for as we started passing some of these "resorts" on the way in. I was starting to get a bit nervous. But, as we pulled up, I was put at ease as it all looked really nice, clean, and not the least bit busy! These are the driveways to the cottages. The landscaping was gorgeous.

I wished I had my camera out when we pulled up the first time. It was picturesque. The driver drove us up to the front steps and (security must have called them) the bell hop and a very beautiful Thai girl were waiting there for us. They each hopped to their duty, the bell hop got what little luggage we had, and the girl stood there with a wai looking picture perfect and directing us inside. Thailand is awesome.

We always like to explore the grounds before we go about our activities. They had a fun (but extremely worn) playground the kids loved.

By this playground was a HUGE area with at least 100 rabbits. There was also a big cage for several peacocks. Jack thought they were fascinating.

You'll have to excuse all the pictures, but I love remembering the places we stay because they are all so unique! The room was a very simple little cottage with a balcony that was the same size as the actual room! This was the view from the balcony to the other cottages and garden area. Occasionally, gardeners would walk by and see us inside and wave. I don't think that would go over too well in the states, but here it seemed totally normal.

We loved the windows in the bathroom and the closet area. They just open right up! It's no wonder how our not-so-little cockroach friends got inside (sad, but true). I was reminded that night that it's been a LONG time since I had a shower with no hot water! I'm NOT good at that at all, and honestly, how cold can water really get in this climate? Not very. I was feeling like I've been pretty pampered most of my life!

I loved the scenery from the pool. I just couldn't get over all the green! There really is green even in the city, but it's just different to have it really dominate, and I was loving it. We loved this pool the next morning (even with the audience of breakfast eaters), but it was NOT the best pool. It was kind of dirty and run down, but from this picture it really does look beautiful!

We drove into the park and paid the foreigner entrance fee (10x more than the fee for Thais, ouch!), and really had no idea what we were going to see or do. Luckily, Khun Wuth (the driver) took us to the visitors center where we could get some literature on what our options were. This was Jane's favorite thing. Dead snakes. I don't know what it is about my kids and snakes. They love 'em!

Shortly after this, we met a nice couple from Colorado. They were backpacking through and we actually ended up spending the rest of the day with them. We went on a short little nature hike that turned out to be a little more adventurous than I was imagining. I just wanted something simple that would be a good first exposure to hiking for the kids. Well, this did it! Here was bridge #1 that we crossed. Having just watched the old Indiana Jones movies (and knowing the level of upkeep on a lot of things here), I was feeling actually a bit nervous about my family on it!

Jack found a GIANT pill bug, potato bug, roley poley bug, or whatever you want to call it. That was cool.

We also found many, many, many little leeches. They were everywhere and they are creepy! I picked at least 6-7 off of my feet and legs. Maybe my Chacos weren't such a good idea. Luckily, my kids didn't have any problems with leeches or any bugs. They were loving every bit of it. Jane loved her "seat", and Jack didn't complain once about the walking. It helped to have Mitch and Kate there to visit with, and Kate knew all kinds of interesting facts about bugs and animals that Jack was just eating up!

Jeff informed me after crossing this bridge that if he were to fall in, he would probably not even try to get out. He'd just need to let himself go after being engulfed in this swamp. (It was pretty gross, but no more than some of the canals in the city that he feels the same way about.) The surroundings here were stunning. It felt like someone could come through swinging on a vine at any second.

There are just SO many safety hazards here we just try to overlook and make the best of. This bridge was so incredible. I know, that's a lot of bridges to show in one post, but they were really amazing!

As we got to the waterfall at the end of this hike, Jeff was standing around waiting for the rest of us, and this monkey walked right past him. We've heard of aggresive monkeys in Thailand many times, so it's a little nerve racking, but he just wandered by. We got this shot a little later as he walked off. We also saw monkeys wandering through closed food pavilions which didn't make us especially want to eat there later.

We drove up the mountain to another really famous waterfall. It was featured in the movie "The Beach", but I've never seen it. Anyone seen that one? At first, we could only get to the top of the waterfall. Beautiful, but not what we were hoping for.

We walked down these super steep stairs. (Amazingly, on the way back, Janie did them all by herself as we told her the story of the Little Engine that Could. I love that story)

We thought this waterfall really was gorgeous. Jane loved watching the rainbow inside of the falling water, and Jack was totally excited about all the huge rocks to climb on. There was a movie being filmed there as we approached, so we watched for a while as they filmed a Swedish guy jumping in from a tall tree. It was 360 degrees of beauty, which unfortunately, I couldn't capture with my little point and shoot.

We climbed rocks for a while, then Jack wanted to take his shoes off. This was my first mistake. My second mistake came when I offered to roll up his pants for him so he could put his feet in. My third mistake was turning around. All of a sudden my fully dressed boy was in the water up to his chest. Oops. He panicked for a bit, and then realized he wasn't in trouble and asked if he could just get all the way in. (Why didn't I see this one coming? My sisters and I were the BEST at this little lure of letting us get in the water. At least we always thought we were, I'm sure my parents knew exactly what they were getting into.) This is how Jack hiked back up to the van.

Luckily, they had a gift shop at the top where we found some kids clothing. I was glad he didn't have to do the night safari in his underpants! We paid 50Baht a person and hopped on the back of this truck to ride around the back roads of the park for an hour. Jeff and Jack did this when they were here before and saw all kinds of wild elephants, monkeys and deer. We mostly just saw the deer and a few Civets which Kate was really excited about. Jane fell completely asleep during our drive, but Jack loved it, even if we didn't see as much as we were hoping. It was a fun-filled day, but we were all exhausted and ready to get back "home".

