A Surprise Visit September 28, 2012

My mom just left from a spur of the moment visit. She messaged me 2 weeks ago asking if I was home and free the following week. Five days later, she hopped on a plane and came to Thailand. She spent 8 days with us, going about our normal life and spending time with us.

Ellie just ate this time with Nana up. Every naptime and bedtime became a struggle as Ellie wanted to spend every moment possible with her Nana. “More book, more book,” she would implore of Nana as I announced it was bedtime, after giving warnings. After she awoke, she would gleefully run to find Nana either in the guest bedroom or downstairs.

With an abnormal amount of rain during the visit (the most in Bangkok in September in 50 years), we spent plently of time stuck in taxis or at home. That didn’t dampen the mood at all. One evening it took us over 1 ½ hours to go a normal 10 minute drive…it was that flooded and trafficky. No worries for Ellie and Nana, we just sang every children’s song we know over, and over, and over, and over. Those songs became the theme of this visit as Ellie looked for opportunities to sing them, and we had plenty.

The rain, and thus flooding on our street, stopped enough for us to make it to the zoo one morning and tea one afternoon. We went to Vieng Joom On Teahouse on Sukumvit 24. A Moroccan-styled, quiet teahouse that served traditional and house blended teas. Offering a vegetarian spread of sandwiches and scones, everything we ate melted in your mouth with a perfect blend of flavor. Ellie acted very grownup, and even drank her own cup of tea. After finishing our tea, we smelled the different blends of tea. Ellie made sure that we smelled each one at least once. I think we might have a future tea connoisseur here.

We had a great visit. Lots of good memories were made, and pictures taken so Ellie can have a record. But we had to say goodbye, see you again, after only 8 days. This is the tough part of being a missionary. Living half a world away from family. It is a rare treat to have a visit with family, and on such short notice. We treasure the times that we get to see family, even if it is only so often. Definitely not often enough for Ellie. She loves her family and wishes she got to see them regularly. She continues to wander around our home looking for Nana. I just keep explaining that Nana went back into the computer again (Skype).

I guess all those Skype times, phone calls, and pictures of family all over the house really help Ellie connect with her family. She knows who they are and enjoys a special relationship with them, even if they are thousands of miles away.

How do you connect with long distance loved-ones?

Traveling in Bali February 20, 2012

This is not a travel blog, but we do travel quite a bit so I thought that I would share our experiences about traveling to a certain place with little ones.

Last week we went to Bali, the beautiful, tropical island in Indonesia. We have been planning this vacation since last May, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for our family. After the stress of moving, and new responsibilities, we were all in definite need of relaxing, and where better to do that than in an island paradise.

This was our first real family vacation, so it looked very different than previous trips. Andy and I love water sports, like snorkeling…well at least one of us likes snorkeling and the other just swims around making silly faces with his mask…jet skiing and exploring waterfalls. We skipped all of that this trip and opted for swimming in the pool, relaxing at the beach, and going for an inland trip to see the volcano…from a restaurant, so no hiking involved.

As for traveling to Bali with little ones, here are my observations:

1. The Balinese people love babies, so Ellie attracted a lot of attention. They wanted to hold her, play with her, or simply talk with her. As the Thai act the same way, this didn’t bother Ellie one bit and it helped keep her occupied at restaurants as we waited for food. The more packed a restaurant, the less attention she got from the staff…

2. It was hot! Be prepared to need to cool down often, and have a sippy cup, or straw with water available for your little one. It was considerably cooler in the mountainous areas of Ubud.

3. Car seats are not necessary in Bali, but I’m not sure what we would have done, if they were…I should think about that before our next trip…

4. At the beach, beach chairs with large umbrellas were readily available for a fee, about $5…so we spend many a nap time lounging at the beach during nap time. The only problem was that once we sat down, it attracted all the sellers to come up and offer their services. If you decide to buy from them, negotiate first, as their starting prices are outrageous.

5. There are lots of mosquitoes, so bring repellent. We covered our bodies with sunscreen during the day, and mosquito repellent at night.

6. We love walking the beach, so a good baby carrier was essential for us. We stayed in the popular Kata/ Legian beach area, so there were lots of tourists, even in a low time. There was lots of little shells, great for kids shelling, but I only found a few good shells. We would have needed to visit some different beaches to find better shells, but that wasn’t what this trip was about.

All in all, we had a wonderful and relaxing time in Bali. We would love to return and enjoy the island again, if we are able to secure cheap tickets from AirAsia again.