Swan Lake and Swamped Streets

September 26, 2014                        Friday

            We’ve made it through 4 whole weeks of Homeschool!!  Hurray for us.  We’ve got a routine going, but I’m still not completely satisfied.  I need to rethink my writing lessons.  We’re doing a lot of writing, but I need to do more guidance.  Quantity does not mean quality.  We’ll get there. 

            We survived our first out of town trip by Allen, and we were just fine.  He attended a conference in Chiang Mai and made a presentation in Khon Kaen.  We stayed home.  We even went out and did some activities.  I know hardly any Thai, but it’s not a big problem here in Bangkok.  I am so glad for all the English signs and the people who know just enough English to understand me and with pantomime and calculators, we can figure out just about anything.  And I’ve found that a smile goes a long way in getting things worked out. 

            We enjoyed paddle boating at sunset in Benjakiti Park, church activities, a small Thai craft fair, church, choir practices, homeschool co-op, homeschool at home, and a rainstorm that flooded our street.  It was an eventful week and we haven’t even had our field trip yet.  I’m ready for a break!

Enjoy the Kid Report…

After paddle boating at Benjakiti Park

Sunset on the lake at Benjakiti Park

The girls at Homeschool Co-Op at Christ Church Bangkok

Dinner.  And thanks to Rachel,  it's happy to see ya!

Our flooded street.  It was just about over the curb.

We had fun watching the cars and motorcycles navigate our flooded Soi.

RACHEL, 4^th GRADE

            On Thursday we went to Homeschool Co-Op and it was a lot better than last week.  Way better!  We understood more of the Thai class and we did a fun activity in it.  It was a guessing game.  The teacher had little faces showing different emotions.  Then he had matching pieces of paper that said the words in Thai lettering and in ABC English letters for the emotions.  You had to match the faces the words.  When you got the match you had to say it in Thai.  “Saw” (pronounced sow) means “sad” in Thai.  I remember that one because I kept on getting that same match each time.  “Dun ten” means “excited” in Thai.  We did more fun stuff during music.  We sang more fun songs.  We sang this African song and we had to bring something like a homemade maraca to shake during the song.  Emma and I used plastic butter containers that we put rice in and then we taped them shut.  It was really fun to shake them to the song.  We learned a song called The Music Man that only the British kids knew because it’s a British kids song.  After that we had snack time and a little bit of free time.  That’s when Emma and I found lots of shells.  We had mini-Hob Nob cookies and I had a graham cracker cookie too.  Then it was Science and we were talking about how grains can help you be healthy and what they do for your body.  They had some little rice cakes and peanut butter to sample, but neither Emma nor I took one because we were afraid it would be disgusting and we didn’t want to be rude and say, “Ewww!  This is disgusting.”  Right after science time was crafting.  You could either play soccer or make a craft.  Emma and I chose making a craft.  We were sewing mini-bags, like wallet size.  They were so cute.  I picked neon pink material.  We hand sewed it.  We even hand sewed a button onto it.  And then it was lunch time!!  We all had pizza except for mommy.  We had pepperoni homemade pizza, apples, and carrots.  We played a game with some other girls and then we went home. 

            On Saturday we went to the Thai Craft Fair.  It was very close to our apartment at a hotel.  They had lots of scarves, some soaps and shampoos, some stuffed animals and hats.  That’s when I spotted almost an exact duplicate of my sister Bethany’s rainbow hat except the green and the blues were lighter and the orange and the red were out of order at the top.  And I was like, “I gotta get that!!”  And I got it and I was all, “Boom, Baby!”  We went down the aisles and we also saw little stuffed animal turtles and elephants.  Emma liked this one little gold turtle and she got it and she named it Samson.  It was so cute.  We went down the aisle more and saw this spot that had all this little Polly-sized food!  They had everything.  They had water filters, food stands, Thai food, shakes, hamburgers and fries.  They even had wedding cakes!!  I got a mini picnic basket and a burger and fries.  Emma got a little set of baskets with doughnuts that she didn’t know were also magnets which made them even cooler.  Emma and I played Pollys basically all day and all day the next day and all today’s free time.  Then after we got home we quickly got in our swimsuits and ran to the church and ate our lunch on the way.  There was an Activity Days activity which was going to a pool at an apartment building where a family in the ward lives.  Sister Wood took us to the pool.  When we got there we swam around a little and ate some snacks.  Then I got back in the pool.  I got out to do something and when I got out my toe scraped against the side which was scratchy and scraped a piece of skin off my big toe and left a flap of skin there and it was bleeding like crazy.  So I got a band-aid and sat out of the pool for a while and then I got back in and was swimming around.  It started to sting and I could feel something flapping and I got out of the pool and sat on the edge and I saw a little flap of skin and I peeled it back to see how big the scrape was and the whole piece came off! It started bleeding again and then it stopped and I got back in the pool.  Then we got out and had snacks again.  The cookies had been sitting in the sun and it was like they had just come out of the oven.  They were hot and melty and really good.  Then we came home and chilled for a while. 

