Hi, My Name is Megan, vol. 3

...and I'm the Birthday Girl because today I turn 9!!!

Job: I'm in the 3rd Grade. I love school and reading and learning! I love my teacher. I am a scientist in school - we are currently studying crayfish and now snails and beetles. Also, I'm a blogger and a bigger helper for Mom.

Favorite things to do: Reading (biographies, history and fiction), crocheting, playing the piano, playing with Jack and Kylie, swimming, riding my bike, drawing and having playdates with friends.

Least favorite things to do: cleaning the whole house, washing the dishes, helping in the kitchen, doing laundry.

Favorite Books: Who Was/Were...? books, American Girl books, Geronimo Stilton books, Boxcar Children books, Jack Russell books, Pollyanna, With Daring Faith (about Amy Carmichael), Chet Gecko books...

Favorite Foods: Macaroni and cheese, pizza, broccoli oriental, chicken spaghetti, steak and cheese sandwich, tacos, french toast casserole, orange cinnamon rolls.

Favorite Sayings: It's not my fault, it's an accident. I didn't mean to. Whaaat? Momeeee, Moooommmmm, Can I just read for 20 more minutes, How long can I read?, Can I please have gum?, Can I have a playdate?, Do you need me to go to Villa?, Do I have to wear a skirt to church?, Are you coming?, Okaaaay.

Favorite TV Shows/Movies: Little House on the Prairie (we're on season 7), Megamind, Clone Wars, Star Wars, Ducktales, Spectacular Spiderman, Meet me in St. Louis, Little Women.

Nicknames: Ladybug, Dolly, Meg, Meggie, Moo, Moopert, Smoops, Megan Colleen, Megan Collen (according to ISB), Meh Giin (by Kylie when frustrated).

What I want to be when I grow up: A teacher or a weather reporter!

Good Friends: Punnava, Katie, Leah, Kaya (she moved), Anaida, Hana and Xuan Fan.

What I'm looking forward to in Kuwait: Making new friends, going to a new school, a new life and a whole different country!

Why Mommy loves me: Because I am fun and funny, I have a beautiful voice, am a great reader, a great student and spend 3+ hours on homework every night even though only about 50 minutes is required (Mommy appreciates my attention to detail, even if she doesn't appreciate a 3rd grader doing homework for that long), I draw beautifully but have stopped doing it as much as I used to, I love my family and cannot wait til this summer to spend weeks with them in America, I can be a good helper and a great soux-chef, I am great with little kids and a huge help to other Mommies, I love my friends and love my brother and sister (although I don't love them touching my stuff)...and I love my Daddy and my Mommy...as well as God.

Happy Birthday Megan Colleen!!! We love you so much!!!

Ready before heading to church

With her little buddy Jaya

And her little buddy Cadie

Our family with the Chao Phraya behind us

Mom Mom Visits for the 2nd time!!!

Uncle Matt was out here for work - and had the opportunity to do worship at church with Dan. Dan's Mom (Mom Mom) was so sad that she would miss her 2 boys doing worship together, that Dan told her, "If you can take the week of work off, I'll fly you out"! She did and Dan used miles to fly her out! We had a great time with her here, despite her getting a cold the day after she got here and me being sick one day! We had fun getting nails done, going downtown to Beirut for lunch with Uncle Matt, taking the BTS up and down Sukhumvit, shopping at MBK, hanging out watching Sing Off, playing Fancy Nancy card games with Kylie, meeting Dan and Matt for dinner and lunch downtown and just hanging out! Thanks for making the trip out Mom Mom! It was great to have you here!

Oh, and due to the enormous earthquake and tsunami to hit Japan, she had to spend an extra day with us and be rerouted through London Heathrow! She beat Dan to that airport and can now say that she has flown around the world!

Lunch at Beirut with Uncle Matt

Mom Mom and the girls (with her remnants of Shish Taouk)

This is a plate that accompanies your meal at Beirut - cucumbers, pickles, tomatoes, basil, lime and small green Thai Chilies. Mom Mom ate one of the small green, fiery hot Thai Chili peppers...thinking it was a green bean! Poor Mom Mom and her mouth on fire...

Fun random photo op while waking on Sukhumvit

Matt, Jack and Dan with a big metal bull...

And a gratuitous shot of them picking it's nose

Kiddos in the lobby of Uncle Matt's hotel

Getting ready for worship at church!

Dan leading and Matt playing bass
(they did great!!!)

Uncle Matt taking our scooter for a spin...with Dan standing up on the back

...and a more tame ride with Mom Mom on the back

I love LOVE this picture of Dan and the kiddos on the yellow scooter

Outside our house

Mom Mom and Moo waiting on the BTS

Saying goodbye to Uncle Matt after dinner at Coco Curries

Dinner at River Treehouse

Picture with the Chao Phraya in the back

Reading to Megan's class on Friday

Dan and Mom Mom outside Que Pasa

Game Night!

And a picture of Megan and Mom Mom the last official night she was here!

Thanks for visiting Mom Mom! We had a great time and loved having you here!!!

Flying Through the Trees

Meggie, Jack and I along with Uncle Matt and the folks he was traveling with and Nick and Kristine from my office got to go do the Flight of the Gibbons adventure on the 26th of February. It was a blast and something I was so excited to get to do before we finish up our time here in Thailand. Here was the group shot of our crew with our two Sky Rangers Art and Bird who guided us through our adventure in the trees.

