After two great weeks chillaxin' on Koh Samui we pack up and head out tomorrow morning. We were starting to feel like permanent residents at the Varinda Garden Resort. We will miss Chen, Mai, Yindee, Olive and of course, Ken and Tuta the dogs. This quirky little hotel has statues and sculptures tucked everywhere. Even today I was spotting new ones. The girls loved to have us wander and photograph items then send them on a scavenger hunt to find them. We absolutel...

After two great weeks chillaxin' on Koh Samui we pack up and head out tomorrow morning. We were starting to feel like permanent residents at the Varinda Garden Resort. We will miss Chen, Mai, Yindee, Olive and of course, Ken and Tuta the dogs. This quirky little hotel has statues and sculptures tucked everywhere. Even today I was spotting new ones. The girls loved to have us wander and photograph items then send them on a scavenger hunt to find them. We absolutel...

"We live in the flicker -- may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling!" Life here in Ko Samui is certainly flickering. It's there one minute and gone the next with the spiceness of the food, the sea and sand crashing in the gulf, locals mixed with Germans and Russians whizzing around on motor scooters, and the muy thai boxers practicing their craft as cars blare word of the upcoming fights. This is a place where one comes to and just disappears from t...

Before we left a friend asked me to keep it real on the blog. "Don't make it all sunshine and BS." This is for you Betsy... I was in London. I wanted to start planning Thailand. I knew we wanted to have a mix of city and nature. We decided on Bangkok. I picked an island, Koh Samui. Then we all wanted to volunteer with elephants. The volunteer organization wouldn't take us because the kids were too young. I looked around for another elephant experience. There it ...

Before we get to the new and exciting things we have been up to I have to tell the best story from Bangkok that somehow got overlooked. We were in a cab with our driver, Mr. Damrong, and he got lost. He stopped at a hotel near our apartment and we got out to catch another cab. I thought the whole thing with "Mr. Damrong" who gets lost, was hilarious and laughed the whole way up and down the side streets as he tried to find our place. The next cab was even funnie...