Sunday Night Market...

We have decided to make a new tradition... Every Sunday night we have decided to go to the Sunday Night Walking Street Market in our city. We have been 2 weeks in a row now and don't plan to stop. What's the Sunday Night Market? Well, basically there are a ton of people walking down a street that has been blocked off. All along the path there are vendors with great food, cool little gifts, fruit smoothies, and street performers! It's just a fun Sunday evening tradition and a way to get out in the community. Here is a glimpse of what it looks like:

1) We take a songtaew to the market b/c there is no parking! (or very little parking) A songtaew is a pickup with a roof over the bed and two wooden benches in the back that people can sit in. Corinne loves riding in them!
2) Rotee- our favorite dessert! It's a lot like a crepe w/ banana and chocolate... it's awesome and Dustin's addiction!
3-5) Sights while walking the market...

THE ZOO...FINALLY!!!

Last August, we decided for sure that we were moving to Thailand. When we first told Corinne, we told her that we were going to move to Thailand and that there was a zoo in our city with a panda in it!!! This thrilled Corinne and anytime we would mention Thailand for the next six months, she would say, "And in Thailand I'm going to see a panda"... So we knew that we needed to make it to the zoo quickly to keep our promise to Corinne. When we got here we found out that there were 2 prices for the zoo: the foreigners price and the Thai price. However, if we got a Thai drivers license we could get the Thai price. Well, on the second week we were here, we got our Thai drivers license and that Saturday we decided we were going to head to the zoo! (in the 100+ degree heat) And it did not disappoint! Corinne got to feed a giraffe, stand within a few feet of an elephant, and of course see her beloved panda!


Another funny part of the zoo was that there were 4 different people that asked if they could get their picture with Corinne. Most of them had never seen a blonde girl before.


Also Corinne transformed her Minnie Mouse phone into a camera phone and you could hear the click of a camera like a photo shoot as she was looking at each animal. (pictured below)
It was a great time at the zoo! We are now officially in Thailand!

SONGKRAN!!!

We arrived in Thailand at a very interesting time... April 13th officially marked the beginning of the Thai holiday known as Songkran... aka "the water throwing holiday". It is a time of celebration where kids and adults line the streets with their water guns, buckets of water (some packed with ice), water hoses etc and throw water on cars, motorcycles, and pedestrians going down the street. The Thai people see it as a New Years celebration signaling the beginning of Monsoon season.

Our apartment was right in the middle of the Songkran action! Some friends gave Corinne a water gun so she could defend herself! The people were so sweet to Corinne as she walked down the road and sqirted people with her water gun... Here are a few pics of the festivities...

And we're off...

Well, we are behind on our blog posts... again. So, let me start by catching you up on our last few days in TX before we set out to our new destination... So here are 3 things you missed that we have to touch on before catching you up on our trip and adventures in Thailand...

1. Easter!!! We celebrated Easter with Mimi and Papa and had a blast! Corinne loved hunting her Easter Eggs.
2) Rangers Opening Day- Lynn and I were able to take part in my tradition of always going to Rangers Opening Day. The Rangers heard that I was in the crowd and obliged by giving us a thrilling come from behind victory! It was a nice send off for us. Plus we got to hang out with good friends!



3) Packing- It's hard to pack up your life for 3 years! We had 3 precious friends help us get all of our stuff into 10 bags. They worked hard and had a little fun too...

Corinne's agenda in Bella Vista...

Priority 1: Get caught up on sleep!

Priority 2: Get caught up on those desserts that Grandpa has been promising me.


Priority 3: Paint/Hunt Easter Eggs

Priority 4: Let Granny cut my hair!

Washington DC and a technological breakthrough

Last week, we had the opportunity to go to Washington DC. We had a wonderful time exploring the culture of Thailand (including eating yummy Thai food), meeting people and sharing with them what's most important to us! Our mode of transportation from our training to Washington DC (about 2 hours) were 3 charter buses... We really questioned how Corinne would do having to sit still in her seat without being restrained by a car seat, watching a movie, or listening to her music. It was about 5 minutes into the ride when we heard the first, "I'm hungry" followed by "Are we in Washington DC yet?" Well, I was getting ready for a very long ride when I remembered that I happened to pack our brand new ipod touch (which she had never seen) and I had downloaded a little doodle game. I thought it was worth a try to see if it would keep her entertained. The next 2 hours on the way to Washington DC and all the way back we did not hear even a peep from Corinne as she was enthralled by this new toy! Needless to say, we have already found some games for the i pod that she won't see until we are in the midst of our 15 hour plane ride!


Corinne also got to experience her first ride (but not last) in public transportation... We rode the underground metro in DC. She seemed to enjoy people watching and riding all the escalators to get there, but she would always cover her ears anytime it would go by... even though it wasn't that loud. The next morning when I woke her up she said "Daddy, I didn't really like the under train"... She'll get lots more practice riding "under trains", I'm sure!

The Blonde Indian

One of the really cool parts of our time here in VA is that we get to experience how different cultures around the world worship. We have experienced everything from S. American to S Asian worship and everything in between! Well, as you can imagine, we couldn't let S. Asian night go by without putting on our Indian get-ups! Corinne especially liked dressing up in what she called her "Indian Princess" outfit complete w/ bangles and necklaces. It was given to her by a friend in India over a year ago, and it's amazing looking back at pics from when she first got it to now! It swallowed her then and barely fits her now! Also of note in Indian cultural worship night: I made my djembe (small drum) playing debut (I was the "rhythm djembe" basically backing up someone who actually knew what they were doing on lead djembe) and I was asked to share "God of India" with the group so that was cool! Of course, what night in India would be complete without some chai to finish it all off... We had 3 cups and didn't sleep at all that night from all the caffeine!