Oh the Places you wil GO... and the Things you will SEE!

Well Y'all- it was time to get away, to have some retreat, rest, and relaxation as a family.  This time we headed to Thailand.

And GOOD TIMES were in store-

When we left the airport we went STRAIGHT to the mall where we anticipated some "SOUL" food

and refreshment for our American taste buds :)

And let me tell you... We were NOT disappointed:

STARBUCKS!!!!

(You better believe we came back on more than one occasion for some yummy coffee & 

you know this girl was LOVING some Java Chip Frappuccino)

 

KRISPY KREME Donuts... Hot & Fresh:

 

Good ol' Auntie Anne's

(Brought back fond memories of my pretzel making days in high school!)

You KNOW we were ready for some RED MEAT!!!

 For those of you who are grossed out by Burger King, Let me just tell you that it has a WHOLE new appeal once you haven't tasted hamburger in 10 months... 

We were READY to have it our way :)

 

Levi was more interested in the drink than his burger, but don't you worry- he feasted on it later on and LOVED it!

 Oh Whopper- how beautifully tasty you are!

Craig thought these street food spots had some delicious looking seafood:

 They cooked it right over an open flame right in front of you!

And we had to make another fun stop early on in the trip at an import store where we found LOTS of treasures:

 Corn Nuts, Sunflower seeds, Fruity Pebbles, Code Red Mountain Dew, Cherry Coke, Chex Mix, Cheetos, Animal Crackers, GOOD yogurt, REAL orange juice, Campbells soup... 

and the very BEST find- DILL PICKLES :)

OOOOOO YEA!

 

 I think it goes without saying... but we were some VERY happy campers :)

 

There were so many things about this place that we LOVED- To name a few:

1.) As soon as we left the airport, we were taken back by how ORDERLY the traffic was- everyone drove in the lines, used turn signals, used traffic lights... we almost forgot this was "normal"

2.) There was SUCH a variety of nationalities everywhere we looked, and best of all- no one even noticed us :) haha.

*** Well... most of us- it turns out that people everywhere think Levi is quite adorable- Our Friends, Family & South Asia are not the exception
3.) Everything smelled so GOOD there- the perfumes, the food, everything...
4.) The city- streets, sidewalks, parks, bus stations, taxis, etc.. were SO CLEAN- no trash in sight.

5.) People were SO SO SO kind and sweet- always greeting us with a smile and hello (in Thai)

6.) The many choices of fun malls and American stores you can see

7.) The food- obviously, right?

8.) I had a check-up while we were there, and the healthcare there was awesome!

9.) The drive to the beach was beautiful- green & mountainous

10.) The beach was so peaceful and restful- and the mountains off in the short distance made it the best of both worlds... (More pictures of this to come).

...:::* 24 Months OLD = I'm 2 YEARS OLD Today!!!! *:::...

:: October 12, 2012 ::

Today our little boy is 2 YEARS OLD!

" Mama- what is the big deal? "

             " It's my WHAT? "                                                                  " My BIRTHDAY??? Noooo.... "

                      

 " HEY!!! It IS my BIRTHDAY- WOO HOO !!! "

Things I can say:

*This month he has taken off w/ new words ~ he'll try to repeat just about anything you say- 

Watch out!

- Mama or MommY, Papa, Amen, Baby, Levi, BYE!, Bhaiya (Hindi word for "brother"- or a way to address a man), What?, Yea, No, Uh-oh, Oops, Car, Truck, Tractor, Bike, Juice, Body Parts~ (Eyes, Nose, Cheeks, Mouth, Teeth, Ears, Hair, Head, Hands, Feet), Just about any animal or car noise, Tries to count- (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Cookie, Apple, Ball, Blue Bear, Book, Story, Fish, Sky, Bubble, Tickle-Tickle, Choo-Choo, "You See Dis" or "See Dat" (which the first sounded like he was saying "Je-sus"for a long time until we figured it out)

Funny Things I do:

- Steal Mama & Papa's toothbrush, then run into my play corner and hide while "brushing" my teeth (and giggling the whole time)

-  Constantly babbling all kinds of interesting things :)

- Insist on greeting every person I see by yelling "HIIIIII!!!!!!" or "BYEEEEEEE!!!"

- I also LOVE to wave my hand frantically like a wet noodle while saying Hi :)

- Run just about everywhere, rarely do I walk

-Try to tickle us all the time from across the room

- Insist on having raisins on my oatmeal

- Sneak over to Mama & Papa's room in the middle of the night for an extra snuggle

- Sneaking up behind Papa & smacking his head... hehe.

 

What I enjoy:

- Trying to Talk

- Lying on my tummy while pushing my cars around & saying BRRMMMMM

- Getting dirty (such a boy!)

- MOVIES or Fun TV shows... This boy will BEG for this- it is quite a battle some days!

- Going for walks outside or rides in the car/ on the bike

- Riding my "bike"around the neighborhood & greeting everyone

- Lightning McQueen & Thomas the Train

- Dancing!

