Jet lag continues...

So I was a tad optimistic at hoping that the kids would be over their jet lag by now. Jad woke up at 12:30 and rolled around between me and Nik for hours, kicking him or grabbing me at intervals. Eventually we threw in the towel at 3:30 and Nik took Jad out of the room so I could get some rest. Shortly after that, Kai woke up and I decided to get up, so poor Nik could get some sleep. The boys were up for an hour after that until I returned Jad to Nik. Jad went back to sleep with relative ease, but Kai ended up waking up Sora when he went back to the room. I forced them to stay quiet and in bed until 6, but whether they actually slept or not is anyone's guess (I fell asleep next to them :P).

Party at 4 am!

We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant again and the kids played at the hotel playground.  Some of these structures wouldn't really fly in the US for safety reasons but kids don't care, they enjoyed climbing around the shaky monkey bars and homemade seesaw -Nik

I spy a Jaddy-mon :)

More playground fun!

After breakfast, Nik and Chris took the kids to the beach. Jad really enjoyed rinsing off with the outdoor water spigot. And after a full morning of trying to run down our kids, the kids passed out for over 3 hours.. in fact, we had to wake up Kai and Jad.

Rinsing out in the buff outside.. Jad loved it!

The kids had napped for so long that we ended up skipping lunch (fortunately, Nik's parents and uncle have kept us fully stocked with fruits and snacks, so there are plenty of things to munch on in the meanwhile), so when the kids were finally up, we decided to go for an excursion to 7-Eleven. In spite of the humidity, being by the coast meant that there was a nice ocean breeze, so it was a pleasant walk. The kids chose ice cream for themselves at 7-Eleven and we headed back to our hotel.

Jad insisted on having his own ice cream bar and ever the indulged "baby of the family", he got it. It was a disaster and earned him another water spigot bath

When we got back, Nik's Aunt came for a brief visit. The kids are so shy and refused to even say hello, but I guess it must be overwhelming to meet so many new people at once.

Nik's Uncle, who is also staying at the hotel, certainly has a way with kids

After a simple take out dinner, we were surprised to hear a knock at the door. Nik's cousins had come to take us out to dessert. It was a great surprise and a welcome distraction since we weren't really sure what to do with the kids until bedtime. As parents of young children, going out in the evening is a revelation. I forget that for many people a lot of life happens in the evening (or is this just because we're in Asia?). Rayong seems really sleepy in the daytime, but at night there are people and cars everywhere, stores are open, and many restaurants are full of people on a Monday night.

We went to a dessert cafe specializing in roti desserts. We had roti with egg cream, roti with ice cream, roti with Milo.. it was kind of amazing, but unfortunately the kids were underwhelmed since they were too tired and cranky to appreciate it. Both Sora and Jad nearly/or did fall asleep on the way back in the car, and tonight everyone went to bed easily. Tomorrow, we're leaving Rayong and we're off to Bangkok!

So light and crispy!

This one loved the lychee soda

Family and beach time

Though the kids slept at odd hours last night because of jet lag, we eventually managed to get them to bed. However, we started the morning off early since Sora was up at 3(?!) and then Kai at 4:30 and finally Jad at 5. We then decided to start off the day with some time at the beach. The kids were immediately into it, with Kai digging holes in the sand and getting all wet in spite of not yet wearing his swim suit.

Mangosteen for breakfast! Jad really likes tropical fruits, though he wasn't into durian :P

After going back to our room and a quick rinse off, we had breakfast at the hotel breakfast buffet.

Impressing the grandparents with his eating abilities. Nik said that he was showing off

In front of the hotel, there is a simple playground which was a good place for the kids to blow off some steam.

These play structures definitely wouldn't fly in the States.. 

.. but still fun! :)

After breakfast, we attempted to have the kids take a nap to no avail. So while Nik and Chris tried to nap, I decided to take the kids out for a walk around the hotel grounds to explore; there is a little creek and river behind the hotel with some above the water bungalows. The kids were fascinated by the fish in the river. Everywhere we go, Jad charms the locals.. he even received a flower from a girl during our walk. :)

Before starting off, a little Pokemon time

Posing by the creek

Eventually Nik found us..

