Sophie made it back just in time for Presentation day. After we got home from Thailand, Sabi went to school for 1/2 a day and we decided to just pull her from school for the rest of the year. I think she really wanted to like school because Sophie does but after 4 months now she is still not a big fan and would rather be home chillin with her parents. The day is still too long and honestly Will and I know how fast it all goes so this time is precious and so is she! Home she stays for now and when she is ready she will head off to school (sooner than we’d like im sure). She is still going to after school classes with Sophie and she is super happy to be doing that.

One night in SJ and then we headed back to Mal Pais! All was just how we left it and gahhh we forgot just how beautiful it is here! These are a few pics from our first week back. We celebrated our birthdays that we missed while away and also Poppa’s birthday.

We celebrated Dia de Amor (had to write in spanish because i am missing my correct key for the first letter- seriously need to get to SJ to get new laptop). Sophie went out to surf again, Sabi spent the whole week catching up on eating, the dogs are all home, Lulu is great, the monkeys came, and we now hae a new bird friend. Always good to be home!

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

We left Krabi and took a short flight to Bangkok where we chilled for an hour or so and then headed on our way to Taiwan. We slept at the same hotel we started the whole trip in and then ate a big lunch the next day and prepped for our 14 hour journey back to NY.

The kids were so excited to see Nana and Tom and were equally as amazing on the long flight as they were on the way there. Thankfully there were no major delays this time around, the plane was not freezing, and we made it back smoothly.

Both my feet and Will’s feet swelled up after sitting on the plane so long, which was weird because on the way there we sat on the plane for 4 hours longer and had no problem but this was def a first for both of us. I was wondering as we were getting off why my sneakers were so tight and then Will mentioned his feet and i looked at mine and my toes looked like little sausages. So bizarre. One relaxing sleep by Nana and Tom’s and our feet were back to normal.

Will also had some odd little rash on his back from the plane that took nearly a week to go away. I guess the body isnt meant to sit in a tight space that long. The girls on the other hand didn’t miss a beat.

When we got back to NY there was snow on the ground and Tom gathered a big pile to keep for the girls to make their first snowman together. I’d say they are two pretty lucky kids. We only had a couple of days in NY so we just hung out and packed up while the girls soaked in all their grandparent time. Thankful for all of it. We had a spectacular Christmas/New Years/Thailand trip!

Now that my photos are caught up, i’ll need to start tackling the ideos (that first letter key doesnt work on my laptop anymore so i am haing to aoid using it which I was not ery successful doing in this sentence. Can you guess what letter is missing?).

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

We finished up our epic Thailand trip with a stop in Krabi and a quick 2 night resort stay. After staying in Airbnbs and running all around we decided to end it all with a relaxing resort to just chill in.

Of course we dont know how to do the resort chill so after half a day we hired a long tail boat and ended up exploring a nearby island called Hong Island. It was one of the best day trips we did and the kids were both stoked.

Memories to last a lifetime…

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

After 3 nights in Phuket we were excited to hop on a ferry and get to Koh Lanta. Will upgraded our tickets to first class (an extra 10.00) and the kids had couches, air conditioning and a movie to watch the whole time. It was pretty awesome! We had to take two ferry boats so this was the first one and on the second one we got to sit outside with our feet hanging off. Both were beautiful and fun and we were stoked that the water was blue and we were floating far away from Phuket.

Koh Lanta was beautiful! We knew as soon as we hopped on the back of a pickup truck (one of the kids favorite way to travel) and headed off to our airbnb that it was a world of difference from Phuket. It was quiet, jungle lined, there were cats everywhere, monkeys, cool little restaurants, and a way more laid back crowd.

We liked it so much that we extended our time there and just chilled. The girls made buddies in the condo complex so they were always playing and we ate some good food, went to an animal rescue, explore different beaches in the area, and took a day trip to Koh Rok for some snorkeling and fun.

We also had a down day that was spent with two little kiddos puking and crapping from something they ate. Sophie puked and then gracefully slipped in her own puke which was also super fun! Sabi thankfully made it to the toilet each time. Will and I luckily escaped the puke party.

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

After a few days in Chang Mai we went on our way to the islands. Our first stop was Phuket since this is where we would be taking the ferry from to get to our other destinations. We decided to stay there for 3 nights because Sophie still had her stitches in and she couldnt go swimming yet.

