Sunday Fun Day

Sundays are my favorite! It is the only day we usually don't have anywhere we have to be or anything we have to do, so it's always a day of rest and peace and catching up. This morning started with wrestling and giggles and watching our picture slide show. And when we were finally all ready to get out of the house, we headed over to the nursery to buy some plants to make our home more beautiful. Then, we had lunch at Twisted Root Burger Co. before stopping by the library, which is truly one of our favorite places. This afternoon brought naps, movies, laundry, reading, and even some legitimate work. It was a wonderful day, and I'm so thankful I got to spend it with most* of my people!

New roses to start the day

Wrestling with Dad

The nursery is a happy place!

Fun at Twisted Root Burger Co.

This month's breast cancer awareness special at Twisted Root is the Boobie Burger

*Weston is visiting Williamsburg with Nana this week, so he wasn't here with us. We missed him but know he is having a blast!

Vancouver

Yesterday morning, we hopped up bright and early so we could make our way across the Canadian border and meet up with the guy we hired to drive our van to Alaska for us while we cruise up there. Since our Airbnb place wasn't going to be ready until around 3:00, we needed an entertaining place to spend the day where having all our belongings with us wouldn't be a problem. We settled on Stanley Park. It was a beautiful day, and the park offered playgrounds, grassy areas, basketball courts, gymnastic rings, a hollowed out tree hideout, beach access, a lovely walking path, restrooms, and picnic tables. It was pretty much a perfect place for us, and we ended up staying until about 7:00 (which was slightly longer than we intended because, frustratingly, Vancouver doesn't have Uber, which we didn't know ahead of time, so we had to track down a cab company that could carry all of us and all our stuff, plus took credit cards. And, when we did finally find one, we had to wait 40 minutes for them to show up. We've gotten so spoiled using Uber that this seemed like a hardship. In truth, everyone was happy hanging out at the park, so it wasn't really too much of an issue.) We did finally make it to our lovely little Airbnb, which reminded us of several places we stayed in Europe. We dropped off our stuff and then walked down to a very authentic Italian restaurant, further reminding us of good times in Europe.

Today has been more about taking care of business, as we needed to pick up a few necessities and get our laundry done before embarking on our Alaskan cruise tomorrow. We did have a wonderful breakfast at Knight and Day and then grabbed some sushi for dinner.

The homeless Watts arrive at Stanley Park

I found the beach for the first time on our trip,
and even though it was colder than a proper
beach trip should be, I soaked it up!

This kid and his amazing strength!

Searching for treasures

Clay spent hours hiding out in this tree

Best hideout ever!

One of two awesome playgrounds

I was bundled almost head to toe, and I never once thought about sunscreen. But the day left me with a lovely
 souvenir on the only exposed parts of my body.
You can't imagine how attractive it is.

Mountain view from our Airbnb

A day in Denver

We had the opportunity to do some exploring in Denver today. We started with the city's free walking tour, which was very interesting and informative. Plus, we got in some exercise and Vitamin D.

The walking tour started just across from the capitol

The city is doing an environmental awareness project,
and they have painted many of the tree trunks throughout the city blue. I will say, it certainly does cause you to be aware of the trees.

Union Station

The tour ended at Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies

After the tour, we stopped for lunch at Wynkoop Brewing Company, Denver's oldest Craft brewery. The building is beautiful. The food is delicious. And, the games are abundant.

Clay and Knuckles, Wynkoop's greeter

The old Wynkoop bar

The boys made the most of the pool and shuffleboard tables

Wynkoop flight

Later, we headed over to The Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We are suckers for science museum, and this one was wonderful.

A little moose

I do not want to get into hand-to-hand
combat with the bear who owns this paw!

Learning about sugar content in breakfast cereals

The pack

When the museum closed, we took an Uber back to our RV park, gathered up all the laundry, and ate pizza and calzones at Mannie and Bo's while we waited on the washing and drying to finish at the laundromat. Denver is a fun city, and we had fun seeing some of the highlights today.

Calzones at Mannie and Bo's

Three States

Our stop in WI was brief but nice. We stayed at a city campground in River Falls, which was connected to to a fantastic playground. Our first order of business this morning was to visit Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery and purchase some cheese and cheese curds.

When in Wisconsin...

Then, we headed back into MN to visit the Mall of America and grab a "Jucy Lucy" (not a typo) at Matt's bar for lunch. After lunch, we continued on our way to see the much anticipated "biggest ball of twine in Minnesota." Thank you, Weird Al, for the tip. The one disappointment with the latter for some of our group was that we were unable to find some pickled weiners along the way, though we did give it our best shot.

The Lego Store at the Mall of America was a huge hit!

The kids held Jeff to his promise to ride a ride.

Clay wanted to ride with the big kids but
quickly lost his happy face on this one.

