This past week it has seemed that our someone from our family has been "missing" every time we are doing something and taking pictures. Benjamin and I had to got to Thailand for some medical appointments (everything is fine) but it meant that Daddy was home with the other four. So what happens when Mommy is away? A huge tent covering the entire living room, of coarse! :)
The kids had a blast in the tent...Charlie, not so much. They had movie night and everything under the tent. :)
This was the one picture that all of us were together (Jonathan behind the camera). We went for a family bike ride. You would thing that the size of our family an riding bikes through the city would be what brings all the attention, but nope, it was that we all had on helmets! That's ok. We will ride safe!
It is really hot and humid here, so the kids were extremely excited when we found this little fountain. Katherine and Lauren immediately went and put their feet in and Hudson and Regan did water hand prints everywhere. I would have thought that a security guard would have told the kids to get out of the water, but then I saw a lady washing her kids clothes in the fountain and thought it must be ok...haha!
This is the HUGE leaf that we found growing in our complex. I just couldn't resist the picture. Too cute.
So, we are doing homeschool and I look outside and see BLUE sky. I decided that was reason enough for a spontaneous filed trip to the park.
This is part of the park (look at the pretty sky) :) I know many of you have beautiful skies all the time, but we appreciate them more and more because we see them less and less ;)
The kids love climbing on these rocks. The last time we were told it was too dangerous, but it was really only because the park was so busy. Usually they climb and the park has no problem. I told Katherine not to climb to places that I couldn't reach her because Daddy wasn't here to help if she got stuck...no problem for my little monkey.
I just love these two, my oldest and my youngest. They just love each other.
Hudson's first time to see a waterfall. He thought it was raining :)
The kids got a nice surprise package filled with bubbles and summer activities (like water guns) and harmonicas, recorders, and some other goodies. Everything was a hit. They went out on the back balcony and had fun with the bubbles right away. Check out the bubble over Hudson's face! Pretty crazy....it framed him perfectly! Oh, and Katherine was doing her homework this week and the assignment was to draw a picture of your back yard and write about it. Any guesses what she drew? Nope, not the small pond in our complex or the play ground or the trees....she drew all the laundry on our balcony! I guess, technically, that is our back yard ;)
This boy has played his harmonica everywhere! He played it in the airport, in taxis, walking down the street, at home, waiting at the hospital for doctor's appointments. You name it, he played there :) He is actually getting pretty good at it, and I enjoy hearing him play it.
He gets so excited over anything animal! He found a dog paw print in the sidewalk and was soooo excited!
This is the view from the hospital in Thailand. It's a huge city with lots of traffic all the time!
We saw this guy selling stuff for lunch...we didn't eat there because Benjamin got to pick all the places to eat...so we were on a mission to find a Subway.
Wires wires wires. Benjamin didn't like all the wires that were everywhere. I have to say that I agree with him on this one.
So two days of doctors appointments and Benjamin says, "We haven't done anything fun and we have to go home tomorrow. I wish we could see some animals at a zoo." The doctor at his last appointment wrote down the name of the zoo in Thai so that we could show it to the taxi driver. It wasn't a big one, but he had a lot of fun...just the two of us :)
He wasn't impressed with the tree, but I thought it looked cool.
Love him...and yes, I have a picture with my head in the alligator as well...but his is way cuter ;)
The dinosaur is hatching!!!
One thing we had not done that he was really wanting to do was ride in a "tuk tuk" While I was trying to bargain with the guy on the price, I got distracted by the guy selling cotton candy. Mmmm.
So, here we are riding through the city, eating cotton candy, and feeling the breeze! (My son was apparently growing a goatee...haha)
He really enjoyed himself!
When we got back home, he informed me that all of his puppies were in court. He wanted me to come see. Yep, they are in court. I asked him why and he said that they were not getting along while we were gone. I love that he even has a police dog at the front of the court room...haha! We had a lot of fun together, but it is good to all be back together again :)
Yes, we are still in full swing of school around here. The American brain in me wants to be done because it's "summer" but the kids here have summer break in July and August. We try to keep them on that schedule as best as we can so that they have more time to play with the local kids. We have done a lot of school and a lot of other things since the last post.
I was walking around town running errands when I saw this guy riding his bike. I do believe those have to be the biggest wheels I have ever seen on a bicycle!
