25/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
chiang mai, life is good, me me me
vacation is over. now i am counting down the days until michael and c16 get back from the states. i’m thankful that it is now days and can no longer be numbered in weeks. but it feels like these last four days might just drag on forever – or longer.
looking back on this summer i’ve discovered an amazing thing. i can be a fun mom. that might never change the fact that i’ll probably always be the strict parent, but it does broaden the parenting role i fill. i’ve managed to do plenty of fun things with the kids this summer. take them places, play games with them, participate. for too long i’ve felt a bit like a referee. i’ve been there for all the fun, but i’ve been on the sidelines. only getting into the action to call “foul” or “offsides”. now i feel like i’m really in the game. and that’s made this a very good summer.
looking ahead school starts in less than three weeks. and we’re all looking forward to it. it means friends will be returning from abroad. we’ll get back into a routine. it means normalcy – with a touch of unavoidable craziness. i’ve stepped into a few responsibilities lately. i’ll be the secretary for the ptg – i’m looking forward to that. to being a bit more involved at the school. but even bigger than that responsibility is the role i’ve taken at a local ministry. i’ll be taking over some of the admin responsibilities. communication and such – and i can choose to get more involved in the other programs they have if i want. i’ve been searching for something to get involved with here. i’ve put out feelers and taken it slowly. when this opportunity came along it felt right. it felt like God said “this is what i have for you”. and i’ll get to use my thai! michael has a bit of a crazy travel schedule immediately after he returns from the states. he’ll be in the philippines, indonesia, korea, and then back to the states, but hopefully after that he’ll settle down to do a bit of work in thailand.
and… i am hoping it’s safe to say that the rainy season has made it chiang mai. the temps are cooler 89 for a high and a very chilly – i even broke out a blanket – 77 for a low yesterday. i’m praying that continues.
23/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
life is good, me me me
a holiday with your children isn’t the same as a girls only holiday to pai.
- which means that packing 10+ books and a handful of puzzle magazines is overkill. turns out 1 and 1/2 books and 1/2 a sudoku puzzle is enough.
the chiang mai international airport security might be a little slack – at least it isn’t quite up to the same standards as suvarnabhumi.
- the kids packed their own carry on bags. s10 just unloaded his school backpack (finally) and reloaded it with holiday necessities. he didn’t check all the pockets. on our return, coming through security in bangkok, they asked him to open his bag. and they removed a pair of scissors from the front pocket. and these weren’t dull tip school scissors. these were full fledged adult scissors.
i’m totally done with sunscreen.
- well, not totally. but i’m done relying on it alone. i’m switching swimsuits – to one with upf protection. i’m talking long sleeves and a skirt or pants of some kind. turns out when you’re almost 40 (but not quite) you don’t really care about looking hawt – unless you’re helen mirren or maybe unless you’re just not me. the one i’m getting is somewhere between helen mirren’s bikini and the burqini. and hopefully it will help me keep from getting a blistering sunburn ever again in my life.
holidaying with kids is exhausting.
- i don’t mean to imply that it wasn’t plenty fun. i’m just suggesting that i might never recover.
22/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
a13, life is good, me me me, s10
dolphin bay, juniper tree
we headed home today. and my one and only complaint is that we didn’t book longer. 5 days just wasn’t enough. i’ve been asked just where dolphin bay is and have done my very best to point it out on a map. i had to draw it in myself since these particular map makers didn’t see fit to include it.
it is a fairly secluded beach. there are a few small resorts along the way, but we never saw more than 10 or so people along the beach when we were out. we stayed at the juniper tree dolphin bay. i was somewhat intimidated heading out on this trip. creating the kind of trip that could make a13 & s10 forget – at least for a week – that they didn’t get to go to america was a hefty responsibility. but i’m pretty sure i succeeded. i don’t think we could have fit one more thing into our schedule – or maybe i mean i couldn’t have survived one more thing.
billy, rachel and libby – the folks who keep juniper tree running – were amazing hosts. attentive, but unobtrusive. willing to help with whatever they could. i think for our first beach experience in thailand we couldn’t have asked for more.
here are a few shots at the juniper tree and a few of our last night on the beach.
and this very last picture here… this is monkey island. and a13 and i are having a debate about it. when you look at this island, what do you see?
i’m not telling you what we see, because i don’t want to put any ideas in your head.
