Bangkok Week 788 — Mika's Photos

Welcome back! It's a holiday Friday, and these monkeys are already up to no good. So it's time to get out of the house...

... and to Safari Garden!

We haven't been here in over a year; Lucy was a newborn.

And now, she's courageously sliding down all the slides by herself.

Here comes Arlo. His confidence has increased since last time we were here, too.

And here comes Lucy...

... another successful slide!

Arlo's showing her how to drive the train.

Diligently checking for oncoming traffic.

Lucy's two passengers. Hang on!

Enjoying himself in the sand much more than he used to.

Mum, and her two koalas in a tree fork.

Looking out of the tree house...

...and out toward the swimming pool.

Lucy, another slide?

Arlo's trying his first good old-fashioned see saw. They don't have these at Benchasiri Park!

Lucy's enjoying the tire swing -- and she very quickly figured out how to keep the swing going!

Of his own volition, Arlo scaled the climbing wall.

And the zip line is open for riders! Queueing up patiently...

... getting strapped in...

... and wee! We're off! How fun!

Arlo's decided to pilot himself and Lucy home.

Just kidding! We have two pooped kiddos, neither of whom would have been fit to fly a plane.

A good koala show, with his favorite pal, is always a recipe for R&R.

Lucy's eager to take herself for a walk later.

Uh oh. Someone just woke up with a giant case of bedhead.

Hi Lucy! Hi Dad! Arlo just wants to go for a bike ride before dinner.

Ooh! Look what's growing on a vine down the street.

Bitter melons!

Lucy the monkey, up to her tricks!

Arlo has taken to photography recently.

And he's very good at capturing those candid moments..!

Saturday morning; everyone's up and fresh.

Family of monkeys.

Two monkeys, riding the horse.

We've got our koalas, and we're hitting the road: destination Trat!

Stubborn little Lucy didn't want to nap during the ride, but fell asleep minutes from Puu and Yaa's house.

A greeter has come to welcome Lucy!

Thank you, Bella, for the abrupt awakening!

Lucy wasted no time jumping onto the Trat toys.

Check out the mirror on this trike!

Although her legs aren't yet long enough to pedal, she managed to propel herself forward with 1 foot! Impressive.

Pressure-testing Bella's nose.

Putting the stacking ring on Bella's wrist like a bracelet. Maybe this is why Bella moved to Trat!

Hello, Bella. Are you in there? Are you wishing you weren't?

Lucy was really keen to spend time outside, but it's peak dengue season, and Trat is leading in cases.

Welcome back from the hospital, Dad! 5 stitches and some blood loss later, Dad is patched up and ready to resume his visit.

Feeding some almost-Eucalyptus to the koalas.

Lucy's making herself at home in the bedroom.

Poor Puu spent the whole weekend trying to teach Lucy how to say "Puu".

Monkey Lucy, munching on a foam piece of the sofa.

Night night, boys! It's been a long and eventful day!

The next morning, Arlo wastes no time finding excuses to play with the cats...

... while everyone else gets ready for the merit-making ceremony. Lucy takes a good look at her great-grandparents.

Waiting patiently for the ceremony to start.

Dad, too!

Arlo discovered the delicious sweet, seedless grapes that will be part of the monks' dessert. Yum!

Milk break for tireless Lucy.

Lucy did pretty well being passed around among several new faces.

Hey, she eats the same foam sofa pieces too, Lucy! Imagine that!

Trying some Durian dessert, while waiting for the monks to arrive.

Beginning the ceremony.

And now, with the monks.

Lucy was comfortable taking a front-row seat.

Good job just sitting there, Lucy!

And the part Arlo's been looking forward to all week: tossing the coins!

It's fun for all ages!

Arlo just needs to learn how to through evenly to all people!

Trying out one of the guest's e-bikes. Almost the right size!

And doing a tour of Aa Top's shop.

Helping tidy up: dusting Bella.

To reward them for being so good in the morning, it's a late afternoon trip to Makro... to see the forklifts in action...

... to visit the aquarium...

... and to ride in the giant shopping cart!

Evening milk time!

Lucy's getting a little helping hand from Yaa.

Early Monday morning: everyone's up and ready to hit the road again.

But not before some goodbye photos.

Lucy with her grandparents.

And the same photo, with older monkey Arlo.

And with Aa Top and Bella.

Lucy's enthusiasm is waning.

All together now!

Great smile, Bella!

All packed in, and ready to go.

Very quick pitstop at a posh cafe, so that Arlo could use the toilet.

But so nice, Lucy intended to stay all day!

And finally, back home!

The house around the corner, which has been under renovation for many months now, is almost done -- and going to be a beauty clinic.

Unclear what triggered this creepy expression...

... but he's got something in mind!

Quick trip up to the Toyota dealership to check out the all new Innova Zenix!

Apart from the stylish brown seats, it ticks all the boxes!

Plenty of room in the 3rd row...

And definitely plenty of room in the 2nd row. This looks like a winner!

When we returned home, Arlo was hard at work...

... drawing a really great car!

Lucy's new favorite food, and toy, is ice!

She can also say, "iiiiiiice". Is it cold, Lucy?

Quick visit to the house. The various pipes and tubes are running all through the kitchen.

The new wall dividing the kitchen and the bathroom is up.

The mini-wall dividing the dining area and the kitchen is finished, too.

The new closet area of the master bedroom.

And the master bathroom coming along.

The water boiler is installed; the ceiling will need to be slightly dropped.

Arlo's taking a trip with Dad...

... a nice opportunity to do some car-spotting and get some snacks.

Meanwhile, Mum is off by electric tuk-tuk to run some errands.

The ice cube club...

... both members enthusiastically enjoying their ice cubes.

Chef Arlo is helping Dad cook dinner tonight.

He's doing a great job preparing the greens, carefully selecting them...

... and chopping them up into bite-sized pieces.

But he just can't help himself; let's pretend this is eucalyptus!!

Two important pieces of equipment for our trip arrived today!

Lucy doesn't know what it is, but she's excited, because Arlo is.

Powerful pink for Arlo, and beautiful blue for Lucy.

Party in the bedroom on Thursday morning.

And then Arlo has his 6-month eye check-up.

After a mixed-result wall test, he's looking at the tiny photo of the barn instead.

Now that the pressure to read numbers and letters is gone, Arlo's enjoying himself in the mini-park.

Admiring the tuk-tuk he got after the visit.

And testing out the headphones. Important to get practice in before the flights.