Becoming Rice Farmers at Ginger Farm

After arriving in Chiang Mai, we made our first stop at the Ginger Farm - and it ended up being one of the coolest, most hands-on experiences of the trip. From the moment we got there, they had us fully immersed…starting with changing into traditional Thai farm clothes and learning how to build a fire.

Once the fire was going, they taught us how to make little boats out of banana leaves to cook our food in. We fed the chickens, collected fresh eggs, and made scrambled eggs to cook while we were out working in the field. 

They also taught us about rice farming and completely blew our minds when they told us white and brown rice come from the same seeds - just different stages of the milling cycle. 🤯

Then it was out into the fields where we got in the mud to learn how to transplant seedlings. After working for a bit, they let us play in the mud and take turns going down the mud slides - which the kids (and honestly all of us 😂) loved.

The farm was so beautiful it had us tempted to abandon life in the U.S. and become full-time farmers.

 

Read more...

Meeting the Monkeys in Lopburi

On the second day, we took a 2-hour train to Lopburi for the day. The train didn’t have AC, so the open windows were the only source of cooling. It was packed, hot, and a little sweaty… which somehow made it even more memorable. 😂

Locals would walk through the train cars selling different goods, and it was fun to see what they’d bring through next. We ended up buying some fruit and coconut ice cream along the way.

Everything we had read about Lopburi said it was a town full of thousands of free-range monkeys. When we got there, we were so surprised to see… none. Apparently things got a little out of hand during COVID, so most of the monkeys were moved to a facility outside the city, leaving just a few around town.

It was HOT, so we let the kids make their first “fun drinks” at 7-Eleven. We wandered around for a bit until we finally found a small area with about 20 monkeys. The kids had fun taking pictures of them - one eventually stole Maeli’s 7-Eleven drink.

Our train back to Bangkok didn’t leave for a couple hours, so we wandered the town in the heat, checked out one more temple, and then waited it out at the train station.

Overall, Lopburi was probably the biggest bust of the trip - but the hot, crowded train ride and the lack of monkeys somehow turned into one of those adventures we’ll be laughing about for years.

Read more...

Camp is 10

Camp is our goofy guy who lives for a good reaction and keeps us laughing nonstop. He’s very open about his love for the ladies and recently informed us he had to switch crushes because his longtime one was “too hard to get.” 😂

He’s all about Stranger Things (Dustin forever) & recently fell in love with baseball - he’d happily let us pitch to him all day long. 

He’s thoughtful in the sweetest ways - every prayer includes protection for “all the people and animals in the world.” And when you ask his favorite part of the day, his answer is always the same…”spending time with his family.”

Camp is the perfect cherry on top of our family - we always know it’s going to be a party when he’s around.

Ten looks really good on you, Camp. We love you big.

Read more...

Cooley Turns 12

Cooley has a deep love for all things Stranger Things, could eat In-N-Out every single day, and recently discovered Mark Rober - so naturally he’s decided he’s going to be an engineer when he grows up. He does great in school but will openly admit he’d prefer to skip straight to being Mark Rober instead. 😄

Cooley is sweet, patient, and incredibly compassionate - always the first to comfort a sibling when they’re upset. A few years ago we talked about mindset and choosing positivity, so now when you ask how his day was, his answer is always: “Outstanding!”

He saves his longest conversations for bedtime, when he loves to tell us how much he loves us and how we’re the best parents ever. 

We truly can’t imagine our family without our sweet Cooley. Happy birthday Gooey! 🤍🎂

Read more...