Mom and Dad's Day Out

T and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary while in Phuket. To honor the day, we booked a babysitter for the whole day and set off on an all-day snorkeling tour of Thailand's Phi Phi Island.

The tour made several stops but the best was Phi Phi Island, FANTASTIC snorkeling! The water was crystal-clear and full of amazing fish, sea urchins and coral. I've never seen anything like it. This stop inspired us to buy a nice under-water camera!

We also stopped for swim in a shallow area between a series of massively-tall islands. The guides encouraged us to jump right off front of the boat, and we did! Lots of fun, and absolutely gorgeous scenery.

Mind the jellies! We stopped at a developed island where a great, big buffet lunch awaited us. We ate and had plenty of time to sit in the shade on the beach and have a little nap, well I did anyway.

Our final stop was at a beautiful beach covered with loungers and beach umbrellas. We were served yummy ice cream sundaes and read our books for a couple of hours before it was time to head back to Phuket. Sooooo relaxing!
Phi Phi Island is a "must do" on your next visit to Phuket!

Phuket Pampering

One of the kids' favorite things to do on our trip was to go to "Camp Safari" (the kids' club) at our resort. C wasn't quite old enough to go on his own (without a parent or caregiver), but we made sure he had plenty of time there too.

One of the activities was nail painting- D insisted we take a photo to remember it always.

And C didn't want to be left out... of the finger nail photo taking.

D's hair is just long enough to feel nice and hot on her neck, but not really long enough to get into a ponytail. So, I thought I'd try my hand at French braids. Hmmm.

We decided to try the salon just outside our resort...much better.

Since we were headed to the salon, and T's feet needed a little pampering, he found a treatment he couldn't resist.

This is T enjoying a Fish Spa. Yes, you submerge your feet in this large tank and tons of tiny fish nibble away at your feet. Sound horrible!?!? It was actually pretty fantastic. T said it didn't hurt, just felt very strange, and his feet were incredibly soft after! I wasn't up to the task, but I'm game when we go back!

Yum yum little fishies!

D Watching the Rugby Match

We'll try not to let her loose on a cold day at Soldier Field, for the safety and enjoyment of those sitting in the row in front of her.

Pre-Primary Assembly

Today, D's class put on a wonderful performance themed around the Australian animals and farm animals that they have been learning about.

First, a new version of Old MacDonald's Farm.

Then, Dingle-Dangle Scarecrow.

Finally, The Boomerang. This involved some hip-shaking and boomerang technique. I included a short video.

C says, "Rock on Pre-Primaries!" He enjoyed the music but for all the talking parts he went and collected leaves from the playground with a few other bored little brothers.

Elephant Trek

It started out too rainy and I'm not sure anyone was happy about our plans for the morning but we are so glad we stuck it out. Day 4 was Elephant Trek day.

We booked in with Sara, Paul, and Sophie for a 2.5 hour tour into the jungles of Phuket Island. This included an hour long elephant trek through the jungle and a monkey show. We had no idea what the monkey show would entail, but we were up for anything having to do with monkeys!

We were entertained by some very skilled and friendly howler monkeys. I love C's grin in this photo. He was delighted with shaking their hands and getting to see them up close.

Coconut picking monkeys. Exercising monkeys.

Slam dunking monkeys.

Bicycle riding monkeys.

Low-budget but good for some big laughs. Next, on to the fantastic elephants. First a snack for the little guy who did a bit of dancing for us.

Then we loaded up and began our trek through the Thai jungle. I had a stop and think to myself a few times, 'you are riding an elephant through a Thai jungle. You are riding an elephant through a Thai jungle.' It was hard to wrap my brain around it at times. What an adventure.

C and I rode an elephant named Nancy.

A thank you snack.

Nap time (some of you may remember from the Hamilton Island post, that C does some good sleeping on hols).

That night was a lovely night out for just Todd and I. We rode a tuk-tuk into Patong, did a little bit of shopping, and had a nice dinner. We returned to the cabana around 11 and were greeted by the kids, happily doing puzzles with the non-english speaking baby-sitter. I guess she missed the whole bit about 8pm bedtime! Oh well, we all slept in.

Dinner and Dancing

We are back in Perth and feeling pleased with the results of our trip to Thailand. Our week in Phuket was so nice and relaxing and our 3 days in Bangkok (which shall now be typed as BKK) were wild and yet, productive.

The first thing I will say about Thailand is that the people are absolutely wonderful. We practiced a Thai greeting (Sa-wa-dee-ka) before our trip and it was warmly accepted by the locals. Everyone in any language appreciates it when you at least attempt to use their native tongue. I'm hoping to learn lots more of the local language.

Our resort was lovely, The Centara Resort at Karon Beach. Quite a drive from the airport but with brand new surroundings, there was lots to see from the windows of our mini-bus and few complaints.

We were very lucky that we were able to rendez-vous with some Perth friends who moved to Hong Kong about a year ago. Sara, Paul, and Sophie arrived a couple of days after us and we had so much fun catching up with them.

Our 2 families rode in a tuk-tuk to a nearby town called Kata. We did a little bit of shopping, trying out some new styles...

And found a great spot for dinner. As Sara said, they often ask if restaurants have kids' menus and highchairs, but after this stop, we have to start asking if a place has a dance floor. Much to our surprise, shortly after sitting down, 2 men began playing piano and saxophone. The 3 kids took to the dance floor and the night began. SO MUCH FUN!!!

And really nice food, beautifully presented.

When the server lifted the green leaf cone there was rice underneath, in a perfect cone shape. It's so fun to eat food that looks cool! And Thai food looked pretty fantastic everywhere we went. It's healthy stuff too- I just need to work on my portion control!

Wonderful Phuket Thailand!

I am not posting photos yet but I am pleased to share that we are having a marvelous time in Phuket. We arrived Thursday afternoon, had an easy ride to our resort, settled into our cabana and headed straight for the pool.

Each of us is enjoying the heat, the food, and the lovely people.

We woke up this morning to lots of rain. Never nice on vacation but it made it very easy to decide what to do- take the kids to the kids' club and book in at the spa! Everyone was happy with that plan. C found lots of toys and nice Thai ladies to flirt with, D had her fingernails painted, and T and I enjoyed massages. Then naps, swimming, and an amazing dinner at a Thai restaurant down the street.

I plan to try the Tom Yum soup at every restaurant along the coast. Can't get enough!