Two weekends ago, our church put on the Amazing Race - season five! They had planned on doing it this past May (like they have the 4 years before that) but due to the political unrest downtown, they postponed it until October! High schoolers formed 20 teams of 4 kids each for their teams. Each team had to come up with a team uniform and a team name :) It began on Saturday at 3pm and went until around 7pm that night, then the kids spent the night downtown at another church (with chaperones) and resumed the rest of the Amazing Race at 7am on Sunday and finished between 9am and 10am back here in Nichada! They got to do approx. 20 different challenges and rode in cars, water taxis, real taxis, tuk tuks, the subway and the sky train! The challenges ranged from having to find buried golfballs in sand (which the kiddos and I got to help run), to finding landmarks in Bangkok, to purchasing the ingredients for, making and eating Som Tom salad, purchasing and eating a pigs tongue (!) to setting up a tent properly :)
Dan wasn't here to help out, but the kiddos and I got to help fun 2 events, one each on Saturday and Sunday mornings! Kylie and I also got to help fold papers and help do administrative stuff to get prepared for it! We had a blast helping out and I know the high school students had an even better time! The race ended on Sunday at the church, where we had a service for the Amazing Race kids and presented them each with a prize, as well as the winners with their own iPod touches each and the 2nd and 3rd runner up teams with iPod shuffles! It was a great time!
This past Friday, Kylie and I had the privilege of watching 3 little friends from back home in Virginia! Their parents are missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators and recently moved to northern Thailand in Chiang Mai! They are taking a cultural training class for a number of weeks before intensive language training and were in Bangkok for 2 days to tour here with their class...we got to watch them for the morning and had a blast! 
Kylie and Orin got along well and had fun
Michaiah had a blast doing legos all morning long!
And sweet little Sora was SO FUN! She thought Kylie was funny (which Kylie loved) and did great being at our house!
Two weekends ago, our church put on the Amazing Race - season five! They had planned on doing it this past May (like they have the 4 years before that) but due to the political unrest downtown, they postponed it until October! High schoolers formed 20 teams of 4 kids each for their teams. Each team had to come up with a team uniform and a team name :) It began on Saturday at 3pm and went until around 7pm that night, then the kids spent the night downtown at another church (with chaperones) and resumed the rest of the Amazing Race at 7am on Sunday and finished between 9am and 10am back here in Nichada! They got to do approx. 20 different challenges and rode in cars, water taxis, real taxis, tuk tuks, the subway and the sky train! The challenges ranged from having to find buried golfballs in sand (which the kiddos and I got to help run), to finding landmarks in Bangkok, to purchasing the ingredients for, making and eating Som Tom salad, purchasing and eating a pigs tongue (!) to setting up a tent properly :)
Saturday was Amy's birthday. I got to celebrate with her, not only on Friday night for a super yummy and fancy dinner out with her, Ken and 2 other ladies (it was Ken and a harem) but also on Saturday night for a fun taco dinner with tons of kids and cakes!
Amy and Ken at La Bouchon for dinner
Amy's family with balloons we brought her (plus guacamole, salsa and chips)
Ken made his first ever cake for Amy's birthday, but had to run out the door before he could ice it...so Amy iced it and gave the little girls the beaters to lick! They loved it!
