Fun in the...Shade

Our days began with a yummy buffet breakfast...

Didn't realize what a blast we'd have trying to keep Elijah out of the sun @ our hotel pool...lots of laughs :)
J had gotten a new lens for his camera he wanted to try out.


Gotta love those lounge chairs!


'Jah enjoyed his 1st bath in a bathtub...well, kind of...had to get all that chlorine off!

There was a little cafe next to our hotel that just happened to have a baby elephant swing by when we were there...
So we fed him some sugarcane & then he was on his way...'Lij's 1st elephant up close, he didn't seem to be overly alarmed :)

We spotted moonlight on the sea followed shortly thereafter by a sleeping baby.

Onto Hua Hin...

So to recap...we went to Mom & Dad D's home in Siem Reap, Cambodia, then to Bangkok for medical checkups, etc. & then for a vacation w/ M & D in a beach town outside Bangkok called Hua Hin. The CAMA rep there in Bangkok got us really good rates on a nice hotel, we were spoiled for a long weekend & loved it!

Here Elijah's Paw Paw was enjoying holding him in the car for a bit...
But 'Lij enjoyed most of the trip "tied" down to the seat...no car seats here!

Here's dinner our 1st night in HH - the hotel restaurant had quite a few mosquitos...thank goodness we brought our $3 mosquito tent for little E :)

So J decided to try octopus @ the little dinner cafe - here's a pix for those that can't see the video below...


And some good guy bonding time between 'Jah & his Paw Paw in the hotel room...or is that Elijah's mouth just bonding w/ Dad D's knee, we're not too sure.

Oops!

Well, we just found some other pix from our time in Cambodia so here's J & 'Jah waiting in the KL airport for our 7AM flight into Siem Reap, Cambodia where Mom & Dad D live...

This is a quick clip of Mom & Dad D meeting Elijah for the 1st time :)

One night we went to their favorite Vietnamese restaurant in town...

...which had an aquarium J & 'Jah liked watching.


Here Mom D & Elijah spend some time reading the newspaper on their couch.

Fun pix with Grandma & PawPaw!

Here's the outside & inside of one of the Vietnamese schools Mom & Dad are working with.
J had fun playing with a few of the little guys :)

Water Water Everywhere

We enjoyed going to a mini version of Sea World while in Bangkok w/ Mom & Dad D - here's a quick pix in the food court before heading in...(notice Elijah trying to show off his belly) ;)

The Thai McD's in the food court was priceless...

"Ocean World" in a huge mall in Bangkok, pretty unbelievable.

We passed by right when it was stingray feeding time...tried to get the fam in the video but was too dark @ the end.

These last 2 pix are of fun fish displays they had...where folks could stick their head "inside" the aquarium & a fridge aquarium to boot.

Was fun to see this penguin up close...
OK, we have a few other videos...maybe too many...at least the grandparents will like 'em ;)

Arriving to Thailand

So evidently there's things called "travelators" which J had seen but E hadn't...are these in the US? Anyways, E had fun w/ e on their ride in the Bangkok airport while we waited for Mom & Dad D to arrive.

Here we are in the airport "limo" as E & e ride backwards on our ride w/ the Drummond Srs. to the guesthouse in Bangkok.
We had a couple days in Bangkok to get Elijah's 6 month shots, a checkup on E's wrist & do a couple fun things before heading to a beach near Hua Hin. We watched "Slumdog Millionaire" after our appointments - Elijah sat patiently through the whole thing, whatta guy.
We enjoyed a snack at an Oldies Cafe & just hanging out.
Here's Dad D & 'Jah as we ate lunch on Sunday before heading to the beach.

