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As of this morning, I was fairly certain that tonight‘s blog post was going to read, “more of the same“ and just call it a night, but today feels like there has been a definite change. Our morning started as usual, but we got to sleep in until 7. She was up a lot last night, so that was a luxury. She did ok with breakfast, but still kind of whined every time that she was in my arms instead of Aaron‘s. Our embassy appointment wasn‘t until 1:00, so we had the morning all to ourselves and decided to spend it over at Lumphini Park (I carried her the whole time and she did ok as long as we were moving). It was a pleasant enough walk through a beautiful park, but Mia would have nothing to do with the slides or swings (obviously, because more than 50% of her body wouldn‘t be attached to us – more specifically, Aaron). Lots more crying when I would sit down with her, but it didn‘t feel like she was screaming “mai ow“ at me the whole time?
The embassy appointment to obtain our daughter’s visa was a success and was so much more simple than last time. We were literally the only ones there. It still took us over an hour because a lot of the people were still on their lunch break, but another answer to prayer – we had everything we needed and in order to process Mia‘s visa. We came back to the hotel for naps (Aaron literally laid her down in her crib, rubbed her back, and she fell asleep on her own with no fussing) and woke up to find our friends down in the pool swimming. You guys. I love being in Thailand. I love having all of you at home that we still get to communicate with. I have loved meeting our new Norwegian friends and walking through this process with them. But there is something about seeing friends in a place that is so far away from home that just fills you up. To be able to not think about the language barrier, or where you are going, or cultural norms, but just to BE and to be with friends.
We spent some time at the pool and got to introduce them to our new friends, so that was 4 families, 4 Thai adopted kiddos. That makes my heart happy. We then ventured out to conquer public transit. I was right to be intimidated. There is no way I would have ever done that without them and probably won‘t try it again, but I‘m thrilled we did it and I‘m even more thrilled that we just got to tag along while they did the work of figuring out where we were going. At one point, we were on a train that would have made sardines feel tight, but it was a great experience and we made it to Siam Paragon Mall for our final destination.
They found tacos for me! Friends, we eat tacos at our local Mexican restaurant probably twice a week at home (because it‘s actually less expensive than making a meal ourselves and you don‘t have to do dishes afterwards). Our weekly menu still often has tacos made at home even with eating out. I love tacos. But it‘s one thing you don‘t find very often in Thailand, and our friends found them for me tonight… at a food truck… situated inside the most expensive mall I‘ve ever seen. 🙂 And Mia did awesome! I got her to settle down with me and stop crying when we were hanging out by the pool, carried her all the way to Siam Paragon, and she sat in a high chair tonight and had all kinds of personality. Lots of talking, pointing at things, and the biggest smiles that we have seen out of her yet. Amazing night!
After the tacos at a food truck inside the nicest mall I have ever been in (think Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Cartier), we went on a mission to find some cars for the guys to look at. There was a Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porshe, McClarren, Maserati, etc. dealerships inside the mall. Aaron was thrilled. I was happy when I found the largest H&M I‘ve ever seen, but the prices were a lot more than back home. We walked through a staircase framed by palm trees lit up by twinkle lights on the way out to find a taxi back to our hotel. It was unlike any other part of Bangkok I‘ve ever seen and felt more like Miami than Thailand. Really fun and different experience tonight and even better to share it with friends.
Tomorrow, we get another day with friends, but will also be packing up to stay in our last hotel until Mia‘s visa is ready. It was so fun to see some personality in our girl tonight and to be able to spend some time holding her without tears. I‘m fairly certain she tried giving Aaron a kiss tonight, but it was more of a lean in with her cheek rather than lips. So amazed by the transformation from this morning to tonight and so proud of this girl. We are making progress. We might be taking 3 steps forward and two steps back each day, but it is progress nonetheless.
It is the clearest night we have had in Bangkok yet. You can see the lights of the city for miles. The city is bustling below, but all is calm in our room. I’m feeling a little bit sentimental tonight, our last night at the Pantip. We have always had a bit of a love / hate relationship with this place, but as we prepare to say “goodbye” to it tomorrow for the last time, I’m feeling sad. This is where our kids took their first steps into our lives and for that reason, there will always be a place for it carved in my heart.
Also – thank you again to all of you who are reaching out to encourage and pray for us – from the other families who are here on the ground with us (thank you for your kindness this morning) to all of you supporting us from home. Your messages have meant the world to me. I don’t have the time to respond to them all, trying to keep up with just blogging is rough some nights), but I cherish each one. Thank you!
Tools to document your day…
- Camera Phone (for easy pictures and handheld video)
- Mirrorless Camera (for wide angle & zoom options to add quality video and photos)
- Osmo Pocket (for adding smooth movement to your video – like long walks through the park and if you child will play at said park)
- Insta 360 (to put yourself in the video and add unique perspective while you’re exploring)
- Mini Tripod and / or travel tripod (for putting yourself in the photos and video)
It was another low-key day with camera gear for our Embassy appointment (mostly because you can’t bring much of anything inside the embassy). Take the documents you need (I think you can check a phone in at the front desk) and don’t worry about capturing anything else. For the rest of the day, we took different cameras out with us depending on what we were doing. Aaron did try flying his drone from Lumphini Park in a remote area, but the second he got ready to take off, a policeman came over and notified him that it wasn’t going to fly. 🙂 See what I did there? I love the shots he was able to get while we were in Hua Hin, but we had no success flying in Bangkok.
Less intimidating than the DSDW meeting, but I still had no idea what to wear or pack for the Embassy appointment. If you haven’t already, you can check out our posts on Adoption Travel Wardrobe and Thailand Adoption Travel Tips for answers to those questions.
Technology changes quickly, so we’ll try to keep you up-to-date with what is currently in our camera bag and the tools we are now using to document travel.
