Kicking off the Party Season

December is a month full of birthdays at our house, both near and far. (Sending love and hugs to Uncle Gerry and Cousin Wendy!) We started the festivities this year with Daddy's birthday on the 11th. An extra birthday present for him this year: he was not scheduled to return to Chiang Mai until the 15th but his travel schedule changed and he took advantage of an opportunity to escape the noxious smog in Shanghai and celebrate with us here. The kids were so excited to have him back home!

We let Heinz choose the restaurant and he decided on the very lovely River Market Cafe, east of the old city, on the Ping River. 

We enjoyed some delicious local dishes, thirst quenching juices and a beautiful view of the river.

After dinner we explored the grounds a bit, getting a closer look at the beautifully-lit Iron Bridge nearby.

We floated a lantern in place of candles on a cake. Make a wish, Daddy!

The kids played on the "elephants" by the river and then we headed back home.

The festivities continued the next day with the "Adventsbasar und Weihnachtsfeier" at the School the following evening. 

We are still trying to wrap our minds around attending Christmas activities, surrounded by trees, lights and Santa hats while wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts. The kids ate bretzels and wurst and played a few games. 

Nice shot, Conrad!

After evening fell, the students put on their Annual Christmas Show. The first graders sang a German version of Jingle Bells.

As usual, the Christmas songs made me very nostalgic and melancholy, but the joy of the children and the season in general does help to soothe, a bit, my longing for those I love who are far away.
We continued the next day with the Kindergarten festivities, a coffee breakfast with the Mums and Dads.

The parents were serenaded by the kiddos with "In Der Weihnachtsbackerei" and then we were all presented with gifts made by the kids, delivered earlier that morning by the resident Swiss Santa, Vivienne's friend Elias.

Vivienne celebrates the last day of the term with her friends Ylvie and Elena and an uncharacteristically shy Santa.

You know you are not partying in the west when the Christmas tree sugar cookies and coffee cake are nestled next to satay, sticky rice, speckled eggs and banana leaves! (That satay certainly did not last long!It was delicious!)

After 3 days of partying, we took a break to welcome Grosi to Chiang Mai and settle into the kids' first week of school break.

We capped that week off with one final soiree, the annual Swiss Lanna Society Christmas Party. For the kids, the best part of that event was the swag they got from the Balloon Man!

We still have one very important party to host, a certain 7 year-old's birthday fest, but as most of his friends are away for the 4-week break, we have had to postpone it into the New Year so they can come as well. In the meantime he celebrated with some other friends by doing 7 burpees that morning at his CrossFit Kids workout!

We've enjoyed our holiday season and hope you have enjoyed yours as well. We continue to hope that one day soon we can celebrate with you, too.

Love to you all~

Saint Nicholas, 2013

Setting up for Saint Nicholas' Day last year was pretty simple as we lived in a climate where the children had already long since been wearing their winter boots. How does one celebrate in a country where the children only wear flip flops? I considered this option:

Then I remembered that, although they have been in the closet for weeks as the rainy season has passed, the children do still have boots! So I went with a more traditional solution.

Thanks Saint Nick! Conrad and Vivienne are very happy with their treats! We enjoyed the morning and then headed off to tackle some errands, which began with a stop at the fish store. Funny how a free fish, won at a Christmas carnival the night before, turns into a 20 dollar tank and 9 fish friends to keep him company!

No fish, free or otherwise, is dying on my watch! Now we just need to remember to feed them all the time. We finished all of our shopping and headed out to enjoy some of the local Christmas decorations. With all the reports of vicious smog in Shanghai and record ice and snow in Dallas, we're happy to say that the sun is so bright today in Thailand that Conrad could have worn shades!

Elephants in Santa hats; does it get any better than that??

Hope you all are enjoying the Christmas decorations in your part of the world~