This week marks the end of Arlo’s school break, and the start of Lucy’s. Unfortunately, the virus Lucy had continued to make its rounds through the house.
Nevertheless, we had an enjoyable weekend, and Lucy made the most of her week off - with play dates and a long-overdue doctor’s visit. Meanwhile, Arlo went back to school and celebrated CNY on the actual date (Tuesday).
This week marked the start of Arlo’s mid-term school break. He used the week off to relax, play with friends, swim, get a haircut (!!), and spend some quality time at Annabel’s. Lucy, meanwhile, had school as usual — including picture day. She also got a new bed!
The highlight of our week, however, might have been biking around the neighborhood that’s riiiight behind us, but normally inaccessable. But they opened the back gate on election day, and so we got to explore!
This is the week that Crazy Caterpillar Lady really shows her true colors! But first, a healthy dose of bad air; Maths Day at STA; a playdate with friends; and lots of garden time at both schools.
The time has come, where we bid farewell to Granny and Grandpa. But not before we send them off with a bang: a fun farewell lunch and lots of hugs.
We also celebrate Emily’s 4th birthday; Dad’s 4Nth birthday; and prepare to celebrate Maths Day!
This week, Mum is off to Madrid and Paris for work, but the show must go on!
But first: it’s a full-on weekend, with a trip to the park, IKEA, and even some puddle-jumping mixed in. And then another attempt at ice skating with Emily!
This week begins with the last remnants of pleasant cool winter weather, but ends with a humid and smoggy January.
Nevertheless, Puu comes to visit overnight; we visit Benjakitti Forest Park for the first time in a long time; and our caterpillar enterprise rows by the day.
At long last, the children go back to school this week! But not before we wrap up some holiday formalities, including decorating the gingerbread houses, and having long-overdue playdates with friends.
We also discovered some plump caterpillars munching their way through our citrus plants, and adopted them as part of the family, effectively starting the next season of caterpillar-watching.
Happy 2026! 🎆 This week is the time-warp from Boxing Day through New Years Day, where we have no sense of time or place. But, we did do a lot of things!
Importantly, Shin Shin 6 (and his cousins 3 and 4 across town) emerged from their cocoons as healthy but homely Hawk Moths, and flew away to complete their short lifecycles.
We went ice skating ⛸️ twice (for the first time in exactly two years); Lucy is progressing well for a beginner, and Arlo is finding his skating feet again.
We spent New Year’s Eve at Happy & Healthy Bike Lane with Emily and her family
We even got in a few swims! 💦
1 second for every day of 2025, starring Arlo and Lucy. Made with https://1se.co/.
What a milestone-filled week!
We all piled into the car and headed down to Rayong Marriott 🏖️ for 3 nights - as is now tradition. On the way, we stopped at Air Diamond Cafe & Resort, which … is a retired A340 ✈️, and an attraction in itself! At the Marriott this year, the (new) water slides were the piece-de-resistance, where Lucy brought stand-out fearlessness!
We returned to Bangkok just in time for a holiday party at Pree’s house, and then we celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in a rather casual way at home. Santa 🎅 was very generous with Arlo and Lucy again - bringing new rides 🚲 🛴 for both of them!
Merry Christmas! 🎄
This week, we wrap up school for the (calendar) year… and then welcome Granny and Grandpa back to Bangkok for the holidays! Whoo!
If last week was all about Christmas, then this week was all about caterpillars! 🐛 We adopted 2 (and babysat another 2) cute, giant hawk moth caterpillars that were eating up a neighbor’s garden. They were our entertainment for the weekend (can they ever poop! 💩), before they moved into their new home at Annabel’s on Monday. We also caught up with Sally and Douglass (and their parents) after half a year.
And the Year 6’s at Arlo’s school hosted a fun Christmas fair charity fundraiser (with all sorts of games made and operated by the Year 6 students). Lucy had a blast; and both of them raked in the prizes! Wednesday was a public holiday for Arlo and Mum & Dad, so we enjoyed a fun little reunion at Annabel’s after school that day.
The year is winding down!
