I've been diligently taking pictures since our trip to Australia, and as I looked through all of them trying to put together a blog, I realized that it's a weird combination of things the girls have been up to and things we're selling before we move. There's a lot to cover, so I think I'll mostly go through with pictures and captions, just so that I capture most of the crazy last month and a half for posterity.
We got right back in the swing of things after spring break, and I got this fun picture of Viv lounging during her free time at the end of swim practice.
That following weekend was super busy. First, Vivian and I had our Girl Scout sleep over at the aquarium.
Then, the next afternoon, Elena had a birthday party for one of her buddies at Fun Planet.
The next week was Guardians of the Galaxy Two in first class, which we LOVED.
Elena refused to be ditched two days in a row, so she came with me to Panipa's the next day, and was very well behaved while I got a pedicure.
The following week was the beginning of selling things. I started with the car.
That week was Vivian's last choir concert too. I had left her a note asking her to walk over to Panipa's by herself. I had made an appointment for her already, and my plan was to meet her there as soon as I finished a meeting I had. Panipa's is across the street from the school, and I figured she would be fine going on her own. She did it, but when I got there she started crying, because she said she didn't like going there without me. I felt bad, because I thought she would like the independence, but I guess not. I had brought her a brownie though, so all was forgiven quickly. They ended up doing a a beautiful job with her hair, and she looked lovely for the concert.
Then we had another awesome weekend planned. This time it was a long weekend, and we went with some family friends to the Centara Grand Mirage in Pattaya. I love that place.
Centara had a sale, so we could afford to splurge on club level. The family club was a great place to hang out. They even had a couple different play areas for the kids.
Young came too and helped with her majesty, princess Elena.
It was such a fun weekend, and a great way to say goodbye to one of our favorite vacation spots here in Thailand.
The next week started with selling more stuff. Still no buyer for the car, but I was selling a bunch of other things, mostly baby stuff Elena had grown out of. Then on Tuesday at swim practice, Vivian the graceful fell in the pool and managed to bang her ankle in the process. She scared her poor coach half to death. It being Thailand, the nurse offered us a wheelchair to get her to the parking lot. Viv, of course, thought this was a great idea.
I think I was flustered by the whole thing, because I left her at the main school driveway, and went to get the golf cart, but then I went on autopilot out of the school gates. Luckily, there's a traffic circle right as you exit the school, so I just went around it and back in, but Vivian was NOT pleased with me. Her ankle felt fine the next day, and she headed off to a birthday party at Bounce, the local trampoline park, ah childhood.
The next week was character dress up day, where the kids got to dress up as their favorite character from a book. Vivian was Hermione last year, so this year she wanted to be Katsa from Graceling. Katsa is an unbeatable fighter with one green eye and one blue eye. This is the costume we came up with.
I also got a picture of Elena, who was getting ready for her first day of "school." There's a local in home preschool that we can get to in the golf cart, and a lot of my friends send their kids there. I had signed Elena up to try out Friday from 9-12.
We talked about it the day before, we watched the Daniel Tiger episode where he goes to school, and we talked about how grown ups come back. Elena's response? "I don't want to go to school!" Young and I managed to talk her into getting on the golf cart, and I got her there. We walked around the main room together, and she was super impressed with all the toys and books they had. They even had a room with a dedicated ball pit and slide. She clearly loved it, but didn't want me to go. One of the teachers distracted her, and I escaped, but I had to drive away listening to her cry "Mommy! Come back!" Ouch. They were really nice though and sent me pictures to show that she was having fun, which is how I figured things would go down. It helped that it was a water play day.
After the initial push back, she seems to have bought into the whole school concept, and is happy to head over there three days a week for three hours. They're kind enough to send me cute pictures of her having fun and learning.
The letter of the week the first week was V. She has also had E be the letter of the week. She was very pleased about that. They even did a school pictures kind of photo shoot. We didn't buy any, but the poses cracked me up.
I'm glad we finally decided to try school for her. She is so ready. I got her some Kumon tracing books, and she tore through one in a little more than a day.
