Happy New Year!!!!!

We are a little ahead of everyone.. While we miss celebrating with our friends and family, we are having the trip of a lifetime.   Happy New Year!!  Bring on 14!  Got my swim in as well. 

The floating candles made our night.  We tried to buy one earlier in the evening but the police shut them down .

PhiPhi

We are on the boat with no wifi.  Stopped at PhiPhi island today... These pictures  are no where near the beauty of this place.

We arrived at Phi Phi after a 2 hour ride.  We started by kayaking and snorkling in a beautiful bay among the rocks and cliffs.  Right now there is a lot of haze that they claim is smoke from Indonesia.  It reduces the views of the outcroppings from a distance, but once we are close it it amazing.

We went into town to get ripped off on sun screen and had a couple if beverages.

After shopping the kids fed monkeys on the beach.  One if them stole Gillian's pink sunglasses and tried them on.. It was hilarious.. Gillian may never wear them again.

The kids are getting their sailing legs.  Going from a huge first class resort to a sailboat was a tough adjustment, but we are settled in now.  Our crew is wonderful.  We don't have to lift a finger.  Multi-course meals at each sitting help keep the body moving!

John tried to catch some squid in the Harbour,but got skunked.  I think that is the first time he hasn't caught anything.

At night we went back on the island to watch the fire throwers.

Phuket - A day of rest before boarding the boat

After a wonderful 5 days in Chaing Mai, it was off to Phuket.  We had one night at a large resort before boarding our sailboat.  I think it was a nice break for everyone to get back to something a little more normal.. like being able to flush toilet paper!

John immediately found the kid pool!

Brandy and I relaxed on the beach with some Prosecco.

Everyone enjoyed a quick swim in the Adaman Sea.

Charles got really sick our last night in Chaing Mai, but was finally getting back to normal after some sleep.

The kids and Dad enjoyed the hot tub inside the pool.

 

Chaing Mai - Cooking Class

After eating so much good food, we thought we'd try to learn how to make some ourselves.  The cooking class started with a tour of the market where we learned about the ingredients.  We then went to the cooking school to make Pad Thai, Green Curry, Tom Yum Soup, and sticky rice.  The food was delicious.  Hopefully we can replicate it in Florida!

This was our finished soup and green curry.. Time to Eat!

This was the best market we had been to yet.  Lots of different foods to be exposed to.  Apparently there is a trend in Thailand now where people drive by the market after work to get prepared foods for dinner.

This was pig legs cooked in cinnamon.  Charles and Brandy were ready to dig in.

This is Gillian's new favorite fruit.  It tastes a bit like a cross between an apple and a pear.  The texture is very thin, but is extremely juicy.

 

There were some bunnies at the cooking school.  The kids never got a straight answer if they would be eaten at some point in the future...

This was the view behind the cooking school.  The sunset was beautiful.

John did some prepping of the sticky rice.

We learned how to carve roses out of tomato skin.

Gillian with her Pad Thai Chicken dish.   She is really starting to sample and like some different foods.

John and his PadThai Prawn.

Gillian volunteered to help demonstrate the green curry.

Chiang Mai - A Bike ride

We decided to go on a bike ride through the countryside.  We saw some rice fields, and learned about Thai farmers.  It was a relaxing outing compared to the adrenaline rushing zip line activities the day before...  Until we got out to some busy streets and were nervous about the kids getting run over by the Thai's!

 

 

We all enjoyed the breezy river crossing.  The kids had fun throwing sticks in the water too.

 

 

This was a lady farming on the side of the river.

 

A lot of the ride was through farmland.  On the other side of tree were rice fields.  We learned about the process of growing rice

 

Nothing it Thailand is complete without a stop for snacks..  Fried Bananas in this case.

 

Chaing Mai - Christmas Day - Zip lining with the Monkeys

We had an awesome day in the Chaing Mai mountains.  For Christmas, we went on a zipline tour through the jungle.  Some of us (i.e. Gillian) were really scared.   But after the first short run, everyone was pumped and ready to jump out of the trees.

 

 

Among the coffee, banana and fig trees, we saw some monkeys.

 

 

Once we got the hang of it,  it was show time for posing while zip lining.

 

John started the posing, but for some reason was a little on the shy side for the cameras.

 

 

Charles was thinking about a lot while he zip-lined.

 

 

 

 

This was our last tree that we came down.

 

Here are a couple videos...  it was really awesome

 

 

 

 

 

After the ziplining, we went to a waterfall...  not quite as exciting, but it was a nice walk and beautiful waterfall.

 

 

 

Chaing Mai.. The Old City and Wat Prathat

 

We had a day exploring the old City which is surrounded by a moat.  We just walked and explored the Temples.

Chang Mon, is the oldest temple in Chang Mai.

 

 

Getting around town, we got the Brenner family of 5 crammed into a TukTuk...  John got the best view in the front.

 

 

We then went to Wat Prathat which is at the top of the mountain.  It also required a long walk up 309 stairs.  Gillian and John tried to count them on the way up, but got messed up by Dad and Charles calling out the wrong count.. Ha!

This was the view from the top of the mountain.

 

At the temple, we shook a canister of sticks.  The first stick to fall out had a number which corresponded to a fortune. 

 

 

 

The kids also rang a lot of the bells...  for good luck.