New Years Eve 2009

New Years Eve is a special holiday for Nathan and I. It is our 11th time celebrating it together and marks the day we both were falling in love 10 years ago. Basically no NYE has even come close to the one that rang in 2000... until this year. We now have a 2nd place NYE, in Taiwan. Who woulda thought?

We went out with 3 other fun couples and we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner and surprisingly my only disappointment was how careful I had to be with what I ate since I share it with Ander. It was really good food which is something I am rarely able to say here.

Next we all piled into one 4-Runner and headed down towards the river. Despite all of the coats you see in the picture, it was really a nice night. We went down by the river with tons of other people to look across and watch the fireworks that they shoot off of Taipei 101- the world's second tallest building. We all enjoyed each others company and the surrounding while the last few minutes of 2009 slipped away.

At midnight the fireworks began. They were cool from our vantage point but honestly didn't blow my mind. Plus they lasted all of 3 minutes. What did blow my mind was all of the amazing fireworks literally everyone else was letting off everywhere around us. It was so cool!

Everywhere you looked nearby and across the sky line there were beautiful fire flowers in the sky and reflected in the river. It was unexpected and so beautiful. I mean, I know the Chinese are fans of pyrotechnics but I had no idea that everybody got in on the action.

Anyway, I was happy with our decision not to go downtown with 20,000 other people to fight for a spot to see a 3 minute fireworks display... until I found these pictures on the internet the next morning.
Ummm, we may have to venture downtown next year.
Now, the conundrum of the night appeared toward the end of the 3 min show when from across the river our little band of friends all began straining our eyes to see what the words said that had suddenly appeared in lights at the top of 101. After a brief minute of confusion and several attempts to read it correctly and make sense (is it 'Thumbs up'???) we realized it read:

2010

TAIWAN

UP

Huh??? What in the world is that supposed to mean? Taiwan Up? Up where? Why? We all laughed and kind of shrugged and let it be as we watched all the rogue fireworks going off everywhere else around us.

But once we got home Nathan and I got on the subject again. It's like some brain teaser we have to figure out. What is it supposed to mean dang it?! After several Google searches (at about 2am mind you, when I do my clearest thinking) my conclusion is that what they were going for was more like, Taiwan Rise- but obviously something was lost in translation.

But that's okay because it has given Nathan and I a lot of good laughs in the last week and since then we have a new term for when something doesn't make sense here, is lost in translation or we simply don't understand: "TAIWAN UP"!

A Sad Christmas Tale *sniff*

Once upon a time there were 3 little children waiting anxiously to go down stairs and see their loot on Christmas morning.

As is tradition the youngest gets to go first so little Aly raced down the stairs as fast as her little feet could carry her. Soon she would finally see what Santa had brought her since she had been so good.
Apparently not good enough.

Santa had given what she wanted to her sister and left her this crummy ol' baby doll instead.
All she wanted was her sisters gift.
Pretty soon little Aly's brother was bounding down the stairs and attacking his blow up punch thingy that Santa had wisely thought to give him to whack in lieu of his sisters.
It didn't last the day.

(Apparently Kohen really does have super human strength. Or super enough to be stronger than cheap vinyl anyway.)
Finally it was Aly's big sisters turn. Kennedy rushed down the stairs to find Santa had left just what she'd asked for and the coveted gift was in the rightful owners arms.
At least sometimes Santa gets it right.
Eventually little Aly warmed up slightly above freezing, to her doll. Her sincere smile proves it.
Editor's Note: No children's Christmas hopes and dreams were completely and irreparably broken in the making of this story. Luckily little Aly had some thoughtful Grandmas who each gave her something she loved...What does Santa know anyway?

My Christmas Came Early This Year

No bow required.

Holiday Overload

Christmas Eve Day

Somehow the projects the kids were making each other got pushed into Christmas Eve Day which was not how that was supposed to go down. Nevertheless they all enjoyed doing their surprise gifts for one another. Aly painted this Car Bank for Kohen. I took a picture of the aftermath- take a look at her hand and imagine her belly, legs and arms similarly adorned.
Kennedy had drawn several "Kobot" pictures she worked from when painting her Kobot on canvas for Kohen. She took her work very seriously and it showed.
My favorite part is the rocket booster feet and the Chinese Characters she drew on the body. I didn't get a picture of Kohen making his projects with Nathan for the girls but he covered magnetic boards with fabric for his sisters rooms.

Christmas Eve we were invited with our friends the Robinsons to the Chiles house. Carrie had prepared a delicious Christmas Feast and we really enjoyed the company. The kids all did a nativity, Kennedy was Mary, Kohen a Shepherd, Aly a Wise Man and Ander was Baby Jesus. Kohen cracked us up trying to keep his lone sheep (Koda the dog) under control.

