October - A Birthday and Bangkok

In October, Colson turned 5 years old.  (What??!)  We had a Frozen pool party, of course.

Opening her Frozen beach towel that morning.  Clearly she dressed herself.

 Colson is pretty shy and only likes to be the center of attention on her terms (like when she is dancing in the living room or posing for the camera).  So when everyone started singing Happy Birthday, she hid her face in my neck.

 Mmmm, cupcakes.

Opening gifts in the evening...

 Of course she was super excited about her dress up stuff.

 Thanks Auntie Ash for the new pjs!

A little wrestling on the couch.  

October's vacation took us back to Bangkok.  It was a few weeks of relaxation, amazing food, and enjoying time with family.

Relaxing with cousins...

Rayong Villa - This year we went back to the beach villa in Rayong.  And again, we practically had the entire beach and pool to ourselves.  It was 4 days of paradise. 

Playing on the playground that time forgot.

Checking out the beach our first night...

We thought the kids might like to all sleep in the same bed.  It didn't last long.  But they had fun trying!  Maybe next time.

Saying prayers before bed.

Jet lag is no fun.  But it can be pretty funny.

Enjoying the beach.  The kids loved playing in the sand, finding sea shells, and even saw a huge jelly fish.  It was dead, we think.  We didn't get too close just in case though.

The view.

The sand was so hot you had to run from the shade to the water.

The daddy's and their daughters.  The girls were a little nervous about going out in the waves.

The jelly fish.

Colson was brave enough to touch it. Only the top of course.  Thanks, Finding Nemo, for that lesson.

Connor just wanted to watch it from afar.

We took the opportunity again to do some family photos on the beach.

Eva was amazed at Colson's hair, and wanted to touch it.  Apparently she doesn't quite realize she is just as lucky to have the curls.

The Expats.

We didn't get a great normal family photo, but ask the kids to make funny faces and they are more than willing to cooperate.  Figures.

This girl loves to pose for the camera.  I probably have 30 different shots taken in about 30 seconds.

Last time we were here, Connor was obsessed with these elephants.  He thought they again were pretty cool.

Giving one a hug.

What a difference a year (and a hair cut) makes.  These are from December 2013.

Colson needed to pose with them too.  Shocking, I know.

Amazing sunsets.

Back to Bangkok - After a few relaxing days at the beach, it was time to return to Bangkok.  Steve and Carrie's apartment is within walking distance to a pretty cool park where the kids got to feed fish, climb on huge rocks, and play on swings and slides.  

Feeding fish.

'Exercise' equipment at the park.

These lizards are everywhere.  Apparently they bite though, so I didn't venture too close.

Trick or Treating - The American Embassy hosted a trick-or-treat event while we were there.  The chance at real, American candy?!  We weren't about to pass that up.   Connor wore a soccer uniform,  Daddy wore his USA jersey, Colson was Elsa, and Eva was a fairy.

There were several of these bad boys swimming in the 'moat' around the embassy.  Pretty cool.

Ayutthaya - We took a drive north and visited some ruins of an old Thailand city.  Ayutthaya was founded in 1350 and was the capital of Thailand until its destruction by the Burmese army in 1767.  It is also the scene of a few fight scenes in Mortal Kombat movies and is the stage in a few fighting video games.  

 A face in the roots of a tree.

 There were a lot of Buddha statues everywhere, some large, some small.  Many were damaged, but several are still standing.  Some of these things are almost 600 years old!

 It was a hot day.

So going anywhere with the kids was like going somewhere with a celebrity.  Everywhere we went, Thai people would point and smile at the kids.  Often, they would pose for a picture with the kids, sometimes asking, sometimes not.  This man squatted down next to Colson while his wife took a photo.  There are random photos of our kids floating around all over the world.

I'm pretty sure this is the area that was in the Mortal Kombat movies.

 We climbed to the top for some photos.  On our way down we were told they were sacred and we weren't supposed to be climbing on them.  Oops.  At least we got some cool photos!

 A short walk from the ancient city is this temple.  Inside is a huge golden Buddha.  

 Not a great photo of the kids, but it shows you just how ginormous this thing is.

There was also this arena full of dancing elephants that you could ride.  It was a pretty impressive show.  Colson at first didn't want to ride an elephant, but we knew she'd love it once she was doing it.  The kids thought it was so cool.  It was definitely not the smoothest ride, by far.  It was a very bumpy and uncomfortable 20 minute ride, but pretty neat none the less.  

 The kids are posing for some pictures before church.

 Eva is such a hugger.  It's so cute.

 Of course Colson and Connor had to make funny faces.  Poor Eva wasn't sure what to 

make of the situation.

 Watching cartoons with cousins.

 Aaaanother silly face picture.

Aquarium Day - The aquarium in Bangkok is really cool.  One of the coolest ones we've been to, and I can say we've been to several around the world now.  

 The kids are amazed by the octopus.

Getting a photo with all the kids looking and smiling has been impossible.

 Sharks!

 Steve and Carrie have a weekly date night while their maid watches the kids.  We got to tag along for some great food and an evening with the grown ups.  Score!

On our last day there, we drove to a mall with a cool indoor play area.  The kids had a blast.

 Huge ball bit.

 There were several different pretend play stations, including the bakery, clinic, market, ice cream shop, and a few others.  Colson could have played here all day every day.

 What is more fun than inflatable hamster wheels?!

 Even Xavier had a blast.

 Uncle Steve making an impression of his face.

Sadly, it was time to return to Luanda.  We boarded the flight late Thursday evening and arrived home Friday evening, on Halloween.  We were all exhausted, so we ushered the kids inside quickly before they noticed the few kids Trick-or-Treating.  Hey, they had already Trick-or-Treated at the American Embassy, so we didn't feel bad.  Besides, the candy here is gross, so it would have ended up in the trash anyway.  Thanks for another great vacation in Bangkok, Asian Robertsons!

-Amanda