A Fun Trip to Thailand–Part 2

Here are some pics from the rest of our time there.

One of the fun things about Chiang Mai is the red truck taxis. They have to be one of Callie and Zane’s favorite things there. Whenever we went somewhere they always wanted to ride in a “red truck”. What it is is that they take a small size pickup, put a roof over the bed, install bench seats along each side, remove the tailgate, and install a lower down step on the back, and now you can fit about 10 –12 adults in the back, all on the benches. Whenever you want to take one, you just hail him over, bargain a price, and hop in!

Along the theme of transportation, Jeremy usually rents a motorbike when we’re here just for getting around town and running any errands, so we had some fun getting the kids on it for pictures.

Among other fun things to do there were the playgrounds and swimming pool where we stayed. Here are a few pics from those.

Lastly, Chiang Mai has a great zoo and aquarium. Here’s a pic and video from that day. That is a huge stingray right behind him. We were in one of those tunnels where the fish are all around you.

A Fun Trip to Thailand–Part 1

In early July we took the short trip over to Thailand to take care of some visa red tape and to spend a few of our precious vacation days. This time we returned to the place where both Zane and Jude were born, Chiang Mai, which is in the mountains in the north of Thailand. Here are some pictures of our time there, but first let’s take a look at Zane getting his hair buzzed by Daddy in order to prepare for the hot weather.

Also, the day before we left was Canada (July 1), so we went to the only restaurant in town run by Canadians and decked ourselves out in red and white.

By July 4, we were in Thailand, and since our kiddos are also American, here they are decked out in red, white, and blue.

A couple more days after that was Jude’s birthday, July 6. While we weren’t at home and able to throw him a big 1st birthday party, we did do some pretty special stuff. We went swimming, had a birthday cake at lunch, and went to the Chiang Mai Night Safari after pizza and more birthday dessert at dinner (the restaurant gave him a free dessert for his birthday). Here are some pics from Jude Benson’s 1st birthday.

On this one with the giraffe, I’m not zooming in!

That’s it for Jude’s birthday. Stay tuned for Part 2.

June Happenings

Last month was fun, and tomorrow (7/2) we head off to Thailand for a visa run and a few remaining vacation days.  We’ll be there until 7/12, so we’ll be sure to post about that trip once it’s over.  The thing we’re probably most excited about for the kids is the night safari in Chiang Mai (we’ll be in CM the whole time).  At the night safari they drive you in a bus out in the pitch dark, flip on the lights, and there are wild animals all around to see.  We’ll tell you more after we’ve actually done it.

For now, we just wanted to go ahead and recap the month of June.  First off, I (Jeremy) don’t know if Anita has mentioned this, but we got her a sewing machine a few months back and she’s getting better and better at making stuff.  I’m gonna post a few samples of what she’s done lately.

Zane with his new belt:

Callie with her July 4 dress and hair bows to accessorize:

Anita had an Old Navy shirt that didn’t fit right, so she made it into a dress for Callie.  See the process below:

Another dress & headband with flower:

I’ll just go ahead and say that I’m super proud of Anita for taking on this sewing thing.  She enjoys it, and it’s a blessing to the family.  Way to go, Gorgeous!

Another big event for June was that Jude finally stopped eating mushed-up baby food.  Now that he has a few teeth, we just cut up a little of what we’re eating and he does great feeding himself!  Here’s a cute pic of him at a local restaurant sitting at the table like a big boy.

The last big event was that Anita had her birthday on 6/24.  Callie had preschool, and Jude stayed home with our helper to take a nap, but I took the day off and took Anita and Zane to Mickey D’s for breakfast and the newly opened Starbucks in our town (just got this a couple months ago!) to spend the morning together.

After that, Anita and several of her girlfriends went out to lunch together, followed by a shopping trip while Daddy watched the kiddos.

Then for dinner we went out as a family for Indian food, which is one of Anita’s favorites around here.

Here’s a pic of the flowers I gave her for her birthday. 

Happy Birthday, Anita!  I love you and am happy to have you as my wife! 

