you learn something new everyday

While vacationing with family we learned a lot of tips on traveling with small children...
One good tip, invest in a sturdy stroller...
Tip number two...use ingenuity with a for mentioned sturdy stroller in order to use it on all terrains.

The front wheels of the stroller kept getting stuck in the soft sand, so pulling worked much better, now you know.

Sea legs

We boarded this vessel and took off to see beautiful islands and beaches. The whole trip has given me an appreciation for the sea fairing folks, sea legs I do not possess.
Ray ray and her dabs have sea legs...they did not experience even a twinge of discomfort - I was a bigger baby that the actual 7 month old baby.
Here is a rundown of the boat ride:

• Anytime I was on the boat I felt light headed...fortunately the light headed feeling did not turn into nausea or vomiting...plenty of other passengers were experiencing those symptoms.
• In my attempts to stave off the light headed feeling I made a bad judgement call and went to the front (helm) of the boat...the waves were much more violent on that end and I was flung out of my seat...I quickly went back into the passenger friendly section, being light headed is much better than falling overboard.
• After 2o minutes of snorkeling I saw a jellyfish the size of my head...I did not snorkel the rest of the trip. I think the light headed feeling messed with the reasoning portion of my brain, since when have I feared Jellyfish?

Land, Beautiful land!

Hiking, bamboo, and thorns...

For us vacation merriment is not complete without adventurous hikes and the thrill of going to far off places few tourists have been before. No one else, just breath taking sights...

On this particular hike Z had his trusty Indiana Jones hat (the straw variety because it breathes better)

The trail was heavily obstructed by bamboo...this was very "Indiana Jones" like as well...picture us stealthily mazing our way through the bamboo obstacle course with out triggering any traps. Then all of the sudden Z's vision is impaired by his straw Dr. Jones hat and he hits his head on one of the low lying pieces of bamboo, which causes him to loose his balance...while slipping he clasps for the nearest branch for stability...that nearest branch also happens to be bamboo, unfortunately the thorny variety... The thorns were 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, about 12 of them went into his left arm and hand. We pulled most of them out on the trail but some had to be extracted at the hotel by Z's older brother and a trusty pocket knife.

Curry cooking class

My lovely sister in law and I were able to have a day to ourselves, we enrolled in Curry Land #2 cooking classes. Our cooking teacher, her name is Kook (pronounced 'cook') - how appropriate :)

B, smashing up some curry paste...

The three 'kooks'!

Ingredients for Tom YUM! soup...

Some Amazing green curry if I do say so myself :)

Maps

E got a hold of this map...

It was right before lunch time, she was in the mood for a snack :)

Nieces!!!

We are having so much fun with Ray Ray and E! I am documenting every moment, and I am sure they will hate me for it when they are teenagers.

new friend

This was a very unexpected friendship, usually Z does not hang around small dogs...but Hamburger won him over. 

Flowers EVERYWHERE!

Last night Z and I went to a flower market. I have never seen so many different varieties of flowers in one place...the colors, scents, and arrangements were Amazing!

safer set of two wheels

While in Curry Land #2 Z and I went for a bike ride around an island.

The people who live on the island make a living by producing different handicrafts such as pottery and straw materials.

I think I went a little overboard with the straw handicrafts.

driving school

Today Z taught me how to drive a scooter (which is basically a vehicle similar to a moped). I haven't even been on a bicycle for ten years so it was difficult adjusting to two wheels again. In the beginning of the lessons I mentally psyched myself out a couple of times. I would be driving pretty steady and look ahead and see a tree and then I would think to myself "oh I sure hope I don't hit that tree" as soon as that thought would go through my head the scooter headed for the tree! So then I would freak out and hit the breaks real quick, the lack of a smooth stop would buck me over the handle bars and then I would loose my balance and have to lay the scootie on its side because I could no longer hold it up... I was driving a friends scooter so laying it on its side was not a good thing, I definitely left some scratches.
The whole point of learning how to drive a scooter is so that I can drive one in Curry Land #2 while on vacation. Well after today's driving school I became more confident with my driving, but my teacher Z did not. He kindly broke the news to me that I will not be driving a scooter in Curry Land #2, I will not pass go, I will not collect $200 :(

one year down...

July 9th is our 1 year Curry Land Anniversary. The successes...

• Never once did I hear voices in my head or befriend/ carry on conversations with a volley ball named Wilson.
• We did not own or watch TV for a whole year, Instead I read somewhere around 30 books.
• Learned how to make Curry Land dishes, speak the language, and appreciate the art, culture and history of this country.
• Did not contract abnormal unknown diseases... and for the well known diseases, so far all inoculations seem to be working :)

Things I should work on this next year...

• Learn how to make Curry Land desserts.
• Buy a punching bag...I need some other way to outlet stress and frustrations besides driving Z up the wall.
• Call M and Dabby more...I wouldn't be surprised if at one point this past year they stuck "have seen this girl" fliers up with my picture on it.
• Spend less money on Curry Land clothes... They really are not that flattering or easy to wear - so why do I subconsciously insist on having a whole closet full of them!?!

We will celebrate our 1 year Curry Land anniversary by going to Curry Land #2 and spending lots of money on food, fun, and NIECES! We leave in 4 days.

...anyone up for a dip?

Last night and this morning it more than simply rained...it POURED!!! We so needed the rain. Pictured below is what the field outside our house looks like... I always wanted lake front property :)

We were crazy enough to take the motorcycle out instead of swimming across.

...The only problem with swimming in this lake is that two days ago it was a field where cows, horses, dogs and goats left their feces.