Festivus 2009

Festivus 2009 was a hit. If you don't know what Festivus is, then why are we friends? I jest. You can look it up on Wikipedia to learn more about it but basically a Seinfeld episode shows how George's father made up this holiday. It's quirky and that suits us well. We had the annual "Airing of Grievances" displayed through Dioramas, we had even more than the ones shown in the slide show, and everyone did awesome. We had mental "Feats of Strength" in a quiz and there were lot's of prizes and really good food and the symbol of Festivus, The Aluminum Pole. Nathan and I moved the tv downstairs so we could all watch the episode together. BAGELS NO! FESTIVUS YES!!!!!

The End, I Swear

Does knowing that I had 286 pictures to choose from make you feel any better about 3 Thailand posts? This is the last of it. Cross my heart.

Several of the places that we ate at the owner or server would offer to hold Ander for us while we ate. I really appreciated it because inevitably Ander would be fast asleep until they set the food down on our table and he would suddenly pop his little head up and demand our full attention. The ladies always stayed nearby and just enjoyed him, it was really nice.
One afternoon we rented a jet ski for an hour. Nathan took the older 3 out and then I got my turn. We get plenty of looks on the beach with 3 children and then people realize there is a 4th nearby and I saw a few raised eyebrows in our direction. So when it was my turn on the jet ski I did my best Bay Watch run (not sexy so much as the kind where you are suddenly hyper aware you need to adjust a wedgie but you are afraid the entire beach is watching so that's the real reason you are running out into the water- to hide) out into the surf where Nathan threw me the oversized life jacket and I jumped out of the water and onto that jet ski and was off. It was a newer jet ski and I had such a great time out in the ocean by myself jumping waves. It was a stellar 20 min.

Please. Love him!

Random Fact: Ander officially turned 3 months the last day of our trip
It rained off and on the last 3 days and the ocean wasn't so calm and nice anymore but it was still warm and all but one storm was short lived so we played right on through most of it. One afternoon a torrential downpour started right as we headed to our taxi waiting for us. It is a little walk, 5 min, to where he was and we ended up completely soaked even with an umbrella. In the end we waited under a porch while Nathan took the kids one by one to the taxi. Everyone but Ander and I ended up soaked to the skin. The picture below is the flooded streets after that storm. Crazy.
We were headed to the "Aquarium" -quotes are cuz it was a pretty weak sauce aquarium. The only cool thing were these open tanks where you could feed turtles. Funny how the open tank with eels and some kind of shark had a simple sign with a line through a hand. Just a, "Don't Touch" picture. No bold "you may lose your hand to your wrist" or "sticking your finger in a sockets got nothin' on these eels!" just a lot of faith in one picture of a hand. And, I assume, good liability insurance.

I felt better about the tigers conditions, there was a sign here that said each tiger is only in the caged area for a short time each day. Could be lies but they seemed pretty content. There was a really cool bird show - and also a Tiger show as well. If I'm being honest with myself I kinda watched the tiger show just waiting for someone to get their head bitten off- I mean seriously, am I the only one who watched Animals Gone Wild? Seigfried and Roy? Anybody???
The show got cut a little short due to another cloud burst so you could go inside this area and they had an Otter, Owl and these birds you could pay to take a picture with. We people watched until most the crowd had left and then did the pictures and they let us take several which was nice of them.

So, the People Watching. (did you hear that? that was the sound of this tangent shooting off into oblivion) Thailand is also known as a destination for some terrible, unspeakable things. As we boarded our flight to Bangkok I found myself checking out any man traveling by himself, especially ones who didn't appear to be on business. I know I have an active imagination- but the guy sitting behind us on the flight CREEPED US OUT. 100% and ABSOLUTELY (as my BIL would say). I literally almost asked if the 6 of us or 1 of him could be moved. He talked to himself and was sending out a vibe that would make any parent take their child and run.

On our flight from Bangkok to Kohsamui we lost the creeps but gained a fascinating new breed. We saw them all over and eventually came to spot them easily. Older white guys out on dates with their Thai girlfriends. Or rather Older white guys out on "dates" with their Thai "girlfriends". It would be an older man with a really young Thai girl and they would make zero conversation through entire meals and they would bumble around as they went to hold hands etc. Nathan and I realized that as much as we wanted to give these men the benefit of the doubt, we doubted most of them deserved it. Made for interesting people watching though.

I also wanted to show this picture, did you know on International flights they have bassinets for babies? Sweet huh? It hooks right into the wall in front of your seat. Only bummer is having to wake a sleeping baby to put the bassinet away for landing :(
Love this pic of Aly's little feet as she ran off down the beach. Thanks everyone, for reading and sharing our memories of our Christmas this year. I guess there are some benefits of being on this side of the Earth since we couldn't be home with family.