            And that’s basically what happened that was exciting. 

Taking a lunch break at Homeschool Co-Op

New Hat, Old Hat...the New Hat is on my head.

Polly Pocket and the miniature food.

EMMA, 6^th GRADE

Dear People Pals,

            We ordered Thai take out on Monday.  The place we ordered from was called Have a Zeed.  Really weird.  Mom thinks that by Zeed, they meant Seat because there’s a picture of a chair in the logo.  They probably mis-heard the English word since they’re Thai.   So, we tried a bunch of Thai food.  Everything was either spicy, or really sour.  There was this coconut lemongrass soup that tasted like fresh-squeezed lemon soup, with chicken in it .  I didn’t really like it.  My favorite was this really good kind of spicy fried fish.  YUM!  Also, there were spicy chicken wings, and Dad said that whoever ate the last wing would get an extra cookie.  So I got an extra cookie.  SCORE!

            On Thursday Rachel and I went to the homeschool Co-Op again.  It was way better this time.  At home I memorized all of my numbers in Thai 1-19, but then at class we practiced saying our feelings in Thai instead.  We got into groups and played a memory game.  When our group was good enough, we made up our own games to practice the words.  In music we’re supposed to bring something that makes a sound when you shake it, so mom made us shakers by putting rice in two butter containers.  We also practiced a few African songs for a performance.  One of them is going to be The Lion Sleeps Tonight.  After that, instead of soccer Rachel and I tried the sewing class.  It was pretty fun.  We made wallets out of felt. 

            On Friday we went to Benjakiti and went paddle boating.  It was more work than I thought it would be.  Mom, Rachel and I were all in one two-seater paddle boat.  Laura and Nathan were in another.  Laura and Nathan were faster since Rachel and I kept switching seats to take turns paddling and steering. And we kept stopping to take pictures.  After the paddle boats we walked to Terminal 21.  We ate at Mos Burger, except I got a hot dog.  It had ketchup, onion, and weird paint-tasting mustard.  I also had orange Fanta.

            On Saturday Mom, Rachel and I went to the Thai Craft Fair.  It’s where a bunch of people gathered in a conference room at a hotel and brought a bunch of stuff that they made to sell.  They had lots of interesting stuff there.  There were a bunch of cloth and bead things and scarves. There were little cloth houses that had Nativities in them.  There were cloth carrots that had little bunny rabbits in them, and cloth bananas that had little elephants in them.  There were lots of Christmas and Easter stuff.  We also found this one person who was selling a bunch of miniature food that you could make into a miniature town.  Like there was a mini jewelry display case and mini baskets of food and cakes.  It  was SO ADORABLE!!  Rachel and I both ended up buying something.  I ended up buying 5 tiny baskets that had little checkered cloths in them and then there were little tiny doughnuts in them. Each doughnut was really detailed.  They were also magnetic.  And the baskets were real tiny baskets!  Rachel bought a teeny tiny glass tray with teeny tiny fries and a burger on it.  She also bought a little basket of fruit.  Rachel also bought a knit hat that looked like our old rainbow hat except it was lighter in color. I also bought a silk stuffed turtle.  I named him Samson because that was the first name that came to my mind.  Mom bought these Christmas ornaments that were red, white, and green.  She got a snowflake, a bell, and stars.  They all had sequins and beads on them.  They were really cool. 

