Travelling with the Kids
I wanted to make a separate entry about how the children are coping as it may be of interest to some of you.
We've only been on the road for a week so I may be a bit premature thinking this is going to be a plainsailing trip :-)
Petra is finding the whole thing a breeze, the heat doesn't faze her, and she's happy to order 'plain' rice at every single meal (5 baht or 18 cents NZ), and then pick what she fancies off my plate. She is fascinated by all the stray animals and wants to stop and chat to each one, much to my horror.
She is turning out to be the star attraction everywhere we go, everyone wants to touch her, pinch her, and even kiss her. The attention has gotten even greater since she had her hair beaded (Bo Derek style). I'm trying to stop worrying that every Thai man I see eyeing her up is going to abduct her!
Brannan is suffering (not silently either) in the heat, you only have to mention going outside and he breaks out into a sweat :-) He is more adventurous in the eating sense and will usually try some of what Mark has ordered, and is doing a great job with his Hello's and Thankyou's in Thai.
He isn't generating the same level of attention that Petra does, and I was worried it would cause some jealousy, so was grateful for one time when we intercepted a bus of Thai tourists in Petchaburi and they all wanted their photos taken with him.
Brannan has become our star '7/11' spotter, I think he can smell them at 1 km. 7/11 convenience stores have become our staple for breakfast supplies - we usually get a small cereal and flavoured milk each for the kids, and bread (for jam sandwiches) or noodles for Mark and I. We can't quite get into the Thai breakfast and I refuse to get 'American Breakfast' on principle!
We haven't seen any evidence of the infamous seedy side of Thailand - probably because we're all in bed too early - so wondering if its all a myth :-)
Kids are waking about 6.30 ish each morning and since nothing opens here until 10.00 am we are spending time working on our diaries (much to Brannan's disgust), and homework books.
Laundry is my daily obesession - with four sets of clothes each day, I'm constantly on the look out for anything I can drape a piece clothing on to dry. We've started using local laundry services for t-shirts and at about $1 nzd each I consider it a necessary luxury :-)
The children still fight with each other and Petra has packed a few tantrums just like at home, but all in all I wouldn't rate this as being any more trying than the backpacking we did years ago.
:-)
We've only been on the road for a week so I may be a bit premature thinking this is going to be a plainsailing trip :-)
Petra is finding the whole thing a breeze, the heat doesn't faze her, and she's happy to order 'plain' rice at every single meal (5 baht or 18 cents NZ), and then pick what she fancies off my plate. She is fascinated by all the stray animals and wants to stop and chat to each one, much to my horror.
She is turning out to be the star attraction everywhere we go, everyone wants to touch her, pinch her, and even kiss her. The attention has gotten even greater since she had her hair beaded (Bo Derek style). I'm trying to stop worrying that every Thai man I see eyeing her up is going to abduct her!
Brannan is suffering (not silently either) in the heat, you only have to mention going outside and he breaks out into a sweat :-) He is more adventurous in the eating sense and will usually try some of what Mark has ordered, and is doing a great job with his Hello's and Thankyou's in Thai.
He isn't generating the same level of attention that Petra does, and I was worried it would cause some jealousy, so was grateful for one time when we intercepted a bus of Thai tourists in Petchaburi and they all wanted their photos taken with him.
Brannan has become our star '7/11' spotter, I think he can smell them at 1 km. 7/11 convenience stores have become our staple for breakfast supplies - we usually get a small cereal and flavoured milk each for the kids, and bread (for jam sandwiches) or noodles for Mark and I. We can't quite get into the Thai breakfast and I refuse to get 'American Breakfast' on principle!
We haven't seen any evidence of the infamous seedy side of Thailand - probably because we're all in bed too early - so wondering if its all a myth :-)
Kids are waking about 6.30 ish each morning and since nothing opens here until 10.00 am we are spending time working on our diaries (much to Brannan's disgust), and homework books.
Laundry is my daily obesession - with four sets of clothes each day, I'm constantly on the look out for anything I can drape a piece clothing on to dry. We've started using local laundry services for t-shirts and at about $1 nzd each I consider it a necessary luxury :-)
The children still fight with each other and Petra has packed a few tantrums just like at home, but all in all I wouldn't rate this as being any more trying than the backpacking we did years ago.
:-)
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