Girl time

Marie and I have had a full month together....what did we ever do to keep ourselves busy??? Dan worked regular weekdays and even went on two business trips (Malaysia and Indonesia). So we (the girls) did quite a bit of hanging out in the hotel.....making Christmas decorations for the apartment, swimming (pool is nice but only has sun before noon and is too cold the rest of the day), playing in the kids playroom and playground and......walks to the mall.

We walk a city block to a skywalk - outdoor walkway above busy streets that connects to a mall 2-3 blocks further. The mall is seven floors (the billboard ad says "500 stores and 90 restaurants") and has many types of stores and a kiddy playland (think chuck e cheese without food and tickets for prizes). Marie enjoys riding some little rides and playing games geared right at her age each costs about 30 cents, so for about $2 U.S. we are occupied for half an hour. We get lunch here or a snack and also often stop at a nice bakery for bread to bring back.

Marie playing a Wack-a-Mole type game - she gets her mad skills from Papa Schrag!

Dan has dubbed us 'Mallrats' but all of this will change this week as Marie begins school Tuesday. I think Marie will really enjoy attending the school we (Dan) found and I will enjoy helping out in her classroom a few days a week also. Here are a few more pictures for you to enjoy of our 'mallrat' days of December :-).

Marie enjoying a swing seat in a restaurant waiting for our Pizza lunch.

Marie ran into a store to 'pose' with giant Teddy Bears in the front window. As soon as she was situated she yelled through the glass for me to take her picture. She is so funny! I think some Thai people took photos also - they are always taking her picture and trying to touch her.