A View from and Elephant's Back

The one thing the kids wanted to do while in Thailand was ride an elephant. So on the third day we drove almost 2 hours outside of the city and went on an elephant ride. I think it is something the kids will remember for the rest of their lives. I mean, who could forget sitting on the back of an elephant, walking through a jungle in Thailand?



Matt, Chris and Sami went on the elephant ahead of us. So many of the pictures I have taken are from behind.


One of the neatest parts of the ride was walking through a small creek while on the elephants.

There were lots of pretty trees, flowers and other vegetation to see.

If you look real close you will even see a few monkeys in this picture. And yes, they are wearing shirts. Strange, I know. Imagine seeing a monkey running around wearing clothes in the jungle.



We did manage to get a few pictures of us front the front. And even a shot or two of Emily and myself.




Afterwards the kids were able to feed the elephants some bananas. Just a small treat for not throwing us off.

You can see many more pictures here. Just keep in mind it is hard to take decent pictures from atop a moving elephant.

Let's Go Ride a Bike

Today after church Emily went to a friend's house for a "Full House marathon", Sami went to a birthday party and Chris needed to work on a book report for school. So Matt & I decided to hop on the bikes and go for a ride. Matt bought a road bike to bring here as he planned on doing alot of riding for some exercise. I did not bring my bike as it really isn't equipped for the hills and roads here. So I borrowed Emily's for the afternoon and it was work getting up some of the hills. But I am proud to say I made it. All 4-5 miles. (Okay so it wasn't far, but hey it is better than nothing) I swear Japanese people never workout nor use any type of diet pills because of the hills and walking here.

We stopped at an electronics store along the way in hopes to find a car transmitter for our iphones/i pod. The radio choices here is about as good at the television choices, so needless to say we were in need of something to allow us to play the ipod in the car.

I am not sure why we locked our bikes as no one ever locks them. That is the bonus of moving to a country with no crime.

Riding a bike in Japan can be quite a challenge. Between the cars and the mass quantity of people it is a bit like playing Frogger. We stopped along the way because I was yelling at Matt why did I bring my camera if I never was able to stop and take pictures to look at the flowers beginning to bloom.

Aren't those lovely flowers? Matt was being so sarcastic at where he chose to stop after I complained to him about my lack of stopping for photos. And of course he had to take a picture of me to prove a point. Don't I look happy?