.. and it was time for an ice cream break. Our American kids opted for chocolate, while Jad had corn and Nik had taro.

By then, Nik's parents had come back with lunch and after a quick noodle and satay lunch, we headed back out to the beach. Sora busied herself collecting shells and Kai resumed digging in the sand. Jad was apprehensive about the sand for a few seconds but got over it quickly, even crawling through the surf, following Kai's lead.

Kai found two live clams while digging in the sand

Covered in the sand

Living up to her name. Did you know that "sora" means seashell in Korean?

Traveling with Chris has been great. The kids really enjoy playing with him and he's able to help us out quite a bit. He's been sharing the room with the kids while Nik and I sleep with Jad, having an extra adult around definitely eases our load.

After another nap (this time we were successful!) we headed off to a seafood restaurant to have dinner with Nik's family. All the dishes were very good and we enjoyed our dockside view.

Kids were exhausted and passed out during our second nap attempt

Really nice view and interesting to watch the fishing boats going out to sea

Couple selfie while Chris and Grandpa take care of the kids :)

Fried fish was delicious

Fresh fish, crabs, and shrimp in the tanks

So many Thai relatives! These are Nik's aunt and cousins

After a long day, everyone went to sleep easily tonight. Hopefully we are over the jet lag and the kids will be less cranky tomorrow. Kai does not do well with the heat and was constantly complaining about being hot during dinner.

Time for bed!

A long travel day and arrival in Thailand

For once, I feel like things weren't down to the wire when we set off for a trip. We had everything ready and even left a half an hour before our target time.

 A little liquid refreshment to get me through the next 24 hours. I needed it!

We had plenty of time to eat lunch at SFO and had time to spare at the gate.

The gate agent was kind enough to take our family portrait :)

When we got on the plane, the kids were excited to see that each of them had their own screen and promptly plugged in.

So excited to be on an airplane!

In fact they were so excited that they had a hard time sleeping in spite of the 10 hour flight to Tokyo ahead of us. Jad fell asleep midway through the flight, though I made the rookie mistake of trying to move him and woke him up. But they all ended up falling asleep by the end of the flight. 

Once in Tokyo, we had a 5 hour layover. We wandered around the airport and found a Pokemon stuffie vending machine. The kids were exhausted and wouldn't stop fighting with each other, and since we were exhausted, we parked them in front of the laptop so Nik and I could alternate taking naps. Jad was so tired that he attached himself to Nik specifically and wouldn't even let me comfort him. How did he become such a daddy's boy?

Jad loves his cream pan!

In Japan, there are vending machines for everything.. even Pokemon

Exhausted daddy and Jaddy

The last leg of our travel day was a 6 hour red eye to Bangkok. Again the kids were excited to have a screen in front of them, though we made them turn it off once we took off and they eventually fell asleep. Nik guessed that he had 30 minutes of sleep over the course of that 24 hour long travel day.. I think I did slightly better.. 2 hours?

We had a whole row to ourselves. Nice, but Kai and Sora wouldn't stop bugging each other

Success!

We successfully met up with Chris at the airport and the kids were so excited to see him. We eventually met up with Nik's uncle and cousin, and his parents.

Nik's Dad drove us to Rayong. It was a long drive which was even longer since they were doing construction along the highway. I need to get used to "out of the States" driving standards since driving on the shoulders is a norm and sometimes lane markers are just helpful suggestions. The kids were ok, but they woke up halfway through the drive and that also made things really difficult. We eventually made it to Rayong and had breakfast with Nik's family. The kids really enjoyed the large koi in the backyard.

Grandpa, Grandma and koi fish

On a scooter with Granduncle

After a long, long day we were all really exhausted. So once we arrived at our cute little beach bungalow, everyone passed out for a well-deserved nap. We will spend the next few days in Rayong before heading back to Bangkok, so I will try to keep things updated in the meanwhile.