Our time in Thailand was drawing quickly to a close. Today was a little more low-key. Kristen wanted to hang out and play with her cousins while the rest of along with Kevin headed to the Chatuchuk Market or more commonly, the JJ Market. It was huge. And it was hot. But we had fun looking for a bargain. Kevin was kind enough to ask Khun Tar to drive us even though it was his day off. We spent three or four hours wandering through the market and came home afterward with some fun treasures.
We found a KFC in the air conditioned mall to stop at for lunch. It wasn't quite the same food as home, but it was fairly good.
Our next stop was the Bangkok Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in the Vachira Benchatat Park. As Khun Tar dropped us off and parked, the heavens opened and the rain poured down on us.
We were going to rent bikes to ride, but since it wasn't too far, I suggested that maybe we could just walk. The park was lovely and sported this lovely komodo-dragon looking animal. It was munching down on some poor animal.
We finally arrived at the Butterfly Garden. I wouldn't say that the garden had 1000's of butterflies as the site boasted, but we did manage to get a few to land on us. Or maybe it was just the same one over and over.
We returned to Kevin's home to find that Candace had been busy putting up Christmas decorations. The kids were swimming in the neighborhood pool right next door to their home. Chris and Amy headed off to the grocery store to pick up some snacks for our flight home. Chris rode Kevin's scooter and Amy drove the golf cart. She was in heaven. The adults were planning a dinner away and made sure that the older kids were willing to watch the younger kids if they swam. I think they had pizza for dinner.
Our dinner was at a restaurant called River Tree House along the Chao Phraya River. We parked a short distance away and caught a tuk tuk that drove us to the restaurant through these crazy back alleys. Then suddenly the road opened up to this beautiful site along the river. The sun was beginning to set, and I wished that I had brought my camera along. The restaurant was open air and we were seated right along the outer edge. I kept asking Kevin to take more pictures for me.
We chose delicious dishes and finished off our meal with Mango Sticky Rice. My two older girls would have loved the mango.
On our way home from dinner, Candace dropped Kevin off at the church for a Christmas production in which he was singing. Chris took the golf cart and returned for a second massage. I started to not feel so great, so I headed up to our room to lay down. Misha apparently wasn't feeling so great either. Amy, Ashley, and Kristen swam in the neighborhood pool and enjoyed their time immensely. I sat with them for a little while when Candace needed to put Joseph to bed. I wouldn't say there were mosquitoes but there was some little bugs that kept biting me. I finally gave the girls a 5-minute notice and got them all going off to bed.