First day of school

I was saddened Monday morning because I had to rush off to my school and was unable to send Drew off to Kindergarten like most parents. At least Andy was there to share in this milestone. 

 I was lucky enough to pick him up from school and I sure did get an earful of his day!

Drew:  I got into a little trouble today. This boy was playing with the Frisbee and I wanted to play too and he kept ignoring me. I told him he was mean and I had to sit out.

Me: Did he get in trouble too?

Drew: Yeah, he had to sit out for 10 hours and he can't go to recess tomorrow.

Drew:  I had a test today.

Me:  Oh yea, what kind of test.

Drew:  I had to spell cat.

Me:  Did you pass.

Drew:  Yup.

Me:  How do you spell cat?

Drew:  I can't remember...

Drew: This one kid who sits at my table... he got in trouble a lot. He dropped all his food on the floor and ate it. He likes to eat his food off the ground. He also likes to lick his hands.

Me:  Ummmm maybe you should give that friend some space at school.

As for Ainsley, she is back at Eagle Wings and is in Ms. Afston's class this year. Ainsley and Ellison are back in the same class but this year they are joined by their other half, Millie and Quinn. 

Krabi, Thailand

The last night in Thailand we stayed in Krabi.

We checked into our hotel then met our driver that would take us to go elephant trekking. 

We drove in a typical Thai taxi that is pretty much a truck with a covered back and benches.

I started to feel sick around that time but I didn't want to pass up the opportunity with the elephants. 

A minute after our ride started it started pouring!!!!

Add feeling sick with cold rain and you could say I was not in the best mood.

Despite all that, we all made the best of it and really did enjoy the adventure. 

Our hotel was super cute, and for only $30 a night!

I didn't see much of Thailand after we got to the hotel. 

I was sick. 

Really sick.

More from Phi Phi

During our adventure on the long boat, we stopped for a bit and snorkeled. Our Thai guide was would throw in Cheetos's in the water near us and the fish would make a mad dash right for us. 

It was startling at first because we didn't know what was going on. 

I've only snorkeled in the Caribbean but the fish here are much more impressive that there. 

There are several islands are Phi Phi and this one in particular is covered with monkey's. 

We stopped and was able to get out and visit with them.

This particular monkey was very, very sneaky! The Thai guide turned his head for a second and the monkey took the bag of chips right out of his hands and raced back to the tree. 

The island turns into quite a show at night. The islanders do several different "fire" dance shows that are fun to watch. The interesting part is seeing the tourists later in the evening attempt to do these fire moves themselves. You could pick them out the next morning because they would have ace bandages covering up their 3rd degree burns. 

The Beach

The girls and I enjoyed another nice evening out on the town.

Despite having some fear over the food being properly cooked, I learned that if you stay away from seafood your typically in the safe zone. 

We woke up the next morning and took a long boat to ride around the islands and most importantly to visit the island where Leonardo DiCaprio filmed "The Beach". 

The weather started out very cloudy and less than perfect. 

Our guide had to park the boat a good distance from the entrance of the island. We were told that we needed to swim to the ropes and then pull ourselves in. Three of us opt'd to wear life jackets and I'm glad we did. The waves were pretty high and on top of that we had to swim around other long boats and watch for their motors.

We made it safe and sound!!

Usually this entrance is packed with tour boats, which is why the long boat guide drop you off on the other side. We were very lucky to come on a day when it was almost empty.

Off to Thailand

The flight to Thailand was a nice and quick. We flew into Karabi and took at short cab to the ferry that would take us to the incredible, gorgeous Phi Phi Islands.

The ferry ended up being about 2 hours long. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful views until a rain shower came and we all hurried inside. 

This was at the Ciao Bella Restaurant that was next door to our cute little bungalow.

I loved that we were literally 100 feet from the ocean the entire time!

Singapore - Visiting Tina Dunlap

After a 23 hour flight from Houston I can say that I made the trip across the Atlantic with nothing but positive memories. I flew Singapore Air, thanks to Tina's recommendation, and received impeccable service. The flight attendants wore traditional Singapore dresses and slippers. Every attendant I saw was incredibly beautiful! I wanted to take a picture but it after the 8th person asked the ladies for one I decided to find one off the Internet. 

Our flight made a quick stop in Moscow to clean the plane and re-stock so I had a chance to "see" Russia. I was not able to buy any Vodka ( I did try) and the bathrooms are terrible!! If your ever stopping through there, use the bathroom on the plane before you land. 

Our first adventure was to visit the World Famous Singapore Zoo.

It was quite a sight! You really need a few days to see everything this zoo has to offer. My favorite part was seeing the orangutan's.  These monkey's are not enclosed and are free to roam around the zoo as they please. 

We also had a visit from another monkey who was actually a wild monkey that lived in the jungle next to the zoo. I guess if I was a wild monkey I'd want to see the zoo too!

We stuck around so we could get up close and personal to the Asian Elephant and Giraffe and feed them. I was a tad bit terrified to do this (as you can tell from the picture above).

That afternoon we went to the W Hotel for high tea. We had a great view of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and the entire bay area. 

The tea was the BEST! I had vanilla bourbon black tea and I cannot find it anywhere in the US. I'm kicking myself for not purchasing it there. 

The Merlion and myself. 

We took a cab to the Marina Bay Sands hotel and enjoyed the views and cocktails :)

I loved watching this city transform into the night. It really was a gorgeous scene and my pictures do not do it justice. 

Every Friday and Saturday night the city puts on a stunning firework show and being on top of the Marina Bay Sands is having the best seat in the house!

We headed out to the other side of the bay to another hotel with a lounge on the rooftop. 

It was a opportunity to see what "Singapore Slings" are all about.

We had another great view of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and their light show that is on every night. 

I love seeing all the boats sitting in the ocean behind the hotel all lit up.