A short trip to KL with BeBe and Boss...with a visit to the KL Zoo Negara

My mom wanted to make a trip to Chinatown for a few knock-off things she was looking for and she also wanted to get Coop his new forward facing car seat for his birthday, so we went up to KL for a night and did a few other things while we were there. When we first arrived, we took the boys to one of their favorite play spots in KL, Kidz Gym. While I left one of the boys playing with Boss and Marte, Mom and I took the other one and had their hair cut. As with the last couple of haircuts, Cooper almost made it impossible. Luckily, the guy was pretty patient with us and actually did a pretty good job given the amount of squirming Cooper did. Evan, of course, was a breeze. I think he actually enjoys getting his haircut now, so I know it's never going to be a problem with him.

That afternoon while Coop napped (and Boss insisted E didn't need one....and got his way!), Boss and Marte took Evan to the playground area out by KLCC. They have tons of slides, tunnels and swings and his Boss said that he'd really worn him out (Boss that is), so E must have had a great time!

That evening after we got the boys ready for bed, we left them with Marte and Mom, Dad and I headed down to Chinatown. After some rather good bargaining on my part, Mom came away with some sunglasses, polo shirts, handbags, and cologne. I was actually pretty impressed with how well I negotiated - after about 6 times of going, I'm finally beginning to determine how low they will actually go on things - when they first think we are just tourists, they totally try to rip us off and then when they find out we've been in the country for a couple of years, they realize we know the game and come way down!

The next day we made a trip to the KL National Zoo. We'd been once before, but when Evan was much smaller. He really enjoyed the trip this time. He said his favorite were the pelicans and flamingos - who would have thought of all the animals, that pelicans could catch someone's attention! He got to see some really big monkeys, a new baby giraffe that was two weeks old, some bears, a zebra, rhinos, hippos, lions, etc....and the pelicans and flamingos were his favorite!! Go figure! It also looked like Cooper even really enjoyed himself...even with the heat! They were both exhausted by the time we left (that Malaysian heat really does take it out of you) and ready for some lunch. So once we left, we headed to the mall to grab a bite and pick up a seat for Coop. After lunch, we headed back to Melaka. It was a fun couple of days

This was at breakfast before we left for the zoo. It was too cute because all of a sudden Evan grabs Boss and then BeBe, puts his arms around them and then says "my 2 favorite people". He sure was going to miss not having them around when they left and not getting his own way all the time any longer!

Taking BeBe and Boss on the Eye of Malaysia

Evan had been itching to take BeBe and Boss on the big "ferris wheel" (aka the Eye of Malaysia), so we decided to go for another ride. As we experienced the last time, we were the only people visiting in the day again....maybe it's just a hot spot at night. Last time they only let us go 3 times around, but this time we did 9 rounds (maybe they thought a visit from some Americans who had travelled such a long way deserved a little extra sightseeing time)....we'd had plenty of extra time after about 6 times...alot of water on one side and downtown Melaka on the other side (which itself isn't that exciting to see either). It was a nice outing (but extremely hot) and then we were off to have some lunch at the mall nearby....another fun day with BeBe and Boss!

Another wonderful holiday in Phuket, Thailand

A couple of days after Cooper's 1st birthday, we loaded up and went back to Phuket, Thailand for a great week long holiday. We'd looked into visiting a different place in Thailand or even in Bali, Indonesia (since my parents had already gone with us to Phuket for Evan's 1st birthday), but we weren't able to find accommodations that we liked. We really wanted something with two bedrooms and some sort of common area that we could be in while the boys napped each day and after they went to bed in the evenings. Well, Andrew as he typically does, found us the perfect place and it just happened to be in Phuket again! We loved it - it was this huge 2 bedroom suite with a huge balcony that overlooked the sea and the pool (and just happened to be above a nice, large lady who liked to sunbath nude...yuck!) I guess I should also mention we saw a few other topless ones on the beach as well, although they were thin, at least. Andrew claims he knew nothing of the allowed nude bathing when doing his research...hmmmm!! Luckily Evan never saw them or else he might have asked why Mommy's weren't so big :-)

As I mentioned the resort was great - they had a fabulous kids place for the parents to drop the kiddos off at when they needed some adult time. Unfortunately they only allowed for 3 years and above to be left there without a parent. We didn't need it anyhow since we had my parents there to look after the boys so Andrew and I could get some "us" time in while vacationing, but it was a great place to take the kids for some playtime that was out of the sun and sand occasionally. From the pictures below you'd think we spent more time there than out by the pool or on the beach. The fact is that we spent tons of time on the beach (you can tell from the boy's suntans), I just didn't ever have my camera with me because of how sandy everything would get. Actually, my mom got several beach/pool pictures of the boys, but one of our last nights there she was messing with her camera and accidentally erased everything she had taken prior to then (even Cooper's birthday pictures........she was devastated as you could imagine...sorry Mom for mentioning it again!!)