Christmas 🎄 is in full swing in Bangkok - and the weather is playing along, too! We enjoyed a few lovely, cool mornings: everyone was out to school in their jumpers!
On Saturday, we put up our tree 🎄 (seemingly the last ones in Bangkok to do so!) and then spent the afternoon at the Bangkok Prep Christmas Fair.
On Sunday, we enjoyed the brand new playground that just (re)opened right next to IKEA
And then during the week, it was school Christmas Performances 🎅 all the way: Arlo’s on Monday and Lucy’s on Thursday.
Mum’s finally home on Sunday morning, with goodies from Amazon aplenty. But first, Dad entertains solo for Saturday, including a visit to the park and IKEA, and a playdate with Emily. Good job, Dad!
At Annabel’s, Lucy is gearing up for her Christmas performance; and at STA, Arlo’s class put on a first-ever assembly performance for the parents and fellow Year 1 students. Great job, 1-C! Great job, Arlo!
This weekend, we have an impromptu playdate with Arlo’s classmate (and longtime Annabel’s buddy) Pree. And on Sunday, we visit the organic farm and market that Arlo’s class visited for their field trip this past March. A lovely place, although a bit far to get to.
And then Mum is off to Boston for a week, leaving Dad in the captain’s seat again - thank you, Dad. He did another great job keeping everyone alive and happy!
And Christmas is in full swing in Bangkok now, too.
We bid a fond farewell to Steve, Teresa, Elena and Evelyn on Friday.
But then Saturday was a busy day: Arlo started piano with a new (private) teacher… and we finally celebrated Halloween in our Moo Baan. (Editorial: this is the most prolonged Halloween season ever.) Arlo invited Nimo, and Lucy invited Amalia.
On Sunday evening, Mum headed to Singapore for 3 days; and so Dad led the charge at home and kept everyone safe and sound for another busy school and work week.
It’s another packed week, despite the nation in mourning.
On Halloween day, the children (but not the parents) enjoyed a low-key celebration in the classrooms at Annabel’s. Lucy wore her hedgehog costume for about 6 minutes - which is one minute longer than last year. And on Halloween night, we were kindly invited to join the trick-or-treating at Lucy’s friend Emily’s Moo Baan, which continued as planned.
On Saturday night, our grad school friends Steve & Teresa arrived in Bangkok with their daughters, for a 1-week stay. On Sunday, we took them to a floating market in Taling Chan, including the same canal tour we did with Jas & Josh in 2024. Of course, we came home with another beautiful orchid from the orchid farms. All 4 kids got along really well, and enjoyed the week together!
And on Wednesday (Tuesday at Annabel’s) we celebrated a low-key Loy Krathong. Both Arlo & Lucy made Krathongs at school, and Lucy floated hers with our neighbors in a small wading pool: a perfect scale for the festivities.
At long last, the school break comes to an end. But not before a fun weekend of sketches at CentralWorld, and card games at home.
And the fate of Halloween - which had been ramping up in fifth gear - is unclear now. It will go ahead at Annabel’s, will be cancelled at STA, and may or may not happen in the Moo Baan. Stay tuned!
This week, the season of International Days 🇨🇦 continues at St Andrews. It’s our first experience with International Day at a Big School, and boy, was it of a different scale! 3 other Canadian families (with kids at the Primary School) helped with the booth as well. The fries and Smarties cookies were the most popular items at our stand — good to know for next year!
And that marked the start of the mid-term school break (for both schools). We enjoyed a low-key weekend in Bangkok, and then a rather hectic week because the kids were home but K. Noi was out sick.
Oh and we mustn’t forget: this week marks the start of winter here in Thailand! ❄️
We kick off International Day season 🇨🇦 this week, at Annabel’s! Lucy was ever-so-slightly less frozen in this performance than she was last Christmas, and the pinecone painting was a hit! (We had a significant surplus of pinecones, but that ensured that every child got a nice one.)
Then we spent a long-weekend in Trat, where we celebrated Aa Top and Aa Nan, and managed to coerce Arlo into a hair trim.
And then it was back to Bangkok for one last week of school before the mid-term break.
