So, I don't think I'm ever going to promise to keep this blog up-to-date anymore. I'm hopeless at blogging!!! I will try to make this as short as possible...I know, you're laughing right now! :) Please just skim it....and remember, my intent with the blog is not only to update family and friends back home, but also to turn it into a book for Max and Siena and I don't want to leave fun memories out! Thus, all the specifics! :)

Because we were in Hong Kong the last week of June, Max missed his end of the year school party, which was disappointing. However, I was very thankful because the "Zumba moms" (me being one of the moms who took a Zumba class once a week with the other Mulberry House moms at a dance studio) performed! I felt like I dodged a bullet with that one. I'm not coordinated at all but really had fun in the classes! :)

The start of our summer brought wonderful news!!!! Our nephew, Sebastian (Sebi) David Rich, was born on July 6! He is so cute...just like his 3 older sisters! I can't wait to meet him during our October trip! Congrats Daniel and Kendal and big sisters - Evie, Brinley, and Kapri! :)

Our summer was really fun and we did lots of fun things around Bangkok. We didn't go anywhere, which was nice. Even our trip to Burma in August was canceled - due to our lack of ability to get a visa. Funny to think someone might think I'm a spy! :)

So, what did we do?

We started with a 4th of July celebration at the Embassy. Unfortunately, it got rained out, so we went, ate and went home! But, it was fun to be waving American flags, singing the National Anthem half way around the world, and enjoying red-white-blue popsicles. Also, Max has now started to say he's from "America" and lives in Bangkok - hallelujah! Not sure if he "gets it" but hey, he doesn't look to me for the answer to the question - "Where are you from?" Oh my little "global nomads"! We do try to make sure they eat American staples like hot dogs, mac 'n cheese, and cheeseburgers, which isn't hard because they love them.

The downside to our summer was that July was one big sick fest...each one of us was sick each week. I'm just soooo glad July is over with. We had to take Max to the pediatrician/allergist when he was sick, and he had bronchiolitis AGAIN! His poor little lungs because of this polluted city! Mind you, he had coughing fits in the middle of the night, but nothing where he seemed to have trouble breathing and he'd cough once or twice a day. To see him, you wouldn't think he was "sick". However, when we took him to the doctor, she said he was wheezing and ordered a nebulizer treatment while we were there. It made me feel like a horrible parent....maybe I should have gone to med school instead of law school!

Since he had bronchiolitis three times in about 4 months, she ordered allergy tests -- nothing, except an allergy to cats. Even the doctor was surprised and said, "he may just be sensitive to the air here". (We're going to have him see a specialist in NC when we come home in October.) We left the hospital with about 10 medications and then asked our pediatrician friend what was necessary and not - Thai doctors love to just prescribe way too much stuff! But, the two inhalers (used with a spacer) worked wonders!! No more coughing. He's also on Singular, and the other medications are working! Praise God!!

The other thing we have to do is have Max clean his nose with saline through a syringe. I'm going to post a video of this, so look for it. It's amazing! He does it all by himself!!!!! The doctor was really smart and showed us a Youtube video of another little boy doing it by himself, which made Max want to do it, oddly enough!! :) I think the colds have subsided for now, although Chris is getting over one. Oh, I cannot wait for the clean, fresh air we'll be breathing in PA and NC in October!!!!!!

But, I've taken note - next post must have clean air! It's one of my top 3 priorities! And, with regard to next assignments, I forgot to mention our second most exciting news this summer - we got our bid list!!! I can't publicly list out the countries here, but there are 2 Africa, 2 Europe, 2 Asia, 2 Mexico, and 1 South American. Chris and I are still working on our preferences - and we have to submit them next week! We've been researching, but have a feeling where God wants us to be. Let's see if the State Department agrees! As soon as I know where we'll be in summer 2012, I'll let you know. Exciting times! :)

But, back to what we did this summer! The kids had lots of fun at Lumpini Park - riding bikes and playing, and we even rode the duck boats on the lake one weekend with Gavin and his dad, Andy. Lots of fun! We got to see many monitor lizards in the water and lounging on the lake banks and feed the fish. The kids had a great time (as did us adults)! See the pictures below -- we need to get Chris a bike. He keeps trying to steal Max's!! :)


The only bad thing about Lumpini Park is almost stepping on the monitor lizards. Yes, the one below is one that I was about 10 feet from as I was walking and didn't realize it was there because I was watching Siena ride her bike! Yikes!!