Saturday, we took it easy during the morning. Jane and I were the first ones up, and since she was so happy, I thought it would be fun to take her for a little walk. She was hilarious walking up and down the road in front of our cottage. This girl can be quite determined when she wants to get somewhere. I took these pictures because I think kids are cute when they first wake up. And after a night of her kicking and punching Jeff and me (she's a mover in her sleep), I needed to remember how cute she actually is.

This picture, for some reason, reminded me so much of my sister, Joanna. Do we have a picture of Joanna with this same expression somewhere? I haven't started calling Janie "Joanna" yet, like I'm sure I will, eventually, but I do call Jack "Jesse" sometimes. All these J's get to be a little confusing! Isn't my girl sweet? Just like my sister!

We started our day with a nice breakfast and a fun dip in the pool. Jack recently acquired a snorkel and thinks it's the best thing since dishwashers, so we all had fun giving it a try.

We spent the remainder of our trip at a nearby dairy farm, called Chokchai. Chokchai is the company who produces the best tasting Thai milk, which is still not nearly as good as American milks, but we can at least drink it. This place opened itself up to agrotourism about 8 years ago and we'd heard nothing but good things about it. Although the tour was almost completely in Thai, we still managed to understand at least where we should meet our group and a few facts about the cows. Quite a view, eh? This is Jack saying "mooooo".

They cart each tour (of about 80 people) around in wagons pulled by tractors. We watched informative videos, saw the ice cream making process (I think) and then had some time at their cowboy town. It was funny to see cowboys entering a stage with a wai, but they certainly knew how to ride their horses and were great with a whip and lasso. The kids were in awe, and I wanted to cry because of all the good western music they were playing. It was tasteful western music, and reminded me of how I used to be a pretty good fiddler, back in the day.

Across from cowboy town was a whole field of dragon fruit. I'd never thought of how this exotic fruit grew, and certainly didn't imagine them on trees like this, but guess what? These aren't trees! I didn't even notice, but Jeff pointed out that the trunk is actually a big pipe with these growing out of it. I don't really get it, but it was fascinating nonetheless. Jack really likes Dragon fruit. I mostly just like how it looks in a fruit salad (white with tiny black seeds).

We saw a dog show (I really am not a dog lover, so I wasn't too impressed. I wished we'd gotten there earlier when they were doing the sheep show. Way cooler!), then we were onto the best petting zoo I've ever seen. It was SO clean, and you could pet everything, and for 10 baht (about 30 cents), you could buy food to feed them. My favorite was feeding the calves. Jane wanted the bottle, but she set it down about 1 foot away from them and backed away. She was a little hesitant to say the least.

These sheep are a GREAT example of how clean this place was. I've never seen sheep this clean! They look like they are stuffed, they are so pretty! The kids weren't that interested in them, but I couldn't stop touching them! I think that was the highlight of the animals for me!

Jane liked the bunnies a little better since there was more fence between them and her. Plus, random people kept coming up and giving the kids food they could feed them. We stopped buying food at this point.

Jack loved his pony ride, and used all the commands he's practiced while riding Jeff at home. Our kids are prepared for everything! Jane was hilarious with the ponies. At first she didn't want to, so that was fine. Then, she started standing in line until she got to the front, then changed her mind again. We went through this several times until I finally decided she'd have more fun back at the petting zoo. Can we just call her Little Miss Fickle?

Both the kids loved the animal show with a pelican, goats, calves, dogs, and a parrot who could do math. It was actually really well done and the animals seemed extremely well taken care of.

So, you've finally come to the end of our trip! It was a fun-filled two days, and we were happy to head back home. It is funny to think that my kids are learning about cowboys, farm animals, and where milk comes from on a farm in Thailand. Their childhood (at least these two years) is nothing like what I had in mind when they were born. I've had to adjust my ideas of how to raise my children because we live in a different world that I imagined raising them in. When I think of it this way, my "mom-guilt" subsides. But, it sure didn't hurt to give them a taste of what it was like to have your own vehicle, what fresh air feels like, and just enjoying the outdoors! Now that we're back in the city, I can of course appreciate how much I love it here. But, it certainly is a different world.

So, after our trip, we were exhausted, but life goes on. Sunday was very busy, and we were lucky to have some guests come home from church with us! This picture is good of everyone but me (I was saying something I think), but at least we got it. I hate when people leave without a picture because sometimes we never see them again! Rachel and Adam Bushman are here for 4 months with Adam's work. They've been awesome at helping in nursery when they are in town, and we loved visiting with them about their adventures while they are here, and their plans for when they get back to Provo. Carrie is from South Africa and just arrived in Thailand a few weeks ago. She travels 2 1/2 hours each way (3-4 different modes of transportation) to come to church each week. She's young, single, and very independent. She was a huge help in the kitchen and my kids already love her. Jeremy Beck's been here many times. His family (Jack's friends Isaac and Lucas) left for Utah two weeks ago and he'll meet up with them next month. Most people here go "home" for the summer for at least 2 months, so our ward is about 1/4 of the size. We won't even have ONE member of the bishopric here for about a month. I did sharing time on Sunday to about 20 kids total. The small size is fun for a while, but we certainly are spread thin when it comes to manning all stations in this ward! Anyway, it was fun to have friends over and get to hear everyone's story. This ward is truly unique in so many ways, and I love how everyone just takes care of each other. What a blessing to be a part of it!

While we were visiting, Jack was determined to build all the animals in his KFC chicky meal clay set. He did a pretty good job!

For the few who read my blog for their Sunday afternoon activities, I'm sorry it was so late! I was exhausted on Sunday after everyone left and didn't want to sit at the computer. So, now it's taken me way longer! Anyway, thanks for reading and keeping in touch! Please, send me an email if I haven't heard from you in a while. I'd LOVE to know what everyone is up to! Have a fantastic week.