21/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
a13, life is good, me me me, s10, thailand, travel
dolphin bay, juniper tree
today we fished. we headed out just off the point of monkey island. and then we sat and waited. and nothing happened. unless you count the fish eating our bait off our hooks as something. which i guess it was, because it meant we had to re-bait our hooks – ourselves. they fish with squid here. squid has ink in it. squid ink is sticky, sticky, sticky.
ay – our fishing guide – cutting up some squid for our bait.
in the first 1/2 hour ay caught 5 sea creatures. 2 fish that were keepers. 2 fish that were not keepers. and this.
he – she? – was thrown back to the sea.
about an hour in the kids started getting restless. and then a spark of hope. i caught 3 fish. boom boom boom. my technique might be questionable, but it was effective.
and, in no time, a13 and s10 were in on the action. a13 caught 4 fish and s10 caught 3 fish.
when we got back to the shore ay sent us on our way with our catch.
that’s ay and his boat headed back out. he contributed 2 extra fish to bring our total to 12. we turned them in to the kitchen at the juniper tree and for dinner we were served a plate of fried fish. no picture of that – i blame it on exhaustion.
20/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
a13, life is good, s10, thailand
koh talu, snorkeling
today we snorkled. it was amazing. it involved another very early for a vacation morning. we were up and out at 6:30. and it was totally worth it. and – since yesterday was mostly pictureless – today will be mostly wordless. lucky you.
19/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
a13, life is good, me me me, s10
dolphin bay, juniper tree
a new day and – because i felt i’d pushed my luck yesterday taking the camera on the kayak – a (mostly) pictureless post. we started a little slower today. still breakfast at 8, but then nothing. just a bit of reading, some computer time and getting one step closer to mastering the current ds game until after lunch – you know when the sun is at it’s hottest.
(the picture of the kids in the underbed drawers isn’t really where they slept, but they thought they were cool. those are really just the extra beds in case you need one for an extra person in your room. but we’re in two rooms. with gigantic beds. so if you are considering booking at juniper tree, don’t be worried that you’ll have to sleep under another bed.)
today’s goal – kayaking to monkey island. and not in a kayak built for three, this time we were each in our own kayak. meaning we each had to paddle the entire time. s10 got off to an amazing start. no worries. paddle paddle paddle. i was very impressed. a13 – she was a bit more hesitant. a bit more worried about the waves that rocked the boat. she did, however, get it all together. eventually. and about that time s10 hit a wall. he was exhausted. and he was leaning towards being certain that he was not going to make it. but he never completely gave up. and with a little encouragement he pulled himself back together and we landed at monkey island. where a family of monkeys was waiting to greet us.
we pulled our kayaks up onto the beach and so we could get a better look at the monkeys. they were very brave monkeys. one explored our boats jumping up and down on the oars and rocking them a bit. he kindly left a rock – thankfully, it was really just a rock – in aly’s kayak. others cooly checked us out. and then there were the two whom i pointed out to the kids because the bigger one was obviously grooming the smaller one. except suddenly it became obvious that i had drawn the wrong conclusion and it wasn’t grooming that was going on. i quickly encouraged the kids to look elsewhere, because i hadn’t signed us up for the wild kingdom kayaking trip. as the monkeys got braver and the clouds got darker i figured it was time to head back in. and we all made it in. the round trip was 2.8 k. but, for me it was more like 4 k. because i got to do alot of circling around and encouraging. but i’m not complaining. just really, really sore.
this picture is from the night we arrived. if it were going to be accurate – for today – the water wouldn’t be quite a bit choppier and the winds would be much higher. (not that you can see the winds in a picture.) not monkey island is where we visited yesterday. maybe it should be called fewer monkey island. or monkey and bra island.
