Wow did I need a break from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok!!! And, Chris had been itching to go somewhere for quite awhile. He never seems to be content just living life in one place! Chris took off Monday through Wednesday last week (Feb 14-16) and we headed to an island about 2 hours southeast of Bangkok – Koh Samet. We heard wonderful things about the island, mostly that you get the white sand beaches and clear waters like in the south (which are beautiful), and it's really secluded. (For anyone who's been to Thailand, it's a bit like Koh Phi Phi but not nearly as developed and the entire island is a national park).

The trip there was actually pretty easy, surprisingly enough! We drove and parked our car right at the pier and then got a speed boat over to the island. Max did not like the speed boat because it was pretty rough, but Siena loved it and was trying to jump (as she sat in my arms) as we hit waves!

The one nice thing about the island is that it’s really secluded. The island has no cars on it. Well, it might, but I didn’t even see a road! You get dropped off from the back of the boat (if you take a speed boat) so you’re wading in knee deep water to get to shore. If you take a ferry, you transfer to a dingy that takes you to shore and then get off the dingy in knee deep water. It can be a little tricky if the waves are big and pushing the boat! But, we all managed just fine and no one fell in! (I think if you stay at a 5 star resort on the other side of the island at Ao Prao beach, there are piers and this type of transfer isn’t necessary! You’ll just have to pay more!)

The beach was nice, but unfortunately, there was lots of garbage in the water. Too much for our liking!! We've spoken to people that have gone and they had "heard" about this at times, but never experienced it. Just our luck, huh?? We're still debating if we'd go back.....The cool thing is that everything you need is right there on the beach. However, at low tide, it's fine because you can walk right on the beach to wherever you're going. But, at high tide, the water comes RIGHT up the resorts/hotels. So, the pictures below - we're eating dinner at low tide, but in the morning, this was high tide. No more tables and chairs on the beach!

For what we spent, we were disappointed in our “family room”. It did have two bedrooms and two baths but it didn’t have any type of living area. So, that made it a little tricky when sleep time came. It was definitely better than all of us sharing one room, which we’ve vowed we won’t do until the kids are older (and going to bed at the same time). However, another plus, it forced Chris and me to go to bed early!

Max LOVED playing at the beach and in the waves. He brought his snorkeling gear and used it in the pool. He is too funny! In fact, he’s been going “diving” in our building’s pool – flippers and all, even though he really can't "swim" yet. He keeps telling me that when he’s 20, he’s going to swim at Ocean World. I’m just glad he’s putting his face in the water. For the longest time, he kept saying he wanted to dive, but not put his face in the later? I would simply reply by telling him that that would be a little hard!

We realized this was Siena’s first “real” time at the beach! We went to a beach southwest of Bangkok over the summer (Hua Hin/Cha Am), but Siena only swam and played at the pool. The beach at our hotel in Cha Am was rocky and pebbly, not white, smooth sand. If we go again, we’re going to stay at a more upscale place…we heard they truck in nice sand! But, the water still isn't clear - isn't like the east coast of the U.S. At first, she hated the sand, but after about 2 minutes, she was loving it. She wasn't much for the waves hitting her legs, but she liked splashing in the water.

We had a relaxing time…there’s not much to do other than relax! It rained on Tuesday morning, so we were stuck inside for several hours until it cleared. That worked out well though – forced relaxation. However, we decided not to bring our computers with us to really “get away” and realized we had no way to play DVDs. You think we’d know better by now!! Oh well.

That’s it for now….life is starting to settle down again. I’m looking forward to my mom’s visit – 2 weeks from Monday!!! She’s coming on March 15 and we all can’t wait!