Chiang Mai

We spent mostly a very pleasant three weeks in Chiang Mai (not counting the stomach bug we all shared during our vacation week). The weather was perfect, the city was small (in comparison to home) with lots of fun places to visit and eat and our conferences were also encouraging and refreshing.  I was not all that excited to come home, though now that I am here it is always nice to return to home and some schedule.  Here are some of the things we experienced:

 Songtow...our common mode of transportation in CM. It is like a pick up truck, installed with bench seats and a roof. you negotiate a price, jump in the back and they eventually drop everyone in the back off where the want to go. Not always the fastest way, but the most common and convenient way to get around. The kids loved riding in them and even Lucy was often talking about "tongtows" by the end of our trip.

 Yes, that is really the name of it!  As you can imagine if you know our children (or any children really) this place was a hit. They actually recycle and make paper from elephant poo. May sound gross, but elephant poo is mostly just chewed up grass. The fibers make good paper, so called this our educational field trip.

 Stirring the goo before it gets boiled and sanitized.

 After it gets cleaned thoroughly, it is dyed and formed into these tight balls. The kids then got to choose one of the colored balls of fibers, spread it on the screen in water that Bennett is working on.

 Lucy chose purple of course!

 After it is spread evenly, it is lifted out of water and dries in the sun for 4 hours and...wala...it is paper. A thick, artsy kind of paper used in cards and journals at all the markets in Thailand.

 Then the kids got to make cards with the paper that is made there.

 We had lunch next door at the Tiger Kingdom. We decided not to pay exorbitant amounts of money to lie down and take pictures with tigers. But we got pretty close at the restaurant in the park and saw lots of tiger action.  Lucy kept saying "He won't eat you, he won't eat you". We assured her she would not be eaten.

 Austin lost his fourth tooth and is now completely toothless on the top and bottom middle of his mouth. Somehow he still manages to eat apples and things usually helped greatly by teeth.

 WE went to the Night Safari and got to feed some giraffes. Lucy loved it and was scared at the same time.

We will save more pictures for another post. But amazed sometimes at the experiences our kids have at this age already...and what good travelers and adjusters they are to new countries and cultures.