Elephants, tigers and monkeys!

Well today certainly pushed the kids out of their comfort zones more than ever before! What an amazing day. Tigers big and small, feeding them, washing them, walking them and playing with them! Oh, and elephant water fight - elephants 1, Mcintosh family 0!! How cool to swim with elephants, that was certainly the highlight of my day!! They threw us into the river with their trunks and spilled us off with their ears!! Very playful and very cool! Even paddy sat on their trunks and let them drop him in the river!! Laura was standing on hers and jumping in, she really loved the whole day, got in and did everything!! Gracie was a bit shy Of the elephants, but I don't blame her, at her height they must have looked huge!! Then a quick play with about 200 monkeys on the side of the road (no I'm not exaggerating!), and back to Bangkok for massages all around! Great day, happy kids, comfort zones extended, and an orphanage of kids waiting for us tomorrow! Am definately going to bed happy

Tigers, Elephants and Monkeys!

Well I certainly challenged the kids' comfort zones today! And I must say, they all rose to the challenge in different ways. Laura was in there getting her hands dirty at every opportunity, Patrick did things that he had sworn he wouldn't do including let an elephant throw him in the river with his trunk! Gracie loved the baby tigers and ate all the beautiful Thai food that our gorgeous guide gave us to try! Grace is certainly embracing the food here and giving it all a go every day! My favourite of the day was a water fight with the elephants, they were so cheeky and fun and splashed with us in the river for over an hour. Laura was standing on the backs and jumping into the river with gusto! On the way home we stopped to feed anout 200 very cheeky monkeys in the jungle! The breakfast with the monks was also a real highlight as thee kids got to see how peaceful, respectful, calm and reverent they are. Our tour guide Lilly, was so gorgeous! We had her all to ourselves all day and she foted over us so protectively. To top off the day we all had an hour long foot massage, which was also another first for the kids! The women fussed over the girls and giggled at Patrick. They loved Gracies hair and even brushed it for her! Early to bed as we have been up since 3.30am!! Tomorrow we head to Yasothon!! Good night all xox




rive

We have arrived!

Could there be a worse scenario for a woman traveling with three kids than being told there will be nI inflight entertainment on today's 10 hour flight! Yep, you can imagine my look of horror! But, to be honest the kids took it really well, and apart from my hands being squeezed black and blue on take off and landing, the trip was really ok. Very long, and didn't arrived into Bangkok until 3am our time, it was a long day! But in true Mcintosh kids style, everyone was awake by 6 and ready to go! Being their first OS trip I thought it best to ease them into it with a couple of days in Bangkok to ease into the cultural differences that await them in Yasathon. Walked around the food stalls today and saw squirrels and turtles at the park. Just sitting by the pool now enjoying some relief from the humidity. Off to the tiger temple tomorrow at 4am for breakfast with monks then an elephant trek before heading to Yasathon on Monday. Kids are super excited, especially Laura who keeps laughing and squealing in delight at all the new adventures! It's great to see things through their eyes!