Good Thaims!

Last December, following a long push in finishing all the translation checks of Luke's gospel, we took a 5-day vacation to a "resort" about 2 hours outside of Addis Ababa. While the accommodations were nice, the grounds were beautiful and the food extraordinarily delicious, I had a very hard time actually enjoying the time. The nights when Grace decided that screaming was preferable to sleep led to some early Ibuprofen and extra coffee the next morning. Micah's response to relaxation was apparently boredom and so he provided some extra exciting misbehavior to liven things up. Repeatedly, each night after finally getting the kids in bed, Andrea and I found ourselves just as exhausted as normal life. Is this the best we can do for a vacation? We hoped not.

And so, when the opportunity to visit to Thailand presented itself to us (initially to attend a conference), initially I was skeptical. But then as I put the pieces together a bit, I grew more optimistic. Travelling outside of the Ethiopian culture in itself is a form of "getting away" that we hadn't been able to do last time. Micah loves airplanes and trains and so even with red-eye flights, we knew he would do fine. Our friends in Thailand had offered a guest room for us to stay in and their two boys (ages 5 and 3) would be perfect playmates, not to mention that we would be living in a house filled with "new to them" toys that would provide them hours of exploration. Living with friends who actually live in Thailand meant that we could see the sites, experience the culture and enjoy fun activities on a modest budget and without the stress of tour agencies and figuring out transportation problems. Trying to plan one event each morning, we kept ourselves a busy, but at the same time found plenty of hours of true rest and relaxation.

Rather than walk you through every event, I've chosen to post a smattering of pictures with short captions for those interested in our highlights.

Leaving the Addis Ababa airport in the middle of the night.

Traveling before Grace turned 2 saved us lots of money on airfare, but as you can see, she was a bit too big for the airplane bassinet. Nevertheless she slept well on all the flights.

Our plane tickets took us through Cairo with a full day layover and free hotel accommodations. 

The same Nile River that we cross over in Ethiopia every time we travel to and from the Gmz area.  

That's us, tired from flying all night, and hot from the sun.

Looking up the pyramid

Our tour guide person had a whole bunch of silly pictures for us to take. Andrea really shouldn't be lifting such big rocks while pregnant.

Micah resting his elbow on a pyramid.

Quite the jump!

Riding escalators was definitely one highlight of the trip for Micah and Grace.

As was riding the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

Lots to see from the window.

We did actually sleep on the train, only after the excitement simmered down quite a bit.

"Street food" like this sausage on a stick is amazing and ridiculously cheap!

The PooPooPaper Factory was very fun - yes, they make paper out of elephant poop!

And so the process begins.

Lots of fibrous poo!

Making PooPooPaper

Making PooPooPaper Cards for the Grandparents.

We had to get a "Poo Poo" cookie for snack.

Micah did a great job learning to ride a two-wheeler.

Three of us partook in plenty of Ice Cream. Mommy's high glucose count at the last baby appointment forced her to have to behave...at least a some of the time!

The weekend night markets are quite impressive and fun.

If you are squeamish about odd foods, don't look too closely here. Grasshoppers, crickets, grubs, beetles...Mmmmm.

We all tried them, but no, we did not finish the whole batch.

Lots of swimming!

And more!

Sharing fresh papaya and pineapple in a park, does life get any better?

The elephant camp shows were fun - here is a baby elephant painting a very impressive picture.

Up close and personal

No kisses please!

Grace didn't quite trust that long nose coming at her.

Here Fido, have a banana.

Andrea and Christina attended a Thai cooking class.

Oh I hope she learned well, we all LOVED the Thai food!

Meanwhile, Rob and I took the kids to the zoo.

Here giraffe, have a string bean.

When Bangkok taxis include boats running through the canals, we have ourselves a dirt cheap tourist attraction for toddlers! 

After returning to Bangkok, we spent one day at a world class aquarium.

On our way to the airport, we couldn't help but stop at the street stands and buy some final "street food."

With four red-eye flights, we are thankful for two kids who can sleep almost anywhere.

Tired from lots of fun, but at the same time, well rested from normal life.

Silly gooses having some fun with the "presents" handed out by the stewardesses - earphones, socks, eye covers and tooth brushes!