Thanksgiving Feast

In the rush of the food preparation, I never got around to Claire's hair, but the food is obviously most important to her!

We celebrated Thanksgiving a few days late this year, since so many don't get the actual day off. We decided to invite lots of people in hopes that we'd get some. Instead, we got lots! It worked out great. We reserved the function room in our building to accommodate everyone and did the menu basics since so many here have very limited kitchens. Everyone still brought something, though, so we ended up with more than enough. I think it ended up being 30 adults, 9 kids and 7 babies. Jonathan made homemade butter rolls and five pies, and I did the butterflied turkey/stuffing/gravy recipe that my friends the Coffeys shared with me several years ago. YUM.

Halloween

The thrill of trick-or-treating

Our Halloween consisted of three events. The first, pictured above, was trick-or-treating through the halls of the Embassy followed by some games and activities in the cafeteria. We had a witch, a ghost and a pumpkin. I was happy for the very traditional costume requests and was able to create all three outfits out of materials on hand. A highlight for me was all of the random people we seemed to make happy on the streets and on the bus. Several whipped out their phones and requested to take pictures.

The next event was Saturday, a trunk-or-treat activity at the church. There is just something magical about the combo of kids, costumes and candy.

On Sunday, we let the kids hand out candy to the few trick-or-treaters we got in our building. They liked that almost as well.

Luckily their memories are short and their familiarity with candy is limited, so we somehow confiscated all of the good stuff for the freezer, gave away the junk and just left the mini lollypops (their favorite) in their bags. They haven't asked...

Dog Show

Have you seen a happier girl?

Bangkok has tons of open-to-the-public trade shows and conventions. We went to a kids one hoping they would have some good deals on toys but ending up scoring with Claire when we visited a dog show that was going on across the way simultaneously. She got to hold the puppy pictured above and pet TONS of little dogs, most of which were dolled up by adoring owners happy to let a little foreign girl pet them, especially when she asked in Thai. Can you believe this one? 

Hua Hin Getaway

Not an advertisement.  This is really what it looked like.  The "Lagoon Pool."  I had it to myself.

Jonathan had an off-site training meeting at a resort on a beach close to Bangkok (about 2 hours). Families were invited, but he was going to be in meetings all day, so taking the kids didn't appeal to me. However, leaving the kids did! We asked one of Sylvie's teachers from church to come stay at our house, as well as our regular helper who is great with Paul, and it all worked out great. We got a very relaxing 2-day getaway, and the girls had lots of fun, too. Here are a few more shots of some of the flower arrangements around the resort.

Our New School Girl

Like the reflection in the glass cabinet?

Sylvie was excited to join Claire at her Thai preschool this term, especially when she found out she gets this snazzy new swimming uniform! I was a little worried about her adjustment, since Claire still has hard days, but she has not looked back. Not a tear. She is excited every morning to get ready, especially to put on her backpack. What is it about kids and backpacks? Claire likes being the older sister and showing her the ropes. Sylvie's head teacher is one of the smiliest people I've ever met, and of course, they all love Sylvie. She comes home with some very fancy hair-do's. I guess they re-do hair after naps, and somehow manage to put the tiniest, tightest French braids into her bob.

A Typical Day with Dad

Three troopers in the heat

Paul is sick, so I stayed home today and J took the girls to the local zoo. Typical of Thailand and typical of a day with Dad, there were elephants to feed:

circus tricks:

ugly coin-operated things that kids love:

politically incorrect shows (Acrobatic Kenya Boys Show):

and cold treats!

Ocean World

Diver Sylvie at Siam Ocean World in the basement of the Siam Paragon Mall

We spent our Labor Day at Ocean World in downtown Bangkok. It is a nice aquarium and an air-conditioned retreat. My favorite room was the jellyfish. It was set up like a dark lounge with a round couch and pillows. There was a wonderful classical piano soundtrack as you watched a wall-full of illuminated jellyfish expand and contract. J's favorite was the shark tunnel. As you walked through, sharks and other fish were swimming overhead and all around you. Here are a few more pictures:

spider crab

 fish feeding

 underwater lecture

 McWai