A Blonde With a Backpack

While my family was visiting; we took a trip to Northern Thailand and to Southern Thailand. In Northern Thailand, we were able to visit many temples (called Wats), watch traditional Thai dancing, eat wonderful Northern food, and play with elephants. The elephants have been rescued from captivity in riding facilities; so this establishment helps to rehabilitate elephants trust with humans and the mahoots (elephant care takers) truly care for the elephants. In Southern Thailand, we stayed right on the beach! Our beach bungalow was only a few steps away from the beach and we had a wonderful time. Although it rained a few times while we were in Koh Samui, we had a wonderful time. I'll include pictures from both trips below. Northern and Southern Thailand were both wonderful trips, but the trip was truly made because of my family. I had truly missed seeing them and I was so excited that they were able to join me here! Northern Thailand ...

My wonderful family came to visit me for two weeks over Christmas! We had so much fun and I was so sad to see them go. The first stop they made was to visit my class in Saraburi. My students were THRILLED to meet my family and immediately made a circle around them to greet them. They had each prepared questions to ask my family, and I loved seeing two groups of people that I really care about interacting together! my class had been working on the song "You're a Grand Old Flag" to specifically sing for my family when they came. My class proudly sang the song and my family loved it :) My mom brought so many Christmas cookies and presents, she made it feel just like Christmas at home! We then embarked to Ayuttaya, the ancient capital of Thailand. We had a wonderful day exploring temples that were built in the 1520's and enjoying cruising on the beautiful Chao Praya River! This year we traded tinsel for temples, and I couldn...