Elephants, Entertainment, Early

After boarding the cruise ship, our first stop was a large island in Thailand called Ko Samui. It was delightful. Incredible beaches, fishing boats everywhere, jungle and elephants (okay, the elephants may not have been here originally...), charming and friendly people. From the first glimpses, I already loved Thailand!

Off the dock, I loved looking at all the colorful fishing boats and random island that would pop up in the ocean. There was also a lot of good people watching to be had.



Drove up some super steep mountains into the jungle and stopped at this ancient burial site. Well, maybe it wasn't a burial site. Maybe it's just somewhere they come after people die. Apparently I wasn't listening very well.


Anyway, there were a lot of really interesting statues down there amidst greenery and flowing waterfalls. It was quite peaceful. But also seemed like it was from an entirely different world. After trekking down the long flight of stairs, it felt like you had entered a different time period and for a moment or two, surrounded by ancient statues and sunlight filtering through the trees, it felt like time stood still.







Then it was off to the elephant park! There is something about Thailand that is very commercial/touristy, but in a very tacky way. I don't mean this as an insult, but rather a charming thing in a nostalgic, admiring of the way a culture handles their tourist attractions kind of way. If that makes sense to you, fantastic. If it doesn't, please ignore completely this entire paragraph.


{And apparently blogger has changed the order that pictures are uploaded in, so I apologize for the scattered photos}


After seeing many elephants in Africa, it was really neat to see Thai/Indian elephants and see how they are different. I love how hairy these ones are! You have to get up close to them to see all the fine little hairs, but it was really neat.


And I love love love all the locals everywhere. To me, people capture the heart of a place and culture and so I do love snapping shots of them. I hope they don't mind. When it's close up, I ask and then show them the photos, which they love. When it's far away, I put on my zoom lens.


After watching an elephant show {which was neat to see everything elephants can do and how man is able to tame and train animals, but at the same time makes me feel a bit bad for the elephants}, my mom and I boarded an elephant and went on a trek through the jungle.


Below is the elephant loading dock. It was a bit funny getting on because you have to step on the elephant which feels funny, but I guess he's pretty strong.


For whatever reason, I always pictured me riding an elephant on my own. Just me on the top of the elephant gallivanting through the jungle. So I was a bit afraid, because really, what do I know about elephant riding? Then I realized that the elephants have drivers {OBVIOUSLY, who would trust me to drive an elephant?!?}, and I was reassured.


Visited a local coconut farmer's house. Loved that it was just as is. And there were buffalos everywhere. Did you know that they have water buffalo fighting rings?


Then we stopped at a waterfall. Insert contented sigh. I LOVE waterfalls. Any water in fact. But there's something about tons of water flying off an edge into a large pool that is enchanting.


I was thankful for having my bathing suit on and made my way over large rocks to make it to the large pool where I captured the sight of this stunning waterfall. And my heart was at peace. What I loved about swimming here, was that it was all local people. And we chatted. I don't speak Thai, they dont' speak English, but we all had a great time.


What lovely, wonderful people. I loved when they didn't realize my camera was waterproof, because when water suddenly hit it, they were all so concerned. Once I "explained" that it was waterproof, all was well. The kids seemed intrigued by it and we enjoyed swimming around and getting pummeled underneath the waterfall.


Sigh. I could have spent all day there. Maybe next time.

And thus concludes the travel adventures for today.

Next stop: Bangkok, Thailand.

Harrison, Hectic, Horizontal

Yesterday my canoeing was compared to those drivers that swerve in and out of the lanes on the freeway. I stick to the fact that I got more exercise and had more fun, so that's what matters!

This morning, 2 of my uncles, my aunt, my grandma, a few cousins (from Ontario) and I headed up to Harrison where we put our canoes in the water and got ready for our grand canoeing adventure!


We canoed to the Harrison River entrance and enjoyed the mountains on either side. It was fairly sunny for most of the day with just a little bit of wind.


We even saw a baby sea otter that hung out by the boat for quite a while. Along with adult sea otters, large seals, blue herons, hawks and even a few fish that decided to jump out of the water and freak Adrielle out. At one point I figured she might jump out of the canoe!


We had four canoes, so it was pretty fun having a mini caravan. We did indeed weave back and forth to either side of the river, but we had fun exploring the different parts and finding the faster currents in the river.


We took our packed picnic lunch and hiked up a mini mountain with a beautiful view where we enjoyed our picnic.


Then onward we went. Whenever Adrielle and i saw two things that were relatively close to one another, we would try to maneuver through it.


After four hours of canoeing {I'd be interested in knowing how many kms that is}, we arrived at our destination! It took us a while to get the canoes back to the rental place and take our own canoes back, but it was all well worth it.


I thoroughly enjoyed the day, the beauty all around, the fantastic company-it was truly delightful!


I had canoed the Harrison River a few years ago but it was great to come back a few years later with different people and to see it through fresh eyes as well. It was interesting as I have been watching kids lately, especially my nephew, how they see the world through such excitement and wonder.


Everything is exciting and new and something to be explored and discovered. What a great way to view and experience life!

Then in the evening, we had a BBQ with steak and chicken at my mom's which was SO tasty. Once again, just fun to hang out and enjoy good food and friends!


After dinner, my cousins and I went for an evening swim and hot tub. We decided to play Blind Man's Bluff which is pretty much my most favorite pool game ever. It was fun playing with more people and there was definitely a lot of laughs!

It has been so good to hang out with my family from out of town! The endless laughter and giggling is especially what I love. Below is my cousin showing us how he doesn't eat with his hands {this would make sense in a more comical way in context with the conversation we were having}

Caleb, Emily and Adrielle are headed home tomorrow but thankfully I will be flying out there way next week and will enjoy dinner with them! Only 3 more sleeps until random crazy adventure begins!

Anyway, enjoy your Wednesday. I am hoping to cross many household chores off the to-do list. And catch up with some friends! And more family stuff too!

Underwater, Uglify, Unaccustomed

Underwater cameras = FUN
Underwater pictures = Uglifying {well, not really, but it started with a 'u' so i figured it worked.. but they are not the most complimentary photos to be sure but i will embrace them nonetheless}


As alluded to above, my friend Emily and I had dinner and underwater camera fun the other night. I love underwater cameras but this night photoshoot opened up my world to so many more possibilities.
We wanted pictures from afar and decided why not use the self-timer. While I am not accustomed to using an underwater camera with a timer, we are now officially pros.
We had a lot of laughs, especially because in some of the pictures, our faces are SO distorted!
One of my other favorite things in life is water. I love to drink water, and to swim in it.
I think that is partly as a result of having grown up in the swimming pool during the summers. Every morning in the summer, we would wake up, eat breakfast, go swim, have a lunch break, go swim again, have dinner and then go to bed early to start the day again the next day.
Actually, I was talking to my cousin the other day and we were joking that my brothers and I used to have to go to bed super early.. And whenever their family was over, we'd go to bed while they played in the pool outside. And they would see my brother looking longingly out the window waving, wishing he was there. hahaha.. the thought of it made me laugh. Too bad those sleeping habits didn't stick.
I love eye shots and also crazy hair shots underwater.
If I could be any animal, I think I would choose to be a fish. Actually, maybe a dolphin. Yeah. Because they can attack sharks in the side of the head. Perfect. And they're super smart and everyone loves them. And I know all about how dolphins can get stuck in nets and stuff, so I wouldn't do that.
We decided that a night of swimming fun was not complete without a tea party. We didn't want to go inside wet, so we used our colorful cups for our underwater tea party. A great time was had by all.
Now I think I will go swimming, because this post made me want to do just that! :)

Des' wedding was fantastic! it was outside, with no tent, and it rained quite hard.. but we didn't let that dampen our spirits! And thank goodness for umbrellas! Everything was beautiful and had an essence of magic to it. As I walked down the aisle to "Somewhere over the rainbow" i laughed a bit at the irony of it and wondered where the sun was to create the rainbow.

I have no pictures because I didn't take any, but when I get some, I will post more about the big day! And for now I will recover from standing most of the day and dancing most of the night! Today is truly a day of rest for me! Enjoy your Sunday!

Knight, Kaleidoscope, Kin

Today i decided that a great way to describe life is a kaleidoscope. Definition: a toy consisting of a tube containing mirrors and pieces of colored glass or paper, whose reflections produce changing patters that are visible through an eyehole when the tube is rotated. A constantly changing pattern or sequence of objects or elements.

Sometimes we can predict what's coming, but often life is a random mesh of color and patterns that are ever changing, but ultimately beautiful. Life is kaleidoscopic (and yes that is a word... I looked it up).

For Mother's Day, Des and I told our Omi that we would take her for dinner and a movie. Our schedules haven't worked together until last night when we were able to go out all together. It started at Red Robin's and ended at the movie theatre where we saw Knight and Day.
Some favorite moments from the evening:

Twenty minutes into the movie, Omi leans over and says "Is this the movie?"

During the previews, Des laughed intermittently and every time she did, my Omi chuckled in response.

When leaving Omi's apartment, she noticed the stack of newspapers was getting lower and she made a statement about how they never bring enough papers, whilst grabbing two papers and then proceeding to stash them beneath the couch cushion in the lobby so she could get them later.

Being asked 3 times who brought her the wool to make a new afghan. I bought my favorite patterned wool and am SO excited for this afghan! My grandma is a crocheting machine and I treasure every piece dearly!
Today was a beautiful day and tonight the sunset was stunning. I have done things outside almost every day for the last few weeks and haven't noticed it being overly horrible weather. Sure it hasn't been smoking hot, but I've still been able to enjoy each day and the unique mix of weather patterns with it. Anyway, so this is me saying that I like the weather. I'm enjoying the variety and trying to enjoy each day as it comes. And for those of you who are hating the weather and want it to be super hot and sunny, hopefully that day will come on your behalf. :)
Today I enjoyed doing some of my work by the pool, until a bit of wind picked up one of the papers I was about to mark and almost came to the point of throwing it into the pool. Thankfully I caught it before it made it to the pool. Was able to swim some laps as well which is always such a great to clear the head.
Lots going on but I'm enjoying it all and trying not to get whisked away in the scurry of it all but enjoying every moment and trying to see the beauty in it!

Enjoy looking through the kaleidoscope today and allow yourself to be awestruck by the wonder of the myriad of colors and patterns that life brings!

Seasons, Swimming, Sr.

Yesterday a new season began, today a season of my life came to an end.

Tonight was our last official youth night for the year with me being on staff at church. My contract is up end of June. It is weird being done, but funny too because I know I will be doing some of the same stuff in the future and will still be quite involved, it will just look a bit different with not as much responsibility.

Tonight we had a BBQ and pool party and it was a lot of fun! Just great to be together and hang out and enjoy youthfulness.
I love my underwater camera. :) And so do most people! It is fun seeing what photos are on my camera at the end of the night.
Group underwater photo. Best ever. haha

Yesterday I had a wonderful time hanging out with this little guy-can't get enough of him. Even snapped a few pictures.. He snapped some as well. Only because he was mesmerized by the sound the camera made when he pushed the button.


And dinner and cake for my mom's birthday last night with family! Always great to just spend time together and enjoy being with one another. I'm generally fairly busy and have a tough time stopping and simply being.
I couldn't quite find 57 candles, but I figured 10 would do. Close enough.

And so I welcome this new season! Hooray for summer and nights of enjoying being outside in the warm night air. And hooray for a new season in life. One where in some ways I'm doing a lot of the same things I was doing before. But it feels different in oh so many ways.