Thailand Part I - Bangkok

In honor of Tim and Megs being back home, and since the time is already flying by... I wanted to make sure to capture some of my own mental highlights from our fab trip to Thailand last month. I know I can't remember all the details about our adventure, but between notes we took, photos, my ipod playlist and lingering impressions, I feel like I can hold on to some of the highlights from each stage of the journey. The following posts are just a few photos/experiences/songs that summed up the our trip for me, done in segments. This first post starts off with the first leg of our two-week trip:

Bangkok: Arrival
Arrived at 1 am, got off the plane on the tarmack while listening to "I Gotta Feeling" and grinning, then took crazy cab ride straight to Ko Sahn Road. "Angels" from West Wing soundtrack was playing as we 'descended' into the main streets of Bangkok and got off the highway - so appropriate. Reminded me of Burnout Revenge East Coast driving map...in some ways. :)  Learned to throw toilet paper in the garbage can and shower with everything else outside the bathroom door. Learned that one is capable of sweating even more than previously thought was possible. (Above photo is of our crew together our first night on the town in Bangkok: L-R is Tim, Jed, Peter, Liz, Josh, and Meghan - which includes two sets of siblings, two best friends, two serious camera geekheads, two married couples, five Minnesotans at heart, one Iowan for now, one Michigander, and two Chicagoans!)

Bangkok: Daytime
Saw the familiar stomping grounds for Tim and Meghan's weekends; ate at 'their' breakfast place. Whirlwind day seeing the Grand Palace/related museums/few big Wats downtown, then sitting & talking during an afternoon rainstorm about life and our futures and relationships and expectations and... life. Got street vendor Pad Thai, our first bucket, and shopped along the side streets with Megs. Bargained for fisherman pants before hitting "The Club" and soaking up the air-conditioned internet cafe that charged 1 baht per minute (roughly $2.00 an hour.)

Bangkok: Departure
Packed up for our train ride north to Sukhothai. Had real coffee in upstairs of train station while watching crazy Thai sitcom. Ran back and forth finding right train but had super helpful attendants help us out. Leaving Bangkok I realized I was feeling kind of sad - about the three year olds I had seen running around everywhere at 1:00am, the street people covering the corners just down the block from the clubs, and the fairly visible sex-trade industry that defines the party side of Bangkok. Beautiful country so far - but also complicated.        

   

HOO-RAY!!

After almost seven months of being in Thailand, my brother and sis-in-law (aka, two of my favorite people on the planet), returned to the States last week. :) While we did see them just last month on our trip over there, having them back in Chicago where they could hang out at our place, play Zuma on our couch, cuddle with our girl, and just enjoy some everyday life together again was precious time indeed. Above are Tim and Megs looking way too rested and tan for just getting off their marathon flight home.

Above is Eva excitedly waiting for them at the airport!

We had a great time with them in town, and I am convinced that Eva remembered them - she had a lot of fun with her 'Unca Poop' and 'May-guh' - we all thought we heard her refer to them that way. :)  

Even though they won't be in town again for a little while, or live up the street (or up one flight of stairs) from us anymore, just knowing they are back on US soil, with access to someone's cell phone that we can call them on, makes us all a little happier here in our household. :) Hoo-ray!

Oh, That's Why

Today I woke up with a bad, bad cold, congested head, and swollen throat. Sadly, Eva has had the same cold the last few days - probably from our various outings in the cold-ish weather, since we can't quite give up the park visits, pumpkin patches, and walks to the fruit market just yet.  However, I have been diligently wiping her nose, washing her hands and mine, using wipes and soap and all kinds of stuff to curtail the start of the sickie season with a toddler. I was surprised to get her cold so soon, and so strongly.

Then this morning I saw Eva sucking on my toothbrush - the whole head of the brush in her sticky, germ-filled mouth. Ok, so that explains it.    

Stateside!

We got back into town Wednesday after a full two weeks of traveling. Whew! It was great and so much fun and full of so many different experiences... and we are still unpacking, cleaning, finding our "normal life" stuff around the house, and getting our sleeping clocks back in order!


My favorite phrase from Eva since our return home has been, "Momma home! Momma home!", closely followed by her newest expression of excitement, "Oh my!" (pronounced 'oh maui.') She did splendidly with the Mosbo grandparents while we were away and transitioned back home really well (so far), which of course helps us transition too. It was great to have a break from parenting and all the daily 'normal life' stresses, and I have to say it's also great to return to our normal life and to our little girl who is growing and changing and expressing herself more every day. I like that balance - enjoy time away, and enjoy the returning.


We have SO MANY great photos from our time in Thailand, and so many great stories! It has been fun to share some tidbits of our travels with others, but it is hard to sum up all we did - and it is surprising that it already seems so far away and long ago. We were lucky to have Tim and Megs show us all over and plan out our itinerary; looking back, it balanced out into a fantastic tour of seeing the country's various regions, doing touristy and every-day Thai stuff, and having a great balance of both fun and down time with our crew of friends, too.


I hope to get more pictures and stories online from our travels soon, but for now, the three of us are all getting used to life back in Chi-town. I feel very lucky that we got to celebrate ten years of marriage, having awesome siblings/siblings-in-law, and having great friends this way - yeah for "Toyland!"