We're still sick...Levi has now joined in on the festivities. Poor Jason has been cleaning up lots of messes. Thankfully, I am a bit better today and can actually get out of bed. Yesterday I pretty much felt like death. Hoping we can get past this and start enjoying the rest of our summer!
More photos from our trip...
A beautiful day in Ooty...just like all of my memories
Alaina posing in the archway of our old Church
A 4th of July lunch of hot dogs and chips and apple crumble with new friends. Katie, my ever-so-Asian child said, "I want rice!"
The story behind these two photos: In the front room of our friends house there was a box that the kids were using as a fort. Caleb asked me if it was a box for a washing machine. I said, "No, it is a box for a dryer." He responded with, "What's a dryer?" (Obviously we don't own one). I then tried to explain to him what a dryer was and since he was looking so confused so I brought him in to see theirs. He just sat and stared and exclaimed, "That is the COOLEST thing I have EVER seen!" Levi then took his turn watching! Ahh...the life of TCK'S (Third Culture Kids).
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Before I show the next pictures, you need to understand a few things about life in Asia. Although much of Asia is developed, nice, and up to Western Standards, not nearly everything is. That is especially true when you are in a small town in India. One day our friends called us and asked if we wanted to go to a local tourist site that they had never been to -- WAX WORLD. I've been to a couple of wax museums and they were amazing...so, I was eager to go. I should have known better. The place was small, dark, dusty, and quite creepy. The wax figures were often distorted and all were covered in a thick coating of dust. There was no rhyme or reason to the figures either...so were famous Indians and some, well, were not.
Mother Theresa
The kids had an interesting discussion about whether or not this was Jesus. Most of them decided it was NOT, because Jesus did not have blond hair!
When Katie saw these Indian street men/sick people, she told me to, "Shhhh! Boys night night!"
You should take the warning of this sign seriously! Consider yourself warned. Notice the details of this gruesome picture!
Remember, don't drink and drive!
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After the rather scary trip to the wax museum, we decided to try another local tourist point -- a thread garden. Our travel book didn't have anything awful to say about it, so we thought we would give it a try. It was...um...interesting. More dark. More dusty. More things to laugh about.
It is an entire "garden" made from thread. Each of the flowers was wound with different colors of thread. It took 50 people TWELVE YEARS to make it. The sad part was, it was so dark in there you could barely seen, they kept you behind a wood barrier, and the dust was so thick you couldn't appreciate any of the work.
At least the signs in the place were amusing! It isn't everyday you get to see a "world miracle." My memory will "not willingly let it pale."
Katie getting her usual attention from the Indians
The next day we all took a train ride to the next town. It was a gorgeous drive! Katie focused more on taking care of her baby than looking out the window!
Beautiful tea fields...
By far, the kids' favorite part of the trip was riding everywhere in rickshaws. Since they are called "auto rickshaws" (as opposed to the older bike/hand carried ones), the kids had an ongoing debate about whether to call them "autos" or "rickshaws". It was cute :) My favorite was Caleb's phrase of, "I love riding in Otters!"
While we were waiting to order lunch and the kids were playing on the playground, we had an invasion of the monkeys!
After a long lunch and a slight transportation fiasco, we decided to switch locations and walk to a nearby coffee shop. Two families with a total of eight kids is quite a sight!
In this pictures you can see the two superdads. The friends we spent an entire week hanging out with were amazing. Jason and the other dad (Ryan) have got to be two of the most amazing dads ever. They were always doing everything they could to help, taking the kids (especially the two little ones) and sometimes even taking ALL EIGHT KIDS out by themselves...BY CHOICE. Angie and I are two lucky ladies!
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The next day Alaina and I had a little girls day out in town. So fun to spend time with my girl!
I had to laugh every time I passed this sign. So does this mean that if I park here, they will chop off my big toe??
A quick stop for coffee and a smoothie...
And then lunch at our favorite place
Tomorrow I will be back and show you Alaina's favorite purchase of the day!
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