For our last day in Hanoi we decided to drive out to Ninh Binh and do some sightseeing.  Our tour guide picked us up and we started out.  The drive was over two hours but thankfully we were equipped with our kindles.  As we drove out of Hanoi it started to rain. We were hopeful it would pass but not too worried. Two hours into our trip when we were almost there our tour guide turned around and told us that the storm had come much faster than expected and our day in Ninh Binh was no longer advisable. Safety first of course. So we decided to turn around and head back home. It was a long morning in the car but we all agreed we made the right choice. Sometimes outside forces decide the path of your vacation for you. We at least got to see loads of scenery on our way.

After a great nap we all woke up refreshed and showered for dinner.

I figured since we were all well rested it was the perfect time to take some pictures.

Then it was off to the yummiest steak meal. I know, I know, what about all the yummy Vietnamese food…but it was still pouring and this place was so close to the hotel and soooooo good! Although we may have over ordered.

We had such a great time in Vietnam with Grandma.  A couple days after Vietnam she had to go back to New York. We miss her terrible but we know we’ll get to see her soon and we are so lucky we go to share this trip with her!

Next up we headed to this great lunch place- Quan An Ngon that we had gone to last time in Hanoi and it was as good as we remember.

Next up we headed to water puppet show. We weren’t sure what to expect but we were ready! And the tickets were only 5 dollars so worse case we were out 20 bucks.

First up a beautiful band came out and played some amazing string instruments.

Next up we were entertained for a full hour! These puppets were wonderful. Both boys were enraptured the whole entire time. After the pupper show we bought some wooden fishermen. When I ask Adam what his favorite part of Vietnam was he still replies those wooden fishermen.

On our way back to the hotel we saw this sign being built.

After a yummy breakfast we headed out for some sightseeing. Last time we were in Hanoi we didn’t have much time so we didn’t get to see Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We arranged a half day tour and headed off.  First stop – Ho Chi Minh himself and the Mausoleum.  There was a line and we had to cover our shoulders. There was a line that moved fast but still took about a half hour. Strollers weren’t allowed so we all had to walk or be carried.

Along the way we saw some soldiers that the boys couldn’t take their eyes off of!

This right here was the beginning of the end folks. We had walked around the whole complex and through the mausoleum and hit our wall. Too much, too hot, no water (not allowed in mausoleum) and just too much.

Adam wanted to be carried by mommy, Malcolm wanted to be carried by mommy. Mommy wanted to be carried by her mommy. I would have carried them both but it was too far and I was too tired. Both grandma and our super sweet tour guide offered to carry either one.  But both only wanted mommy. These moments are super hard when you’re traveling and out of your comfort zone. Sometimes there is nothing more to do than sit down on the curb and wait it out (while all the Vietnamese tourists pass by). We chugged a whole bunch of water and eventually decided as a whole to move on to the house that Ho Chi Minh lived in during the later years of his life.

We let the boys vote on whether to move on. The boys voted to move on and the biggest draw to voting yes was this pond full of fish. Our tour guide told us that Ho Chi Minh used to survive and eat fish in the pond but after he died they never ate another fish from there our of respect. This was a BIG hit with the boys. Far more exciting than seeing Ho Chi Minh himself in the mausoleum.

I even got a smiling group shot!

On our way out we even saw another changing of the guards.

Malcolm and Adam then spent the rest of the time walking around like soldiers.

On our way out we admired all the ‘souvenirs’ they had for sale.

After our long morning of sightseeing what better way to relax than a yummy lunch and some delicious mango shakes.

After daddy left, we watched some Paw Patrol and before we knew it it was time to board.

Even though it was 10 pm everyone was all smiles.

The plane was empty, so both boys wanted to sit next to mommy, leaving Grandma Gertch all alone with loads of room to sleep!

Everyone napped and was so well behaved.

And a few short hours later we were in Hanoi! The last time we landed in Vietnam it took a while to get our visas. This time I wisely paid for an expedited visa. Best move ever, especially at 1 am. We were out of the airport in 10 minutes.

