Krabi, days 3 & 4

Third (& last full) day of our holiday in Krabi, we decided to head out for breakfast. After driving around some areas, we decided upon this restaurant, which coincidentally was the first place where the husband and I had a meal on our last trip.

Walking down the streets

We then headed back to the hotel for water play. Jake must have been so tired out from all the bustle that he crashed out for a nap before he made it to the pool (I got as far as applying sunblock all over him and taking out his swimwear before he fussed so bad I aborted the plan and put him to sleep). We proceeded to pool time with Kate.

We drove somewhere local to have lunch (you know, where their flies hung out) before proceeding to the beach again.

Nothing beats hanging out with these precious little ones

Jake adored experimenting with the grainy texture of the sand, picking up the sand over again. Jake loves the water so much that he really looks to the water (sea, in this case).

Kate was the beach pro by this time. In fact, the moment we ended water play at the pool she was already anticipating "we go to the beach to play sandcastle?" She spent the afternoon picking seashells. Kate is more wary of getting wet so she isn't as enthusiastic about going into the sea.

Rain fell so we quickly headed back to the hotel for a change. Lucky for us, the rain stopped so we managed to head out to our most favouritest restaurant for dinner.

Coconut juice for the sunkissed child

Our last dinner in Krabi. Soooooo good

We hit the streets to shop after dinner. This dress that Kate's wearing was entirely chosen by herself. I let her buy a dress and she selected this design. 

We also went to light up a "well-wishes" lantern. May our wishes come true.

And only because we're on holiday, ice-cream all around!

That marked the end of our third and last full day in Krabi. If you notice, the sequence of activity was exactly the same and we planned it like that. With kids, it's rather tough to know anything for sure so we really took it easy when we were there. I knew that I wanted the kids to be sunkissed, play with water and sand - and we did all that!

The next morning was really not even a day in Krabi, cos all we had time for was breakfast and packing before we had to head to the airport. I forgot to take picture of our hotel room and the hotel surroundings, so none of those to share.

Lazybones

Our "pantry". Honestly, the whole table was full of stuff that we needed for the kids. It was the first time I ever travelled with two kids and I wasn't going to take any chances. We had two tins of milk powder, milk bottles, plenty of biscuits in varied flavours, water bottles, milk pump & apparatus, travel steriliser... I honestly felt that I was superwoman with all the logistics planning in my head constantly! I believe fellow moms will understand.

Usually, when the husband and I do beach holidays, we always rented a bike. With more than one pillion in tow, we rented a car this trip instead. Honestly it was rather exciting navigating the roads on our own. It was stressful on the way to the hotel because everyone was quite tired and we'd been up since very early in the morning so nerves were slightly stretched. As for the drive back to the airport... we got slightly lost. But thankfully, we still made it safe and punctually. Yay!

Our last family picture with our feet on Thai-grounds.

And a last one to end it off.. us in the plane on the way home. 

I think this first family trip was honestly quite enjoyable though with the kids, the husband and I didn't really get to do much adult stuff. No adventures, no afternoon snoozes, no doing anything of what we wanted at anytime (I managed one massage on this trip, no manicure/pedicure). But in return, we had all the time in the world to be with Kate and Jake, have them close to us as they smiled, laughed, played, cried, fussed. It was also priceless to expose them to different sights, sounds and people. I think the kids travelled pretty well and I'm so proud of them. Kate, especially, with her usual sociable persona charmed many with her smiles and chattiness. I definitely think this holiday was a success (yay) and we'll definitely be planning for another one again.

Krabi, day two

Bringing kids on a holiday doesn't guarantee a rested break. In fact, it's pretty much the same as being with them all day anywhere in the world. This fact is magnified especially at night time. Where I still woke up several times a night to tend to Jake/Kate. Which translates into the same zzz feeling in the morning. But! It's tough (and meaningless) to be grumps because there's nothing more precious than waking up and seeing the beautiful faces of these little imps!

Happy tots

Breakfast

Cuties

After a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel (don't you just lurrrve hotel breakfast spreads?) we trotted up to our room to get changed. It was time for some sunshine and water play!

All ready. I was very conscientious about slathering sunblock on their precious skin

Really love them having fun together. Both kids loved the water though K is a lot less brave. I think we introduced her to the water too little too late and at this grand ol' age of 3, she's already aware of fear. Jake, on the other hand, is a natural water baby! He lunges for the water, and kicks and splashes the water very excitedly with his arms and legs. Such a joy!

After the water play, both kids were exhausted and knocked out for a long nap. The husband and I took the opportunity to go for a run at the gym. It felt good.

Late lunch by the streets

Love this shot of them both

Then we hit the beach. Kate loved building sandcastles

Beautiful sunset

Quite soon after I snapped that shot, we saw dark clouds heading towards us. We hurriedly packed up and before we knew it, it was raining cats and dogs! This was the miserable shot of the torrential downpour. We headed straight back to the hotel to wash up.

Ending the night with crappy room service. Kate knew none the better.

Krabi, day one

We took the afternoon flight. Probably a good idea because packing for two children is serious business. By the time the father came by to pick us up, we had barely just closed up the last of our two huge luggages. While the husband thought that I had overpacked the kid's stuff, I beg to differ. Turns out I was right - can't never have enough clothes or things for the young ones!

