bangkok with the dials

months ago, we planned a trip to cambodia with our dear chicago friends rodney and kylee, complete with staying at an orphanage and hiking angkor wat...

and then the EV-71 virus broke out and killed too many children and is spread too easily,

so we cancelled our much-anticipated adventure (r&k still went and loved it. someday we'll get there!).

the good news is that we met them in bangkok instead.

the trip happened to fall on nate's birthday weekend, and we loved bangkok just as much the second time around.

we hit the temples the first day: the grand palace, wat pho,
and a water taxi ride across the river to wat arun.

 

tara and nikka (r and k's sisters) were good sports as we trekked through temple after temple in the heat.

they are such fun girls.

i love the reclining buddha's huge toes

how could we pass up a chance to dress up? this was so fun. we posed for a few random tourists too.

the steep stairs of wat arun were a little dicey with a baby in tow, but the view and the breeze at the top were so worth it.

sweet tara even took a turn holding sage.
later that day, we all got traditional thai massages. i'm not sure what to think of it...i don't think i relaxed once, but i definitely felt limber and refreshed when it was all said and done.

after nikka and tara caught their flight out of bangkok, we took kylee and rodney back to blue elephant. a famous thai chef was offering a limited time prix fixe menu, so of course we had to taste it. i'm still thinking about the perfectly seared scallops paired with crispy fois gras. dinner was phenomenal.

each morning, we'd meet at au bon pain for chocolate frappuccinos and pain au chocolats, so we stuck some flags in nate's pastry and made him blow out the "candles"

happy 28th nate!

we went to church in the morning, then nate got his birthday wish--no schedule. 

understandable, considering i usually plan our trip itineraries and keep us "on schedule" (i am that lady from the movie dave...and we're walking, and we're walking!)

i liked this birthday...nate sent me for a cheap, wonderful foot massage while he napped with sage.

r&k flew on to their next stop in asia while we spent another day in bangkok. sage and i explored some local malls and markets, then we all went to check out the jim thompson house. this beautiful compound in the middle of the city belonged to the silk millionaire of thailand who mysteriously disappeared while on vacation in malaysia.

we got a little glimpse of the traditional thai architecture and the silk being spun, then booked it to the airport. we flew scoot airlines for the first time, and noticed the plane menu offered "rootbeer floats--a singaporean favorite!" 

for the record, i have never ever seen a rootbeer float in sing, but you better believe we shared one on the plane. yum! 

and then it was back to laundry, bills, work, mopping, and the usual show.

 even though our original plans didn't work out, i'm so glad we got to meet up with these fun friends.

nate and i both agree that we'd be happy with foot massages and mango sticky rice daily for the rest of our lives :)