We headed to the our comfy hotel and got a good night sleep .  We woke up rested and ready to explore Hanoi!

For lunch we had some delicious yummy Vietnamese food.

This time I bought a beautiful handmade quilt to bring back.

Then it was back to hotel for showers and to get spiffed up for a yummy dinner.

But after all that work on game day everything went off perfectly! And I can say that I have been lucky enough to be this close to Secretary Kerry for two press conferences.

I’m probably breaking some copyright, but here are photos of the press conference by Glenn Johnson, the Secretary’s photographer. I’m giving you credit Glenn….your pictures are just sooooo much better than mine!

Can you find me in this one:

(Hint – I’m on the right side.)

””

We headed down, met our competitors Holland and USA and lined up.

First up, 3 meter dash. Ready, set, go!

We were all good sports, even when we got a good bean bag throw in. I love this picture because it captures perfectly how enthusiastic Malcolm has become lately. When I ask him if he liked his fish for dinner, he screams YEAAAAH!!! When I ask him if he wants to watch Paw Patrol, I get an even louder, YEAAAAH!!! I want that!!!! He even gets super excited when I ask him if he wants to put a shirt on- he’ll scream YEAAAAH!! and jump up and down. Of course, he is a toddler, so there are the times he crumbles into a puddle because he doesn’t want fish or to change his shirt. Paw Patrol, though a constant in his life for the moment.

Tumbling was Adam’s sport!

For the closing ceremony- bubbles!

This is right after Malcolm went over and dragged Grandma to show her the bubble maker….he’s learned quick who has the quickest Amazon trigger finger in the room.

After bubbles, medals! Here are the best attempts to get 7 kids to sit still on a mat…..

First up for his gold medal- Malcolm!

Then Adam!

After the Olympics we all went to Krissy’s house for some post Olympic brunch, A pretty perfect Olympics in my book.  See you in 2018, Olympics!!

First day of school this year. Adam is back in his Pre-K class and Malcolm is back in his toddler class. I am so glad they get another year at this amazing pre-school. It is at the other Embassy compound, close to the embassy where we work so we are able to join for activities. It is entirely parent run and this is my second year on the board. I guess the 10 years Gretchen spent on the PTA rubbed off on me. I debated joining the board for a while, working full time leaves little time for anything else, but I decided it was important enough and I like being part of the process behind decisions such as which teachers to hire and admission process.  I am so happy to be involved in this school. The teachers, students and parents who have served on the board with me are fantastic. I am so happy Adam and Malcolm have had such a great start to their school life.

Back to our first day of school. I was so excited to get the boys dressed up and take pictures. I was sure everyone would be excited and cooperate.

Some of us were ok for some photos.

Others were not in the mood.

Luckily by the time we got to school some of use were feeling better.

Others took a little longer to warm up…

Grandma is in Manila! We’ve been keeping busy! We took her to our favorite pizza place- Motorinos.

We styled all the new clothes that Grandma brought!

We showed Grandma all the new places that have opened in our neighborhood since last year.

We took Grandma back to the Mind Museum which has a new dinosaur exhibit that is awesome.

Here is Adam pretending he is the dinosaur behind him protecting his dinosaur egg.

Then it was inside for some real dinosaurs.

We even squeezed in a wine tasting with some friends at a great new wine store that opened up. All in all a great first week.  Poor Malcolm started running a fever right after this and had a fever for 5 days so we just rested and let him recover. Thankfully it was just a virus. Living in a country with Dengue Fever and Malaria, there is nothing scarier than a high fever. I immediately recount how many mosquito bites he’s had and when. But we were lucky and have been so far.

We had one week after Italy before Grandma Gertch came to town. We needed to defeat jetlag and get back into the swing of Manila life!

Some highlights-

Late night ice-cream to keep everyone up past 6 pm.  A note on jetlag and how we defeat it, we keep the boys up as late as humanly possible from the second we land. This means lots of long bathes, activities and if necessary sugar. If we can keep them up late the first night and not let anyone nap for more than an hour we usually get into the time by the third day.