            After that Rachel and I went to an Activity Days Activity.  They only have one every other month.  For here the Activity Days includes boys and girls age 8 and up because they don’t have Cub Scouts.  We went to this apartment pool that a lady in the ward lives at.  We did swimming and they also had snacks.  There were 2 kinds of cookies:  chocolate chip and chocolate chip, but they were cooked differently.  Also there were chips and fruit.  It was really good.  Rachel scraped her toe at the end though so she didn’t swim the whole time.  We mostly played with these two girls, Narissa and Yoomin.  We had a good week this week. 

Miniature Baskets of Doughnuts...and they're magnets too!

Samson the Golden Silk Turtle

After Homeschool Co-Op

Paddle Boating in Benjakiti Park

LAURA, 8^th GRADE

           This week Dad went to Chiang Mai. He was doing some conferences there so it was basically every human for themself at home. FUN! We actually spent most of our time doing schoolwork so there wasn't much of a disagreement issue between children and parent. I do feel bad for mom. She was stuck inside with us all week and quite frankly, we're loud.

Without dad, our Friday field trip was just one to the paddle boats at Benjakiti Park where we went biking a little while back. We went about 5:30 p.m. They were really fun. I shared a swan-shaped paddle boat with Nathan. We raced Mom, Rachel, and Emma back to the dock and guess who won. WE DID!! It was SUPER hot though and the walk back to Terminal 21 Mall felt really long. We ate at Mos Burger. It was pretty good. I had a hot dog. They had this weird mustard on my hot dog that tasted like spray paint. Emma had said it tasted like spray paint, so I wiped off all of it except for some on the end.  When I tasted the mustard on the end I could see how she compared to spray paint.  It was really bitter and gross.  Have you ever tasted orange peel?  It kind of tasted like that with this weird hint of burnt rice.  That is how the nasty mustard tasted.  You’re welcome. Otherwise, it was really good. 

            Other than the trip to the paddle boats, I occupied myself by trying to organize the fridge and every cupboard in the kitchen. It was hard and I REALLY hope that we can keep it that way. It's easier to find what you're looking for. So if any of my siblings read this, PLEASE keep the things in the soup cupboard and fridge organized!!!!! I found it actually kind of fun. Apparently one of my other sibs did as well and put up a bit of a hissy fit because dad had promised me I could organize all the cupboards. So I let them hand me stuff.  

            Overall it was a pretty good week even though we didn’t live la vida loca this week.

Paddle Boating in Benjakiti Park

Sunset on the lake, from our Swan Paddle Boat.

Standing up to paddle boat makes the boat go faster, right?

In our awesome swan paddle boats

NATHAN, 11^th GRADE

            I had piano lessons on Wednesday.  They went well.  School is going fine.  The good things about online classes are I can access it any time, and I don’t have to get up nearly as early.  The bad thing about online classes is that if the internet is going slow then it’s hard to do the work.  My favorite class right now is Spanish 3. A couple of times I’ve had to record things for my Spanish class and then send them in.  In my AP Government class I have video lectures that I have to watch for each section.  I like real classes better because the classes are more interesting and you have friends in class. 

            Last Thursday, Dad left for Chiang Mai to do a couple presentations.   On Friday we went to Benjakiti Park and we went paddle boating for a half hour on the lake there.  It was fun.  Our boats were shaped like swans.  It was me and Laura in one boat and Mom, Rachel, and Emma in the other one.  It was only 40 Baht for half an hour. [That’s about $1.30.]  There were hardly any other paddle boats on the lake, so it wasn’t crowded.  I would do it again.  After that we went to Mos Burger at Terminal 21.  It’s a Japanese burger place.  We had dinner there and it was good.  I had a cheeseburger and fries.    

Then on Saturday Laura and I had a youth activity.  It was a farewell for one of the guys in our ward who is going on a mission. It was at the young men’s president’s house.  We played wii games, had pizza and root beer floats.  I played Mario Kart.  It was pretty fun.  I wish we had brought our wii to Thailand with us because it gets a little boring from time to time.  After that we went home.  The little girls were at a pool party activity and Laura and I had to go pick them up at 3:30 at the church. When we went to pick them up they had already started home, so we met them half-way across the university campus.

Mom made banana bars Sunday.  Dad came back from Khon Kaen on Tuesday.  That’s about it.