At the airport. We had a mini unglam moment where I had to open up one big luggage to prepare a feed of milk for Kate's afternoon milk. Oops. The husband glared at me (big time. But we still made it right?!)

Our lives have become a ton easier ever since Jake could sit on his own in a high chair. The little one knows how to demand for biscuits and bounces in excitement when he eyes his baby biscuits

We had time to check in and head for a very unsatisfying lunch at Starbucks, before we had to board already. Not before we did two quick calls to the grandmoms to allow Kate to share her happiness with them!

It was 5minutes to the gates closing. It was such a thrill running down the gangway and off we went!

It was a short flight, only 1.5hours and I'm glad to say that both kids took well to flying. Both managed to nap for a bit and while Kate had some ear discomfort due to the air pressure on the flight's descent, we managed to get her to correct the problem soon enough.

The husband and I like DIY holidays, so this was none different. We rented our own vehicle and drove from the airport all the way to Krabi town. It was rather stressful, honestly, cos I was trying to read the (&%^&$!) map while the kids were whining and bouncing about in the car. But yay to teamwork, we made it, albeit after a few wrong turns. YAY!

Enjoying the "sweet sweet" welcome drink

After checking into our hotel, we allowed the husband a little bit of time at the gym before heading out for a sumptuous dinner.

While Papa was at the gym...

From the last trip to Krabi (couple trip), the husband and I chanced upon this divine restaurant that serves the most yummy Thai food. It was our haunt for dinner every night and we dived right there.

Our spread. Every single dish was very, very yummy.

Gigantic prawn!

Enjoying dinner

The feast ended our night on a high and perhaps it was the excitement through the day, Kate refused to sleep until way too late. But I remember going to sleep thinking that it was our holiday (Yay!) and I swear I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

Family low

Just for the record, the family is down with some lousy evil strain of stomach flu. Both kids have diarrhea and vomitting spells in varied degrees (at the moment, Jake's worse off than Kate) since Sunday and we're bringing Jake to the PD again for a second round of consultation today as his condition is not improving.

What's worse is that the husband is also down with the same strain (vomit, diarrhea, fever) and after two horrid nights of sleep, I think the household is on the verge of semi-breakdown.

I had the treat of having Jake's diarrhea all over me this morning at 3.30am as I was feeding him and he just kinda exploded all over.

Sigh. Just gotta ride this through. Hope we all feel better really soon.

Family high

24 November 2012: The last picture we took in Krabi - on the plane

On the eve of our holiday

This is really the face that I want to start emoting, but my mind is cluttered with things to pack, things I need to handover at work, and most of all, I'm bothered by the fact that both kids are slightly sniffley and unwell. Fail.

& on a totally random note, here's a veryyy cute video I found in my phone.

Food coma

LP would be in town tomorrow. Missed seeing the chef in person by a day.

The live kitchen we could view while seated

These macaroon-looking things are actually savoury appetisers. Recommended eating is from top (dark brown) to bottom. The coloured balls on top are actually flavours packed into a ball ala "xiao long bao" (except that this skin is transparent). I have forgotten what the first two are, but the last (yellow) was my favourite - japanese pumpkin. How you eat it - pop the entire thing into your mouth. The flavours will explode out from the coloured portions of jelly and complements the thin biscuit at the bottom.

Still at appetiser, that's some rich mushroom soup (ok, it wasn't soup; more like thick froth & I forget the fancy name) with bread. From the pic, it looks like there are 3 pieces of bread? Well, there's only two. The bottom piece is actually a piece of rock (from Morocco) which has been processed and used to stick things into (when we arrived there was a knife and fork stuck into it). The bottom piece of bread was awful (hard like its friend below) though the crossaint was so good. Light, soft,fluffy and taste. We were given seaweed olive oil as dip.

Main - fowl confit. Slightly salty.

Cheese! Comes with sesame (thin layer spread between the cheese) and jam. The green bits on top of the cracker was mint.

 

To end off the meal, dessert. That's some citrus layered crispy cake (citrus "juice", toffee/caramel, choc nuts and orange slices), with tea and we finished off with "macaroons" again, this time in sweet flavours.

 

Live centrepiece

Kate and Jake

I never lie when someone asks me "how is it like with two kids?"

"Exponentially harder than having one", I will say.

And it is! Your time is stretched, your attention is stretched, and while in some (little) aspects it is easier (economies of scale), it is generally harder.  But I am also honest and follow-up to say, "But it is absolutely worth it to watch the kids play together. It is priceless"

And it is. I went through pics and found many of them loving each other. It really makes it all worthwhile.

Enjoy the pics!

Dear Kate, 

You will be 3 years, 2 months old tomorrow. 

You are a beautiful child, the best a Mother can ask for. Yes, you have badly behaved moments where you throw tantrums, and cry (& cry & cry) and other trying moments. But that's part of you experimenting, and growing up so I will try my best, to be patient and teach you the right way to behave. 

You are an exceptional sister and it really makes my heart (nearly) stop watching the two of you love each other. Thank you for being the lovely little person that you are. Mommy loves you always, forever. 

Love, Mommy