But the boys did love playing in the sand....even Evan who used to despise getting "all dirty" with it. He and his Boss spent countless hours playing in the sand and near the sea building sand castles. The waves were really big most of the time we were there so it was a bit rough to take the boys too far in, although they did get in some sea time when we helped them jump over the waves. Cooper even got some seawater in his mouth, and actually seemed to enjoy the saltiness a bit - he kept licking his lips after it would get on him...silly little boy!

The resort also had some great restaurants on site, so we had some great meals with a terrific breakfast spread each morning....that served pork bacon...yum!! I tell you, you never realize how much you miss eating bacon or ham, until it isn't readily available to you.

We didn't get out and see much of Patong Beach (that is the area we visited this time), other than going out to this huge mall, that had a giant pirate ship and some really neat water fountains, for some dinner. We also did some quick shopping nearby the mall at their "flea market"....or the place that sells all the knockoff stuff. Since we were planning a trip to KL to Chinatown once we got back and we could get all the same stuff there, we knew we didn't need to spend much time doing that sort of shopping.

So after alot of eating and just hanging out everyday (along with a few, wonderful beach side massages!), it was time to head back to Malaysia. We had a great trip and a very memorable time while we were there. Cooper even topped off the trip, by leaving us with a very memorable "poop" on our drive home to Melaka from KL....so much so that we had to stop and "decontaminate" the car (as my dad put it) - I'm sure you mothers out there can appreciate this one :-)

Anyhow, here are alot of pictures from our trip:

Cooper, sporting his spiked hairdo his BeBe gave him, excited about going on our holiday...of course, he is always excited about everything!

Having some lunch at the airport before we board the airplane, sporting their matching shirts. My mom brought them tons of matching clothes, so of course our whole trip they matched - I have to get that sort of stuff in before they won't allow me to ever do it again!

E and his two new, favorite buddies....hmmm, did it have something to do with them letting him do ANYTHING he wanted to do!!

E and BeBe after arriving at the resort and getting their lei

Cooper having a good time at the kids place in their outside play area. It was great to be able to let them hang outside for awhile, in some grass, and without having to worry about infectious mosquitoes!! I was hoping the grass would help him get some practice walking - knowing if he fell it wouldn't hurt - but that didn't seem to be the case...he still wanted to crawl everywhere!

Another one of Coop's favorite afternoon things to do while we were just hanging out... he loved to climb on and off the lounge chairs - it was amazing how long that actually kept him entertained!

E and Daddy being silly and imitating the "Chaba Wing" guy - that is the wing of the resort that we stayed in.

E made several little friends while we were there - this was a little girl whose mother was Brazilian and whose father was German...I've forgotten her name now, but she was quite the little talker for a 4 year old!

This is the view from our balcony out onto the pool....that's E and Boss in the pool in the left hand corner of the picture

That's Boss and E out by the water building their sandcastles - it almost makes it looks like we were the only ones there :-) Actually, it was the beginning of their off-season so the resort was a bit empty, but there were still plenty of people around for a little people-watching!

And this is a view of the Andaman Sea from our balcony. We didn't get to do any snorkeling off the beach since the waves were too big and it just turned up to much of the sand to be able to see anything, but Andrew and I did spend some time just playing in the waves, which turned out to be alot of fun as well. Or maybe it was just that we got to spend some quality alone time together and doing anything would have been fun! Thanks BeBe and Boss for being some great babysitters! Some pictures from our Japanese steakhouse dinner night. The show wasn't as good as we'd expected it to be, but the food was great! As I mentioned above, it looks like we spent more time at the kids place than out on the beach, but the boys had a fantastic time taking advantage of all the fun, new toys they had to play with and the large playground they had outside.

These pics are from the mall we went to in Patong Beach to have dinner.

I think this is the only picture I have of them out at the pool and it was just because I knew I hadn't taken any pool pictures, so I made them pose for one before they got out and got ready for lunch one afternoon.

This was our last dinner there, it was at place that had a nightly show with a different themed buffet each night. We went on Italian night and had a great time watching the entertainment. Can you tell from the pictures of the boys below that they were just mesmerized the entire time?!?! It was so cute because after the show, Evan said he wanted to go say goodbye to "my girls" (that's what he would call them - even the next morning he was still talking about them!). I thought he would be shy and not want to take a picture with them, but he jumped right in with a big ol' grin on his face!

Andrew was even sung to by a he/she that was performing "We are Family"...lip-syncing actually, and not that well I might add :-)

Evan giving Coop his typical choke-hold for a picture with his little brother before we head out!! I've been trying to teach Evan that he can grab Cooper around his waist sometimes, it doesn't always have to be around his neck!! I bet Coop sure is ready to get big enough to hold Evan off when he tries this move....he is getting very close!!

So long Phuket, it was a great trip!