Crazy but fun

Well....here goes. I will try not to write a novel here, but we have been up to quite a bit here in only a few short days. So I apologize in advance - this may end up being a bit long.

The flights went surprisingly well. Marie sat by Daddy for the 17 hours from LAX to BKK. I was mostly on call for bathroom trips and change of scenery for a very patient little girl. She slept nearly 8 hours near the beginning of the flight and was a trooper - Daddy did a fantastic job too!

We arrived early Thursday morning tired and a bit cranky but immediately could see that the hotel apartment would be perfect! More points to Dan for arranging a beautiful apartment. Marie ended up falling asleep around 1 pm for a nap that turned into 11 hours of sleep, despite attempts to wake her. Yes, we were up most of the night! This became the sleep pattern to break, not an easy task! Tonight is the first night Marie has stayed up past 7pm (after waking at 5 this morning).

This past weekend we went on a trip to the beach with another family from the US (coworker to Dan) and some local workers for Dan's company. It was a three day weekend (King's Birthday) and we were invited on this vacation weekend. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel at Pattaya Beach (not as fancy as our regular accomodations but fun). Sunday they took us to an amazing beach on an island in Koh Samet national park. We rode a speedboat to get to the island and enjoyed the day swimming in the crystal clear water. Marie had a blast playing in the sand too!

Today (Monday), before heading back to Bangkok we went to a Tropical Garden and "zoo". We were told it was a zoo with beautiful gardens. While there were some animals at the garden, they mostly had elephants - lots!!! They had a Thai culture show with traditional dancing. The main attraction though, was the interactive elephant show. There were children selling mini banana bunches (came by every 30 seconds) to feed the elephants. After an act the elephants would step out of the gate to be fed by audience members - of course we bought a bunch! Elephants played basketball and soccer, bowled, danced, gave massages (to audience volunteers) and were very entertaining. It's not every day that a 3 year old gets to sit on an elephant for a photo op.

Well, that's it for now......more to come soon!!!