            But wait!  There’s more!  We just had a mini-flash flood on our street in the last half hour.  We had a thunderstorm that lasted about a half hour.  It rained and rained and rained.  After the thunderstorm we saw that our street was flooded.  It was about 6 inches deep.  We went down to the street level to see how deep it was and to watch the cars and motorcycles go by leaving a wake and waves behind them.  We took pictures.  Yep.  Now that’s really it.

On the lake in Benjakiti Park

Our swampy Soi right in front of our apartment building.

Watching from the balcony of our apartment as cars navigate the flooded street.

Snakes. Why'd It Have to Be Snakes?

September 17, 2014

Thursday

            So it was a better week than the week before.  Field Trips have been reinstated as part of the curriculum.  We took an awesome science field trip on Saturday to the Snake Farm here in Bangkok.  It is run by the Thai Red Cross and was started by a doctor in 1923 after he realized that the antivenom that was being imported from overseas wasn’t working very well for the local snakes.  So he started raising local venomous snakes to make better antivenom.  They put on a show where they introduce you to a variety of local snakes, poisonous and non-poisonous.  They also have a show where they demonstrate how they “milk” the snakes for venom, but they only do those on weekdays so we missed it.  Bummer.  The facilities are much nicer than when we visited 15 years ago.  And they still let you take pictures holding a big Burmese python who was just the sweetest snake…when you’re surrounded by handlers who can lift the heavy snake scarf the second you’re done. 

Other highlights of the week:  trying out a Homeschool Co-Op group that meets on Thursdays.  It was okay for Rachel, and just a little young for Emma.  They did four classes:  Thai (just okay), Music (very fun), Science (too easy for both of them), and Soccer (good to get out and move around).  Met some very nice people and the kids were pretty friendly.  Not sure it is worth Emma’s time…she is so concerned about working at her grade level and keeping up.  We will try it again this week and decide. 

We are enjoying the rainy season here, especially from the dry safety of our apartment.  We like watching the pouring rain when it’s a real gully-washer.  We like watching the lightning and thunder shows from our living room windows when they’re not TOO close.  We like how the air smells after a good down-pour.  We like the cooler temperatures (well, relatively cooler) when it’s overcast.  It’s a good time to be in Bangkok.

Entrance to the Snake Farm

The Snake Farm is all in the trees behind the kids.

Holding the Burmese Python.  Rachel and Emma are not so excited, but they posed anyway.

I thought this snake was just cool.  Allen humored me and joined me for a picture with my python "scarf".

RACHEL, 4^th GRADE

            On Saturday we went to a snake farm.  It was kind of creepy because at the show they said they were going to bring out venomous and venom-less snakes.  The first snake was a cobra:  a venom snake.  Apparently cobras don’t have really good eyesight.  They watch for movement and follow what moves.  What the handlers would do to catch it was grab it by the back of its head and then hold it by the back of their head so they couldn’t bite them.  The handlers would hold the snakes by their tails so they couldn’t bite them, but the snakes would just turn around and hiss at them.  The next snake they brought out, the speaker said was a venomous snake. The handler picked up the snake and it was standing up and tried to bite him.  It bit his finger.  Right as it bit his finger the announcer guy said, “We’re just kidding.  It’s a venom-less snake.”  Whew!  I was freakin’ out!  Then there was a rainbow snake that if it went in the sun it was all rainbow-y.  The rainbow snakes are all lazy in the day, so you’d really have to do something to get them to bite you.  The handler was holding one of the snakes that was black and yellow, and all of a sudden, the snake starts to go to the bathroom all over the floor.  All the people in the stands were all, “Ewwww!!!”  Then a janitor came in and cleaned it up.  The announcer said, “Oh.  Poop.  That’s nasty.”  Then they brought out two king cobras.  The handler was holding them by the tails and the handler had a really hard time getting them back.  He got one back and ran it out and then the last one was really hard to get.  The cobra kept watching him and the handler would stand right in front of us.  Finally the cobra looked away and the handler grabbed it by the tail and ran it out.  Then they brought out a green snake that they held out on a stick because it was venomous.  But it was lazy in the day and just lay there on the stick.  Then they brought out a huge python and they were letting people put it on them like a scarf.  It looked really light on people.  Everyone in our family except Dad and Laura tried it out.  I didn’t really hold it because I was in the middle, but the snake’s head kept getting close to me and I kept bending down and bending down.  Then we took another picture with just me and Emma.  The snake was really heavy!  It’s heavier than it looks!  The scales felt like they were peeling off.  I was holding the head part, but it kept slithering toward Emma’s feet.  Then we had to wash our hands.  Then we went to see some snakes in aquariums.  Then we saw some snake skeletons and a dummy that would show what would happen to you if you got a snake bite, and a room that talked about snakes in mythology.  They had a skeleton of a cobra and it only had the spine and then the ribs went all the way up to the neck.  They had some displays of snake skin that you could touch.  But then they also had some long python skin that was behind glass that you couldn’t touch.   Also, they had dead preserved snakes that were in tall jars.  Ewwww!  I liked the snake farm, but there was only one thing that was kind of disturbing:  the snakes in the jars.  I thought it was going to be scary, creepy, and disgusting at the snake farm.  But I thought it was cool.  My favorite snake was the rainbow snake.  Now that I know which snakes are poisonous, I know which ones to stay away from. 

