Rain Rain Go Away!

Sebastian had an action-packed weekend planned.  Saturday he was meant to have his first away football tournament at another school.  Then a birthday party, then Gaelic football on Sunday and all got cancelled.  The rain started Friday and just never stopped.  I have never seen anything like it here in Bangkok. In Phuket, yes, but not here.  And everything started flooding.  It was quite unreal.  Therefore, it was a weekend at home.  Love having indoor play for days. And now back to online learning while Bangkok gets cleaned up.

Street next door.

Kids movie time.

He had a sleepover Saturday and this was the booby trap to keep adults out.

All the activities to keep him entertained!

Dart Night - Girls Rule!

As you can imagine, the stacks were high last night.  We went out to play darts, boys vs girls.  The first game went to the boys, which shook me up a little bit.  Luckily, I was able to calm down and make things right in the following two games.  And Eliska and I came out as the champs, which was pretty much always the way it was going to end up.  It was a delightful night and our last night with them both before they left on their travels.  We will miss them loads, especially Sebastian, who loved having them here.  

 

The Must Do Tony Dinner

No stay is complete unless Sebastian has taken you to Tony's for dinner.  He was super excited to take his new besties, Eliska and Henry, there.  He was even more impressed when they both ordered his favourite vodka pasta.  It was hard to get him to tone down the showing off, especially as he beat them in Connect Four several times.  But we still had a nice time.  Bruce also came, which was great. He is no stranger to Tony's, but it was good to get him back there.  We then returned home for more Virus.  Sebastian is going to miss his new besties when they leave us in a few days.

Look at that concentration!

Run for Good 2026

I did not have high hopes Sunday at 3 a.m.; I had a late night Saturday, not by choice and was not in a great mindset when I woke up.  To add insult to injury, it was raining.  I knew it would be highly competitive, and there were only two age groups.  But I went and was so happy I did.  I did not end up on the podium, but I improved my time by 6 minutes compared to the same race last year.  Hopefully by another 6 minutes in 2027!  And BRUCE arrived; I am so happy.  He had a stroke in Cambodia, and I have been very worried.  Got him here now and will get him back to health. We then spent a nice Sunday showing our guests our favourite Virus game.

Sebastian's First Sleepover

On Friday, Fraser left a message for Sebastian asking if he wanted to sleep over on Saturday night, as we were having dinner there.  Sebastian responded, 'Maybe, if his Mum would let him and then asked me to pretend I said no.  I was a little relieved; I do not want him leaving the nest just yet.  But then on Saturday he woke up saying he wanted to.  I packed his bag but was pretty sure he would end up leaving when I did.  But he didn't; in fact, he tried to kick me out even earlier.  I was happy/sad for sure!  I was thankful it was with people we know and love, but still, he did not need to be with his MUM! Heartbreaking!!

Eliska and Henry Arrive!

We were all so happy to have Eliska and Henry arrive from the United Kingdom.  Sebastian the most excited and has been showing off for 48 long hours.  They are starting a 5-6-month Southeast Asia adventure and are starting off in Bangkok.  Eliska is the daughter of my very good friends Martina and Phil in Bruton.  Both Martina and Phil were so kind to me while living in Bruton.  They were actually more like family, I enjoyed vegetarians dinners every Friday (made my a butcher I may add) and our dogs were dating.  I am super happy to be able to repay that kindness now.  Well, and also because I love them.  An added bonus is I quickly discovered that Martina has not shared her wine cub days with Eliska.  As I was sure this must have been an oversight, I have shown them the calendar and have so many more stories to share.

Today I forced some culture on them. It is usually a trip I really enjoy but today it was not as good.  But they still got to see Big Budha so that was good!

Gaelic and Brunch

I love Gaelic Football Sundays, mainly because there is an activity to keep Sebastian entertained.  Every morning he is up at 6am at the latest and requires a lot of entertainment.  I can only play so much tag or football in the mornings before I am worn out. Especially this Sunday, as I was up at 2:30am.  After football, we were taking a family out for brunch, so I was pretty excited to have him entertained for a while!

I also had to recruit some buddies to get him to the brunch!

TGCS 10th Annual Run

I almost did not go.  I could not believe I had signed up for a 4am start. I used to make this mistake but have gotten smarter and try not to go to one that starts much before 6am.   Especially when I realised there were no age groups, why would I want to take a taxi across the city at 3 AM to race 20-year-olds!  But I dragged myself up, as I need every race to make my 30-race goal in 2026.  I was so happy I did, as I placed 2nd! I could not believe it.  I have come a very long way in the last two years; still a long way to go, but yay me!

New bike, Birthday and Buddies

I am doing a Master's course now in the psychology of children Sebastian's age, and part of it is the importance of social interactions for brain development.  Well, I can confidently say he is nailing this.  He cannot be without friends for 5 minutes. Having a morning with us usually results in dramatic crying and throwing things (my course has yet to tell me how to fix this!).  We basically had to drag him to get a new bike Saturday morning and to the park to test it.  He went reluctantly, had a good time at the park, not that he would admit it, and when we returned home, raced straight to the pool for waterslide fun at a birthday party.  And then the next ten hours were spent with friends; from the pool, he went to Bayeme's house for play and a movie.  Pretty much his best day ever, oh, except the morning portion with us!

His bike is almost as big as mine! He is getting big.

Chris's Birthday Dinner

We do not see them nearly enough. Life here, well, anywhere, gets busy, and most of our activities are around Sebastian.  But I was committed to making this dinner happen, and last Wednesday (I am behind) we met up for dinner.  And then wondered why it has probably been a year since the four of us have been out together.