Last Saturday we started our two-day trip home from Bangkok. We are really thankful for the place God provided us to stay in Bangkok during Clara’s birth (The Alliance Guest Home). Our kids loved the freedom of being able to run around the small campus and make friends with the staff there. The maintenance man was a special friend: Uncle David brought them candy and treats almost every day. The Guest Home was a great fit for our family. (Pictures below are from the playground at the Children’s Museum, which wasn’t too far from the guesthouse.)
One thing we won’t miss is riding taxis everywhere. (We kept track of the many different colored taxis we saw: yellow/green, yellow, green, red, pink, purple, white, blue, and orange.) We had some interesting adventures: the taxi that experienced radiator failure and dropped us off on the side of the road, the taxi driver that took us in the opposite direction from home for a while and then dropped us off and said he had to go home and didn’t have time to take us that far, the few that had no idea where they were going, and the many, many times taxis didn’t want our business since our home was too far away.
While in Bangkok, we took a trip to the zoo. We enjoyed seeing the animals – the zebra and monkeys were a favorite. For some reason the WWII bomb shelter there was also a big highlight for the kids…at least that’s what they told us afterwards. We were able to see a seal show and a Kenyan acrobatics show.
A week before Clara was born, Josh and I went out on a date to a nice restaurant that was walking distance from our apartment. The food was delicious, especially to a pregnant mama (yes – I ate the whole steak!). Afterwards we went to a coffee shop for dessert and took some fun pictures.
The Tuesday and Wednesday before we left, we got together with two of Josh’s former Thai students from University of Texas in Arlington. It was fun to be able to visit with them in their own country. The last time we saw them was in 2012.
There’s a lot I won’t miss about Bangkok: the traffic, the taxis, not being able to speak the language. There’s a lot that was nice: rarely saw any ants, no red dust (I was so clean!), not needing a helper. But I think the one thing we enjoyed the most was all the extra time we got with Josh. It was really special to have him around so much and to have lots of evenings without commitments or loads of work to be accomplished.
Sunday Clara turned 6 weeks. Typically most of the day Clara in pretty docile and hardly makes a sound, but it seems like as soon as her older siblings are in bed she wakes up and wants to play. She rarely “talks” during the day, but as soon as she’s the “only child” she has lots to say. Perhaps all the noise during the day intimidates her! Or perhaps she knows it’s the one time she has all my attention.
Most of the time the older kids are too busy to be occupied with Clara, but Anna continues to be very attentive.
Since returning from Thailand, the kids have enjoyed playing together outside. Anna (Becca and Isaiah) is now to the point we can let her outside without our being with her. Becca and Isaiah are pretty good about watching out for her. She loves it!
We’re in the midst of hot season and this year they say it’s unusually hot. We’re looking forward to rainy season starting July/August and hope it comes on time this year. It’s been several months since we’ve seen rain in Ban Lung.