Love,

Rachie

The infamous pooping snake

One of the cobra skeletons.  You can even see where his hood was.

Python skins.  The one on the left is a Burmese Python like the one we held and the one on the right is a reticulated python. 

EMMA, 6^th GRADE

Dear Personages Who Read This,

            On last Monday, we had the sister missionaries over. We had really good powder sugar brownies, IT WAS DELICOUS!! However, mine had a HUGE bubble in it, so I really got half a brownie.

On Tuesday we got pizza delivered.  The pizza was really tasty. So were the breadsticks. They had this scratchy stuff on the crust parts that felt really great on my tongue. Also, there was a mini chocolate lava cake that went with it. It was SOOO GOOD! We each got a bite of it. 

On Wednesday, we tried something else new. We ordered burgers from Carl’s Jr. I had my first big-person burger in my whole life. It was so heavy! It was basically two chicken tenders in a bun with a bunch of stuff on it. It was okay.

On Saturday, we went to a snake farm. However, mom and dad wouldn’t tell us where we were going until we figured it out playing 20 Questions on the subway ride there. They did that so we wouldn’t have time to worry about it. So, I was just in shock that we were actually going to a snake farm because I don’t like snakes.  I’d only ever seen one in person before.  Once we got to the snake farm finally we had to sit in these bleachers and wait for 5 minutes (which felt like a long time) till this guy came out and started talking in Thai.  Then he translated it into English. So, it took a while. Also, he talked really fast, and took lots of short breaths. He had this kind of creepy smile the whole time he talked.  He was so happy to talk about how these venomous snakes would kill you.  I didn’t get a really good view of the snakes though because Dad and this other guy were sitting in front of me.  They put the snakes on the floor in front of the bleachers.  The first snake they brought out was a cobra and they taught you how to catch it.  You grab it on the back of the neck by their mouth so they can’t open it and bite you.  Then they told you not to ever do that.  At the end they brought out two king cobras that are REALLY venomous and then they let them out on the floor…two of them.  The guys were wearing rubber boots and they kept poking them so that they’d do stuff.  When they brought them in and out they would hold them by the tails and run with them.  There was one snake that wasn’t venomous so the handler just let the snake bite his finger.  At first, the announcer guy told us that the snake was venomous and then once it bit the handler he said he was just kidding. I didn’t get very good pictures of everything because dad’s head was in half of them and the other guy’s head was in the other half.  At the end they brought out a big fat Burmese Python. They let us take pictures with it.  At first when mom and dad asked me if I wanted to get my picture taken I said no, but then when Rachel got up to go I decided I had to go up because I couldn’t be bested by my little sister!  And then Nathan went up with me too.  Once it was our turn to hold the snake I was really nervous and I didn’t want to hold up the head even though they promised it wouldn’t bite us and it wasn’t venomous.  It was REALLY heavy and really smooth.  I got snake on my hair.  We had to wash our hands afterwards.  We went and did it again and took individual pictures, but I did it with Rachel.  And the head was right by me even though Rachel was supposed to be holding it up.  After that we looked at a bunch of snake exhibits inside a building and I had to use the flash for most of my pictures because it was so dark. We came to a room that was completely dark and I took pictures of the walls with my flash on to see what was on them.  Then we realized there was a button you could press and the lights would turn on and would tell you how snakes were used in cultures and mythology around the world.  They had dead snakes in jars and snake skeletons.  They had snake skins you could feel.  Then we went back outside and saw another exhibit and we saw a reticulated python. He was about as fat around as an adult’s thigh.  He was SOOO fat!  I’m glad I went to the snake farm, but now I know there are lots of venomous snakes in Thailand.  But hardly any of them are in the city. 