I had one happy girl this week! Katherine is my introvert and likes to have some alone time. With four brothers and sisters, that can be a task to find a quiet place alone. She decided over a month ago that she was "moving out" of her sisters' room (my two extroverts who think they "need" to talk to fall asleep). So for over a month now Katherine has taken over the school/craft room. She was so determined that she was even sleeping on the hard floor. The room is pretty small so I though that I may be able to find a small couch that pulls out into a bed and that would give her more room. Well, we found one and it is perfect! She LOVES it and it's comfy, too!
Jonathan surprised our older two with an afternoon movie! Yep, Avengers. He even bought them shirts to go watch the movie. That night Benjamin told me that it was one of the best days of his life.
Since they were at the movies, and Katherine was not old enough to see such an action packed movie, I took Hudson and Katherine to play a few games at the arcade (Lauren was sleeping at school). Hudson's favorite was the motorcycle...no surprise there.
They won several tickets and got to get a prize. True to her form, Katherine got the craziest grossest thing available....a ball that was file with cockroaches! EEEWWW! They look so real! I told her if she pops the ball I am throwing all of the pieces in the trash!
Someone was practicing how she was going to walk and pose for her fashion show at school...it's so her! :)
Our morning routine....drop Lauren off at the school gate, wait for her to get her hands and mouth checked for hand foot mouth disease and watch her run up the hill toward her class. We usually wait at the bottom because she will wave to us at the top of the hill, but this day she had a handful of classmates waiting for her to get through the "checkpoint" so they could race up the hill. She absolutely loves that school.
Fun view of the city
We went out to eat with Ayi. Now Hudson wants to go out EVERY night..funny kiddo.
Getting ready to go to Taekwondo class...Lauren is already practicing her kicks and Hudson is bundled up in his rain coat....yes, it is the rainy season....or the downpour season...sometimes I wonder if the umbrellas do us any good, but I know they have to help a little.
We had family ice-cream night at McDonald's.
Benjamin was really enjoying his Oreo Mclurry.
So those two faces take a little explaining. Jonathan made the comment to Lauren how he loves the way she wrinkles her nose. We were all making a big deal about it and she was loving the attention. Little brother says, "See, I can do it, too!" We just laughed and laughed because there is not a single wrinkle on that sweet little face, but I think he got the lips down :)
So whenever it rains, this particular covered swing gets a pool of water on top. My children love to go dump the water after a shower. We were on the way home after a storm and they asked if they could stand under it with their umbrellas....ONLY if Mommy gets a picture :) Regan and Lauren pushed the water and Katherine and Benjamin stood underneath. Hudson watched with me.
It was apparently Buddha's birthday. I don't keep up with those kinds of things, but the fire works were going off all over the city. Katherine and I were running an errand together and we kept running into the "lion" (I usually say dragon). It was fascinating to watch as it went throughout the streets. It would stop at any business that had and "offering" for him (see above...the food handing on a string) It would do this dance in front of the store and in the store, set off firecrackers to ward off any evil spirits, and "eat" the offering. After that it continues down the street setting off firecrackers and looking for another store to visit. I told Katherine that they probably thought we were following them because we ran into them several times throughout the day.
Here is the lion doing one of his dances. If you have a minute, watch the video below. It will give you an idea of what it's like...it's worth seeing
We were in a bit of a hurry to get to Lauren's performance at school. Hudson doesn't walk very fast, so he got to be carried. He may not look too happy in one of the pictures, but he was thrilled that he didn't have to walk all the way there.
I was told on Tuesday that I hadn't brought Lauren's outfit to school yet....I guess the look on my face told it all....the teacher said "oh, Lauren didn't tell you. You have to MAKE her outfit and I need it tomorrow! The outfit for Meimei's dad doesn't have to be ready until the show" What?! I began thinking, "Why did she sign up for the fashion show?" I quickly went to a little shop and bought some ribbon and tulle and...instant tutu! Then the show comes....and all I can think is, "THANK YOU, LAUREN for NOT signing your mom and dad up for the other options!"
Really?! I would not be up on stage in front of 300 people doing these dances and in these outfits! Oh, if only you could see the video that I have of this. I just don't have time to upload them all, but the Dad dance is just too much! I had to share. Can you picture this being Jonathan? He was also very grateful to be in the fashion show with his baby girl!
Here is Little Miss with her Daddy. She was LOVING every second of it!!
I went in to a local tea shop to get some tea. I'm not really sure what someone would do with that much tea. :)
My two after the performance! So sweet :)
I had to take a short trip and Daddy had the kiddos on his own for International Children's Day....so a trip to the grocery store, ice-cream, and a day at the part with friends...
Playing a game similar to the American duck duck goose....and Regan being a good big sister teaching Hudson how to play.
