songkran 2014

Here are just a few more photos from Songkran that I thought I'd share with you.  They are all pictures from the morning market on the first day of Songkran when we were all still dry!

Yummy food!

Items that could be bought to give to the monks.

What a cutie pie! 

C making friends....

...or maybe just getting annoyed at his new friend!

Bird seller...I think we saw her last year too!

Miss Songkran contestants...

...there were a lot of them!

Everyone wanted to have their photo taken with C! :) 

(Linking up with Our World Tuesday, P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday, Wednesdays Around The World, Little Things Thursday, 

Photo Story Friday, Favorite Photo Friday, Practicing Simplicity, Simple Things Sunday, and Sunday Snapshot.)

c's 67th week

We are on our Spring Break and are loving every minute of it! The only bad thing is that C's grandma Jacquie finally left us and is heading back home to Canada.  We have so enjoyed having her around and will miss her greatly.  C bonded with her and loved playing with his grandma.  Thankfully we'll be back in Canada this summer and we'll get to be reunited again! YEAH!

This week has been a low key week with lots of family time.  We've not done a whole lot and have tried to just decompress from the stress of school and building our house.  It's been nice to spend time as just our little family of three as it is easy to get overloaded with all of our obligations and forget to make time for just us.  Matt and I even made it to a movie this week and had time to go to the mall by ourselves.  Who would have thought that this would be such an achievement for us?!?

The highlight of the week for sure has been celebrating Songkran, which is a fabulous festival in Thailand.  My mom, C, and I got up really early on the 13th and went to a cool food market that we went to last year to start off the festivities.  I'm pretty sure this is going to be a new tradition as I do really enjoy it.  We bought tons of delicious food and enjoyed being out and about.  We missed the monks, but did catch a glimpse of some of the ladies running for Miss Songkran.  On this day, we ate a real Thai breakfast of sticky rice, friend chicken/pork, spicy sausage, and a couple of different different spicy dips/sauces.  YUM!

Matt and I also headed out to play Songkran with our friends.  It was so much fun hanging with friends and celebrating Songkran together.  This is for sure a tradition now as we've done this two years in a row.  We played on the streets and had tons of fun splashing people.

If that wasn't enough, this year we ended up meeting up with my extended family and playing from the back of a truck! That's right.  We sat in the back with large buckets filled with water and blocks of ice.  We had a ton of fun getting people with our cold, cold water.  Don't worry, C joined in the festivities too...from inside the truck! He hung out in the truck with my mom and his other grandmothers while my uncle, cousins, Matt, and I played out back.  He loved it and had a great time watching everything.  Since there was so much traffic, C ended up eating non-stop while on the drive.  He also tried a happy meal for the first time from McDonald's as it was the easiest thing for him to eat.  Definitely not a proud mommy moment, but it's not the end of the world, right?

April 8 - April 14

Ready to go swimming!

Fun in the pool!

All ready for Songkran! Strolling along with Apo.

With papa and mama (yes, we are embracing the Chinese names!) :)

My cutie pie!

Making friends!

...All About C...

So C has been off on his naps this past week.  It's sad, but it seems as though he's beginning to go to only one nap a day.  It's not consistent though, so we do try to get him down for two naps.  Sometimes it works and other times not so much.  On the positive side, on the days he only has one nap, C does tend to go to bed a bit earlier than usual.  That's right, gotta find the silver lining in all of this.  HA!

We also took C swimming again this week and used a super cool new inner tube that we got from the US.  He wasn't a huge fan of the pool, but at least he didn't hate it.  Hopefully as we get into the pool more, C will start enjoying it as much as he does his baths.

HERE are more pictures from this years Songkran festivities!

(Linking up with Our World Tuesday, P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday, Wednesdays Around The World, Little Things Thursday, 

Photo Story Friday, Favorite Photo Friday, Practicing Simplicity, Simple Things Sunday, and Sunday Snapshot.)

songkran 2013 part 3

Just a few more pictures from Songkran to share with y'all!

Little boys having fun...one with his bucket ready and the other hiding in the barrel!

The guns are ready to go!

Smart ladies choosing to slow down rather than trying to speed past...

The older gentleman is enjoying every moment! 

His weapon of choice is a type of water gun made from PVC pipes and works really well.

So many things for sale along the streets...hats, water-guns, and food!

ICE...to make the water being thrown cold...BRR!

He's got on a long sleeve shirt and a full face mask and sunglasses...WHAT?!?