We also hit other parks in Bangkok, such as Benjisiri Park and Benjikiti Park. Benjisiri Park is next to a huge shopping complex (Emporium) and is rather small, but they just put in new play equipment that is really nice!!! I wouldn't even let the kids play there before because the equipment was so unsafe! As for Benjikiti Park, Max loved how he could ride his bike around the lake! What he didn't like (as you can see in the picture), is having to wait as we walked to catch up! Plus, there were turtles you could feed. Siena enjoyed the parks too. She kept cleaning up the walking/biking track by throwing the twigs/leaves into the lake! And, the girl is fearless because at the Benjisiri Park, she played on the "big kids" equipment and didn't think twice!! (Her mom was thinking twice and a little nervous! But, I'm happy to report - no injuries! :))


We had some play dates over the summer and several at the Funarium - a huge inside play heaven for kids! The picture below is blurry but you can see Max way at the top of the Funarium play tubes. Max doesn't like the slide - it's too high - but Siena, loves it!!! Max does like it when I go down the slide with him, though! Gotta love it! :) One time, we celebrated Max's friend, Evie's birthday. Below is a picture of Evie and her mom, my friend Elley.

The kids also had brother-sister fun at the play area at Siam Paragon. Is that a hug or a head lock??? :)

One of Max's new favorite spots is TK Park in Central World. It's a library that has honeycomb shaped reading spots for the kids and a "treehouse" with them too. He likes to read the books, but he LOVES to climb and always insists there's a book on the top shelf he "has" to have!!

We also kept our Gymboree schedules and took advantage of the "open play" after Max and Siena's classes!

What week of our life would be complete without a trip to Siam Ocean World???!!! :) It's even more fun now that Siena is just loving the aquarium. We bought our yearly passes again this summer so we'll be going a lot this year too I'm sure!! :) Below are some pictures of Max and Siena riding the tuk-tuk display, looking at the fish, watching a sting ray feeding show, and stopping for a popcorn break. I think that spider crab is as big as Siena! Her favorite thing is the seahorses, though!

We also went to my friend Amy's daughter's 1st birthday party. It was lots of fun, although Max and I went together while Chris and Siena were home sick. Annabelle was so cute! Max was in the pool 99% of the time - shocking, right? :) Although his fingers were all pruned, he did manage to eat cake and help Amy unwrap Annabelle's presents! :)

Max's swimming improved a lot over the summer even though his swim lessons and beach trips stopped! I'm thankful Chris doesn't mind the freezing cold pool water. Max is now swimming in the deep end (he used to be scared of water over his head) and can even swim down and pick up coins and rocks at the bottom! It's awesome to watch! I think he'll be ready for our real snorkeling trip in November when my brother Jim, Sharon and their friend, Simone, come over for a visit! (YIPPIE to having visitors - I'm SOOO excited! :))

In addition to our pool, we did go to the BAMBI playgroup at the British Club a couple of times. It's an awesome set up with two small pools for little ones and a fun slide! When I first took Max last year, he wouldn't go down the slide, but all that has changed now! Plus, Siena went down too - although she was a little bit scared going into the water (which I liked!).

Max is still as creative as ever and keeps making all sorts of "structures" like the one on our bed below. Is it going to rain in the house? He also began using the jogging stroller as a "space ship." I'm not trying to squash his creativity, but I've actually had to limit the rooms where he can build things - his bedroom and the playroom. Everything else is off limits. If you look at the last two pictures below, you'll see why! Need I show you more?? :) He's also really into drawing and some of the things he draws are just awesome! I'll try to scan some of those in!

Max also has a new found love of Candy Land. He still doesn't follow the rules, but it makes for a shorter game! :)

There were lots of baths too! I hadn't gotten pictures of bath time in awhile, and as you can see, Max was not pleased with me! :)

Each weekend this summer, we made cheese pizzas at Max's request. He's such a good helper and enjoys helping me make the dough and put the cheese on the pizza. Maybe he won't be an architect but a chef!! :)

On days that it's too late for a trek to Lumpini Park, we've started riding bikes in the VERY small garden area at our apartment. It's not ideal, but does allow the kids to ride their bikes.

On Thai Mother's Day (August 12), Chris had off and we had our best family outing ever! For some reason it was not stressful in the least. Maybe it was because there was no traffic? Or, maybe it's because the kids were so well behaved? Maybe I had gotten enough sleep the night before? I'm not sure! But, our family had a great time visiting Wat Pho and the park next to it where the kids could play in the grass (although the scorching sun was brutal!). The Chao Phraya River was so flooded and muddy with all the rain lately. After playing for awhile, we took a tuk-tuk to the flower market to buy some fresh flowers and then had lunch at one of our favorite Bangkok restaurants - The Deck, which is on the Chao Phraya River and overlooks Wat Arun. It was just a really fun and relaxing day! :) I hope we have MANY more like it!

As for Siena, she is growing like a weed, speaking in full sentences (to my amazement), and such a sweet little girl. Oh, she is just precious!!! When Chris comes home, she loves to grab an I Spy book and have Chris tuck her in with her taggie blanket and read/spy together. What a daddy's girl - so cute!! She can also count to ten in Thai (and English, don't worry!). Thais are so delighted to hear her count. I thought the reaction to her saying "Sawadee Kah" (Hello/Good-bye in Thai) was funny - you should see their expression when she starts counting! (Max can count too...I didn't want to leave him out!)

Okay, so that wasn't so brief after all! My apologies....but the summer blog is over and done! More posts about our current life to come next week! Okay, so maybe it'll end up being next month! :)