The weekend after Elena started school was a busy one. Vivian had her last swim meet.
Unfortunately, it got rained out after she had only swum two of her four events, but we made our own fun with my craft fair purchases.
That weekend was also Mother's Day. I don't like to eat in bed, so the girls made me yummy strawberry and grape jello, which was fun.
They are good sisters and good daughters. I feel so lucky to have them in my life.
The week after Mother's Day, I put the golf cart up for sale, sniff, sniff.
We got really lucky, because Vivian's music teacher bought it, but agreed to let us keep it until we go. We eventually sold the car, after much drama, so now the golf cart is all we have for getting around.
A big third grade end of the year project at ISB is market place. The kids have to make a product to sell. They do it three Wednesdays in a row, so that the students have time in between to either make more product or refine what they're selling. Vivian decided to make blueberry muffins, so Tuesday night after swim practice, dinner, and a shower, she made her first batch by herself.
They were a complete success, and she sold out at all three market places, even when she upped it to a double batch. Elena and I also had our last music class that week. She loves the "Leaves Are Falling Song" but, of course, wouldn't look at the camera for a picture.
At least she sat still for this one. She ran screaming from the group picture. That Saturday was Vivian's final basketball game.
On Sunday, I tried to get her to help me sort through the books to see if there were any we could donate. That didn't work out quite as I had planned.
Even though my ultimate goal was to get rid of stuff, there was one addition to our household goods that I was very thankful for. Young went to Chatuchak and bought a Thai triangle pillow for each of the girls. They love them.
The following week was Vivian's end of year swim celebration. They swam a bunch of fun 25 meter events and then did dinner and awards. I brought peppers and chicken for my picky eater.
Viv is on the junior squad, so she didn't qualify for any awards. I decided to make one for her, since she has grown so much as a swimmer. Elena decided she wanted one too, so Vivian's award was for being a super swimmer, and Elena's was for being a super schooler, since she's rocking this whole school thing.
The following week at practice I got a great picture of Vivian with her first coach, who taught her how to swim when we got here, and her current coach.
We seem to be at the pool a lot here. We had a goodbye pool party that weekend for a family that Vivian and Elena are both friends with.
Elena has really made some good friends here, which is great. It's going to be sad to leave them, especially her neighborhood bestie.
The number for great friends (for kids and adults) is one of the main things we'll miss about this neighborhood. For example, Viv and I had a great time going to the local "Mexican" restaurant, Que Pasa. She got to play outside on the playground with her friends, and I got to drink margaritas inside with my friends.
The week after that was Vivian's bridging ceremony from being a Brownie to being a Junior. They have a big display about the late King's life, so Vivian and I got a picture with him to commemorate her time as a Brownie in Thailand. I also got flowers for being a departing troop leader, which was nice.
The next day was her music share and I was SO proud of her. She was afraid to sing by herself (last year she did an original duet), but she has such a wonderful voice. I finally convinced her to sing Sara Bareilles's "Brave", because I wanted to see her be brave, the lyrics are great, and she actually has the range to do it.
I got a couple videos, but both have narration from two little fans. Elena was sitting next to me, and I had my friend's two year old on my lap, so both videos got interrupted, but Vivian's singing is awesome.
That weekend we finalized packing prep, including dismantling the tree house.
That was sad, but the happy silver lining was that it fit in the UAB boxes, so we'll see it again soon. I drastically underestimated the amount of UAB we had room for. They said we should end up with about 5 boxes, and I had only provided enough stuff for 2. Luckily, the packers were really nice and let me keep bring more stuff, so we ended up with four regular boxes and then two little ones.
They worked quickly, and by the time Elena got home from school, her play area was full of boxes.
She's been accepting of the idea that all of our things have to go in boxes to get to our new home in Colombia, but every so often, she'll say, hey, where is my _____? We're hoping that this move goes smoothly for all of us. We're excited about Colombia, but so sad to be leaving our wonderful life in Thailand.
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