Oh tourists...you will never stay dry!!

Please check out Part 1 and Part 2 for more Songkran pictures.

(Linking up with P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday, Our World Tuesday, Tuesdays Around The World, Little Things Thursday, Che and Fidel, Photo Story Friday, Favorite Photo Friday, Sunday Snapshot, Simple Things Sunday, and Give Me Your Best Shot.)

songkran 2013 part 2

As I mentioned in Part 1, a big part of the Songkran festival is the city-wide water fight that takes place over the course of 3 days in order to celebrate the Thai New Year (although people actually play for 4 days because really, who wouldn't want to?!?).  This water fight is crazy, insane, outrageous, and just plain old FUN.

However, a far calmer (and dryer) activity during Songkran is the giving of food to monks.  This year, my mom and I headed to Thapae Gate, which is a main square in the old city, early one morning to see Songkran being celebrated in this more traditional manner.  We watched locals give food, drinks, symbolic flower arrangements, and even money to the monks in order to receive blessings.  The monks were lined up from oldest to youngest and people seemed to want to give more to the older monks.  This might have caused a problem, but there were workers who emptied the containers the monks were holding in order to make room for the many offerings they were receiving.

Besides from the monk procession, we also saw school kids dressed in traditional Thai clothing ready to dance and perform for the crowds.  There was even a small northern Thai market set up selling all sorts of delicious goodies.  Don't worry, we definitely bought some food to take home! After all, it's never too early to eat sticky rice and friend pork, right? 

Bombarded with offerings. 

All lined up and ready to begin.

On the move...

Lots of gifts...

Girls dressed up and wearing the long fingers for a Thai dance.

Miss Chiang Mai is in pink and the runner ups.

 

Dancers and drummer...

Drum

Some of the items given to the monks for sale for those who didn't bring things from home.

Deep fried pork...YUM!

Different foods wrapped in leaves for sale at the market.

Northern Thai deliciousness...meat, meat, and more meat!

Birds for sale, lottery tickets for sale, and a happy little old lady!

Please check out Part 1 and Part 3 for more Songkran pictures.

(Linking up with P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday, Our World Tuesday, Tuesdays Around The World, Little Things Thursday, Che and Fidel, Photo Story Friday, Favorite Photo Friday, Sunday Snapshot, Simple Things Sunday, and Give Me Your Best Shot.)

songkran 2013 part 1

Happy Songkran everyone! This amazing festival is considered to be the Thai New Year and annually falls on April 13-15.  It is celebrated in many ways including visits to the wats (temples), giving food to monks, and of course throwing water on people.  That's right, you read the last bit right.  This is a festival that actually permits and encourages you to THROW WATER on others...as in a city-wide WATER FIGHT! I love this festival for this reason and enjoy getting out and participating in the fun.

If you are in Thailand during Songkran, Chiang Mai does it THE BEST.  We have a moat around the inner city and this is where a lot of the fun happens.  People all over town (and many from out of town) come to the moat and participate in the water fight.  Young and old, local and foreign, we all come together and celebrate.  Participation in the water fight can be done in several ways.  Some people sit in the back of trucks with barrels of water on hand, others stand along the street and use the moat water or city water, and then there are those who sit in tuk tuks or on motorbikes.  People use water-guns, homemade water sprayers, or simple buckets.  You can use clean city water, dirty moat water (the only time in the year that one would even consider touching the moat water), and still others even use ice water.  Everything and anything goes on these days and if you are out and about, you better be prepared to get wet!

Enjoy the photos I took while staying dry inside the truck!

Don't worry...we left C at home and did get out to play for a couple of hours one day too! 

Tuk Tuk

Getting splashed!

So many modes of transportation...

So many buckets to purchase and bags to keep your things dry!

Anxiously waiting for his next target...

 

Getting drenched on a Tuk Tuk!

Water-guns galore!

Kids climbing on the old city walls and playing in the nasty moat water!

Chaos on the streets...only during Songkran would a man wear a bra to try to sell ice!

SOAKED!

There's no hiding!


Oh so happy!

Please check out Part 2 and Part 3 for more Songkran pictures.

(Linking up with P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday, Our World Tuesday, Tuesdays Around The World, Little Things Thursday, Che and Fidel, Photo Story Friday, Favorite Photo Friday, Sunday Snapshot, Simple Things Sunday, and Give Me Your Best Shot.)