GOODBYE!!!!!!!! 

One of the aggressive snakes striking out at the handler. 

 

This snake is heavier than he looks!

 

Just a sample of the dead snake specimens.  Ewww.

LAURA, 8^th GRADE

HELLO!!!!!!!!

            I made a lemon meringue pie!!!  It was so good!!!   The easiest part was probably making the crust.  It had just a few steps:  mix ingredients, roll out, put in pan and bake.  Then you had to make the lemon filling.  It wasn’t that hard, you just had to be careful to cook the egg yolks when you added the hot lemon mixture.  Then you just poured it all in the crust and cooked it for a little longer.  The hardest part was the meringue.  At first it looked really easy from the instructions and it pretty much was until it came to the part of using the electric mixer.  We don’t have an electric mixer.  Whipping something the consistency of water into Cool Whip consistency was really hard.  Me and mom and Nathan had to take turns whisking the egg whites as fast as we could till our arms gave out.  In the end it looked really pretty and tasted really good.  I thought the meringue could’ve used a little more flavor—maybe some lemon flavor or something.  I'll send some pictures. I accidentally made the meringue weep. It melted at the bottom and made it super slippery. But it was still REALLY good. I'm also planning a key lime pie but we need frozen Cool Whip. So we've been looking everywhere for unflavored gelatin to make a substitute for the frozen Cool Whip. WE CAN'T FIND ANY!!! AND WE CAN'T FIND FROZEN COOL WHIP EITHER!!!! 

         *Update* We found unflavored gelatin. Apparently, they have a separate section for the unflavored gelatin. (Why?) I made the pie and it's in the freezer. I'll take it out when it's done. If it's pretty, I'll post pictures. If not, well, I won't.   I've really gotten into cooking and I have no idea why. Next Wednesday, I'm making pizza, garlic bread knots, and eclairs....hopefully.  I am looking forward mostly to the garlic knots and the pizza. 

We also went to a snake farm on Saturday.  They did a snake show about venomous and non-venomous snakes in Thailand.  During the show, one of the snakes pooped. The announcer guy went, "Snek poooooo. Ees soopah nasteee." That's exactly how he pronounced it. YUCK!! They had this really cool snake that kept biting the handler, but it didn’t have any teeth, so it looked like Pac Man’s head on snake body.  It was so funny.  It was standing on its tail with its mouth wide open. At the end of the show they let people hold a giant python.  I passed. I’d like to be snake-free, thank you! They also had a huge indoor snake exhibit with skeletons and skins from snakes. The bones looked so flimsy!!! They had live snakes in little glass display habitats. One of them was banging his head on the glass. It was kinda sad.  Overall it was really cool.  I’m glad I didn’t have to touch a snake.

My beautiful Lemon Meringue Pie entirely from scratch.

And it looked good on the inside too.

NATHAN, 11^th GRADE

            On Saturday we went to the snake farm.  It’s a place where they raise local poisonous snakes to get the venom out of the snakes and use for antivenom.  We got there just in time for their snake show where some handlers came out and they showed us different types of snakes.  There was a king cobra, a Siamese cobra, some other snakes—but I can’t remember their name.  Some of them were pretty aggressive.  One of them kept biting the trainer guy.  I think they took his fangs out because it didn’t hurt when he bit him.  My favorite snake from the show was the Siamese Cobra because they were the most exciting to watch because they were hissing and trying to strike at the trainer.  After the show they brought out a Burmese python and you could go up and hold it around your neck and get a picture with it.  Me, Mom, Emma, Rachel, and Dad all went up and got pictures with the Burmese Python.  It was super heavy.  Then we went to the exhibit area which was indoors.  There were some snake enclosures with more snakes, and then there was a whole bunch of information about snakes, snake skeletons, dead snakes, and how to treat snake bites.  It was pretty cool.  The best part of the exhibit was the collection of giant snake skins. There were also outdoor exhibits for snakes.  There was a HUGE reticulated python and a green anaconda.  Most of them just sat in lumps by the windows.  I liked the green anaconda the best.  It was fun.

