Bangkok Week 841

August 8, 2024

It’s the week we’ve all been in denial of: Granny and Grandpa leave Bangkok and head home. And to make matters worse, Mum leaves for Madrid two days later. Kudos to Dad and the kids for plowing through!

We begin this week spying on the tennis courts.

(Which provide good lighting.)

Oh no! It's Granny's last breakfast with Arlo & Lucy. Who's going to give Lucy her yoghurt?

Helper Arlo is helping to bring down the sheets from Granny & Grandpa's bed.

Too sad to take a proper photo.

Bye bye, Granny & Grandpa! See you in September.

Lucy is perfecting her chopstick skills.

And Arlo is "fishing" from the balcony.

Reading about Thailand over dinner.

And burning some late-evening energy.

This pretty much sums it up.

Uh oh! I see two bopping laundry baskets, but no kids!

At swimming, Lucy's still not confident enough to stand on the mat.

But she'll happily run and jump off it!

Trying on her new (old) coat for Japan.

Two monkeys "helping" K. Wan with the cleaning.

Who gets a snack before swimming!?

It's Teacher If today, who has to put up with the monkey's shenanigans.

Arlo opened a store!

Lucy will take two, please!

Waiting my turn in line.

After-dinner exercise.

Synchronized sliding?

Doing a tour of the moo baan with k. Wan before she heads home.

What a charmer!

Uh oh! Someone needs to go to bed, stat!

A final bedtime story with Mum, before she's off to Madrid.

Bye bye, my monkeys! Behave well!

The lotus bloomed again after coming back from the brink of death.

Wearing a paperclip.

Great lighting for these chair photos -- photo credit Dad.

Two monkeys in pajamas.

Someone knows how to smile for the camera.

Arlo is pleased with his new powered locomotive + passenger car.

Testing how much weight it can pull.

Wow, it can even climb a hill while pulling 5 cars.

Then a pivot to painting.

This requires a lot of concentration and precision.

Pleased with her art.

And then moving on to people. Lucy loves her people.

The trains continue to entertain.

Whereas Lucy's people continue to sit around.

Peek-a-boo!

Did we mention Lucy's stank face?

Oh wow! Two new rescue vehicles, too! Dad's pulling out all the stops.

Poor Dad. Not much work going on, I see.

K. Wan's two little Wednesday helpers.

The truck driver, pulling his caravan.

Stopping to serve some champagne to Longjohn - how thoughtful.

Practicing her balancing -- maybe soon she'll be ready for the floating mat!

Lucy's patiently waiting her turn to swing.

And hanging out with the big boys -- who are more fun anyway.

Meanwhile this week, Mum is off to Madrid.

The skies over Eastern Europe are busy on a Monday morning.

Great view of Frankfurt airport. Hey wait a sec, aren't we supposed to land there?

And then heading south over the Alps.

Welcome to beautiful, hot hot Madrid!

Looking for dinner on the Gran Via.

Hmm... a tuk tuk with shoulder belts!? This can't be authentic...

And a hopping walking street.

CentroCentro at night.

And beautiful tree-lined Paseo del Prado.

The hotel.

CentroCentro again, this time at sunrise.

Looking up Gran Via.

Beautiful shadows from the low sun.

Puerta de Alcalá - Madrid's answer to the Arc de Triomphe?

Beautiful tile work.

And one more walk, this time through the Parque de El Retiro.

So many runners, it's a hazard!

And so many beautiful trees.

Excuse me, sir, but there appears to be a bird on your head.

We need one of these!

A chance meeting in the Madrid airport -- with Yvonne, Alba and Ines's mum!

And we're homeward bound. The great Frankfurt cityscape.

I applaud Condor for having a sense of humor.

But tonight, I'll be riding the "purple one" (to quote Lucy). See you soon!