VACATION!!! THAILAND! YAHOO!
For a very long time, we were counting down the days until our much needed, much anticipated Thailand vacation with some of our friends here in Laos. But as the day got closer, I wasn't improving at all, and we began to wonder if I would be able to make it. In the end, we decided to go, and though I would never make that 18hr there and 18hr back drive again while so sick, I'm glad we went. Eva and Elijah desperately needed to get out of the house and were going stir crazy with nowhere to go and not having me around at all the last couple months, and Nathan was way overdue to step away from work. And according to Nathan and based on the fun the kids had every day, it was worth it.
I don't want to say much about the drive, except to say that I laid down the whole way, puked more times than I care to remember, and required IVs both on arrival at our destination and arrival back in Laos. It's an experience that I am blocking out of my memory, other than to say that Nathan got us all there, kept the kids happy, did all the driving, stopped whenever I needed for however long I needed, kept us fed, and couldn't have done a better job of taking care of me. He's amazing. The kids were happy campers on the drive, and Eva kept saying that the beach is coming, the beach is coming the whole way there, though she'd never been before. She was so excited.
I wasn't able to make it out of my room while we were there but had some awesome afternoons with my friends, who kept me company, kept me smiling and laughing, and filled up my friend tank. They were awesome in so many ways, one of which was to take pictures of what was happening outside to keep me involved and able to picture the fun the kids were having. I am so thankful! So here are a bunch of the pictures we got...
Sand castles! Eva seems to be missing her swimming top here in this picture... I've noticed that the kids aren't exactly "put together" these days, but still, look at how much fun she's having :)
Hanging out on the beach
Nathan, Eva, Elijah
Apparently Elijah wasn't too into the salty water; but this one day, he kept running down into the surf, falling on his face in the water, then doing it over and over again.
As long as Eva felt secure with her double flotation help, she was very happy
Fun in the sand...lots and lots of shells
Eva got a short ride in the kayak with dad... don't worry, the water was actually very shallow here
We took our house helper along, partly because we couldn't have made it without her help and partly as a thank you for her long, long hours every day for the last few months, taking on total childcare duty while I have been completely absent from the kids lives. Very fun as she had never seen the ocean before.
Hanging out in the hammock
Getting ready to swim
The guys kayaked out to a distant island one morning
We spent the month waiting for Eva to be born in Chiang Mai with our friends, who were waiting for their little boy to come too. Eva and Ezra were born just a couple weeks apart, and we hadn't seen each other since their births... good memories.
All the kids represented in our 3 families... not one of these kids was here when we all arrived in Laos!
Blowing bubbles
Riding in the kayaks with their dads
Eva thought the kayak was the best thing ever
Nathan likes building sand castles and dolphins in the sand; Eva likes building cakes and beds. :)
Walking down the beach with our house helper
