Right before dinner one of the dads went and bought some fireworks that he proceeded to set off right there on the beach next to our table. The kids were in heaven! But the best was when we purchased a Chinese lantern for the kids to light and set off. The lanterns, we learned, are actually quite large and made out of a thin, nylon-type fabric. A coiled up wick is lit inside, then the kids hold the lantern down until the air inside is hot enough, then they let it go and watch as it slowly sails away and out of sight. So beautiful! Not very traditional but a pretty great Thanksgiving anyway.
We headed to Phuket not only for our Thanksgiving break but also for a soccer tournament for Ethan and Jonah. What an amazing opportunity - the tournament was held at the British International School and they were able to play teams with players from all over the world. They did quite well and held their own playing several games both Saturday and Sunday in some pretty intense heat. Jonah's team came in second place and Ethan's team came in third. The big winners at the tournament were from a local Thai orphanage; amazing players!
We stayed at a resort called the Laguna Beach Resort, which sits right on the beach and is just beautiful. They have a resident baby elephant named Mina who just wanders the property looking for treats and generously offering trunk hugs and kisses. Wow! The pool was great and had a huge water slide that kept us entertained for hours but we still managed to find some time for the beach where we had to watch out for the hundreds of huge jellyfish!
We also visited the Wat Chalong which is Phuket's largest temple known for its healing powers. There were several beautiful buildings and we walked to the third floor of the largest one that gave us amazing views of the area. After the temple,we headed to the Phuket Zoo . . . yes, Phuket has a zoo. I am being as polite as possible when I say it was a scary, scary place. We did not get very far so I can not claim to know all there is to know about this zoo but we saw enough to make us stay for about 20 minutes and then get outta there! The boys did have a chance to sit with a huge tiger and pet his back, the handler of this tiger, by the way, only had ONE ARM! Anyway, the tiger was chained so he could not bite but I am quite sure if that chain snapped they would have been lunch. I decided to keep Liam with me. Ethan and Jonah also got to hold a huge snake which was very exciting for them. The boys were dazzled, we were mortified. . . sounds about right for a trip to the zoo!
There are a few more photos on this post of some random stuff, Ethan's SAS soccer game and some photos of him during his recent school performance. He had a few lines and he did such a great job!
We already have our Christmas tree set up but I'll wait to post those photos until we get home from our winter holiday to Germany and Austria! Happy Holidays everyone!
