Stephen & Anh Family Pictures
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| We had a wonderful 2nd birthday party for Ryan. The resort set everything up for us. We had 11 people join us for the celebration. First, we had a wonderful dinner overlooking the beach. Then Ryan blew the candles out on 2 cakes. One was for us and the other for all the employees. After the cakes, we had a fireworks show for about an hour. Then there was a fire show performed by 10 kids and our new friend Tex. He was one of the founders of rock climbing in Railay. Everyone stayed and partied with us until the restaurant closed down at 10:30pm. Did Ryan have fun? He had fun with the other kids and his 2 new water guns. Kayla and Ryan ran around the beach all night shooting water guns with another boy. We have to admit, Ryan is growing up really fast here. He runs around naked so much, he is almost potty trained. Whenever we are at the pool, he always gets out to go pee pee. He also has started to swim. He can put his head under water and swim for 10 seconds. As for Kayla, she can completely swim now. She can dog paddle around the pool. She can also dive under water to retrieve rocks with a little push. We have made so many friends over the past few months. We might have to take another year off to visit everyone in Europe. We still miss and think about everyone a lot. Anh April 6 |
| It has been almost 3 months since we left. How time flies when you are on vacation. Life has been the same here for us on Railay. The kids still love swimming every day. They don't mind going into the pool by themselves while Stephen and I sit out to sip our watermelon shakes. They also enjoy going to the beach now. They like making their sand castles and splashing in the ocean. The one thing they hate here is walking in the heat. We wheel them around in the stroller so much that it's falling apart. We might have to buy a new one soon. I've told Stephen that I might not want to come back to Railay Beach after Vietnam so he has been climbing every day. He also has been doing push ups in the room. He is trying to get in shape since he has been climbing with a 19 year old guy. As for me, I have been sick. We went island hopping a week ago and we were in the sun for 4 hours straight. I guess I can't handle too much sun all at once and I'm not as strong as the kids. I was the only one who got sick. We brought bread that day to feed the fish. Ryan enjoyed feeding the fish but Kayla was a little scared. You can see from the pictures how beautiful it was. We really enjoyed that day because the kids were perfect. We stopped trying to make new friends. It was too hard to say goodbye. We stopped exchanging e-mail addresses because we never remember to bring their contact informations when we go to the Internet shop. We are looking forward to going to Vietnam in 10 days. I really miss Vietnamese food now. I also miss having my nannies. We still miss everyone and will e-mail again once we are in Vietnam. Love Anh, Stephen, Kayla, and Ryan April 17 |
OFF TO VIETNAM
| Dear all, After a 20 min. boat ride, a 20 min. taxi ride, 1 hour plane ride, 3 hours running around in the crazy Bangkok airport, and another 1 hour plane ride, we arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Min City) at 8pm. It only took us 8 hours to get to our destination. The kids were wonderful of course. They were so used to traveling that at the airport, they automatically walked through the metal detector booth by themselves. Then they stepped onto a little square box for the metal detector wand. They didn't even seem to mind when people searched their pockets. The greatest thing about traveling in Thailand was we always got to cut in front of all the lines because of the children. This is my 3rd time in Vietnam and I am shocked to see the drastic change in the new Saigon airport. It's much bigger than before. It has a lot of new duty free shops along with all the name brands. My distant cousins Tam De and Hoa picked us up from the airport. The kids were so slow at walking through the airport that it took us 45 min. Then we got into a van and drove through the busy streets of Saigon. We checked into a hotel where the rooms are only 10x10 feet. They were so small that we had to get 2 rooms. They only cost us $10 each per night. Each room had everything though (a nice big bed, desk, air conditioning, TV and a really clean small bathroom.) Stephen and I didn't sleep the first night here. We weren't used to all the noise (the honking, scooters, people talking, doors slamming, etc.); not like Railay beach at all. Tam De called at 7:45am this morning and took me to see a house. It's a 4 bedroom house with 4 bathrooms and air conditioning. We gave the owner $1000 for the whole month. Now we have a house for my parents and Stephen's parents. Mine show up in a week and a half, and Joe and Marcia arrive about a week later. We are really looking forward to seeing them. We took the kids to an amusement park inside a huge shopping mall; they loved it. You can see some of the pictures below. We love you and still think about everyone a lot. Anh April 27 |
Anh's cousin, Tam De's, house
where he lives with his parents and siblings
View from inside the ferris wheel cage
(it goes 3 stories inside a shopping mall)
| Some quick observations as I sit in our hotel lobby typing email to you... Most places (hotels, shops etc.) have lobbies where the scooters park. I guess I adapt pretty quickly as I don't find that strange, but it is worth mentioning seeing a lobby full of scooters. You have no idea how many scooters and vehicles are on the road merging and turning and seemingly moving as one even though there are no discernable traffic laws. (And to our parents who are coming to visit us soon:) Prepare yourself for a 3rd world country. Even though this is a city that has big stores, fast food etc, there are basic things that just are at a lower (not meaning to be derogatory) level. You should bring mostly shorts or very light pants and t-shirts or very light shirts to wear. You will sweat a lot during the day so you might wear two outfits in a day. Although there might be a few occasions we will go out and dress up, don't bother bringing a lot of those clothes. Don't bring jewelry or other things that you might worry about. I have found that when I can go out and only have to think about the wallet in my pocket, I am most relaxed. Since there is fast Internet everywhere, I have been a little more liberal in shooting pictures and video since it is so fast to send. In the time it is taking me to check email and write this long one, I am uploading tons of pictures, you will see when you go to the FTP site. Anh mentioned it, but it will be tough for the first few nights to get used to the noises of a city after living on a beach for 3 months. Internet here is much cheaper, anywhere from $.25 to $.75 per hour. That is all I can think of for now. Love you, Stephen April 27 |
| All I can say is I love Vietnam. We have moved into our 4 bedroom house. It's big, clean, and perfect for the whole family. Anyhow, I love our live-in nanny/maid/cook. The greatest thing is we only have to pay her 1 million VN dong ($67). I have already asked Stephen if we can stay here for 2 months. As for the kids, they love it here. There are so many kid places to go. We have been taking them to Maximart, a big mall/supermarket/playground. It's even better than Chuckie Cheese. The other night, Kayla told me that she likes Vietnam more than Thailand. Today, we took them to Dam Sen (a big water park). The kids had a blast even though the place was packed due to the big Vietnamese holiday. Hoa's (Ha's and Tam De's older sister) 3 kids came with us and they played with our children the whole time. It was great. Miss everyone a lot and lots of kisses. Anh and family April 30 |
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