It's Independence Day!

Day 102 (Thursday):

The fourth of July, always makes me think of Independence day, and Independence day, always reminds me of the country song.  If you'd like to get it stuck in your head too, you can listen here.  It's kind of weird, there's a lot of nostalgia when I listen to this song.  I don't listen to much music now, unless it's Thai radio, so thinking back to my country music listening days is strange, like a whole different universe.  I couldn't find a link that had the original music video, but this one has a nice patriotic flare to it.

So, the morning of the 4th we headed out around 8:15, to Maesariang, to visit co-workers who are serving at a bible training center with tribal believers.  Doug had visited over 10 years ago, but I'd never been, so it was great to finally get up there.

The drive up was uneventful, thank you Lord!  That's always a good thing.  The kids slept most of the way, I may need to take more road trips, it was a solid 3 hours of just talking with Doug, don't get that very often.  Oh, I guess it wasn't exactly uneventful, we did see some cows in the road. ;)

On our way!

Side-lying Buddhist statue.

Bridge, only one direction can go at a time, the car on the other side waited for us to cross.

Cows!

We got lost, so Hal met us on the main road and we followed him back.

Teak trees, just planted.

 The kids enjoyed exploring their surroundings.  Some, more than others, Kora was quite a challenge the whole weekend.  It was one of those times where I just think, why do we take these kids anywhere?  Two is so much more than one, especially when you think you have it figured out with the first one and the second one is completely opposite.  We are still learning about this parenting thing, and hope we can keep seeking God's guidance in how to raise them up for his glory.  There's always things we can work on and I'm realizing more and more how important our role is and how we have to be so intentional with the choices we make because our kids are watching and hearing everything.

Exploring.

This makes a nice bed!

 After we got situated, we all went for a walk to explore the campus.  Hal told us that these trees are Teak trees.  In 30 years they will be ready to harvest to use for teakwood...obviously.  We were also to see some that were planted about 20 years ago. 

Solving the world's problems.

I hung back with Kees to discuss his attitude, in the mean time Kora went exploring and found some pigs.

Beth brought her back and she saw us through the window.

Looking out.

Kees loves finding flowers.

Kora loves destroying flowers, it's a win-win.

We let her walk on her own, but we kept having to re-direct her so she'd stay with the group.

Checking out the big meeting area.

She could get up, but she couldn't get down. This is how she explained the situation to me.  I picked her up. :)

Kora tried to stand and lunge herself off this swing.  Sometimes I wonder if behind her smile she hides a dark sadness...since she's always trying to commit suicide.  Nah, let's be real, so has no concept of consequences to actions...we're still learning through exploration and play, and using up just a smidge of Momma's sanity.

 After our walk, we hung out.  The Hansens had a lot of amazing children's books and spent time reading to the kiddos and still had toys around from when their kids were younger. They have a son and daughter that are both in college in the OKLAHOMA, of all places. :)  They are both home (in Thailand) for the time being and we were able to swap Oklahoma stories.

Kees wanted to read all of their books.

Dinosaurs and animals.

 After dinner we went for another walk and went the other direction to feed the fish!  We saw a scarecrow too!

The whole Hansen family helped out with our crazy kids so much.  I'm sure they are glad we are out of their hair and they can get back to peace and calm.  But a little bit of crazy is fun every now and again.

Walking with Daddy.

One of the many gorgeous views.

Clouds.

I'm glad she didn't jump into any of the ponds.

Kora running to Mommy and Kees.

Feeding the fish.

So much fun!

Scarecrow, the trees to the left are also teak, they are about 20 years old...I think. ;)

After our walk was over, we bathed the kids while we waited for it to get dark outside.  Once the fireworks started, both kids weren't too excited about it.  Here's a little idea of how they responded...

Hmmm, so I'm guess you're not loving the noise.

This looks staged, but this was his real reaction.  He ran over to the hallway and hugged the wall.

Then he was fine. He didn't want to go back outside, but he enjoyed these toys.

Kora was pretty tired at this point, so I put her to bed while they finished the fireworks. Then we had an amazing "Heavenly pie" for dessert and played "Funglish". It was a really fun game!

Sleeping girl.

Kees skipped the pie and just finished his peanut butter sandwich.

Reading wtih Daddy.

Playing "Funglish".

Doug and I stayed up late talking and then Kora woke up at 5 am!  She's one of those kids who gets out of their comfort zone and doesn't sleep well.  Kees has always been a great sleeper, so messing up sleep schedules has never had a negative impact.  So, it's a learning curve.  Hopefully next time, we'll get to bed a little earlier, so if Kora wakes up at 5 am, I won't look like my face got run over by a truck.  Sorry, Hansens, no one should have to see my morning face, especially after only 4 hours of sleep and a road trip.

Day 103 (Friday):

Petting the kitty. There were two cats, they are about 70 in cat years and not too impressed with anything.  They put up with Kora.

She was very gentle, but if the cat moved she got a little freaked out and started squealing.  Again, why did we think we should take these kids anywhere.  Think I'll have to wait to visit people until they are a little older. 

Jane reading to Kees.

She loves that kitty.

I didn't take very many pictures outside because the sun was so bright I couldn't see the screen on my ipod, so I couldn't even turn the screen brightness up because I couldn't see anything.  I finally stood under a shade tree and managed to get a couple as we were going inside.

Bird nest.

Yep, all those lovely organized crayons got dumped by the little Tomlinson crew.  I was too busy talking to even realize what they were doing.  We got them mostly put back right,  I think.  Sorry, Beth.

Kees told her to draw a helicopter and he was going to draw a boat, but he was too busy watching her work.

I should have taken way more pictures of the food and demanded ALL the recipes before I left.  It would have been easy enough, I could have just threatened to stay another night if they didn't give me all the recipes I wanted. ;)

Doug took the kids out after lunch and took this one.  So glad he did!

On our way home, rice fields.

The Thai flag.  This one was really big and beautiful. I love flags!

At the second rest stop.  I needed to use the restroom before left the Hansen's place, but forgot because I got busy talking.  Then none of the restrooms looked "usable" to my foreign eyes. Doug stopped at a 7-11 and told me to use the handicap bathroom, but I felt bad so I just went into the regular bathroom and used the squatty...successfully I might add.  But then a little down the road we stopped again and I just used the handicapped stall, I claim cultural handicap.

They went in and got drinks.

On our way back through town we stopped at our foundation office and we had a package!

We had such a nice refreshing time with the Hansens. It was just what we needed, exactly when we needed it. So thankful they opened up their home and spoiled us for a couple days.  We had sandwiches (a very special and rare treat), hamburgers, baked oatmeal, amazing pie, and lasagna with homemade bread sticks.  It was all delicious and all very much appreciated!  And as great as the food was, the fellowship was even better.  They took time to pray with us before we went home and it was such a sweet time.  A very special memory, I'll never forget.  Thankful for their kindness and love!