It's Monkey Time! (Day 3)

When making arrangements for Thailand I stumbled upon an attraction north of Chiang Mai called Flight of the Gibbons. It's a series of ziplines through the jungle. I saw it on the Amazing Race (this particular one was actually on the Asian version of this show) and thought, wow...that looks like fun. The girls were all gung ho for it and I knew there was no backing out now. When we arrived we were suited up in the finest harnesses....very attractive, don't you think?

I just had to snag this one from Chantelle. Madi seems to be the only sane one with concern on her face while everyone marches forward. I just love this picture!

I decided to bite the bullet and go first. I knew that if I didn't then I would definitely chicken out. Anticipation is always worse than the action...or at least that's what I always tell myself. Judging by this picture...would you think that it's my motto now?

We were so lucky to have made it back safely to the ground. I swear I could have kissed it but I probably wouldn't have gotten up from it! There were 18 stations in all, 13 ziplines, 2 bridges and 3 rapels. We were then fed lunch but I couldn't eat. I think my stomach was still in knots from our adventure. Afterwards we were bused further up the mountain to a lovely waterfall. We enjoyed a relaxing hike and then bus ride back to Chiang Mai.

Elephant Nature Park (Day 2)

We set out for a day at an elephant park but not just any elephant park, one that promotes conservation of the Asian elephant. This was truly the most moving day for me. I thought that I was just going to hang with some elephants but I came home with heart wrenching stories of the mistreatment of elephants. Several years ago the logging business was booming and most of the elephant population was used for this. Once the government placed a ban on logging many elephants were set free having never been in the wild. Many starved to death, were shot because they would forage on 'private' property or they were hit by cars. Some were taken to the streets of Chiang Mai and Bangkok to 'beg' for their mahouts (trainer) in order to get food.

The elephant camp or elephant trekking is a very popular attraction in Thailand but the torture that goes behind submission from an elephant is horrific. An elephant is taken from it's mother (sometimes not yet weaned) and placed in a bamboo cage that is no bigger than it's body. It is then beaten with sticks, jabbed with nails, starved, choked all in the name of "training" it. So the next time you see an elephant and thinks it's cool to purchase an elephant painting, think again! You do not know what happened to that elephant to make it paint. Nor do you know the severity of the "training" it received so that it would be tame enough for you to ride on it. God gave us these beautiful creatures to enjoy, not to torture. If you are brave enough to see, here is a link that describes the "training" process.

This is 8 year old, Hope, the 'cheeky' boy. Here's his story. He gave us quite the show when he was playing around with his 'Grandma', pushing against her and biting her ear. On our way to the park stories were told of Hope's naughty ways. A tourist group was rafting down the river and Hope was curious and went out to great them. The guide hit Hope with a stick, which had never been done to him before and he proceeded to knock the raft over with his trunk! The next day, the same guide came down with a different group and Hope stood on the bank throwing rocks at them. One of them hit the guide in the head! Cheeky, cheeky boy!

This is Jokia. Here is her story. What the story does not tell is how she was blinded. She was in the logging business and forced to push heavy logs uphill. She was pregnant and forced to work under arduous conditions. She was beaten so bad that she lost the baby that she was carrying. She gave birth and watched it roll down the hill. She was so grieved by this that she would not work. The owners took no pity on her and beat her to make her submit. She did not budge. They eventually shot arrows into her eyes to get her to move which inevitably blinded her.

This little fellow is one of two babies at the park. He's 9 months old and curious little guy. As he was led to the river for bathtime he couldn't help but to inspect some volunteers constructing a gazebo. He apparently made a visit to see them each time he came out for a bath. What luck that this little one was born into such a caring environment. If only the rest of the Thai elephant population could be so lucky.

There are 30 elephants total at the park, each with a different story. Among my favs are Maximus (Max) one of largest elephants in Thailand who was hit by an 18 wheeler, Lilly, a sweet elephant that was addicted to drugs and Medo, a female that was abused during the logging industry and forced to breed before she was old enough. The male elephant's weight ended up breaking her hips.

Max
Lilly reaching for food
Medo
This was an experience that I will never forget. I will come back here someday and bring my boys to see these beautiful creatures. If you would like to support the Elephant Nature Park you can do so by going to the shop on their website. The price already includes shipping and ALL proceeds go to the care of these elephants and rescue of the abused. Please make a purchase to help the elephants!

