The sand fairy that almost drowned Doug Tomlinson

Day 79:

Waking up at the beach is almost as good as Christmas. Since we got here late last night, this morning, I was so anxious to see the ocean from our balcony.  Here's the view at 7 am. I went back to sleep after I took this because seriously, it's vacation.

Just a little cloudy

All tuckered out

Around 9 we all got up and the kids got their first view of the ocean.  I set up camp in our room which drives Doug bananas.  He wanted to go straight to the beach, but I figured I'd be tired after a day out and about and I wanted to come back to a tidy hotel room with all my stuff unpacked and situated. FACT: I love to travel, but I hate living out of a suitcase.  Even if it's just an overnight stay, I want to make it feel homey.  I blame my mother, who literally packs bath mats when we go on vacation and a waffle maker.  Doug wouldn't let me bring my toaster, but believe me, I tried.

The hotel has 3 1/2 pools!

Looking out our balcony to the left.

To the right

My attempt at getting a panoramic shot, guess I need a bit more practice.

They were excited to see the ocean for the first time!

I thought I was going to starve to death on the plane.  I had these cookies in my bag and forgot all about them.  Kees ate some for breakfast.

Yep, I think he likes them.

So Doug ran to 7-11 to get bottled water to store in our fridge plus juice and milk. Our hotel did not include free breakfast so I packed plenty of options, but we needed the drinks.  In the mean time, the kids watched a Thai cartoon, after 20 minutes, Kees said, "Momma, Kora and me can't hear this show because it's in Thai."  He cracks me up.  Last night as we were flying out of Chiang Mai and he was looking out the window he said, "Momma, look at all the lights, it's market night."  He went on to explain that it was the "Apple Jiggle Market" and he saw a sign that said they only sold apples. Pretty crummy market if you ask me....

When you walk our of our hotel door, you see this!

Going to the beach. Doug was so excited to get there!

This was an accidental shot.  I thought it was funny.

Here's the third pool, it's on the 3rd floor.

Big lizard we saw on our way out.

Yay! It's beach time.

There were quite a few of these guys on the street trying to sell tailored suits.  Um, we're not buying.

Weird graffiti

Are we there yet???

These flowers were so cool.  Look how nice my nails look...

Trying to maneuver the stroller through the sand.

Ah, the beach.

Can I live here?

We finally made it to the beach. They have the red warning flags up because the waves are pretty rough.  In typical fashion Kora has zero caution or care and Kees avoided the water like it was toxic venom that might boil his flesh.  And then something funny happened.  Doug was sitting in the sand with Kora letting the waves splash them and his shorts FILLED with sand, like a pound on each side.  He's lucky that sand didn't weigh him down enough to drown him. He had to hand Kora off to me so he could try to get it all out. In the mean time, Kees and I had been building a sand castle.  He was none to pleased that I had to take over patrolling Kora, so he destroyed the castle before I got a picture. He told Grandma Sheryl on Voxer tonight that he wants to go to the beach tomorrow with just mommy and leave Kora and Daddy at the hotel. ;)

Gorgeous, but very strong waves.

Sand!

Sunscreen time. We have one of those roll on sunscreens for their faee, forgot to remind Doug and their little faces got red.

Yep, he's happy to play over here and avoid that raging water.

Kora wanted to live in the ocean.

Poor girl cannot keep straps on.

Ocean, ocean, ocean!

We also saw some sand crabs.  The sand crab was coming towards us a bit and Kees was scared, so I threw a baby goldfish cracker at him.  He hid in his hole and then came out and kept trying to move it back into his hole.  I guess to eat it.   It was exciting, but as soon as I got my camera out, the crab hid and wouldn't come out. :(

Sand crab, can you spot it?

We came back to the hotel, had a snack, swam, ate lunch, took a nap, then headed out to see what good restaurants are within walking distance. We settled on Mexican. Doug had shrimp fajitas and a super yummy lemon tea. I had nachos with REAL guacamole and a mango smoothie.  Vacation is going great so far, 6 more days!!! We're thinking about going to the Dinosaur mini golf place tomorrow, perfect since Kees has been into them lately!

Doug ran into 7-11 to get ice and a couple sandwiches to snack on.

This dog apparently lives here.

We showered off, but still felt a little sandy, so we decided to swim.

These flower pods were all over, they look like snake heads with tongues sticking out.

Ah, fresh coconut juice!

Love Kees's expressions!

She's trying to feed him.

Try this coconut, it's good!

Banana lime smoothie, yes please.

Pizza!

This is the 1/2 pool.

Kora got so confident walking around in this little pool.

Dissecting the remains.

Pizza!

Mmmm, mmm, good.

I bought these chairs, it's some sort of game where you try to stack them without making them fall over. I thought it would be something fun for the kids. They love them.

Nap before dinner.

Looking over the balcony.

Evening view from the balcony

On our way to dinner, posing with the chef.

 

 

At a gift shop, we saw these golf carts and thought about getting one for Grandpa, but it seemed like it might break too easy.  He's got one too many wild grandkids to own something like this and keep it in good condition. ;)

Doug's shrimp fajitas.

Nachos, paid extra for that guacamole, and I don't regret it.

 

Checking out Phuket at night

Cheese!

Bird statue.

 
I'll do my best to keep blogging. I considered taking a break for the week, but I always intended this blog to be for me, like a journal and a scrap book of our lives, and vacation is something I don't want to forget. If I waited till the end of the week I'd forget all the funny details. This way I get them recorded and those grandparents get to be a part all along the way.