Tons of Thailand Pics up!
I've posted the remaining pics from Thailand that I took. Sorry they took so long. We've been getting readjusted to being back home. The trip home wasn't too bad. I'll have Kris post all about it.
Talk to you all soon!
April 25, 2007
April 17, 2007
Happy New Year
We celebrated the Thai new year with most of the Saipetch family on Sunday. It is kind of like getting together for the Van Gorp 4th of July picnic. The food and tables were outside where it was 100 degrees in the shade, but they did have the AC on inside and they tried to keep the kids inside so they didn't get overheated. I volunteered for Mallory duty ;) They had quite a variety of Thai food and they also had ice cream. Mallory loved the ice cream and was begging everyone for their ice cream.
I think the best part was when everyone honors the oldest members of the family. Part of this was Buddist ritual, but I think the theme of honoring the elders was nice and something we don't do enough in America. All the elders, which were mainly 4 ladies who are 90+ years old and one of them is Eddie's Grandma, sat in a row and everyone passed in front of them and greeted them and gave them money. Afterwards, the Grandmas were able to say a few words to everyone. One of Eddie's aunts entertained them with some Thai dancing, which they liked. Then the Grandmas gave money to all the little kids. Mallory got 100 baht ($3) from her Grandma. We have pics of all of this and Ed will be posting them soon.
After the New Years celebration, we headed for the beach house. Mallory didn't like the feel of the sand on her feet a first and she was afraid of the water. She did get into the ocean finally and liked it...except for the salt water in her eyes. The water was 80 degrees so it felt like bath water. We will post pics of the beach too.
Right now we are trying to pack since we are leaving this evening. We seem to have much more than we came with. We are going to Ed's uncles house for dinner to see Great Grandma one more time before we leave, then heading for the airport.
See everyone back in Indy.
April 14, 2007
Hot Hot Hot
Ok, so I expected it to be hot in Thailand...100 degrees and 100% humidity - but expected to move from one air conditioner to another and that has been the case most of the time. But today, we are going to Ed's uncles house for the Thai new years celebration and it will be OUTSIDE. We will have a tent covering us from the sun, but I expect to be a sweaty pig. No one's house is big enough for all the family. Did I also mention that the celebration is at noon....the hottest part of the day. After we leave his uncle's house, we are heading to the beach house for two nights. I hope it is cooler by the ocean...but I have this feeling it won't be and that there will be no air conditioner at the house. Please send us cool thoughts from Indy...I hear it has been snowing.
Yesterday we went for a morning swim in the pool next door and then did some shopping. We went to the "Night Bazzar" It is a great place to shop..hundreds of booths with all kinds of stuff. We picked up some great stuff for ourselves and for our family. Mallory was a handful. She has been a handful this whole trip. We aren't quite sure why...but here are our theories. 1. She is getting over an ear infection 2. She is teething 3. She is in prime separation anxiety mode 4. She is 1.5 years old 5. She is always hungry.
For theory #1 - we are giving her an antibiotic that she usually takes without issue, so hopefully that issue is going away #2 she has been drooling non stop. She drenchs all her shirts and everyone is trying to wipe the spit off her chin. We can't give her ibuprofen here because the risk Dengue fever from mosquitos. Grandpa got her some infants tylenol, so that might help. #3 She doesn't want to go to anyone but me and Daddy. I can understand all the new people scaring her...but we have been with Grandma and Grandpa for 10 days now and she still screams if we give her to them. She also flips out when Eddie or I leave a room without her...even if one stays with her. It is driving us crazy...we have a nanny here that could take care of her while we do stuff, but she won't have anything to do with it. #4 At this age...she doesn't understand no and she gets so frustrated that she can't communicate her wants to us. We get frustrated that she won't listen to us. At home, she only used her pacifier for bed time and naps but here, we have been having to give it to her just to make her feel better. And speaking of the passy....she likes to throw it on down on the dirty streets and then gets very upset when we can't give it back to her right away..Argh! #5 The kid has eaten her way through Thailand. She has eaten more here than I have ever seen her eat in the States. And she eats anything. She ate fish balls (like a fish meatball) the other day. We got McDonalds yesterday and she ate an entire cheeseburger herself. Then a couple hours later ate an entire raisin danish. She is a bottomless pit. And let me tell you, when she is hungry...watch out. Get her food fast or you are in for a melt down.
Ok, Eddie says I have written enough. We need to pack for the beach. Talk to everyone later.
