Yea! A New and Improved Blog.

Since we have lived here now over one year, I have adjusted our blog to reflect those changes. Instead of including "everyone" on our updated blog, I have elected to allow you to choose to be included. If you have checked this website and want the latest news from all of us, please send me an email and I will send you a link to the "new" family blog.

Dylan's Birthday Greeting

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Soft Sand, Scuba, Snorkeling and Swimming with the Fishes

A pregnant puffer fish.

An eel on the dive. We also saw an octopus that we swam with and got video of too! That was really, really cool.

Me back in the scuba after all these years. It was like riding a bike, only better.

My feet in the sand, it was like baby powder, really amazing and soft and white. It was wonderful.

Adventures in Phuket

A day four wheeling... it was really fun and challenging riding these machines through the mountains of a rubber plantation.

We all took our first white water rafting tour in Thailand too. It was totally fun!

The elephant ride was more exciting than it looks. The elephants are really high up off the ground and some of the footing looked a little unsure. It was a wonderful time.

Move down the beach to The Laguan Allamanda

The view from our new hotel room at the Laguna. This is where we stayed our last week in Thailand.

Elephants, Kayaks and Crabs

Everyday the elephants come to the beach to play and socialize. They are very friendly and love the attention from everyone.

Even the way of washing your feet of the sand is a beautiful touch. Oftentimes the bowls have fresh flowers floating in them.

A very small hermit crab I found on the beach while watching the boys kayak.

The boys on the kayak, enjoying the sights from the water side of life.

The Flying Family

We all took flying trapeze classes at the hotel. It was super fun. They taught us how to swing and then at the end of the day we got to get caught a few times.

Dylan getting caught on the trapeze.

Luke gets caught too.

JW Marriott in Phuket

Luke at the kid's pool.

More of the grounds at JW.... breathtaking.

One day we rented bikes and rode around on the paths just to take it all in.

Luke on the bridge leading the way, as always. :)

Life's a Beach

Walking down to the beach from our room.

Having fun splashing in the waves.

Dylan coming down to check things out. (Ethan was sick for a lot of this week of our trip, so he isn't in many of the photos.)

More Images in Phuket

The lobby at JW Marriott. Ethan is constantly the one who keeps everyone smiling, whether they like it or not.

One of the waterfalls on the walkways through the hotel at JW. I have never seen grounds this beautiful with such attention to detail.

In Thailand most of the people drive mopeds, or scooters, there are more mopeds than automobiles. This photo was taken right outside a restaurant in Phuket Town.

Right outside our back door of our hotel room, Dylan stops for a pose.

Arriving in Phuket

The fresh leis that the JW Marriott put around our necks on arrival, they provided wonderful aroma in our room, and they look pretty too.

The grounds at the JW Marriott in Phuket are beautiful. The hotel is all outdoors and there are fountains and greenery every place. Here we are waiting for the elevator.

The bathroom is beautiful with a wonderful bath tub and a two headed shower. The whole room is beautiful. Our back terrace leads to the private beach, and it is the reason we chose this particular room. This is the life.

The boys have a little nook all their own. It has a wonderful view and their stuffed friends are happy too.

Eating Out with Kids

Right across from our hotel in Bangkok there is a McDonald's complete with a Play Place. So, that is (unfortunately) where we ate several meals. The McDonald's in Bahrain does not serve breakfast, so it was nice to be able to order breakfast burritos and hash browns for a change.

A donut shop in the mall at Bangkok. Their doughnuts are really different and have a funny shape. They are round, with a hole but are like small round spheres attached to make a circle instead of a bun with a hole in the middle.

Ronald McDonald outside the restaurant. He is in the pose used by the locals to greet one another. Hands in prayer position, bow the head and say, "Sawatdi Khap", (pronounced Swa Dee Kap for boys and Swa Dee Ka for girls), it means, "Hello, how are you."

This was eating at the KFC in Phuket town. I thought the menu was interesting, just to see the type of "alphabet" used in Thai. Many of the languages over here use different alphabets, like Chinese, Japenese, Hamaric, Arabic and Thai... just to name a few.

Long Boat Tour in Bangkok

We took a tour on long boats up the river and through all the canals of Bangkok. It was very interesting to see the different businesses and residences on the canals. To get to the canals we crossed a lock canal, that is how they control the water level from the river and allows the buildings to be so close to the water's edge.

Some of the houses do not have any plumbing and you can see that they use the water from the canal to wash their clothes and dishes. It was really a sight to see. Quite different from anything that we are used to being from the states.

The long boat made a few stops. We stopped here at one of the largest temples and climbed the steps up the temple and toured the grounds. It was an amazingly steep temple. Each person had to take turns on the steps because the incline was so steep and the steps so narrow. I was very nervous, but we all made it up and back down. That is another notice from being away from the states, people in other countries do not seem to be as concerned with safety. I don't imagine there are as many lawsuits from people who get harmed from drinking their coffee too hot or anything like that here.

Marriott Resort and Spa, Bangkok

The fluffy white beds I was talking about. Here is where we slept, you can see the two Romeo's (Ethan and Luke's stuffed dogs) on their bed.



This was right next to the spot we chose right by the pool everyday. The hotel grounds were amazing with incredible floral displays, statues and fountains every place your eye gazed.

One Night in Bangkok

Actually it was three nights in Bangkok, but no one has written a song about that... yet.
Our hotel was awesome, really beautiful and relaxing.



Ethan jumping in the pool at the Marriott Resort and Spa in Bangkok.

Every night they left these beautiful orchids on our pillows. The room was incredible with the most fluffly wonderful white sheets and pillows.

A Night in Dubai

On our way to Thailand we spent one night in Dubai. We had a really nice time eating at Chilli's of all places and walking around the downtown area. Our hotel room was small and not the best, but that lended to the adventure of it all.