Bangkok or Bust: July 2009

We had our first trip home this summer, marking one year now that we’ve been in Thailand (time sure does fly!) It was a whirlwind trip, full of visits with family and friends and LOTS of traveling (we racked up some serious frequent flyer miles this summer!)

Our leave started in June, about a week after the kids got out of school. All four kids and I boarded a flight out of Bangkok direct to Los Angeles. Since Rick didn’t have that much vacation, we left him behind (he joined us about 10 days later.) I was a little nervous I might loose a kid somewhere between Bangkok and LA, but somehow we all made it in one piece with no casualties at all! We spent a few days getting back on the right time zone at my dad’s in Southern California. Since we were totally flipped around on our time zones at that point, we didn’t get out too much. We did, however, make it to Costco, for Costco hot dogs….I had been craving one ever since we moved to Bangkok!!! (And it was REALLY good!)

We headed to Arizona next, where we stayed with Rick’s parents for a couple of weeks. The first week was spent with the kids going to Vacation Bible School with their cousins (they had a whole lot of fun) and all of us going to various doctor and dentist appointments. But we still managed to squeeze in seeing all the family, playing with cousins, visiting friends, swimming, and eating at some of our favorite places, like Serrano’s! J

That weekend Rick arrived, and we were really happy to see him! We’ve never been apart for that long and it was kind of hard on us all. He was pretty bored in Bangkok with nothing to do but work (everyone clears out of here in the summer, leaving lots and lots of men without their families and with nothing to do!)

The following week held lots more visiting with friends and family, and the Fourth of July! We got to see our old neighbors from Dublin Street, a bunch of Rick’s friends from college (one who he hadn’t seen in almost 20 years!!!), got updated on our shots (just Rick and me – two shots each – ouch!), had a few nights out with girlfriends (well, I did!), and saw our good friend Eric, from Tucson, too. We spent the 4th of July at a BBQ hosted by Rick’s friend, Nikki, from high school, and then back to Rick’s parents house where we watched the fireworks on TV – we were all way too tired to keep the kids up and go find some real fireworks to watch! The 4th of July was also marked by Leah losing her first tooth ever! J

The next week took us to Staten Island, NY, to stay with my sister and see my whole family. We spent more time swimming at Katie and Maggie’s birthday party (my sister Liz’s girls), we drove down to Morristown, NJ, where I grew up, and showed the kids around a bit, and had a fantastic dinner out for some delicious Italian food with my sister and her husband, my brother, me and Rick, and my dad and Jewelene (who came out to NY to join the festivities for a few days.) We all pretty much ate until we couldn’t eat another bite, and then ate some more!

On Saturday my whole family got together for the first time ever! My dad and Jewelene were out from CA, Rick and I were there with all four kids (we’ve never taken all the kids there before,) and my two sisters and their husbands and families and my two brothers and their wives and families were all there, too! The Bush clan numbers 12 adults and 13 grandchildren, ranging from 2 years old all the way up to 14 years old! It was really great to spend the day with everyone – I hope we can do it again!

Sunday and Monday brought us a few days in New York City. We headed in to Time’s Square on Sunday, with my sister, Liz, and her family, and my dad and Jewelene. That is one crazy place – especially with 6 young kids in tow! However, we enjoyed checking out the Hershey store (yum) and having brunch, too! On Monday Rick and I headed over to Liberty State Park in NJ with our kids, so that we could take the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty. They were VERY excited about this and it was really neat to see the statue and cruise around New York Harbor! We also ferried over to Battery Park in Manhattan, and tried out luck riding the subways so that we could meet up with my oldest friend, Jessie, from high school, for lunch in one of the parks there. We had hoped to make it to Central Park and maybe the Natural History Museum, too, and to visit with Rick’s Aunt Judy and cousin Jenny and her kids, but time just ran out, as did the kids’ patience and energy!!!! We’ll have to do those on another trip over!

Our home leave was coming to an end and we were in the final days…..we flew from NY to Phoenix and then directly to San Diego, where we spent our last three days at the beach in Carlsbad with Rick’s family. It was pretty low key there – we were too tired to do much! We did go to the San Diego Zoo one morning, which was neat, and pretty much spent the rest of our time hanging out at the beach. The kids had a great time boogie boarding in the surf! Rick and I also got to go out for dinner one night in Laguna Beach – it was a really nice end to a long trip!

We flew back to Bangkok on July 17 and after that long long flight (16+ hours), we were REALLY happy to be home in our own house again!