Geared up and Ready to Go

Moo and Jack, Gibbons for a Day

Uncle Matt and I

I was a little nervous about how Moo and Jack would do with the heights as some of the zip lines are over 2oo meters long and 50 to 100 meters high in the air but they both did amazing! It was so fun to see them going through the course and enjoying themselves. Here we are with Uncle Matt after getting our gear on. Also, here was a neat map they had of the course we would be doing.

The daredevils hanging out in the trees and then having a break in a tree house!


Here is a nice group shot on the on one of the rope bridges:

Good times!!!

Having fun on the "Honeymooner" zipline where 2 could go at the same time.

The Kiddos

The Brothers

Me and the kiddos in the treetops

Moo letting loose

Jack in his element

It was an amazing day and I think we all had a blast! After spending a few hours in the trees, we got to have a great thai lunch before heading back home on the shuttle bus.

Flight of the Gibbons Video

Saturday, Dan, Megan, Jack, Uncle Matt and 5 other people from work went to the Flight of the Gibbons here in Thailand! They left at 6:30am from Soi 1 and were picked up in a shuttle van and driven 1 1/2 hours away to the tour! They spent the next 3 hours flying through the treetops of Thailand and having a blast! Here's a video Mr. Nick put together of our family :)

Kuwait!

This past Tuesday I flew to Kuwait for 2 nights/3 days. Dan met me there from a work trip and we got the chance to check out what it's like there! The kids stayed with our friends Ken and Amy and had a great time - We are so thankful that they took on 3 extra kids for 4 nights so we could go (factoring in flying times)!

We really liked Kuwait. We got to see the kid's school, were toured around by the principal, saw the classrooms for the grades they will be in next year, saw the music room and art room and the turf fields that are covered by a huge tarp to protect them from the sun. We learned that Kylie won't have a language until 1st grade, Jack will take Spanish and Megan will take both Spanish and Arabic! Phew!

The temp right now in Kuwait is around 70F - with lows in the 50's at night - so it was the coldest I've been in 3 years! I brought capris with me and some light cardigans...as well as a hooded jacket. It does reach 130F during the summer-October months, so this is a nice reprieve.

We stayed in a neat part of Kuwait outside of the "downtown" area with a lot of restaurants and shops...ate wonderful food and had fun shopping (while Dan worked)! It was crazy to see all the "American" chain restaurants and stores that we don't have in Bangkok - Krispie Kreme, Hardees, Popeyes, Ruby Tuesday, Applebees, Johnny Rockets, Cinnabon, Baskin Robbins, Chilis...the list goes on and on. My goal for us eating there was that we could eat anything as long as we couldn't get it in Bangkok :) I ate at an amazing French Bistro called Paul for my first meal there - a wonderful melted brie and turkey sandwich on flaky butter bread - sooo good and served with a mixed green salad, fresh bread, a crock of fresh butter and a crock of olive tapanade...it was so good.

Kuwait seems surprisingly do-able. We saw housing options and the school - as well as Dan's work and met some of the people he will work with - including his boss who seems great! One of the guys invited us out to his house to have a cookout and we got to see their amazingly huge house (for just him and his wife)! English is widely spoken because the working class are mainly expats from the Philippines, Indian, Thailand and other countries in the area. Traffic doesn't seem as crazy as I heard it was - though it no doubt is crazy at times - it was pretty tame while we were there. There are quite a few American products that will be easy to purchase (for a price). Overall, it looks good! We're excited to go and see how life is there...now we just have to figure out things like selling our car (because we can't take it there because it's too old), figuring out a church and what exactly our lives and days will look like there!

View out our hotel window - The Arabian Gulf on right and downtown Kuwait City in distance

Yay for IKEA!!!

The money from my wallet...USD, Kuwaiti Dinar and Thai Baht

Coke Cans in Arabic

Amazing lunch for one - fresh bread basket, yummy Coke, fresh butter, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and olive tapenade...a dream come true after lots of rice and noodles in Bangkok!

Quite possibly the best sandwich ever (I don't say that lightly - I generally don't love turkey, but as ham is illegal in Kuwait, it's a good 2nd choice...chicken salad is still the winner, though)

Krispy Kreme donuts - in Arabic
They are all over the place and apparently deliver in Kuwait! We just got the first one in Bangkok last fall and there is still a waiting line approx. 45 minutes to get donuts regardless of the time of day. When it first opened, it was a 3 hour wait...and mostly from Thai's)

View from our Hotel with the Gulf on the left

Dinner out with Barb at Stonegrill - you order raw meat and they bring it to you with a 400F hot stone that you slice up bite sized chunks of meat and cook it on the stone...along with a baked potato and veggies! Soooo yummy! Anyone wants to visit, we'll take you there!

Hardee's sign in Arabic

mmm...Krispie Kreme special donut with Kuwaiti flag on it for their upcoming 50/20/5 celebration - 50 years of becoming a country, 20 years since liberation from Iraq's invasion during the 1st Gulf War, 5 years of the current Emir's (head of state) rule! There were flags and signs for it everywhere!

Picture from a villa there - it looks like the Meditteranean! Fun treed areas leading down to a fun pool and the "Arabian" (Persian) Gulf!

Their pool in their neighborhood

Water towers (pretty striped colors)

And a picture of a Kuwaiti Fire Station for Grandad!