Phuket seemed like it had the most options for things to do on land since the other islands were all smaller, but really after one night we knew we were staying 2 days too long. It was crowded, dirty, and just plain ole icky but like always we found our fun! Can’t say we will ever go back there but we can say we saw it…so there’s that.

We mini golfed, took some fun tuk tuk rides, went to a night market, found shoelace licorice, got Sophie some cool pants, and Sabi a beautiful dress, climbed rocks to escape the loads of tourists all over the beach, walked around, had my 39th birthday, drank wine on the deck, cooked some dinners, and debated heading back to the mountains thinking the islands might all be this crowded (luckily we didnt, and they weren’t).

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Will’s face below says it all about Phuket. It literally smelled like a toilet bowl and didn’t look much better.

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

A set of stitches (6 outside and a few inner to be exact) sent us on a rushed trip back to Chang Mai. Sophie was running around a corner in 7-11 and somehow tripped while simultaneously slicing her inner arm on a sharp corner of a shelf. It was gnarly. Sabi took one look and started freaking out crying. Sophie was surprisingly calm, although maybe she was just in shock.

We quickly dropped our things and walked to closest pharmacy who told us she def needs to go to clinic. We then walked to closest clinic (which was closed so we waited out front with like 10 other people until it opened) who told us they dont do stitches. Then we walked a little further to an emergency room who definitely did stitches but there were wounded people laid out everywhere and it looked like the type of place you probably dont want to have an open wound in. From there we decided to rush back to our airbnb, pack our things and take the 3 + hour ride to a private hospital in Chang Mai. Her cut was deep but luckily not bleeding very much so we had the clinic clean and wrap it and headed off back to Chang Mai.

On the car ride there Will looked up a last minute airbnb for us to stay at from the woman who rented to us before we left. I was on kid duty and keeping both girls calm in the back for the long ride. When we arrived at the hospital in Chang Mai (which Will looked up and also got recommended by the airbnb host) we knew we made the right call. It was modern, super clean, attentive and they spoke english. The dr. was incredibly patient and calm with Sophie which made the experience as good as it possibly could have been under the circumstances. The surgeon made sure she was completely numb before he did the stitches and she was a champ. We finally got done with it all around midnight and headed to a nice comfy airbnb to rest it all off.

The next day we went back to the hospital so they could clean the wound and show us how to take care of it. Sophie had to take an antibiotic just in case of infection and she had a pain med in case it was throbbing which she only needed once, thankfully.

A bit of a detour in our trip but thankful it turned out as good as it could have and that Sophie had great medical care and just a little scar inside her inner arm for memory. I really am so very proud of her and how calm she remained, also proud of our family and how we all took our own roles to get the situation taken care of without panicking (aside from Sabi who completely let out on the outside what we were all feeling on the inside when she screamed and freaked out at first sight of it).

And with that, the next part of our adventure was back in Chang Mai. We mainly chilled out, walked a bit, ate some good food at our favorite restaurant, and played some cards. A few days later we boarded another flight and were off to Phuket.

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

After Chang Mai we took a private van up the windiest mountains to a town called Pai. It was a nauseating 3 1/2 hour journey but thankfully the kids slept through the windiest bits or we for sure would have had a puker. I nearly hurled myself.

The ride was definitely worth it because the foggy mountains led us to what ended up being our favorite town in Thailand. Aside from Sophie having a freak accident in 7-11 which we required an early departure and rushed 3 hour journey back to Chang Mai, we had a blast.

We stayed in a super cool airbnb that we had to walk over a bridge to get to. The bridge was bit terrifying (apparently not for Sabi who was running across it on her own) but so awesome that on the other side it was just our cabin and lots of land.

There was a cat that would come over each day and a dog that lived on the driveway out who we snuggled with each time and named Mama Dog. We did a lot of walking and exploring, went to a bunny cafe, visited a beautiful farm, roamed the night market, made coffee in our outdoor kitchen…and then cut our time short (sadly) for an emergency trip back to Chang Mai to stitch up Pookie’s arm. Oh it was an adventure and Sophie will always have the scar (hopefully tiny) to remember it.

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve