Ahhhh... Paradise!!

We're back from our trip to paradise!! We couldn't have asked for better weather the entire week. It was 80-90's and a wonderful break from the cold.

We left on Jan. 28 and flew to Hong Kong, then Bangkok, then finally to Phuket, Thailand. Wasn't a huge fan of our day of traveling, but it was worth it after getting there! The resort we stayed at was the Sheraton Laguna Grande. We spent most of the time either at the beach or the huge pool. The kids loved them both, the sand at the beach and the pool without the salty water, per Rilynn :)

We could definitely tell that this was 'the' place for Europeans to vacation. It was a bit odd seeing the female children topless and the old men in speedos! We met another couple there from New York, but currently living in Shanghai as well. And also, very small world, there was a lady on our boat trip that lived in our compound. And, I also shared a taxi with her the night I lost my wallet :P

Andaman Sea- Main Beach in our resort

Just to let you all know we didn't forget about you in cold Minnesota while we were soaking up the rays :) LOL

We were told that this place, FantaSea, was a "must see" while visiting Phuket. The only bad thing was that the show did not start until 9pm. Thankfully the kids took a good nap during the day and did great staying up until 11pm. The show was in a huge theater and had magic shows, dancing, acrobats, and of course tons of elephants!!! That was definitely the kids' favorite part :)

The show was the main attraction, but there was other street shows, shopping, and more elephants outside the theater.

Palace of the Elephants, the theater where we watched the show

One of the street shows. Hopefully we'll see some more of these dragon dances here for CNY.

The resort was beautiful. It was part of 'Laguna Phuket' which included other hotels and shopping that we could access via their free shuttle.

Coconut drink

Outside area of the Kids Club on the resort. We dropped the kids off with their own babysitter for 3 hours for 2 of the days so we could enjoy sitting by the pool in peace. It was heavenly for us and the kids had fun too :)

Our view out our front door every morning at 8:30am. Lily and Lucky, the resort's resident elephants would come to visit.

Resort Pics

Our resort from the observation tower

Here's a pic of our new little friend that found his way into our room a couple of the nights. The kids were sleeping and I saw this lovely lizard out of the corner of my eye and freaked out a bit :) Chad tried to get him, but then lost him. We laid back down and I looked up to see him on the ceiling right above my bed!!! Eeeeeekkkk :) I wasn't playing around so called the front desk to get him out. Guy came in, kids still sleeping, grabbed a towel and smacked him down and picked him up with his hands. All while the kids were still fast asleep! LOL.. Another day Chad was telling me that the lizards were keeping him up with their chirping the night before. I thought it had been a bird :) Didn't believe him, but then found another friend in the curtains. Thankfully Chad got him out that time. And then of course heard another one on our last night. Ugghhh, I hate reptiles!!!!!! LOL

The sunsets were BEAUTIFUL!!! These were taken right from our room.

Gekko Restaurant on the beach- Ate here a couple nights for dinner to watch the sunset.

There was this man selling paper laterns on the beach. He lit them for us and we watched them fly away into the sky. We watched it for about 10 minutes and then it disappeared.

The best part of the trip was our full day excursion to the Phi Phi Islands. We traveled by bus for 30 minutes to get to the marina where we traveled via speedboat for 1 1/2 hours to our first beach. We first stopped at the island of Phi Phi Don to visit Loh Dalam Bay, and then swam and snorkeled at Monkey Beach. The monkeys were pretty cool, just chilling on the beach watching us :) The snorkeling was fabulous though!! It was mine and Chad's first time snorkeling and it was so much fun. I was nervous not being a good swimmer but did fine with the life jacket :) The kids also had their goggles and were able to see in the crystal clear water. They could've stayed out there forever, although Brady was very disappointed he didn't see a shark! LOL

Chad snorkeling

Crystal clear water where we snorkeled

Our speedboat for the day. It was a little windy out so the waves were a tad large, thankfully though no was got sick! The kids loved the boat ride, waves and all. (Kathy, pretty sure you would NOT have liked it!!) LOL

Monkey Beach

Was not about to get that friendly with them!!

Viking Cave- Phi Phi Lei Island

Maya Bay- This beach was was where "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. The tour provided us with our own picnic lunch and mats to have picnic on the beach. It was very cool!!

And last, but not least, the elephants!!! The resort had 2 elephants, Lily and Lucky, that would visit every morning and afternoon. Brady was not scared at all and was able to ride him 4 of the days by himself. Rilynn took a couple days to warm up to him, but rode him 1 day by herself and another time with Brady. It was very cool to see them and interact with them that close. They loved all the attention and would seriously stop and pose when they saw a camera! The kids were also able to feed them bananas.

A very talented elepant!

Brady riding the elephant

Not everyday an elephant walks by during breakfast :)

So, we're back 'home' now.. Was nice to come back here to enjoy some 55 degree weather though! Chad spent today (Monday morning) at Bubba's watching the Superbowl. Had to get up at 6am to watch it, but it was worth it to him :) Then he followed it with a round of golf. It was nice for him to enjoy a day out with the guys...

Never in a million years would I have thought that my first beach vacation would be in Thailand, but feel extremely blessed to have this amazing opportunity seeing Asia!