I think she's feeling better...

Sophie was sick last week. It started with the middle-of-the-night vomiting session. (Why is it always in the middle of the night??!!) Then for the next seven days she was a clingy, whiny, sleepy, never-hungry grump. On Monday morning she woke up a different person. Happy, playing with Sam & Lydia, eating, laughing, being her goofy self and then I remembered that I like her! So, today, this is what she has had to eat...a 16 month old...

Breakfast: a large bowl of Cheerios, two eggs, 1/2 c. cottage cheese, 1/2 c applesauce, two donut holes.
Snack: 1/4 bagel and a muffin
Lunch: 1/2 a BOX of mac n cheese, bunch of grapes
Snack and Dinner weren't quite so impressive, but nonetheless, she seems to be making up for the week of fasting.

I think she's feeling better, don't you?

Life in Chiang Mai

On this trip we were able to spend time at Grace International School, both in Gabe's kindergarten class and in Eric's seventh-grade class. Gabe's small group had built this tower, and the teacher mentioned that this group had shown the best cooperation in completing their project that day. For show and tell, everyone had to bring in some seeds and talk about where they came from, if they were edible, etc. Gabe is beginning his presentation about watermelon seeds. Eric's class was taking a test. At the end of the hour, Eric told his students they could ask me anything they wished about him. That was lots of fun, especially answering the question about the most embarrassing thing Eric had ever done. The last picture shows Gabe's great joy at receiving Lego's Aqua Raiders, a birthday gift from his cousin, Sam.

Bangkok--City of Contrasts

Bangkok is truly a study in contrasts--from the beautiful skyscrapers and upscale shopping centers to the places people live along the river where the only way you know people live there is because of the clothes hanging out to dry. One of the stops on the boat tour was a snake farm where poisonous snakes are trained to "perform." One of the most striking things about Thailand is the extreme loyalty and affection the Thai people have for their 80-year-old king who has been ruling for 61 years. There are pictures of him everywhere; this display is at the airport.

Chiang Rai

One of the things we are thankful for during this season is another safe and meaningful trip to Thailand to visit Eric, Angela, and Gabe. These pictures were taken in Chiang Rai, which is about a 3-hour drive north from Chiang Mai. We spent a few days there and learned about the Golden Triangle--where Thailand, Laos, and Burma (Myanmar) meet. It is a favorite site for tourists. The children in the last picture had the day off from school and knew that they could make some money by offering to have their picture taken with the tourists. We did not disappoint them. The first picture was taken from our Dusit Island Hotel window--a beautiful place, available at pre-"high season" rates. It was so nice to spend some time just relaxing, sightseeing, and visiting.

Gabe

Gabe will turn six this week, and we recently spent time with him in Thailand and enjoyed getting reacquainted with him and being able to see first-hand what his current interests are. Since we seldom get to take pictures of him, I'm including four that help explain what he likes to do these days. The first two show his remarkable ability to "recycle" and make things. The first picture shows a "cleaning up robot," sparked by a comic strip he had seen about a boy who designs a robot to clean his room for him. The second picture shows him working on a "mouse gets the cheese" board game he designed from a cereal box.

The third picture shows Gabe at his first soccer practice. Eric thought the most noteworthy accomplishment of the players was the number of water breaks they felt it necessary to take. (It WAS hot!)
The last picture shows Gabe thoroughly enjoying the Muppets Show--Season 2 DVD that we brought as a birthday gift. In fact, we all enjoyed watching that creative and clever show which had entertained our boys when they were Gabe's age. It was wonderful to spend time with Gabe and let him know how special he is to us. We miss you and love you, Gabe! Grandpa and Grandma

I just had to tell you this.

So we just got back from Florida and I am sure Jen will post more about that later...but I just had to get this down before I forgot how it went.

Scene: Driving somewhere in the car.

Elinore: I have a booger, I need a kleenex.

Kevin: Ok, just a minute...

Time elapses while Kevin and Jen look for a kleenex which is not to be found in the rental car.

Elinore: I ate my booger, it was good yum yum.

Kevin and Jen laugh at this for a while.

Elinore: My booger is all gone.

So I guess this answers the age old question...it begins simply out of the need for disposal.