Airport Bike Track

I cannot believe it took me four years to get here.  How amazing, and I did not even get to do the 22.5km loop.   The best part is it is free, and for the children, even free bikes, scooters and balance bikes. I dragged Sebastian there Saturday with Ella and Fraser kicking and screaming.  But we stayed 6 hours, and I know he loved it.  There is a smaller 1.5 km loop, which was great for the children.  Then they had a fabulous pump track and then this amazing bit we found at the end for balance bikes. We did not even have time to do the great obstacle-course-type playground they had.  And it was empty and all free.  I think much busier early morning and late afternoon.  I have to go on my own next time to do the proper big loop.  Super great day out.

Year 13 Team Party

I have the best advisory team this year.  Year 13, the dream. Older students, which is huge, and then the best people. Andrew is the leader, also a good friend, and on Friday he had the team over for drinks and nibbles. I love them.

And also a special treat, Lucy! Lucy worked with me first two years and has now returned to Bangkok.

Wonder Women Date Night

I love Nadia Manning with all my heart! This week she left me a present at the front gate. And I love it so much.  I was excited to head out to Wednesday date night.  A yummy mid-week Mexican.  

I then went home to make risotto for Sebastian's much loved risotto cheese balls.  I felt like Wonder Women doing this at close to 11 at night.

 

Sunday Race and Training Day

Friday has come so quickly this week. I even forgot my blog entries.  Sunday seems so long ago, but it's worth mentioning.  I had an early-morning race that felt hard after the pool party, but I made it.  And I was super happy with my time and outcome.  I strangely forgot pictures (well, one), which seems very unlike me.  Sebastian and I then headed over to the Rosses, where Lyndsey put the children into training.  We then hung out at the pool well into the evening.  A lovely way to spend a Sunday.

Saturday Pool Party

Saturday, we enforced a family morning fun day. This is a hard sell, as Sebastian largely prefers hanging out with friends to hanging out with us.  But we managed to drag him out for a brief morning at the park, followed by a movie.  Really, the only way this was possible was that he was desperate to have a pool party that afternoon with all his friends, and I could hold this over his head!

Tony's Vodka Pasta

This week of school, I could not believe how exhausted I was.  How exhausted all of us are.  It was not like I had early nights in Barbados; in fact, we had some very late nights where I was still up at 6am with Sebastian.  But I guess there is just something different about work.  It hits harder!  Also, getting used to learning 100 names again and talking all day.  We celebrated the first week back at school with a visit to Sebastian's favourite restaurant, Tony's.  It is shocking how much that boy can eat, me and Luis had a main and Sebastian ate three courses.  Gone are the days of any child meals; that is for sure.  It was a great way to kick off the weekend.

Year 3 Sebastian, Year 5 Amanda, Year 3 Luis

I cannot believe Sebastian is starting Year 3 and his 5th year at NIST.  Time certainly flys by.  He was excited and nervous about the start.  Luis has a new space that is quite amazing, and I even have a new classroom that I am quite excited about.   Sebastian and I came in early, so Luis missed these Day 1 photos. 

Avana Run and Busy TImes

I have taken barely any photos in the last week. It is not that I have not been busy, but maybe I am all pictured out after a long, full summer break.  It was a busy weekend meeting with friends and doing my first 10km run of the school year.  And now I am busy getting ready for the first day of school with students tomorrow.  I always seem to leave it until the last minute and then am so busy.   But that is just how I roll.  Anyways, I did take a picture of a girlie birthday celebration for Kim Saturday night and then a few pictures of my race.  I was super happy with my result, since I was worried I wouldn't be able to finish.  But finished with a decent time, winning me a hotel stay.

Back in Bangkok

Left Barbados on Saturday in the early afternoon and arrived back in Bangkok at lunchtime on Monday.  About 40 hours door to door, not easy!  But we made it, and we had two days to try to recover before we were back at school.  Luckily Sebastian has an extra week as the jet lag has been much harder on him.  We were very lucky to get back in time to get an evening with Richard and Sara, very good friends from our time in Phuket.  They were in Thailand on holiday, and we caught them for dinner the night before they set off back to the UK.  

On Thursday, we started back at school, which meant I had an evening meeting with the new teachers at Charley Brown's Mexican, as I am a buddy.  It also meant catching up with some of my favs.

Last Night Carib Beach Bar

Our final evening for this trip came far too fast.  As always.  I was so thrilled that Craig had a surprise two-day trip to Barbados, and he was able to join us for dinner and drinks.  We met at Carib with Nats, the girls, Vicki and Hottie, and my forever friends Amy and John.  It was such a lovely evening.  The girls went home early, with Sebastian giving us an extra hour or two out.  It was a perfect way to wrap up a perfect holiday.