- Giggling

- Clapping

- Bath Time

- BUBBLES!

- Popsicles... Really anything SWEET (which he calls everything "cookie" - haha)

- Climbing up and onto everything & anything

- Jumping on the couch

- "Tickle, Tickle, Tickle"-ing people

- Giving "five" and "fist pounds"

- Doing "This Little Piggy"

- Giving lovings to Mama & Papa (They love this too!)

Favorite Toys & Books:

-  Auto Rickshaw (or at least what is "left" of it after Levi has done his damage- yet he still loves it)

- Matchbox cars- I love to put them all in a line or a row when I play with them

- Legos.. I love to build tall towers and then knock them over!

- Stacking & Unstacking things

- Tractor Books

- "Curious You" (read by Grammy)

- "I Love You More Than Rainbows"

- "Funny Faces" book

Milestones over the past 3 months:

 - All my baby teeth have made their appearance- hooray!

- Made my first trip to the village w/ Mama & Papa for a day

- Really Talking

- Giving hugs & kisses on request (and via skype as well- SO cute)

- I can "help" Mama dress me

- Pointing out my body parts & learning their names

- Made my first trip to see the Taj Mahal (favorite part = puddles)

- GRAMMY & Aunt Jodi, Uncle Eric, and Cousin Tate came to visit me!!!

- Found out in June that I was going to be a BIG Brother in March :)

- I LOVE to feed myself- with a spoon, a fork, or by hand

- Moved into a big boy bed this month AND I officially have "bunked" beds! I love my bottom bunk.

 

         




         " I LOVE BEING 2 - Wooo Hooo !!!! "

PLAY TIME!

 Here are some pictures of some good friends and Levi's time hanging out with them:

The lovely bouncy house :

(which surprisingly enough- mr. "I love to JUMP & Bounce" decided he was going to have an off day & pout instead of jump... oh brother! haha)

But when we found the fun house w/ slides, balls, and things to climb on- everything changed :)

This boy loves to climb UP the slide

(Let's be honest... what kid doesn't?)

 Diving in:

 

The kiddos taking the bike for a spin:

Despite what this face might communicate, we LOVE spending time with Aunt B, Uncle G and their crew :)

 The kids had a living room picnic & movie for lunch:

 While the adults did serious things... Like playing Settlers - haha.

 These two didn't last long with the movie, they decided to shift onto the car mat & push around cars, trucks, and Thomas the train.

 They MAY have had a few serious talks about whose turn it was with Thomas... haha.

Cracked me up!

 

 And we LOVE when our friends come to our place to visit-

Here is sweet little J-man & his (almost) twin Levi

(They are about 3 months apart and both little blondies... its precious!)

We always LOVE play time with other kiddos! 

Hope for more visits SOON :)

.Levi's New Ride.

 Levi's new ride:

(Try not to laugh too hard- we had to work with what we could find... haha)

Levi thinks it's the BEST.

It's great for going for walks around our neighborhood loop now- 

Levi is in his glory, and we get to enjoy a nice walk as a family.  It's a win-win!

In the zone:

He can totally say "BIKE" now- it's so sweet!

*~*::.. TAJ MAJAL ..::*~*

Well back when the crew came to visit, we ended the trip by taking them to see the Taj Majal.

Here are some pics from our trip:

(Not sure how this one didn't get "posted", but here it is)

The outside gate entrance:

 

 Our tour guide, and everyone INTENTLY listening :)

 

This is inside of that entry way, and right through that arc behind these two lies the beloved Taj Majal

WAAA LAAA:

(I could try to tell you all the meanings & stories behind it, but it might be more accurate if you just google it on the internet for yourself. 

If you have ever watched Slumdog Millionaire, you will understand what I mean :)

 

 Miss this crew already!

Grateful for these guys:

Our cute "booties" to where over our shoes when we entered the Taj:

(We may have giggled a time or two)

Looking out from the Taj Majal.

The details in the place are so intricate and pretty amazing.

 

My favorites:

(Especially Levi's face here- haha)

The arabic writing you will find around the Taj Mahal- so amazing b/c it all looks exactly the same size, which means as they went up the face of the rock they had to increase the size to scale each time so that it would "appear" to all look the same size from below.

So crazy & neat.. who would have thought!

Grammy in her glory with these two little boys- One for each side :)

"Thanks Uncle Brandon for the ride, whew I was getting tired! :)"

-Levi

Hope you enjoyed the "mini" tour!

Sleeping on the Job!

This is to let you know that I have been having some issues with my computer and have been trying over and over to get some updates and pictures to you with no success... but one thing we have had to embrace here in order to survive & stay sane is - BE FLEXIBLE!

But I promise I really wasn't sleeping on the job :)

(I totally found Levi like this one night at 6:00PM!!!! I guess he just wasn't feeling well and then all of a sudden got REAL quiet... and sure enough, here he was :) Poor little guy )