Yet again, my posts are few and far between. My mom just threatened me tonight to update it (May 31) so I stayed up late to get it done! :) I know that I'm constantly vowing to get caught up, but then our internet service is out for a week or something else happens and I don't get a chance to update our blog. I did at least post some pictures in a timely fashion! But, you'll be seeing several posts for the last couple of months coming in the next several days.

We had an awesome visit with my mom in....March - UGH, I really am behind! The time flew by which was sad, but we did so much! Plus, it was great because she was the only one that had to get use to the time change - we didn't lose a week waiting for Max and Siena to adjust this time!

The strangest thing happened while my mom was here - it got cold in Thailand! You may laugh at me, but it really was cold (at least for here!). I had to break out the winter clothes and put Siena and Max in long sleeve shirts and pants -- that's never happened here - ever!!! The lowest the temperature has gotten before March was in the low 80's which felt cool, but okay. However, the low 70's is freezing here - Thais are all in their parkas (and I was a little tempted to break out mine, but a fleece did nicely! :)) Here's Siena in a dress with a turtleneck. I was excited because she got to wear these clothes again - we had bought them while in the States in October. They were a bit snug, but hey, it was only for a day or so! :)


Max also had International Day at his school on that first Friday my mom was here. All the children had to wear a "costume" from their home country. What is a traditional American costume?? Yep, you guessed it - jeans, a t-shirt and baseball cap - although the baseball cap never made it to the parade. My mom, Siena, and I went to the International Day parade and braved the cold weather - low 70's! My mom thought I was crazy thinking it was so cold and dressing Siena in a fleece - but she was cold! :) Here are some pictures of the parade and there's a video of Max and his best friend, Matthew, holding hands. They are so cute together! :) After school, we went out to lunch and Max enjoyed a cookie - you'll see he has chocolate all over his face!






That weekend we headed to the south of Thailand to the island of Phuket. It's probably what people think of when we mention a beach in Thailand. It was fabulous!!! Max started to pack a couple of days before our trip and he was sure to bring his snorkel gear that Uncle Jim and Aunt Sharon got him for his 3rd birthday. We had such a great time enjoying the warm weather at the beach. Max and Siena also had fun playing on the beach. I was just happy to get out of the city! :) Max loved the water (well, he was scared of the waves at first, but you'll see he was in there with his snorkeling gear in no time!). Siena really didn't care for the water and was scared by the noise the waves made when they crashed. She mostly played in the sand away from the water! :)


We stayed at a beach called Bang Tao which is in the northwest part of Phuket. Our hotel was in the Laguna complex, which consists of 5 resorts that are inter-connected by canals (so you can take boats around) or by trolley buses. Chris and I stayed at the Allamanda resort when we visited Thailand in 2006 so it was very familiar to us! Plus, the holiday club had a super sweet deal on 2 bedroom villas! :) There were also baby elephants that came out to the beach every morning from the hotel. It was a blast and I know the kids enjoyed it! :)

We stayed in Phuket until Tuesday and had Wednesday and Thursday in Bangkok to just hang out. Max and Siena enjoyed the time with my mom and my mom took Max to school with me in the mornings and then we'd spend time with Siena. Three generations out to lunch - fun stuff! :)

The BEST thing my mom did for Chris and me was watch the kids while we went to Cambodia for the weekend - AHHHHH! Well, actually, it really wasn't that relaxing - Chris had us backpacking again. So, instead of taking a plane, I had to take - a skytrain, taxi, Bus, tuk-tuk, taxi, and yet another tuk-tuk to get to our destination - and yes, it was a 9 hour adventure overland from Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia. If you want to see every single detail of how we did it, Chris has a blog about it. Apparently, there aren't any good blogs about how to do it so he created one! Yes, that sounds like him, right?! :) (http://www.bkk2rep.com/).

In 2006 we flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap (where Angkor Wat is) because the road from the border to Siem Reap wasn't paved and there was so much corruption. The corruption is still there, as you can read on Chris' blog, but the paved road makes for an okay ride. Chris was dead set on making the trek overland, and I'm so glad we did it solo without the kids. That would have made for way too long a trip for them - and certainly more of an adventure than I would have wanted to have! :)

At first, I thought, we could not take our kids to Cambodia. But, it grew on me - yet again - and of course I'd take them back! Angkor Wat is amazing and the architecture is so awesome. Yeah, it's pretty dirty and very third world; however, I was quickly reminded of why Cambodia was my 2nd favorite country out of the 23 we visited in 2006 - the kindness of a people that have been through so much and have every right to be bitter, but aren't. I was just happy that we didn't go to Phnom Penh this trip...not sure I will ever go back there! So very depressing and the killing fields are the saddest place I've ever been...especially now as a mother, I'm not sure I could stomach to see the "killing tree" that was used to kill babies to save bullet...how awful....

Okay back to happy things....We were only in Siem Reap for 3 days/2 nights so we decided to only go back to Angkor Wat for one day and pick our 3 favorite temples and see them again -- Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Ta Phrom (aka "Tomb Raider temple"). We also visited "Pub Street" - a backpacker type of street, but actually it's the only central area so everyone goes there. Our favorite spot - the Blue Pumpkin - an awesome coffee/sandwich shop, of course! :)

Here are pics of Angkor Wat. The complex is huge and so ornate!


Then, Bayon which is a temple within another temple complex. I think it's so neat because there are 216 faces on the temple. The bridge leading into the temple complex was lined with men playing tug of war. We were lucky enough to see elephants coming through the tunnel gates. That was a neat sight! :)


But, my favorite of the 3 temples is Ta Phrom. When the Angkor Wat complex was discovered, they started to clear all the trees away so that the jungle didn't overtake the temples. However, they left one temple in its natural form to show what nature can do - it's amazing! :)



And finally, here is a picture of our hotel and a photo across the street. It's crazy the difference a street can make! Plus, a photo of the Blue Pumpkin! :)




Max and Siena had fun playing with Oma at our apartment or in the building playroom. Here are some random shots of the kids playing!



We had an AWESOME trip with my mom and hated to see her go! :( Miss you mom, and thanks for letting us have a great weekend trip away...I know you probably enjoyed it more than we did!! :)