Bangkok Week 708 — Mika's Photos

It’s another busy week! Arlo went to school all 5 days; met some goats and sheep at the farm nearby; and visited a great, new playground nearby with his friends P’Rohan and Quinn. Oh, and he’s now another month older! How exhausting!

It's Friday of Arlo's first week at school, and he now has his own shoe clip!

Trying to clip it onto his shoes by himself... with a little help from Dad and Teacher Preeti.

Some photos from the school: Arlo playing on the musical pans...

And watching his friends put on their shoes.

Today is also January 14th! Arlo turns 2 years and 4 months old today! Time to measure in!

Happy to see Bella after a long day (week!) at school.

Saturday morning means a different kind of school: swimming school!

Arlo is waiting as patiently as he can for his class to start.

It's a big class today: 5 students. Here's Arlo!

Practicing his kicks...

... and putting that practice into action!

Very excited to be swimming underwater!

And practicing his back float. We still need (lots) more practice doing this.

Spending the late afternoon at the farm nearby: so many banana trees!

Getting a good close-up of the banana flower.

Hey, we found the secret spot where all the ducks hide!

Arlo found some low-hanging fruit!

And here's an even lower bunch.

Checking out McDuck, up close.

Here he (she?) is!

And the highlight of this visit: feeding the goats and the sheep!

This Mama was happy to try some of Arlo's grass...

... even though he had his eyes on the babies!

Excited that the baby goat was eating from his hands.

And petting the baby goat's soft ear.

Mama's back for more!

Making sure Baby gets some, too. (Mama's like, hey, what happened to my grass?)

Inspecting this very fertile lime tree.

There's another one!

Oh wait, maybe *this* was actually the highlight of the farm visit this time: the ice cream!

Arlo wolfed down -- entirely on his own -- a whole cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

We'd never seen Arlo eat anything so quickly!

The boys clean out their cups!

Trying something new for dinner: a much-recommended baguette delivery shop.

Not bad: affordable, with crispy bread and fresh ingredients. And a free greek salad, to boot.

On Sunday morning, peeling himself some breakfast before heading out to meet friends.

We're at Safari Garden, a new (huge) privately-run outdoor playground and restaurant.

Arlo took it slowly at first, sizing up the place, and deciding that the sandbox might be the best place to start...

... but only if he could keep his shoes on!

With a little help, he managed to do a lot of the playground / treehouse, too.

Taking it slowly!

Made it to this platform. But where to, from here?

It's quite sizable and spacious... and they're building more.

Taking it slowly, across a bridge.

Break time with Dad!

Finally, the train is free! Sitting like a well-mannered passenger.

Arlo even gets to try his hand at driving the train, and tooting the horn!

You can't tell because of the glare, but that's Arlo at the wheel of this Land Rover!

Here he is, demonstrating how well he handles off-road terrain.

Arlo and Mum are off to explore another part of the jungle gym.

Up a ramp we go!

(This affords a great view of their pools, which unfortunately are only open on weekdays.)

Waving to Dad down below.

Making a very slow crossing over this narrow semi-suspended bridge.

Arlo did it all by himself! And it was a dead-end, so we had to turn around and do it all over again!

Plain Jane stairs: Arlo can do these!

And trying a few of the slides.

He insisted that Dad stand "really close" to catch him at the bottom. These were good, fast slides, too.

And an old-fashioned see-saw with Mum. (No springs, no bearings. It's all in your legs!)

Lunch was with P'Rohan, Quinn, and parents, at the Londoner Brew Pub nearby. It was very kid-friendly!

We were pleasantly surprised to see their extensive vegetarian & vegan menu...

... including these "fish" and chips!

The whole gang.

Quinn and Arlo really hit it off over lunch.

Making each other smile...

... and laugh...

... some real sparks here!

But back to reality: it's time to go back to school! Arlo's peeling his breakfast.

Some photos from the school, showcasing what they did this week. Learning about textures...

... and colors and shapes.

Arlo and Dad wear their best baseball hats during the sunny walks home these days.

Arlo is happy to see Bella, and Bella to see Arlo after his 4 hours away!

Maybe Bella can babysit for us...

She's getting used to her new bed, too.

More to/from school action.

Well, this is a good way to get in a bit of exercise!

More exploration of textiles...