Thailand here we come! (Day 1)

On Tuesday, Feb. 10th five moms and a daughter set out for an adventure to Thailand. After 3 flights and one crazy drive we made it to our destination of Pak Chiang Mai in beautiful Chiang Mai, Thailand. Pak is a new guesthouse in CM with only 9 rooms so they are able to really socialize with the guests and make them feel like they are part of the family. I had conversed several times through email with the owner, Noon and was pleased to finally meet her. She was a huge help in the travel plans.
After arriving in Bangkok we had to go through customs and then on to our last flight to Chiang Mai. Thankfully we had some time because we spent quite a bit of it trying to figure out where to go in this huge airport!

Chantelle, Madi and Dot waiting in line for customs.

My favorite place to stay in Chiang Mai...PAK Chiang Mai! Pak means to relax and boy, did we ever! The food was incredible and not once did we eat outside of the guesthouse. Noon kept us happy and well fed!

Dot was my roomie and this was our beautiful living space for 3 nights.

The beautiful elephant sculpture/fountain in the Pak garden.

The view looking down from our balcony.

We took every advantage of where we were so our first stop in CM was to get a 3 hour massage...you read that right THREE HOURS! Now I'm not a massage person AT ALL so 3 hours was a bit much for me. Tori, Dot and Shelly enjoyed it so much they went back again for another 3 hours of torture! Thai massages are ROUGH. I was told that in Thai you say "Bow Bow" for a soft massage. I told the massuese that but it still hurt...or maybe I'm just a wuss.

Tori and I before the pain began!

Lazy days of....winter?

After an uplifting visit to church we decided to spend the rest of the day in relax mode. We went home, took naps (which is unusual for Logan and me) and spent sometime playing outside with Tyler's new bike. The sun was slowly setting and had the urge to jump in the van and drive to the beach. How many times am I going to get to do that in TN? Uh, none. So I had better take advantage of it now. While we were driving there we stopped for a quickie dinner at McD's and noticed a ship in port, the USS New Orleans. The gap on the bottom is where they load/unload the LCAC's which are amazing to watch. I recommend checking them out on youtube. Chris snapped this pic which I thought was pretty good! Plenty more where that came from in the web album!

It's not easy getting the perfect shot of all three at the same time. I'm just happy that Ry was looking up!

I love the silhouette shot of all my boys with the beautiful sky in the background.

Dadi beach at sunset. Could anything be more spectacular?

Happy 4th Birthday Tyler!!

Mr. Tyler's choice for a birthday party was to go to Tarza waterpark for the day. How could we say no when this will probably be the only time that he can have a party at a waterpark in January! We had a great time with friends and mommy even went down a super crazy waterslide. Believe me, I screamed loud before I was slammed with all the water in my face! See the web album for many, many more pictures.

Tyler and his girlfriend, Bella. He loves her so much!

Tyler and his new bike!

Miss Shannon came to help out with the kids. She's awesome!! Tyler loved being doted on by her since he has to share her with other kids at school but today she was all his!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!!

Tyler's school birthday party

Friday we had Tyler's birthday party at school and had an impromptu song from our favorite McManus family. They sang a Happy Birthday song in acapella! I love their voices and it was such a blessing for Tyler as well as the entire class.

I tried to get him to turn around but he was just looking ahead so they had to sing to the back of his head!

Mrs. Sablan, Logan's teacher, wanted to get a picture with her and her Chamoele boys. Here on the island a chamoele is part Chamorran, part Haole (white). I guess they've been on the island long enough to deserve that title!

Aw! Brotherly love! Tyler was following Ryland around on the playground to "protect" him.

Boonie Stomping

It's been a while since I've posted any boonie stomping adventures which means it's been a while since I've done any! Tori and I were talking this morning and I happened to mention Geocaching which she's never heard of and I've always wanted to try. In order to do it you need a GPS because you are given coordinates to a secret cache or treasure box. Once you find it you can take whatever is in there as long as you replace it with something. Hunting for treasure....the exact phrase that made my boys jump up and run for the door! We looked for an easy to find place on the geocaching website, Nick grabbed his GPS and we were off. We drove around for a bit until we found the exact location that the box was hidden. Our only clue was that it was under a rock or tree. Gee....could it get any more vague?? I felt like I was searching for the hidden immunity idle on Survivor! We searched for awhile but no luck. Guess it will have to stay hidden for the next person to come along.

Next we headed to Champs for some burger fuel and to brainstorm where our next adventure would lead us. We decided on Fonte Dam which is a dam built in 1910 to supply the area with fresh drinking water. It was a fairly easy hike with a well worn path. The boys enjoyed it and are asking to do another hike. I think mama needs to get over this one first. ;-)

Beginning the hike to Fonte Dam.

Top of the dam. Notice the water down below...

Bottom of the dam. The bricks that the dam was constructed with were imported. I can't imagine having to lug it all the way there!

Fonte Dam/River