Last but not least, we took pictures of all of our meals, mostly because they were all presented so beautifully. Enjoy.

Elephants & Octopi in Samui

Having all 6 of us share a bungalow that was basically a room the size of a hotel room plus bathroom was just fine. The kids are a little older so they don't mess around for as long before falling asleep usually. We bribed them with a piece of gum- if they were quiet in the mornings they could have one after breakfast. They were all over it. Kennedy would read quietly to Kohen and Aly- it's one of my favorite things that they do. Bribery rocks.
Ander spent a good portion of the week in this carrier. He is the sweatiest baby even in cooler conditions so I was excited to find this Bjorn with lumbar support for me and made of this cool material that is breathable and helps with the sweating. You know the waffle material on running shoes? It's like that. Love it. Having Ander not lose half his body weight in water every time we are out? priceless.

A highlight of the trip was the Elephant Trek. The boys were on one and us girls on the other and we got to ride an elephant through the jungle. It was awesome. Not the most comfortable ride of your life but certainly up there in uniqueness. I think I was amazed/terrified by the elephants sheer strength the most. They would stop and put their leg on a tree about 5-6 inches around and they'd give it a little push and crack! the tree was down. They'd eat some leaves off of the fallen tree and then we'd move on leaving busted trees in our wake.
Another time a coconut fell and the trainer had the elephant step on it to crack it, then use his trunk to hand it up to the trainer who then proceeded to cut out pieces of coconut to feed to the elephant. The trainers did seem very at ease with the elephants and to have a relationship with them. I have seen one too many Animals Gone Wild to forget no matter what these are basically wild animals. Thankfully they were nothing but mellow for us. Before and after the children got to take turns feeding the elephants bananas- to feel their trunks is so creepy and cool- as long as there is antibacterial soap in the near vicinity.

Kohen's mind was blown when toward the end of the trek the trainer asked if he wanted to come sit up front. So next thing I know, my 5 year old son is having the time of his life steering around a 6 ton animal. He played the part well, speaking loudly but kindly and hilariously, "No, not that way silly guy, this way!" He reported on the awesomeness afterwards and finished by telling me the elephant's hair was just a little pokey but that was okay. You may want to enlarge the pic below to see his face if you are a gparent/aunt/uncle and want a closer look :)

Again, the food was something Nathan and I looked forward to every day. Still surprised about that actually. We walked to most places from Coco Palms, the evenings were balmy and gorgeous. Even when it rained. Keeping the kids contained until the food came each night was...special. But we kept the spills in the double digits and managed to only shatter one glass so I feel pretty good about that.
Okay, the "Monkey Show"- and I'm not talking about my children in the backseat of the taxi's. It started out like a good idea and in the end I was mortified we'd paid $ to encourage these poor monkey's lives and living conditions. We went in and bought the food you could feed all of the caged monkeys. These ^ babies had it down. They whine and cry at you like they are starving (could very well be) and break your heart. The conditions...let's just say PETA would not approve. I was ready to leave before the show even started but my children, oblivious to the monkey's plight, really enjoyed the "show".
There were only 6 other people there for the show besides our family. They took a turn letting anyone who wanted get a pic. I was super hesitant to let my spouse or children do this (after seeing the Oprah with the lady who got her face and hands eaten off by a chimp, wouldn't you be?!) but after a few others went without incident I could see my husband and son didn't care what overprotective mom had seen on tv and they went for it. The monkey looks scary but they'd actually get him up there and tell him to yawn to produce the look.

Even Kenna tried, I was outnumbered.
They had the little guys trained to shoot hoops, twirl a baton of fire (while singing the fur on his knees every time he twirled it) he burned his hand and dropped it once and I was ready to walk. Though the show lasted all of 20 minutes I had had enough of the shady place. On our way out the trainer guy insisted we all watch the monkey go up a palm and get coconuts down. It's taking the poor little guy a while, clear up there in these tall palms, all the while the trainers are shouting at him to "HURRY UP!!" He drops one and as they are still shouting he dropped a second one, which plunged right through the trainers tiled bathroom roof. It was awesome. I felt like it was just a little bit of justice jungle style.

We really did spend a lot of time swimming, we were perpetually pruned. It was great. The first half the ocean was really calm and we would go out and swim together and Nathan would dive down for shells. The water was warmer than the pool and very buoyant so you could stay in for a long time comfortably.
Nathan discovered this little octopus (or squid?) in a shell and we found several more "Squishy's" over the next day or so. They would change color and ink when we let them go- they were so cool we spent forever trying to get a picture of them. The video shows how cool they moved, try to ignore how sure I am it's a squid, I don't know what I'm talking about. Try pushing play and if it doesn't work click the part that moves as the video plays, and let me know if the videos are working for you.