PS – Happy Canada Day, Sweetie!

Three’s company, most of the time…

Our kids enjoy playing together for the most part. Of course they have their squabbles here and there and we have to remind them to “be gentle and kind” and “play together” and "If he’s crying, that means he doesn’t like what you’re doing to him,” but they really are great friends. Here they are playing “choo-choo train”:

But watch what transpires:

I have no idea why Callie decided to grab at Jude’s face. Probably just to see what would happen.

Jude has 6 teeth now, and has been pulling up on furniture! A little earlier than the other two. No cruising or walking yet, though – will keep you posted. Here he is at the coffee table.

He’s constantly crawling up these steps that separate the living room from the kitchen and the rest of our apartment – and I’m always finding myself chasing after him to see what trouble he’s gotten himself into. He’s constantly trying to crawl into the bathroom and I’m constantly kicking him out – usually I’m helping one of the older two “on the potty.” Of course, he has to find the nastiest room in the home to crawl all over. But really, he just doesn’t want to miss out on the action and our company.

Here are Jude’s adorable wrinkly fresh-out-of-the-bath feet:

And discovering himself in the mirror! A little self-absorbed, don’tcha think?

In other news, Zane is now fully potty trained! He even goes “in the big potty.” It’s so nice not to have to constantly clean out that little potty-training potty. He transitioned pretty quickly; it only took about a couple weeks. His progress was quite amazingly faster than what Jeremy and I expected, and his potty-training experience was less emotional than Callie’s. It also only took a few weeks for him to be able to stay dry through the night as well. We had a lot of friends (i.e. fellow moms of toddlers) praying for him which was so helpful – we could tell from his smooth and quick progress that the Lord was truly gracious to us. It’s so nice to have only one kid left in diapers.

We’ll be sure to post another update soon, along with more photos of what we’ve been up to! Do come back and visit us again soon! And of course, we’d love your comments.

First Teeth, and a general update

There hasn't been any earth-shattering news going on with us lately, but we wanted to update you anyhow. Jeremy took a manly weekend trip away in April. He enjoyed himself, though he did wear himself out having so much fun. And then we all got sick - one of us caught something and then everyone else followed in succession - and that pretty much consumed the last part of April into the first couple weeks of May. Anyway, we're all finally better now and boy am I ever relieved.

Anita got a sewing machine in April and has been learning to sew. She made sheets for Zane's "big boy bed" and Easter shorts for the boys. And then she was glad to alter some of her clothes to fit her better. She's also made a dress for Callie, and another one for a friend who's adopting a little girl this summer, along with matching hairbands with felt flowers. We'll have to post a photo next time Callie wears the dress.

Jude's crawling like a champ these days and is always sticking things in his mouth, perhaps just to know what they taste like? He's starting to pull up and stand up holding onto things now too. He has grown two teeth - we noticed the first one on Easter. The funny thing is, Jude got his first tooth at 9 months - yes, I'm aware that most babies start getting teeth around 7 months, but our kids get them late (Callie got her first tooth at a year and Zane at 11 months), so 9 months is considered early for us!

And we started potty-training Zane on Monday. The progress has been a little slower than Callie's was, but there's still some progress so we're grateful for that. Zane loves the fact that his underwear look like Daddy's and that they have cars or choo-choo trains on them.

Here are some recent pics for you to enjoy. And please do drop us a comment if you have a minute - we'd love to hear from you, too!

Easter Recap

Yes, I'm aware that Easter has come and gone a few weeks ago. I still couldn't resist posting pictures for everybody, especially for the grandmas, if no one else really cares. Check out the Easter shorts that Anita sewed for the boys - her first attempt at clothing. Jude's shorts were a little tight, and Zane still has room to grow into his, but they still worked for that day nonetheless. Anyway, Easter was a lot of fun. It's so neat that Callie and Zane are at ages where they are able to remember things like traditions and special holidays. We did Resurrection Eggs and they loved it. We had an indoor potluck and egg hunt at a friend's house because it rained all day. In the end, it was a day enjoyed by all. Happy extremely belated Easter (post)!