Great Long Weekend in Pattaya

Vivian had two days off of school this past week for an "activity free weekend."  We decided to take advantage of the time to do a family trip to the beach.  We've tried the close beach towns to the east and the west, and found that Pattaya was easier to get to.  There's a resort there called Centara Grand Mirage that has family suites for a reasonable price and a bunch of extra water park features in its pool area, so we decided that was where we would go.

Even though Vivian had a four day weekend, we thought that two nights away was plenty, and we planned to leave on Friday.  On Tuesday and Wednesday the monsoon season let loose and there was rain almost all day.  It was easing off by Thursday, but there was a lot of flooding.  We had friends going to the same resort on Thursday, and they said that some of the roads were flooded when they headed down Thursday afternoon.  The resort was still open, but all the extra water had damaged one of their pumps, and so all the special water features were closed.

We decided not to let the weather deter us, packed some cards and games to keep busy in case the rain didn't let up, and got on the road bright and early Friday morning.  We knew our room probably wouldn't be ready, but we also knew that if we left too late on a Friday, we would spend half our weekend in traffic, so we were on the road before eight.  It turned out to be a good call.  There was a bit of traffic, but not too much, and we made it there in under two hours.  It still looked a little gray, but the lost world jungle theme was definitely cool.

The overcast weather actually kept it cooler and less crowded.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that our room was ready, and we could go there immediately.  It was great to be able to get settled in and get changed right away.  The room had a living room area with a table and chairs, a little kitchenette, and a big bedroom and bathroom, but the best part was a little space with a bunk bed and two sliding doors that made walls to close it off to the living area.  Vivian loved it.  She also wasted no time making herself at home at the kiddie pool.

There were several different connected pools, and one had a "cliff" to jump off of.  Vivian and her buddy quickly discovered the cliff and proceeded to take flying leaps off of it.

There were a couple sand areas next to the pool which was nice since the actual sand at the beach is full of junk and not really a place you want your kids to play.  We invested a few dollars in some sand toys, and the girls played happily.

Elena spent some time at the pool with us each morning, but she's not really a big fan of the water, and I didn't want her to spend too much time in the sun.  Our solution was to ask Young to come with us, and take Elena to the kids club after pool time.  Elena really enjoyed the kids club.

We made Vivian take a pool break during the hottest part of the day, so she got into the fun at the kids club too.  She went the camouflage route, wearing her rainbow dress to hide in the rainbow balls.

Young also helped by staying in the room with Elena during nap time, so that Jeff and I could take Vivi out for lunch with a view.

There were a couple places where you could walk from the hotel onto the beach proper.

Vivian was intrigued by the orange and white floating barriers, especially when she saw several people walking out onto them.  The storms earlier in the week had tossed them all around, but by Saturday, they were connected into three sides of a square, and Vivian was determined to walk all the way around.  Jeff agreed to go with her, but thought they should wait until the evening when it wasn't as hot.  Vivian kept checking to see if it was "evening" yet, and eventually she and her buddy set out with the dads, while the moms stayed on the beach. We watched their little silhouettes carefully walking the circuit.

Thankfully, they all made it around without falling off, and I had them do triumphant poses to celebrate.

Vivian took a moment to issue a proclamation from one of the balconies on the way back up to the room.

The food at the hotel was alright, but nothing exceptional.  Luckily, they had fried rice, which Elena ate for most meals.

Since Young is a superhero, she watched all four kids one night, so that the four adults could have a kid free dinner.  The food was fine, but the best part was being able to have an uninterrupted conversation.  

On Sunday we got up early to take one more dip in the pool.

At nine, some of the slides, part of the lazy river, and the splash pad opened up for the first time that weekend, so we took some time to try them all out.

It was a great finish to a great weekend.  I'm almost glad that everything wasn't open the whole weekend, because Vivian was so exhausted after just an hour of play that she fell asleep in the car on the way home.  We came to the unanimous family decision that this was our best beach trip yet, and we will definitely go there again.