I was awakened this morning to the phone ringing. I didn't even have to look to know that it was Andy calling. He said that they had been shopping at the Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai and their group was the first one back. He was excited because he had gotten a pair of Adias for just under $10. He said that they have been eating at McDonald's at nights for $2 a value meal. He said that he had gone to the orphange on Saturday there (they are 12 hours ahead but I think I tell everyone that every time I blog). Anyway, he told me that I would not have made it out of there without a few children to bring home. He had played with a little 6 year old boy and then when he left he (Andy) was crying. He said that it was emotional because he knew that he couldn't help this little boy who just wanted someone to love him. Andy told me that he wished we would adopt him. On Friday afternoon, they held the party for the college kids they had been witnessing to and 3 people got saved. He said it was awesome!
They leave for the village on Sunday afternoon their time. The village is like a small town. The analogy was that Andy was going from someplace like Arlington to a town like Maypearl. To get to this village they will have to ride for 7 hours in a taxi. Now a taxi there is actually the bed of a pickup truck. Andy said that they will have to wrap their heads and face to travel like this. He said that they would not be able to contact anyone until they got back next Saturday.
He said that the Internet there is faster than anything we could dream of here. He said "it is sick fast". He did email some people but they have now been told that the privilege is now gone because some people didn't follow the rules for it.
He said that when they start for home they will leave Tuesday night (July 3rd) their time, fly to Bangkok for an 8 hour layover, then Hong Kong for a 3 hour layover, on to LAX, and then into DFW. They will be back at Garden Valley for a couple of days to debrief and adjust to being home again.
Can you believe it has already been 2 weeks? He sounds so different and unlike the boy I sent off. I knew he would change and I can't wait to see the changes in him.
Everyone sing! "Our State Fair is a great State Fair..." OK, that's enough. After the failed attempt at attending the fair on Columbus day I pulled Lynne and the boys out of school and we went on a Thursday. It was alot less crowded but it was senior citizen day. Will got his foot run over by a little old lady in her electric scooter. She never even slowed down, it was funny.
The sand castle exhibit was interesting. How do they get that sand to stay in place so they can carve it? I guess they pack it while it's wet.
The new Texas Skyway was up and running. We didn't ride, I still remember what happened to the last one. The gate we entered the park thru was under one of the stations.
This is the first animal we saw when we went into the petting zoo. They had alot of exotic animal there as well as the barnyard variety.
Here are the boys petting an American Bison (aka: Buffalo).
Then the boys got hungry. Here they are eating lunch. Oh wait, that's the wrong picture. See the post "Together at the State Fair" below for that picture.
Here is the view up the Esplanade looking toward the Texas Hall of State. The picture isn't fuzzy, those are the water drops from the fountains at the front of the pond.
I think Jesse found his car!
The Amazing Acrobats of Africa were performing in front of the African American Museum. How low can you go?
And of course the entire day we're making a big loop around the Cotton Bowl. You can see the Skyway again in this picture.
We went to the bird show again this year. It was fun as usual.
If you look real close you can see them releasing an eagle out of the gold car on the Texas Star Ferris wheel. It glided down and landed on the guys arm on stage. It's an eagle from Africa but it looks kinda like a Bald Eagle.
Here is an owl taking flight. Look at those talons!
One more shot of Big Tex. In the background you can see the Tower Building (I wonder why they call it that), the Cotton Bowl, and the Texas Star.
And of course I had to include this picture. There was a garden railroad around the base of Big Tex! We decided that we are just going to pull the boys out of school every year to go to the State Fair. It is alot less crowded and much more enjoyable during the week. And there were alot of other parents and kids there who had done the same thing!