This was a little more Clay's speed

Big swings are always fun

The food to try in MN: The Jucy Lucy

The biggest ball of twine in Minnesota

The goal was to get to ND by the end of the day, so we could check that state off our list. We have a personal rule not to check a new place off our list unless we have an experience--a meal, an activity, an attraction--there. I wasn't expecting our activity for ND to be laundry, but when undies start to become sparse, that's the activity the takes priority. We did also work in dinner in the state as well, before moving on to SD, so it wasn't all business.

Road trip win: A laundromat directly across the
street from an awesome park and playground!

Doc's Pub and Eatery operates out of the bottom
floor of a disused church in Hankinson, ND

Things we love about America

There are plenty of things to love about America. And, when you've been away for a while, you realize how much you appreciate things you once took for granted. Here are some things we love about this great country, without getting into anything too metaphysical:

• Internet!!!--We have been thoroughly enjoying consistent, unlimited, high-speed internet since we've been back in the States. That's definitely not the norm overseas, even in places you might think it would be. 
• Decent sized trash cans--I realize that we are an exceptionally trashy family, but many of the places we stayed overseas had household trash cans no bigger than a 2-quart pitcher.
• Amazon Prime videos and music--We were unable to access our Prime perks overseas, and we have been so happy to have that back in our lives.
• Not having to chase down someone to pay the check at a restaurant--Some might consider it a good thing to be left alone by the waiter, and to a certain extent that's true. But there were so many times when we had been finished with our meal for a very long time and could not find anyone to take our money so we could leave. In fact, many waiters seemed to avoid us completely when it was time for the check. We would literally have to hunt someone down and practically force them to take our money.
• Roomy showers with reasonably high water pressure and plenty of hot water--This needs no explanation. 
• Dishwashers and dryers are standard in most places--We do not consider either of these things necessities, but they are so nice to have and definitely make life a little easier. 
• Iced drinks--I'm not sure why ice hasn't really caught on overseas, but we like our drinks cold and appreciate the abundance of iced drinks here in the good ol' U.S.A.
• Large drinking cups--I don't know if we're just abnormally thirsty or if we just need more room for ice, but we like larger cups and glasses for drinking. For some reason, most of the cups and glasses overseas seem better suited for a doll's tea party. 
• Drip coffee makers--I guess the rest of the world just doesn't drink as much coffee as Americans do, but the one-cup stovetop percolators and French presses are just not very convenient or expedient for brewing multiple cups. Plus, they are messy and hard to use and don't make great coffee in my opinion. 
• Sturdy eggs--This seems like a funny one, but there was truly a difference in the quality of eggs overseas, whether store-bought or farm fresh. The shells and yolks in many of the places we visited were super fragile and really hard to work with. 
• Top sheets--To me, a bed just feels cozier with a top sheet between the covers and me. Plus, if it happens to be hot, you can be covered up without the bulk and heat of a blanket, comforter, or duvet. Most of the rest of the world does not see a need for the top sheet, which is just sad. 
• Window screens--It's so nice to let in a cooling breeze without sending out an open invitation for every bug within a 10-mile radius.

I could get used to this

After our Trans-Mongolian train trip, I made a post in which I mentioned that our travel lifestyle is a far cry from being all glitz and glamor, and that is absolutely true. But here on Koh Samui, in our large beach house, I must admit, life feels pretty glamorous. The American dollar goes pretty far here, so we've been able to indulge in a bit more luxury than we are used to. First of all, we have been working our way through the beach restaurants, eating the most amazing Thai food, for almost nothing. Tonight, we decided mix things up a bit by having a Thai cook come to our home and prepare a fantastic meal for us here, for about $50 USD, which included the price of the groceries, the preparation of two appetizers and four main dishes (of which we had leftovers), and, most amazing of all, a thorough cleaning of the kitchen and washing of the dishes afterwards. Earlier in the day, a housekeeper came to the house, whose twice weekly services are included in the price of our house. And, we received our laundry back from the laundry facility down the road, all washed, dryed and folded for about $1/kg. All this in addition to living ten steps from a gorgeous, quiet beach in what can only be called "Paradise." It's definitely not my usual lifestyle, but I don't think it would take me long to get used to it! 

Many of the beach restaurants have bean bag chairs scattered around,
which the boys absolutely love hanging out in!

Pool Time
(Our house is in the background--20 steps to the pool and 10 steps to the beach,
according to Weston's undoubtedly accurate calculations.)

