Koh Larn
Koh is the the Thai word for island. Koh Larn is only a 45 minute ferry ride from Pattaya. We spent the first Saturday of December at this island. It was not really great beach weather as we encountered some rain and cloudy skies. However the water was warm, the people were friendly, and the food was delicious.
It is so easy to spend a day at the beach here in Thailand compared to the US. When we lived in Texas we would plan a beach trip and pack up the car with the essentials, umbrella, blanket, towels, ice chest, food, drinks, toys, chairs, and a lot of other stuff we would need. Here in Thailand, we say, "Get your swimsuits on we're going to the beach" We grab some towels and we're off. We get to a beach and we find some chairs, and table that aren't in use and we drop our stuff. A woman comes up to us and says "100 Baht for rental" (apx 3.00 USD). We pay. Then she asks, "What you want drink?" He tell her, and for 5 drinks, 2 of them being beer, we pay another 100 Baht or less. In an hour or so the kids start wanting ice cream and a guy appears carrying an insulated bag of Walls Ice Cream treats. Three ice cream treats run us about 90 Baht. Lilli and Chloe like to have pedicures on the so we give them 100 baht each and they go get their pedicures. Everything is so reasonably price there is no need to pack up everything and haul it ourselves.
Koh Larn
Back in Pattaya after a day at the island
Christmas in Thailand
We were quite surprised when the kids came home from school and told us the dates for their Christmas programs and concerts. It seems that in recent years in the U.S. schools can no longer use the word Christmas nor celebrate it in anyway. Here in a Buddhist nation though, our kids had an elementary Christmas program and a high school band Christmas concert.
Lilli plays the tambourine during Jingle Bells
Chloe and Smyth's band concert was outside of Central Festival Mall in Pattaya on Friday December 10. The mall was decorated beautifully for the season.
And there is Chloe on the jumbo screen!
(on the right)
The high school band. Smyth is on the back row second to the left.
December 11
I turn 25.... again.
My birthday fell on a Saturday this year. Robert booked Saturday and Sunday night at the brand new Pattaya Hilton. The kids spent the day with us at the Hilton, we went to church Saturday evening, the kids went back home and then came back to the Hilton on Sunday for more swimming and lounging by the pool.
Necklace from Robert's parents
Ordinarily I would not post a picture of me in a swimsuit, but since this was the first time I have ever been able to have a pool party for my birthday I felt I should post it.
I really didn't need pepper on my food but I wanted to see them use this behemoth pepper mill.
This was truly one of my best birthdays ever. Robert did a wonderful job planning the evening and organizing the kids' schedules so that all I had to do was sit back, relax, and enjoy.
Home For the Holidays
As much as we were enjoying our Christmas celebrations in Thailand we did long to be among family for the Christmas season. We flew to Arkansas December 18. We spent the first night and next day in Fayetteville and Bentonville with Robert's sister, Patricia, and Robert's brother and sister in law, Bill and Dee. I have to note that whenever we travel home to Arkansas inevitably one of us ends up at a Medi-Quick clinic or an emergency room. The first day we were in Arkansas Lilli was playing with a stray cat that had recently adopted Patricia. The cat bit Lilli, so off to the clinic we went. We were happy that we got the clinic trip done early in the visit and we did not have to go again for the remainder of the trip.
First holiday celebration was at Bill and Dee May's home. They have an annual "Thanksmas" party, their family get together between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
LtoR: Lilli, Elizabeth May, Smyth, Bill May, Richard May
The still "newlyweds" Michael and Alyssa May
Richard May, Ryan May, Ann May, and Sloan Breazeale
Hemmed In Hollow
The first hike Robert and I ever did together was the Hemmed In Hollow hike in the Ponca Wilderness Area of the Buffalo National River. We first did this hike back in 1985 and have done it a few times since then. We had a beautiful sunny, but cold, day while in Arkansas and decided to hit the trail. Chloe and Robert's father joined us.
This was our first time to do the hike in winter when all the leaves were off the trees. The views were spectacular.
Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa May's Home
Chloe is excited over her new computer.
Lilli is happy with her inline skates. Robert's sister, Patricia.
Grandma and Grandpa May
Christmas at Grandma Ruth Ann's
We spent our second week in Arkansas at my mother's house in Johnson County, near Clarksville. My dad, Gerry, and his wife Terri came up to Mom's house for the week. My brother and sister in law also came to see us while we were at Mom's. We enjoyed riding 4 wheelers, playing Scrabble, and shopping in Fort Smith for American stuff to take back to Thailand.
Smyth's girlfriend, Shannon Brokaw, flew in from Portland to see him for a few days.
Christmas at Grandma Ruth Ann's
New Year's Eve
Sadly, I did not get enough pictures while in Arkansas and none of New Year's Eve. My mother, and her friend, Mike, and Robert and I went to dinner in Paris for New Year's. That would be Paris, Arkansas. We had a nice dinner together and enjoyed the Christmas lights around the courthouse square. We then returned to Mom's house and had a wild night of Scrabble.
And at the stroke of midnight we said goodbye to 2010 and welcomed in 2011.
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