I've been sending my mom shopping lists since her last visit, so she came prepared with new Peppa Pig gear for Elena.
Vivian really cracked us up though, because my mom brought her three different things, and she was most excited about the most mundane one. I told my mom that Vivian had outgrown all her fancy dresses, so my mom brought her some lovely ones that got a polite smile. She also brought new days of the week socks which got a genuine grin, but the most exciting item was a restock of her favorite fruity flavored toothpaste!
After gift appreciating, the girls commandeered grandpa, and my mom and I had time to chat.
We fed them a good Thai dinner and fueled them up on mango the next day, so that they were ready for sight seeing. My dad hadn't done the river boat and temple tour yet, so I took him and mom to Wat Arun. My mom hadn't been to that one either, and they both really liked it.
Mom's favorite part was that it was decorated with ceramics.
Dad liked the demon teeth.
They both liked the big guards at the other wat on the property.
It was pretty hot, so after some shopping we decided to go to lunch. Mom had wanted to try Chu's since I keep talking about it, so I took them, and they enjoyed it. We made it back in time for them to see Vivian's swim practice. They were as impressed as I have been with how much progress she's made.
Friday was all about swim with a special spirit swim event after school followed by our friends arriving from Brunei to stay with us for Vivian's first big, multi-school swim meet. Jeff thought I was crazy for inviting a family of four to stay with us at the same time as my parents, but everyone gets along really well, so it ended up being a lot of fun. It helps that the house is huge, and that we got massages every night.
We definitely needed one after the swim meet on Saturday. It was a LONG day. Vivian had to be there for warm ups at 6:50am. She was excited though and ready to go.
As part of the prep for the day, a mom came around with different panther themed tattoos for the kids. Vivian picked this one for her cheek. She was so pleased.
She had three events in the morning and two in the afternoon. In between events we hung out in the gym on the floor. We decided it looked like an upscale camp for people who have survived a natural disaster. They gym was full of families sitting on the floor on a patchwork of towels. You could tell the veterans. They brought chairs and coolers. We were lucky enough to sit next to a friendly family that shared their chair with us.
At first I wasn't going to bring Vivian's iPad, but everyone I talked to said I should. I'm glad I did, because most of the kids had some kind of device to help get through the 10 hour day. We were all impressed with how well the event was managed. There were over 600 kids competing in 70 events with multiple heats, and the whole thing moved smoothly along throughout the day. We were also all impressed with how well Vivian managed the day. She looked like a pro out there.
She was a little disappointed in her back stroke time, because she was just a little off from her personal best, but she got new PBs in free style and breaststroke, so it was a good day overall.
I stayed the whole day and worked in the afternoon, but it was a lot of fun, and Jeff and my parents came in shifts and helped out with keeping Viv company and getting food for us. She had a good cheering section for all her races.
We decided it would be best to keep Elena out of the swim meet craziness, but I don't think she minded being left out. Our friends also have a three year old who plays really nicely with Elena, so they had a day long play date while the rest of us were camping out at the school.
She also had a great day on Sunday when we all went downtown for lunch and some play time at Funarium before our friends flew home.
It was an insane and exhausting weekend, but it was also a lot of fun.
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