Summer in the Penh

We've been terrible with posting pictures again and a lot has happened (perhaps that is why I've been so delinquent). Kai graduated from pre-school (the cute pictures of him singing with Eva) which was a big step. Lots going on at work as well but that isn't as interesting as our last holiday weekend we spent with Australian mates and their children in a restored villa from the 60s in Kep, on the coast of Cambodia. The setting was amazing and the kids had a blast swimming, hiking and giving the villa manager a heart attack.

Grandma Pam visits!

Grandma Pam braved the 20 hour flight from Seattle to help out in Phnom Penh while Carme was on vacation. The kids loved having her here and she even got a chance to sneak out to Angkor Wat as you can see. Unfortunately she came at the hottest time of the year :( Lots of time in the blow up pool in our garden...

Belated Easter pics and some shots from our vacation in the south at a new resort near Kampot. Lovely pool (as you can see) and fairly close to Bokor where, after a miserable 1.5 hour drive to the top, we were able to check out the old casino the French built there in the 50s - it must have been amazing beautiful.

Khmer New Year

Unlike other places in the world we get three new years here - the international one, Chinese and Khmer which happnes next week. The school where both Kai and Eva go had each age group do a little perfomance (Khmer dances and songs) to recognize the occasion today. Super cute although as you see Eva wasn't in to it. Kai did a great job though - he turning out to be a serious ham. Loves his sister too and is very protective of her (see the hand holding :)

Birthday parties are a little different here....

So one of the advantages of living in a tropical country is that you can always have your birthday parties outside and wear shorts to dinner. The other, as you can see, is that you can invite your friendly neighborhood elephant to come by and give the kids a ride. Sambou the elephant normally hangs out at Wat Phnom right by the Embassy and is fed bananas and sugar cane by kids all day so this was a nice diversion for him. He actually loves his job and you can see him jogging to work in the mornings with a smile on his face, literally. Evanelle was a little spooked by the big animal - especially when his snout was rooting around in her hair for a banana but Kai was all over it. He was the first kid up (much to Mom's chagrin) and wanted a second ride as well - fearless that kid... Also a picture of the tallest Cambodian woman ever! She's almost six feet tall and works as a nanny for friends of ours.

More random shots of Kai and Eva running around - she can almost catch him now and as you can see is pretty feisty. The other shots are from a circus performance we sponsored that was designed to teach Cambodian Buddhists about the traditions of the Cham Muslim minority in the country - about 3000 showed up and most had to stand on their motos or (as you can see) on their bicycles to get a glimpse of the stage. The kid standing on the bike was there for about an hour - amazing balance.

Cookie monster

A couple of shots of Kai's mischievous expressions and his favorite new cookie monster shirt. He's starting to pick his clothes out on his own and this one always seems to be at the top of the pile. Also some pics from a trip I took up north to Kampong Chhnang to visit with the Muslim minority group known as the Kan Imam San. They have a very interesting background, brought here hundreds of years ago by a previous Cambodian King, and they worship a mix of Islam, animism and Hinduism. Their mosque looks a bit like a Buddhist Wat and they only pray once a week - at noon on Fridays. The celebration pictured here is the 'maloat' which is their day to remember the birth of Mohammed. It is also the day their newborns get their first haircut and are named. Cambodia has so many layers - each time I think I get it I run into a new group with fascinating traditions and customs. The girls in the picture are part of a program my shop runs which funds English instruction for them after their regular school. They are actually quite fluent!

Our little climber

A new, massive kids playground opened up and they installed a shmancy climbing wall in the back. Of course our fearless son (it will get him in trouble some day) asked immediately to be roped in and he headed up the wall. I see snowboards, free climbing and possibly motorcross in his future :) The rest of the shots are random - Kai and Archie his best buddy - playgroup on the couch and Kai deeply involved in another book with Jen Kennihan our long lost friend who came by for a visit.