Sunset in Paradise

Chicken Satay and Tempura Vegetables, with dipping sauces

A fantastic meal, prepared in our home, and not by our hands
(From the back: Sweet and Sour pork, Massaman curry,
Shrimp Pad Thai, and Pineapple Fried Rice)

10 Things You May or May Not Be Interested In

1. Our internet has been very sketchy, which is why we've been keeping a low cyber profile. (Though, obviously, we are popping online from time to time.)
2. Our hot water in the shower has also been very sketchy. Fortunately, my brilliant husband figured out that if we run the cold water in the sink on full blast, we will create a fountain in the sink that splashes out on the floor, but we will also occasionally have hot water in the shower. Hot water is pretty much my only requirement in life, so I was overjoyed at this discovery and don't even mind mopping up the floor after each shower.
3. We throw a breaker in our apartment if we turn on any two kitchen appliances at the same time. This is just as convenient as it sounds.
4. We had several loads of ski laundry to do when we arrived, including all the coats proudly displaying our family “W” in duct tape, which was much stickier than we originally thought. After many attempts to get the sticky off, I came across a homemade version of Goo Gone, which, along with a good bit of elbow grease, helped more than anything. Here is the recipe, in case you ever find yourself in a similar sticky situation. (I used olive oil, because that's what I had and also added a couple of drops of lemon essential oil, for good measure.)
5. Speaking of recipes, I made these cookies (substituting almond butter for peanut butter), which my family went crazy for. They are a variation on the old stand-by, no-bake cookie I've loved since I was a kid. They are super easy to make, if you need to throw something together for an upcoming Christmas party.
6. It's been sunny and 65 here every day, which is a pretty good way to do December, if you ask me. We've spent time playing at the onsite playground and one of the beach playgrounds, sitting outside, going down to the beach, and barbecuing. 

   

   Playground Fun

   
   

   

   Caldes d'Estrac Beach

7. All of my children seem to be going through growth spurts at the moment, and they have insatiable appetites. Our main chef, Jeff, has spent hours in the kitchen and at the grill, preparing restaurant quantities of delicious food. I did mention to him if he would stop making the food taste so good, it might slow the ravenous crowd down a bit, but he continues to produce one mouth watering dish after another, which continue to be devoured in no time flat. 

   

   Trying to stay ahead of the demand

8. I have already sold 18 journals in the month of December. It's so exciting to think about all the kiddos who will soon be recording their travel memories in a book I put together!
9. We are having so much fun gathering supplies for our Christmas Saran Ball. It's going to be epic.
10. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mimi and Grandpa, who will be here within the week!

Necessities

When you only own a week's worth of clothes and a couple of pairs of shoes, you REALLY notice when things start to wear out, and since you are wearing and washing everything much more often than you would if you had a larger wardrobe, some of the things wear out faster. I had two shirts with fairly significant holes in them; most of the family had one or more pairs of holey socks; Clay's shoes seemed to be within moments of disintegration. It was getting pretty sad. So, this afternoon, we made the short drive over to the mall to stock up on necessities--new socks for Ruth, Weston, Clay and Jeff, new shoes for Clay, a couple of new shirts for me, and sunglasses for the whole crew for our ski trip next week. When you live in a minimalistic world, you learn to appreciate the few things you have, and something new (even a pair of socks!) seems like a really big deal. Clay, for instance, was so proud of his new socks and shoes that he popped them on his feet as soon as he got out of the shower and certainly would have worn them to bed if we had let him. We are learning to be thankful even for small things, things we might not have even taken note of before. What small things are you thankful for today?

Moving Day

We left Beer this morning and headed to Wales. Ruth had an orthodontist appointment (because there is still a whole lot of normal that happens even when you're on an around-the-world trip), and then we stopped for lunch at a little cafe, before we finally made it to our new home for the next 21 days. We haven't yet had a stop this long, but we are excited about being in this lovely house (which seems like a mansion after our last couple of stops), in this sweet little town, for such a length of time. The boys have already familiarized themselves with the backyard and are looking forward to picking all the apples they can eat. Ruth has already taken advantage of the real laundry room, complete with washer AND dryer. And, Jeff has stocked the full-size kitchen with all kinds of goodies for us for the coming weeks. And, I, as you can see, am basking in the free flowing WiFi. It's a good, good life. 

Our 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath home feels like a mansion to us!

Little boys need yards and this one is perfect!

Just a plain day

It was kind of cold and super windy here today, with a little rain, so we were thankful that we could just hole up at the campground. The kids went swimming in the morning and again in the afternoon, and they attended the Kid's Club screening of Finding Nemo (in Dutch) tonight, but there was also a lot of downtime, which we needed. Naps were had, many hidden picture books were explored, and Clay's "puffets" made an appearance, while laundry and wet swimsuits blew around in the yard or dripped puddles in the living room. There was a whole lot of normal in this day, and that's definitely a good thing. In Weston's words, "It was just a plain day, but it was still fun." One of the reasons we wanted to take so much time on this trip was so that we could have a good balance of awesome days and "just plain" days, so that we could enjoy everything the world has to offer, without constantly feeling the exhaustion of tourists.

gator attack

manipulating the sprayers

all bundled up for a walk across the campground

Even a "plain" day has it's beauty.

working on a hidden picture book

Kid's Club movie
(a.k.a. language class)