Illegal Immigrants

One down, two to go! We just sent Lucy and Andrew off to Singapore and on to Minnesota! We've had a fun and busy two weeks since they got here, so we didn't have a lot of time to blog until now. Here's what we've been up to since we last blogged.

Lucy and Andrew arrived 2 weeks ago on Thursday. Evelyn and I went to the airport to pick them up. We were so excited to see them, and I couldn't believe how big Andrew has gotten!! He's almost as tall as me now, and that has me thinking that I won't be able to beat him in basketball for too much longer. We had a fun time catching up- Andrew thought that I was going to drive the taxi because I got into the left hand side of the front seat (where we would normally drive in the US, but it's the opposite here). We took the rest of that day to rest and get ready for our trip to Langkawi the next day.

Luckily for us, our trip to Langkawi was only 25 minutes by plane, and soon we were in our hotel room next to the ocean. We had a blast in Langkawi. Glenn rented a car and had a lot of fun driving around on the opposite side of the road (he actually did pretty well!). We got to play in the pool, swim in the ocean and dig in the sand. We enjoyed that even more knowing that back in Minnesota they were getting a foot and a half of snow! We also got to explore a bit of the busy part of town, and found a Mexican restaurant there (with no Mexicans working there!!). Needless to say, the food wasn't the greatest there, but we had to try it just to say that we ate Mexican food in Malaysia. We went to an aquarium, did some shopping, and visited Eagle Square (a popular place to see eagles in Langkawi). Glenn, Andrew, Lucy and Evelyn went on the cable cars that went between 2 mountains (I decided to skip it and took a nap instead). I heard later that they were stuck in a cable car with a woman who was so afraid of heights she spent the entire time breathing into a barf bag!

Our next trip the next weekend was to Bangkok. This city was totally different than Langkawi! There were times that you could look around you and forget that you were in Thailand! Andrew and Glenn enjoyed the fact that they could eat all the bacon they wanted for breakfast. In Bangkok Glenn, Lucy and Andrew enjoyed going to a floating market (Evie and I stayed back because it was a really far trip from our hotel and we wanted Evie to get a nap in that day!). It sounds like the floating market was really cool. You actually get in a boat and float down a canal to buy things from vendors who are selling things out of their boats or out of their houses (which were on stilts!). They had a lot of fun and came back with some great stories, one of which was about a lady who was ramming her boat into theirs because she was trying to sell them something! We also got a chance to see the Royal Palace, which is beautiful! The next day we saw the world's largest outdoor market (it's so big you can actually get lost in there if you don't know what you're doing!). I had to make sure that I went with Glenn and Lucy that time, because who knows what they would have bought if I had let them go on their own.

The rest of the time was spent showing Lucy and Andrew around Penang. I think Andrew's favorite part was seeing the monkeys! We had a lot of fun with them, but before we knew it, it was time for Lucy and Andrew to go home. As soon as they left, Evie was walking around the apartment asking for Andrew and Grandma. I told her they went home to see her Grandpa, aunts, and uncles but that we'll see them soon (only 6 weeks left!)  Now we're looking forward to seeing Auntie Emma, who is coming to see us on Christmas day! We have a fun trip planned for Phuket over New Years, and we're excited to catch up with Emma!

We now have a new appreciation for illegal immigrants. While getting through security at the airport trying to get to Bangkok, Glenn, Evelyn and I were stopped. Apparently, Evie and I have visas that are only good for 90 days at a time, which means that every 90 days we have to leave the country. We had been in the country for 92 days,  overstaying our visa by 2 days. We were stopped with about 10 minutes to go before our plane took off and told to wait for the head of security. Glenn told me that there was nothing wrong with his visa, so he could still go to Bangkok, and Evelyn and I could have a fun weekend in the airport sorting things out! Of course, that idea didn't get very far when Glenn saw the look on my face. Fortunately the head of security was very kind and told us not to let it happen again. But, we can always say that for 2 days, Evelyn and I were illegal immigrants!

We hope you are all enjoying the snow and enjoying the last few days before Christmas! We miss you all and wish that we could see you and celebrate with you! We have a little Christmas tree here with some presents wrapped sitting below (thanks to Grandma Lucy). I try to play Christmas music whenever I can. We're excited to have Emma with us for Christmas and we're hoping that we can make this holiday seem as normal as possible. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and have fun with family and friends. We're looking forward to seeing you all in 6 weeks (and counting!!)

Merry Christmas!