The Land of Smiles

Beware, there are a lot of pictures in this post! I was in Thailand the last couple of weeks for work, and the last time I was there was in 2009.  I typically do not have extended periods to explore when I am away, but since this trip fell over a weekend, I had a lot of time to explore and have fun with my camera. Being away for an extended period of time is never easy, but I was very thankful to be away in a place as beautiful as this country. Thailand rightfully deserves its name, the Land of Smiles. 

                                            

My hotel was in a great location to see a lot of places around the city. There was a large park nearby called Lumpini Park, which is comparable to Central Park in New York City. It has a huge walking/running path, lots of greenery, and active people everywhere. I went there several times during my trip to take walks, sit and read, and just soak in the greenery.

There are Buddhist Temples all over the city, and people pray in public everywhere you go.

Thailand is known for it's beautiful and exotic flowers. Let's just say I took a lot of flower pictures on this trip :).

This sign made me laugh, though petty crime is a problem in the city.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to see Nathan's good college friend Bart a couple of times for dinner. Bart has lived in Thailand for 5 years, teaching English, and he speaks great Thai. I had not seen Bart since our wedding, so it was nice to meet up with him and get caught up.

On several nights, I went up to the hotel rooftop and took pictures of the busy traffic below and the lit up skyline. The city comes to life at night time.

Having fun experimenting with lights at night.

And cabs and cars zipping by in traffic.

Another highlight of the trip was getting to meet up with my boss and his family, who was vacationing in Thailand at the same time I was there for work! A friend and I met his family at the aquarium and for lunch. We adore their twins and little girl who is Caleb's age, and it was a lot of fun to see them.

The aquarium was by far the most impressive I have ever seen, our boys would have loved it. There were all kinds of exotic sea creatures, some of which I never heard of, like these garden eels who essentially never leave their holes.

We found Nemo!

And lots of beautiful sea horses.

Stingrays

Giant jellyfish

And penguins too.

We ended the afternoon with lunch and some silliness:)

Just another trip back to Lumpini park to walk around and enjoy the heat and humidity.

Chess players

And water monitors and herons hanging around

Another day on the weekend, I was supposed to go with a group to visit a floating market and Tiger Temple, but a migraine changed my plans. I ended up sleeping for a few extra hours, then went to explore Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, and some markets. It was a fabulous day.

Dried fish anyone?

These gorgeous lotus flowers are all over the city in pots with lily pads, and can be found outside many temples.

The temple I visited was across the water, and I took a ferry boat to the other side.

Wat Arun is a well-known Buddhist temple on the Chao Phraya River. It's name comes from the Hindu god Aruna, resembling the rising sun. In the morning, the sun  reflects off of the temple and is supposed to be a beautiful site with the morning light reflecting off of the temple.

The temple grounds were very well kept and very lush.

The architecture was very impressive and the temples were very large. Very steep stairs took you almost to the top.

View of the Chao Phraya River and Bangkok from the top of the temple.

With the Chinese New Year occurring the week before, there were a lot of red decorations still up for the holiday.

Sneaking a picture of monks.

This sweet boy was in front of me in line for the ferry on the ride back across the river and he wanted me to take his picture.

My final trip to Lumpini park to enjoy one more sunset over the city.

And some more rooftop pictures of the city at night.

I had a great time visiting Thailand, the only thing that would have made it better would have been having Nathan and the boys with me. Until next time….

Daddy daycare

Sorry for the long blogging break, I was out of town for work for the past couple of weeks and got home yesterday. Daddy daycare was in full swing, and the boys had lots of fun. I am so thankful for how wonderful of a husband and dad Nathan is. 

He took pictures of some things they did those two weeks. One of them was getting caught in a massive dust storm one day at the park. I happened to call Nathan when he was running home with the boys in the stroller, and talking to him later came to find out the it was a huge dust storm, the winds were very strong, and dust was blowing everywhere. He said the storm came on very quickly and he barely made it home without too much dust flying in everyone's face!

 There was lots of fort making, movie watching, and popcorn eating.

 And even a trip to a carnival a down the street from our house.

Safety standards are a bit different on this side of the world…dad was keeping a close watch and ready to catch a boy. Just kidding, he said they did not try to climb out.

Some good kite flying and searching for beetles and ants in the desert

 And a trip to the zoo.

They had a fun couple of weeks, and we were all very happy to see each other yesterday morning. I received very nice welcome home hugs, kisses, and surprises. It is great to be home :).

Sometime later this week I will sort through and post pictures from my trip.