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

We had a pretty epic day biking around the quiet countryside of Chang Mai. We got to go to a local street market, visit a local school, a leper colony, some temples/statues, and just enjoy the scenery. Apparently im such a skilled biker that sweet Sabs passed out on the way home.

Since there was still so much left to do in Chang Mai, we decided to book another Airbnb in a different area and keep exploring. The airbnb was awesome and the host filled it with some kid books and cute toys. The girls had a pretty epic bath tub which was used straight away.

We continued to explore (again mostly by foot) and booked our first two day adventures which were a bicycle tour in the countryside and a day at the elephant sanctuary. So many fun times!!

After a few days adjusting in Bangkok, we were off to Chang Mai (a smaller city north of Bangkok). It was an easy peasy 1 hour flight and we were away from the chaos of Bangkok and on to a new airbnb in the much calmer Chang Mai. We ended up staying in 4 different airbnbs in Chang Mai (because we returned due to a little stitch incident).

The first one was in a part of the city called Old City and the second in an area called Nimman. 3 of the airbnb’s were in the same building in Old City. Below is our first adventure in Chang Mai in our first airbnb in Old City.

We went to a hedgehog/guinea pig cafe, explored night markets, walked all around for hours (so much that the kids feet were peeling), went in and out of beautiful temples, found a favorite restaurant, did laundry thai style, celebrated Dada’s birthday, drank countless smoothies, swam in condo pool, rode in numerous tuk tuks, and ate loads of street food (esp waffles for sabs). It was so much fun. We just spent the first few days exploring and getting to know Chang Mai (mostly by foot and of course tuk tuks).

By this time our jet lag had wore off and we were officially on Thai time.

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

The next morning we took a quick 4 hour flight to Bangkok (after 18 hours this was peanuts). We got to our airbnb and were all out of sorts from jet lag. I was making broccoli soup at 3am i think it was (def a first for me).

Thankfully we were all on the same out of whack clock so we just hung out, explored, adjusted and ate our broccoli soup at 3am :).

Below are some pics from Lumphini Park, Kidzania, Children’s museum, restaurants, streets of Bangkok and our airbnb.

We started our journey in NYC and boarded a 16 hour direct flight to Taiwan which actually ended up being 18 hours due to a plane de-icing (but really after 16 hours who’s counting).

The girls were amazing! I couldnt believe how chill they were the entire flight and no complaining or fussing, just unbelievable. We were armed with a bunch of snacks, downloaded movies, some play foam and the plane tv (which had tons of games and movies too). It really went as smooth as an 18 hour flight could be.

Finally we arrived in Taiwan, checked into hotel near the airport and slept, stretched, ate. We had about 14 hours to relax before boarding the next flight to Bangkok, and we were very thankful for the break :).

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