The MacLeod Thaimes: FWM: Fun with Mom Part II

My mom's visit is nearly over, she starts her journey home early tomorrow morning. The second half of her time here has included more sight seeing and celebrating Christmas. She has done remarkably well with the time change and she has been lucky to have relatively cool weather when she has been here. Our final day today will be filled with sharing photos, getting our Thai massage, laundry and packing. My mom is packing for home and Greg and I are packing for Hong Kong.

Here are highlights of each day since the last post.

Thursday: Thursday was a day spent mostly home. In the AM I took my mom grocery shopping to experience what it's like in Thailand to search for something that you can easily find at home. My mission: Enchilada Sauce. I ended up buying ingredients I thought would make a green enchilada sauce from scratch, ended up making a red sauce and having enough ingredients for a homemade salsa to enjoy on Christmas day. We were scheduled to have our air-conditioners cleaned (in our lease to be done every 3 months) and also pest control came to spray for critters. The whole process took about 4 hours, but that provided time to rest and talk. For dinner I made the enchiladas (sauce from scratch and heated up in our electric skillet, remember we don't have an oven) and they turned out great. Here's the recipe: Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Friday: We went to The Grand Palace. Upon arriving we met 2 people traveling from Heidelberg, Germany and went on a guided tour with them throughout the palace and visited Wat Po together as well.

With our German Friends, Kerstin and Phillip

Mom with a soldier.

By the pretty bonsai trees

The Grand Palace!

Wat Po (the reclining Buddha)

Navigating on the river taxi home.

Saturday: Merry Christmas! We spent the day zip-lining through the jungle. It was wonderful to see God's beautiful creation while flying (or being lowered straight down) from 24 different platforms. We spent the evening skyping with family in Iowa, opening a few presents, eating a good spread of different appetizers, and watching Elf.

We're ready to go!

You did feel like you were flying!

Go Mom Go!

One of two bridges we crossed

"Ah! So cute," says Devera.

This one two people could go at once, the "Honeymoon Zip"

Group Shot!

Looking back at the tree house we just zipped from, we took a water break there and then continued on our way.

Ready, Set, Fly!

High Up!

Beautiful!

Jungle

Sunday: We woke up at 8:30 for 2 skype dates with family in Michigan and then spent time up the Baiyoke Tower (Bangkok's tallest building). We now know we'd recommend this for anyone staying. Buy the observation deck ticket for 220 Baht ($7.35 USD), is well worth the money for the views, a free drink, and did I mention the views? We also went to a final after Christmas- Christmas Party last night. It was hosted by the American family at my school and it was just lovely. Great food (green bean casserole, eggnog, ham...) and great people. We even took part in a British Christmas Tradition- Christmas Crackers (Click Here for some background information). That's where we got some lovely crowns to wear.