This means that sometimes everyone is in one bed. These two sleeping beauties at least got to sleep in, but Randy and I headed back to work.

The entire time we were in Italy the boys were obsessed with Ice Age, it was the movie they wanted to watch the most on their Kindle when on planes, trains or automobiles. So when we found out that Ice Age had a new movie out we headed right on over.  This was Randy’s first movie with Malcolm!

 

We made thank you cards for Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj and some extra cards for each other.

We adapted back to Manila weather….oh Italian blue summer skies- tear.

I had to go to Baguio for work for three days. I missed the boys but was nice to be up in cooler air and help the Embassy throw a fourth of July Party at the resident up there.

I came back early Saturday so I could have the weekend with the boys. We checked out Pinks, a hotdog place that opened near our house. There are so many awesome new places opening up in our neighborhood, its hard to keep up.  The hotdogs were amazing!

We were all pretty excited to finally arrive at the hotel

The next day we woke up bright and early ready to explore Rome!

Here is where Randy and I may have overestimated our abilities. We decided to head to a museum. Always a good idea when you are in the air conditioned hotel with rested kids. We headed out to the Capitoline Museum.  After all we had two days in Rome and we decided to cram.it.in!

Das and Nooj came to meet us at the museum and we walked around for a while.

This Randy tells me was the most famous piece in the museum, from what I remember the two founders of Rome drinking from the teat of the wolf….Here is the actual description, thank you Wikipedia, the Capitoline Wolf is a bronze sculpture of a she-wolf suckling twin human infants, inspired by the legend of the foundling of Rome.

This right here was Adam’s favorite piece in the museum, a man in a diaper.  He laughed and laughed. I guess the arrows piercing his body didn’t make any impact.

After the museum we walked out to the Forum to take some pictures. Here is the grading of those interested in taking photos. Daphne and me, A++

Randy and MJ, a solid B+

These two right here….F. But you know me, I am not the type to let a maybe once in a family lifetime photo opp in front of the Forum pass me by.

So after bribing both boys with all the kindereggs they could fit in their suitcase we arrived here, with Adam boycotting in the stroller.

And then here…..

So here we go….after a morning of sightseeing here is the best photo we could get.

But post kinderegg and return of the kindle peace was restored and I have a real framer.

After that we decided it was time for some lunch to help everyone get into a better mood.

After some food and some water and Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj climbing everyone was in a much better mood.

After lunch we were all invigorated and ready for more sightseeing.

 Here is what I call two popsicles visit Trevvi fountain.

After the fountain we had a nice relaxing stroll back to the hotel. No sugar high from popsicles whatsoever

 Then Daf and I snuck away for a little Roman shopping and Randy took the boys to a park.

We all met back up at dinner a fun pizza place called Normas. This is not the pizza place, but a wall nearby in case you were curious.

The next morning Randy took a tour of some sites in Rome (quid pro quo for my shopping jaunt with Daf the day before).

Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj went off to see the Vatican and I decided to take the boys on a super long walk for our last morning in Italy and if it happened to take us along some shops so be it. The boys were amazing all morning! They were so fun and sweet the entire time. Here is the highlight of our day for these two, we passed this little boy underwear on our way and the boys LOVED it. They giggled and giggled and giggled. Then as we walked away an Italian grandma tried to tell us that we had left our underwear on the ground. I tried to explain to her that they weren’t mine but it may have been lost in translation.

Before we knew it it was time to meet everyone for our last fun long Italian lunch.

After lunch we headed to Trastevere to a Salumeria for some amazing cheese! We bought as much as our suitcase could fit.

Only in Italy people would this look appealing. But don’t worry, we didn’t pack it in our suitcase.

Then we walked around Trastevere!

We squeezed on one last fun dinner and before we knew it we were on our way back to Manila! A short 40 hours later we were home!

We had such an amazing time in Italy! We loved every minute of our time there and loved every second we had with Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj. Ciao Italia!! We love you. We love you too Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj!