Another Vacation, More Water

We went on vacation to Vietnam and were in the midst of a typhoon. Yes, our vacation luck just hasn't turned out that well. It was a major typhoon, with over 100 mph winds. Pretty crazy. We managed to enjoy a few days at a nice resortcalled the Furama, since we were told the resort we were supposed to be at was closed for repair. I've posted pics up on our Webshots site - of HoiAn, the small town near the beach resort we should have stayed in, of Danang, where the majority of the typhoon damage was and of Hanoi, where we stayed 2 nights and spent some time in the "old quarter" area with lots of shopping! Would have loved to have spent more time in Vietnam, without the bad weather, as there are lots of culture and history to be seen. The people were very friendly and LOVED Ryken, along with the girls. Liz took to just growling at people when they stared too much or got to close. Unfortunately, this just made people laugh and come closer, which then caused Liz to scream. Not fun.

After the vacation, we are settling back into day to day life. I've been to the doctor to get my finger checked out (I swear, I'm just falling apart as I get older) - I have what looks like a small growth on my index joint - but it could just be some sort of swelling of the tendon or ligament, not necessarily bone. I had an xray done today, so we'll see what becomes of that. The girls have had thier last rabies shot (3 in the series!) along with their flu shots, so hopefully we are all done with shots for awhile. That is not an experience I enjoy with those two.

Ryken is now crawling! Yep - not really fast yet, but he's moving. He is able to sit on his own, get into a sitting position from his belly and move all around. He is enjoying his new found mobility. He's also starting to recognize who has him and will cry if he doesn't know the person. He will also reach out his hands to be held by mommy, daddy and ayi! He smiles a lot and is generally a happy baby, unless he's hungry! He enjoys eating - he'll eat 3 meals a day (mainly fruits along with whole grains - oatmeal, millet and brown rice) and he is still nursing. He has started biting me a bit, so we'll see how long the nursing continues with that! I'm trying to find mainly organic things for him to eat here - although that is not an easy task. I'm making all his food right now - the baby food that is imported here is so expensive it just seems a waste. It really is easy to make all his food.

Ashley told me today that she wants to move around to different countries and go to different schools every year. HAHAHA. All this after I've been so worried that we've moved too much in her short life span. I told her that she would have to go to different schools and make new friends everywhere - her response "mommy, I always make friends". True, she is the most social child in her class. She's finally starting to remember everyone's name in her class and if she sees them out and about, she will say hi.

Liz is going to her school 3 days a week and staying home with me 2 days. She seems to like this arrangement so she can get some mommy time. Her teachers told me she is doing well and her Chinese is coming along wonderfully. Apparently, she can speak and understand it very well at school. While we were in Vietnam, she kept speaking Chinese to people, we had to tell her over and over again that they didn't speak Chinese.

Anthony is out tonight - he flew out today for an overnight business trip. He'll be back LATE tomorrow night. The kids haven't all been sleeping well lately - between teething, bad dreams, leg cramps and scary noises, one of them is awake every few hours. I'm hoping they sleep well tonight, I really could use some good sleep. Awww...the joys of children.