            We had school again this week.  That went well.  We went down and swam a couple times.  We ordered delivery burgers and pizza which we haven’t had in forever.  They were pretty good.  They didn’t taste quite as good as the ones back in the States, but they were okay.  Me and mom went to the library on Wednesday and got some books. Then we went to a Tops Market on the way home which was really weird and didn’t have a lot of stuff.  It was kind of run-down.  There was a huge thunderstorm last night and there was really loud thunder.  But we didn’t lose power.  It was a good week.

The first snake they brought out...a King Cobra.  Notice the handlers heavy rubber boots.  No accidental bites as part of the show today! (And good for having to clean up snake poop too.)

 

And then just for fun they brought out two cobras at the same time.

Up close and personal with the Burmese Python.

 

If You Ever Come to Bangkok...

     So this past week we didn't take any field trips.  We just did school.  I didn't dare have the kids report on their week because it wouldn't have been a fun entry to read.  It would've basically said: "We did school all day every day.  The End."  So, this week the kids are talking about the things we've already done that they liked.  It's not your typical guidebook descriptions, but enjoy their recommendations!
      Even though this is the 3rd time we're doing homeschooling, it's like I'm starting over and having to relearn how to do it.  And it's not going to look like the other times we homeschooled either because the kids are older, we're using actual textbooks from their schools, and there's more kids to homeschool.  I wish I had a kindergartener again.  Sigh.  They're so easy and they don't take much prep.  Having the actual school textbooks is increasing the pressure to do more book work this time.  But what we're finding is we can't do that.  Teachers in school don't do that.  They mix it up with videos and activities and experiments and field trips.  So Field Trips are officially reinstated.  We would be wasting a giant social studies opportunity to not go out and see what's here in Bangkok and Thailand.  So this homeschooling teacher is trying to relax and make school a better experience for everyone.  Otherwise, we will never make it till the end of the year.  (Although kids may not complain if this is the shortest school year ever! )

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL at the 

HICKEN ELEMENTARY-MIDDLE-HIGH SCHOOL OF BANGKOK

RACHEL, 4^th GRADE

If you ever come to Bangkok don’t miss Art in Paradise.  Art in Paradise is cool.  They are illusions. They are paintings that look like they are real.  You can stand and pretend that you are in the paintings and look like you are there.  I really liked a painting that looked like I was surfing a big wave. Also Terminal 21 is a mall that has the best food court.  Make sure to try the chicken and rice, with chicken broth.  It is really yummy and tasty.  And the chocolate ice cream is really good too.  Also the 7 UP is good.  The Brazilian chicken and rice is yummy.  All the floors are themed and the Caribbean floor is the food floor.  There’s Paris, Rome, London, San Francisco, and some other floors. The bathrooms are themed too.  I think that the Rome bathroom is the best.  The sink is like a fountain.  It is awesome.  There is another place I would recommend.  It is called Wat Pho.  There is a reclining Buddha  there and a lot of stray cats.  The Reclining Buddha is HUGE!  It’s really tall.  It’s bigger than our apartment.  It’s covered in gold and it’s really cool.  It’s feet have designs on the back and it’s covered in murals, basically.  Also they have a souvenir shop that have little emerald elephants. It is so cute.   And they have ice cream.  It is really fun, but never go on a holiday weekend.  It is really crowded!

Rachel playing cat's cradle with some very nice girls.

The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

On the London Floor at Terminal 21 Mall...my favorite mall!

EMMA, 6^th GRADE

            If you come to Bangkok, make sure you don’t miss Art in Paradise. Art in Paradise is really cool because, it’s all about optical illusions. That’s what I like. There was this one picture where you could put your feet or hands on a hippo’s open mouth, while you lay on this broken bridge picture. So, it basically looked like you were trying to escape up a rope ladder, while being chased by a hippo.  Sorry if my description is hard to picture, you’d have to actually see the pose. Anyway, there were several stairway paintings that you pose in front of. It would look like were climbing up them. THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

            Another thing you can’t miss is, the Reclining Buddha. It’s an ENORMOUS golden Buddha statue, that’s lying on his elbow.  It is WAY bigger than it looks in all the pictures. Well, at least in my opinion. Another thing there is, a TON of creepy lion statues. Almost all of them had a ball incorporated somewhere on the statue.