From the Beginning

So we 1st went to Siem Reap, Cambodia where Mom & Dad D live. We actually had just planned to meet them in Thailand for a break before our 2 wks of meetings in Bangkok but the Indo immigration guys went on vacation & we couldn't process our visa in time to stay in Indo 'til meeting up w/ the Sr Drummonds in Thailand. So...we left Indo a few days earlier than anticipated (which was stressful) but were really thankful for the extra time for Lij's 1st time meeting his Grandma & Paw Paw!
Elijah was tuckered from our travels to Siem Reap and slept like...well, a baby.
Here he is hanging out in his chair in Grandma & Paw Paw's kitchen first thing in the morning.
This next pix is from a special treat we found in SR - Swenson's! 'Lij tried a strawberry there & loved it...such a treat for us to have Swenson's :)

These power lines are about 100 meters from Mom & Dad D's place...pretty unbelievable.
Here we are waving goodbye to Mom & Dad D as they leave on a bus for the capital. We met them in Bangkok the next day. With our initial tickets (before knowing we'd have to leave Indo a couple days early) it was cheaper for us to fly out of SR than the capital city so we hung out in SR one day just as our fam.
We ate Mexican that night - here's Elissa holding little E while he gnaws away @ his pacifier - we think he's starting to teeth...

We had a little mishap w/ 'Jah's pacifier, gross...

The morning we left SR we were awaken super early w/ what turned out to be wedding preparation - the video's dark towards the end as Elissa goes outside in the wee hrs of the AM.

Hua Hin Mall

Well, this post is completely out of order with what's been going on but it was easy to post so here's to ease...in the last few weeks we've visited Mom & Dad D at their home in Cambodia, come to Bangkok together to vacation in a beach town called Hua Hin & now are back in Bangkok for a couple wks of conferences. Here's a snapshot of a bit of our time together in Hua Hin - oh yea, Happy St. Patty's everyone ;)

We totally had fun trying shoes on Jah...too bad they were like $40 - what in the world?!
"Herb powder to stop bad smell from feet & body" hmmm...
Elijah's beginning to reach his feet up to his face these days so Mom D had the great idea to buy a "foot toy" for him - which he loves, thx Mom & Dad D!

We happened to see this store on our way out of the mall - w/ decor from scenes in Mongolia...as well as the Mongolian symbol on J's wedding ring...very fun.

Catching Up

OK, so here's little E on the plane ride back into Aceh last month...we've traveled so much he's learning to buckle his own seat belts these days ;) We're actually in Thailand right now but are trying to catch up on our pix from last month so bear w/ us!




When we got back to Aceh we decided to try a few things we'd be saving for when Elijah's older...a portable highchair & a Johnny Jump Up (video below) both of which are still a little big for him.

Nights Out in Jakarta

Luke, we're thinking of you w/ this pix of Thomas the Tank Engine :)
We were thoroughly shocked & thrilled to have a Cold Stone Creamery close to where we were staying in Jakarta. J & Jah both had their hands on the glass in anticipation...
And the following night...a close 2nd...Cold Rock - well, maybe not a close 2nd. Notice the stroller we could borrow from the information desk...haven't seen that yet in the good 'ole US of A...but we're not big mall folks either.

Look at these funny rides they have for kids...someday Elijah may like 'em too ;)

At this mall there was a slide where folks could ride from the top floor to the entrance...what they won't think of next.

There was a sweet water show to the song "New York" - we were amazed at this "mall meets Disney World" experience.

Retiring Drummond Duo

Well, folks have been telling us for a while that we're no longer a "duo," so we decided to upgrade our blog title. We are now a...crew.

Heading Back up in to the Hills

Traveling conditions are still pretty rough as infrastructure continues to be improved. Here's a couple videos from Jos and my recent trip up to the village:



Here's a ferry crossing. You can see the new bridge going in to the right.



Click on the "Projects" link above to view new posts on the projects.

Bekasi

We enjoyed staying in Bekasi (part of Jakarta) with J's former dorm parents during our time on Java. Here's Aunt April with Elijah looking at one of their beautiful pet birds.Here we are at a meal out together before we took off for our 2nd set of meetings...
Check out this gurame!
And boiling sewer grass to boot :)