Bangkok at a glance

We ran into some visa issues, and had to leave the country to reissue our new visa. So in a way, it was a forced trip that we turned into a mini vacation. It was so nice to get out of cold dreary Hanoi and into some warm sunshine. We had 4 days to play and we tried to make the most of each one.

We decided a trip to the aquarium would be a great way to spend 1 of our 4 days. The kids loved it. Bella liked the glass bottom boat and seeing the shark swim under the boat. I on the other hand had flashbacks of being in a small boat in the Okavango Delta in Botswana and praying hippos didn't tip us over. I was 15 and spent the summer in Botswana. One night our guide took us out on a small boat with a huge search light. We were spotting baby crocs in the bush, but being careful to not wake sleeping hippos, apparently they like to tip over boats. At 15 that was the biggest adventure I had ever been on. That was then and this is now :) Of course sharks weren't going to tip our boat but I couldn't help the trip down memory lane.

 Preston met a friend. His name was Louis, and he was German. They were behind us in line when we bought the tickets. Preston at 1 point asked Louis if he was Korean. Tim and I were both confused at the question. Preston then told him that he spoke Korean. Of course we thought he meant to ask him if he was Vietnamese, but then Preston proceeded to sing Gangnam style complete with dance. SO FUNNY! The kid was obviously confused, but they played for the rest of the afternoon so I guess Preston's dancing and singing skills won him over.

After the aquarium Bella was tired so we thought we would try our luck and head to see a 2 pm movie hoping that Bella would sleep through it. We went and saw Wreck it Ralph. It was a cute movie and only the 2nd Preston had ever seen. It was a fun treat for all of us. Bella did sleep through the 2nd half of the movie so that was nice too.

 Of course we didn't just come to Bangkok to stay indoors, we spent 1 of our days at the park. When you live near a park, I'm fairly certain you take it for granted. It was so unbelievably nice to be in grass, and nice weather. Both of the kids went to Bangkok with a cold, and just the sun and warmth cleared them both up. For Tim, he said his highlight of the trip was playing frisbee as a family in the park. We were surprised at how quickly Preston picked up this skill.  It was a gorgeous week. My mom was also going to fly from Atlanta just to be with us for our few short days, but when she got to the airport, they didn't let any standby passengers on the flight because of weather and weight of plane already. That was the only bummer. I was so excited to see her even if it was for a few short days. The good news is mom and dad are planning on meeting us in June after our conference in Thailand. YAY!

Vacation part 2

Our view from our hotel balcony overlooking the ocean.

A little father son bonding moment

Lots of rest and relaxation for all 3 of us.

The view from our hotel pool was breathtaking.

On our adventure we found a bunch of palm trees and even found a monkey getting coconuts down.

Lots of sea shells to be found

Preston practicing his photography skills

What beach vacation is complete with out put-put golf. Of course I WON! However, fun was had by all

Finally I leave you with my pregnant belly. There will be more of these to come in the weeks ahead.

our vacation part 1

Of course taking a beach vacation is much cheaper in Asia, but sometimes that means you have to travel in a more budget way. So in order to save money we took a flight to Bangkok, then took the underground transport to the bus company for $3 total. When we got to the company at 6pm we had to wait to load our overnight bus at 8pm. Prestons biggest entertainment at this point was the rat that kept creeping out. The picture below is a BAD pic. of our friendly rat that was more the size of a small cat. 

 By 8:30 we were ready to load our bus that cost us about $6 per person to ride for 8 hours to the coast. Preston slept the whole way. He really is an AMAZING traveler. Although no matter how amazing there is always some eventful travel story to be told when a 3 year old is around. This came about 3am when he peed in his pants while on the bus fast asleep. Luckily I never travel without another change or 2 of clothes. Problem solved.

 We arrived at the coast around 5 or 6 am. Preston was sleeping so we carried him to a seat where we had to wait for daylight to come. This boat was to take us to our island and cost a total of $40 for the whole family to go. In total to get to our island it took 19 hours and less than a $90 for the whole family to travel.

 Loading our boat to the island we were all hungry, dirty, and tired, but really excited to start our vacation.

After 2 hours on our boat we arrived at blue water and a 13 square mile island where we called home for 9 nights. It was PARADISE. So enough about how we got there, soon I'll post some of the fun things we did while there

Baby and Vacation

Today marks 10 days of a MUCH needed family vacation. We will be leaving today for Bangkok and taking an all night bus to the coast. Even though we might have internet, it is my goal to be OFF LINE!  So some quick information for the blogosphere

How far along are you?                         19 weeks on Monday

When is your due date?                         Sometime mid to late October

What are you having?                           Girl (Dr says 90% sure)

How much weight have you gained?     4lbs

Where will you deliver?                        Chiang Mai Thailand

Baby name yet?                                   Not yet, but on vacation it will be discussed at length

Registry information?                            b/c various people ask what to buy or where to send stuff to we                              
                                                            went ahead and created a registry. Some family will be coming to visit
                                                            us in Vietnam in July and will be delivering many of these blessings.

Shipping information                             Anything sent overseas must be shipped to Thailand the address is:
                                                                 please mark these items on shipping label as:
                                                                                ( NO COMMERCIAL VALUE)
                                                           Tim and Jamie Edwards
                                                           PO BOX 27
                                                           Amphur Muang Chiang Mai
                                                           50000 Thailand

                                                            Anything sent to the states to be brought out can ship to:
                                                            Tim and Jamie Edwards
                                                            1957 Spanish Oaks Dr N
                                                            Palm Harbor FL 34683
                                                           

Registry information:
http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/23ITU6I58NB40/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go

http://www.toysrus.com/registry/myregistry/index.jsp?overrideStore=TRUS&action=deleteItem&pidnum=11268471

The toys r us registry takes you to a search page, just look up info for Jamie Edwards in Palm Harbor FL

please note that these are only ideas, ANYTHING including used clothes/toys/books are GREATLY appreciated.

We are beyond thrilled to welcome our MIRACLE into the world. Follow the link to read a little about her story.

So for the next week we are going to be doing a lot of the above. As a family we are praying to be REFRESHED, RENEWED, RESTORED, and REVIVED for the year ahead.