            Also, you should see Wat Phra Keaw. There are lots of pretty buildings everywhere. There’s more, but I told you about it last week.

            You should also go to Benjakiti Park. There’s a lake in the middle where you can rent paddleboats. Also, it’s really quiet, and all the flowers make it smell really good. There are lots of things to do in the actual park place. For example, there are exercising areas and playground sets. Another thing is, they have two big fountains and a couple statues. There’s a bike rental there too, and a super long, smooth, bike trail that goes around the lake.

            You shouldn’t miss the Ananta Samakhom Throne hall either. It has lots of REALLY REALLY fancy stuff the kings and queens owned. Almost everything was embedded with diamonds and made of gold.  

Help!  The  Hippo is going to get us!

The Lion Dogs at Wat Pho...they don't like it when you try to take their toys!

Benjakiti Bike Park

LAURA, 8^th GRADE

If you ever go to Thailand, be sure not to miss “Art in Paradise”. I gotta say, it sounded a bit boring to me. I’m not a huge fan of looking at paintings of bowls of fruit. But we actually got to be in the pictures. It was really cool. There was a section of classical famous paintings where you got to be part of the painting.  You could be in the painting, or there were some where parts of the painting were coming out of the frame.  There was another optical illusion section that had a room where you could have two people stand in corners of the room and the person on the left would always look taller.  Rachel could stand on one end and make Rachel look taller than Emma even though she’s really not.  There was another picture of a giant paper clamp where you could put somebody in the clamp part and someone holding the metal handle part and it looked the other person was getting squished.  I was more of the photographer here,  but I still had fun.

Another thing not to miss is the pore-cleaner on the side of the street. It’s called heat. Amazing!! It’s completely free!

Also, don’t miss the giant grand palace Vimanmek. It’s so awesome with rooms filled with cool stuff.  There was a room full of  old-fashioned swords and guns.  There was lots of antique furniture everywhere. It wasn’t all the actual furniture from the old palace, but it looked like it would’ve.  My favorite room was one that was filled with china cabinets and china.  They had some pianos on display too and one was a self-playing piano.  That was pretty cool.  It’s not air-conditioned but it’s shady and has lots of fans so heat isn’t really a problem. There are like, 3 floors. If you’re going to go, you might see enormous amounts of students on field trips.  When we went there were TONS of them.  They’re not loud but they sure make their presence known. The END!!!

In reality the checkered floor is actually the wall, and the "wall" the girls are laying is actually the floor.

Watch out, Rachel!!

Vimanmek Teak Mansion.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so this is the best we could do.

NATHAN, 11^th GRADE

If you come to Bangkok, be sure not to miss Art in Paradise. It’s a 3D art exhibit that’s pretty cool. There are optical illusions and paintings that you pose in along with whole scenes. I liked the jungle scene.  You could pretend to be on a log bridge, or hold up an elephant, or hang from a tree, or balance on rocks in the river.  Another cool scene was an Egyptian Pyramid room that you could pose on a flying magic carpet, or touch a Sphinx, or look like you were heading into a tomb.Make sure to bring your camera.

You also shouldn’t miss Benjakiti Park. You can take a paddleboat out on the lake or rent bikes to ride around on the bike trail.  It’s less noisy and it’s not too crowded, and it’s scenic.  It is super fun to ride a bike after not being able to ride one for so long.

You also shouldn’t miss Wat Po. This is the home of the Reclining Buddha. The Reclining Buddha is pretty cool because it is so huge.  There are also some other temples to see with Buddha statues in them.  One had a snake throne behind a sitting Buddha statue.  There’s also a hall of seated Buddha statues around a courtyard.  There are lots of stray cats around, but they just sit there in the shade.  It doesn’t take as long as Wat Phra Keaw to see the sights.

Nathan saving Emma from getting squashed by a car.

The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

Biking in Benjakiti Park