Randy has wanted to go to Vietnam for so long and I just didn’t really get what all the hype was about. Well, now I know. Vietnam was amazing. Every single place we went to was beautiful, interesting, full of yummy food and warm people. I loved every second of this trip! Even when it was raining and cold and the boys were sick and cranky and we were all tired, I loved every single second!
After an early flight we dropped our bags off at our hotel and headed out to our first Vietnamese restaurant. We were all a little tired though so we didn’t appreciate it as much as we should have and had to go back to the hotel for the first of many Vietnamese family naps.
Well some of us enjoyed it a little.
Some of us didn’t want to nap….so Randy kindly took this little peanut for a walk to the Reclamation Palace and Adam and I slept away.
After our naps we went up to the Saigon Saigon Rooftop Bar in our Hotel. As we sat there enjoying a beer and a glass of wine Randy told me the history of the bar, how it was the location of the daily war correspondents briefing during the Vietnam War and we talked about the history of Vietnam and the city. Oh wait, we have two little ones….let me try again. We ordered a beer and wine, that part is accurate. I followed Adam around and kept him away from the railing as Randy tried to feed a cranky hungry Malcolm a pouch of food. Randy relayed that story to me at some point but I couldn’t tell you when. I finished my drink standing up holding Malcolm who squeezed the pouch all over my shirt and we debated maybe just ordering room service. BUT we decided to do what we always do on vacation (kids or no) and rallied and headed out to dinner.
Adam, maybe one day you’ll be a correspondent who comes here for a drink.
We were so happy that we chose to go out to dinner. The restaurant was in a beautiful old building and had so much style and great food. After smelling the flowers a bit Malcolm fell asleep pretty quickly and Adam got to watch a movie. He doesn’t watch a lot of TV but when we’re traveling all rules go out the window and Madagascar is the new favorite.
After a restful night of sleep we headed out refreshed and ready to see Ho Chi Minh. Oh wait, we have two small children. Let me try again. Malcolm spent most of the night in our bed and Adam spent half the night in our bed. Malcolm was up at 4am, in his defense this is 5 am in Manila, so normal time for him. Once again my wonderful husband took Malcolm for a long walk all over Ho Chi Minh and Adam and I got to sleep in. I don’t know what I did to get so lucky. Randy later told me he actually really appreciated walking all over with Malcolm and seeing everything. They even went to a coffee shop and Randy taught Malcolm to drink from a cup. Those two are so cute! All while Adam and I snored away.
Once they were back we all rallied and once again it was such a great decision. Right when we walked out of hotel we saw this. An entire band playing right there for free for the public!
Adam loved it and made friends right away to dance with.
Oops! Don’t worry no kids were injured in the taking of this picture.
Malcolm was snoozing away already after his cavorting all over Ho Chi Minh with his daddy the night before.
After the band stopped playing, everyone stood up at once and collected and stacked their yellow chairs and were finished within 4 minutes and headed home. It was really the most organized cleanup and exit of a concert I have ever seen. We tried to be organized and collected our kids and took off on a short walk to a great little coffee shop and eclectic shop. I found a cute necklace, Adam found a delicious cupcake and Randy found a yummy Vietnamese coffee.
This little nugget was still asleep. He actually spent 60% of his Vietnam days in there snoozing away. Even at a year, the Ergo is by far the best traveling tool ever. As we walked around the store looking around the Chipmunk Christmas song- Don’t be Late came on and Adam took my hand and started dancing with me. “Just like we do at school” he said. It was one of those perfect moments, Malcolm was sleeping on me and I was dancing with Adam. It made me smile so much and made all those moments where traveling with kids is so much harder than you think it will be, worthwhile and then some. I looked up at Randy who was enjoying his coffee and watching us and I realized I was exactly where I wanted to most be in the whole world.
For the rest of the day we walked around and shopped and took in all the sights of Ho Chi Minh. We had another yummy dinner at a restaurant Randy found on his early morning walk and headed home for a good night sleep before our next stop.
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