18/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
a13, family, life is good, me me me, s10
dolphin bay, juniper tree
we started today bright and early – well, bright and early for a vacation. breakfast was at 8. then we quickly sorted ourselves out and stopped next door to rent a three person kayak – with the goal of making it to monkey island. and we did make it to an island. and the island did have a few monkeys on it. but, seeing as how there were several islands nearby and this island seemed to only have a few monkeys (but most likely not enough to warrant the moniker monkey island) and we didn’t ask which of the islands was monkey island it’s possible that monkey island is not where we landed.
we took a little time on the island and to look around and see what we could see. which was rocks. and sand. and other islands. and ocean. and ocean-y stuff.
and then there was this. which i think must be one of the best kept secrets in all of thailand, because it is a pretty awesome find.
i know, you’re thinking what’s so special about a buddhist temple type thing? they are all over thailand. but this one is special.
it has a mannequin. but, that’s not the best, the best is what i believe to be are some of the offerings.
what are those you ask? bras – for real. with the tags still on.
after discovering mysteries and wonders we headed back to the resort. and the entire way in the kids kept reminding me that sharks can smell blood from impossibly far away.
that’s sam’s toe. or rather shark bate.
we spent a few more hours at the beach and a little bit of time in the pool.
for dinner we wandered down the beach to a different resort. while wandering back home we discovered several jellies. one was maybe 2 feet in diameter, but most were 6 inches or so. and we discovered a horseshoe crab.
day 2 is coming to an end and we’re a bit sunburned and a lot tired, but it’s beginning to look like the beach was a very good idea.
17/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
a13, life is good, me me me, s10, travel
dolphin bay, juniper tree
turns out there are things i forget. like arranging for a ride to the airport. so we improvised.
don’t worry, i didn’t make them walk all the way to the airport. just around the corner to catch a songthaew.
uneventful flight followed by uneventful ride. made all the more uneventful because i took 50 mg of diphenhydramine – which totally knocked me out. we arrived at dolphin bay just in time to catch the very, very tail end of a big rain. so no swimming at the shore today, but there’s still time.
we did manage to discover something totally unheard of at the beach this evening. a watermelon tree.
true story. a13 s10 one of my kids saw that little bitty watermelon sitting on that table and as we were walking by he she they said, “some watermelon trees” like she he they see them all the time. and it wasn’t until we were well past the “watermelon” trees that he she realized that that watermelon and those trees were most likely unrelated.
i did manage a few pictures this evening while s10 played ping pong table tennis with a new friend and a13 watched a movie with some other kids.
tomorrow morning we’re planning to head out in these kayaks (not all of them). our goal is to make it to one of these islands.
monkeys live there. and we want to see them.
if kayaking proves too difficult we can hire a boat like this one to take us to monkey island and some caves and fishing.
i was hoping to avoid the fishing thing, but both kids are keen on going. maybe i’ll manage to catch some good pictures.
14/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
me me me
monday i discovered the one thing we’ve been needing to make this summer spectacular. i found it at the library and i rented it.
it is a bit disappointing that it’s only the first season. but – for now – we’ll just have to be happy with 23 episodes and all sorts of extras. 19 hours of ma, pa, mary, laura half pint, and carrie. this summer just heated up. (the only thing that could make it better is if it were a few seasons later, after the apearance of manly. sigh.)
13/07/2010
monica @ transplanting me
happiness project
the rules:
- simply post a photo of something that makes you wildly happy.
what is it? it’s a scalp massager. they sell them over at the night bazaar. every time we are down there they try to give us a personal demonstration of how this baby works hoping that we won’t be able to live without it. and i’ve always been too smart to be tricked into this obvious trap. but for our 18th anniversary this is one of the gifts michael gave me – turns out he’s brilliant and this thing is pretty darn close to heaven.
