Here are some pictures from Halloween.
Jaydon was a Ninja Turtle, Leonardo to be exact
and
Natalie was a Vietnamese Princess!!
Jaydon was a Ninja Turtle, Leonardo to be exact
and
Natalie was a Vietnamese Princess!!
we're home!!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Just thought that I would let everybody know that we made it home safely. We got into Orlando around 7:30 Saturday night. My parents and Jaydon met us at the airport. It was quite a reunion. After carrying Tram around for 3 weeks, Jaydon almost knocked me over with his hugs. He has gotten so big!!
We have been trying to recover from jet lag the past few days. Its been quite an experience as we were exactly 13 hours in the future.
We took Tram to the doctor on Monday. He prescribed another scabies treatment and something for the rash on her face. She is doing well, slowly but surely she is making the rounds around the family.
I will have to tell you about our trip home from Vietnam soon - it was quite exciting and stressful! But we are home and that is all that matters.
xoxoxox - lanmarie
We have been trying to recover from jet lag the past few days. Its been quite an experience as we were exactly 13 hours in the future.
We took Tram to the doctor on Monday. He prescribed another scabies treatment and something for the rash on her face. She is doing well, slowly but surely she is making the rounds around the family.
I will have to tell you about our trip home from Vietnam soon - it was quite exciting and stressful! But we are home and that is all that matters.
xoxoxox - lanmarie
pictures!!!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Visiting Grandma in Tay Ninh
Tram and Grandma having a snack
Our little girl
Her laugh is infectious
That is such a Jaydon face!!
Christopher had crickets for dinner.
Yes, crickets
Yummy!!
Or so he said so
Smile!!
Tram riding with Uncle Hien in Tay Ninh
Safety first!!
we are done!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
We just got back from the US Consulate in Hanoi. The papers are signed, the fees are paid and Tram's visa is being processed. It will be ready to be picked up tomorrow at 4pm.
We will fly back to Saigon on Wednesday night. Drive to Tay Ninh on Thursday to visit my grandmother and drive back to Saigon late Thursday night. Friday we will do some shopping and then pack everything up.
Early Saturday morning we fly back to the States. See everybody soon!!!
xoxox - lanmarie
We will fly back to Saigon on Wednesday night. Drive to Tay Ninh on Thursday to visit my grandmother and drive back to Saigon late Thursday night. Friday we will do some shopping and then pack everything up.
Early Saturday morning we fly back to the States. See everybody soon!!!
xoxox - lanmarie
more pictures from this weekend
Monday, October 8, 2007
Cat Ba at sunset
Eating lunch at Ha Long Wharf
Yes, that is a fish head
I think Tram's favorite thing is to eat!
Attempting to take a picture while riding on the motorcycle.
I look strangely European.
Cat Ba Harbor
Look out over Cat Ba Harbor
Smile, you're a tourist
Sunset over the harbor
Riding on the motorbike
Somewhere on the island
Look at that face!
Smile!!
A road on Cat Ba island
Wait a minute, did he say rent??
I'm having an allergic reaction, but we will talk about that in a minute - first up is our fun, seafood-filled weekend!!!!
Our interview with US Immigration on Thursday went really well. The woman that interviewed us wasn't as hard or mean as everyone had made her out to be. It was kind of comical to see Vietnamese people logo-ed up with "US Homeland Security" gear on. They even had hats and shirts for sale!!!
We checked out of our hotel after the interview. We decided to try and fly out of Saigon that night. Well, that didn't happen. We ended up staying at my cousin Yen and Dai's house for the night. We had to wake up at like 5am to get to the airport on time! The problem was that we didn't get to bed (including Tram) until about 1am. Let's just say we were all very tired on that plane ride.
The flight was only about 2 hours long. It was a good test flight for Tram before we stick her on plane for 15-20 hours straight on the way home. She did pretty good too. She fell asleep at the worst part (landing) so it wasn't too bad.
We landed in Hanoi at around 9:30am. It was very rainy and pretty gross. The domestic airports aren't as nice as the international ones. They don't bring you right to the gate. You exit the plane on the tarmac and jump on a bus which brings you to the terminal. Sounds fun with a sleeping baby in the rain - except it wasn't. But don't worry, we survived.
We got a taxi and took a ride into the city. The airport is located about 45 minutes outside of Hanoi. We ended up staying at a hostel that night - it was called The Youth Hotel. It was decent. They didn't have an elevator (we were on the 4th floor) and they had wifi in all of their rooms (which we found out was only for the second floor down, and again, we were on the fourth floor) but their rooms were clean and we were tired. We ordered some room service since we hadn't eaten all day and then took a nice nap.
We went exploring a little bit after dinner. We found a really nice shopping mall which had a grocery store at the top floor. We stocked up on supplies and headed back to the hotel for the night. I put Tram to bed while Christopher and Ngoc Lan went down to the night market to try and get some souvenirs. They came back with umbrellas, go figure. :)
We had to wake up early the next morning because our tour guide was picking us up at 7:30am. We got on a bus, rounded up the other people going on the tour and headed out on the 3 and a half hour ride to Ha Long Bay. We were observing the other people that were on the bus and noticed that we were the only people who had brought any luggage. After thinking that maybe we got on the wrong bus, we finally figured out that we were the only people that were going on the 3 day tour - everyone else were only going for the day trip.
We made a pit stop about half way through the drive to have a little snack. We stopped at a special center for disabled children. They "made" crafts to sell to the tourists. The only problem was that there were no disabled children in sight and they were selling designer goods. Just another way to pull on the heartstrings of the tourists so that they could dip their hand into their deep pockets.
We got to Ha Long Wharf around 11am. It was pure chaos. We had to purchase tickets for our boat and then walk about a quarter of a mile down a narrow walkway where at any minute you could fall into the water. We made it safely onto our boat and settled in for the ride.
It was a pretty nice boat. It was called the Yen Ngoc 2 Junk Boat. We never figured out why they call them Junk Boats, they were really pretty nice. After about an hour, we left the chaos of the wharf and started cruising into the bay. We had a nice lunch and then made our first stop. It was at a cave called Heaven's Gate.
It was pretty cool - except that we had to climb flight after flight of slippery stairs to get to the entrance as well as through out the cave. The cave held many legends for our tour guide to tell us about. It was pretty cool if not a bit cheesy. But come on, who doesn't like cheesy every once in a while.
After the cave, we hung out on the boat for a while - cruising around Ha Long Bay. We were allowed to check in to our rooms at 5pm. Lets just say that our quarters were rustic at best. You had to pay extra for AC - we didn't because we believed someone when they said it would be cooler on the bay - and one of our fans didn't work. Christopher broke the door handle like 3 different times. It was tiny tiny and way hot.
We changed into our bathing suits and stopped at this little floating village to go kayaking. It was pretty cool. Ngoc Lan had never been kayaking before. After kayaking we got back on the boat and had dinner. After dinner, we just hung out. It was pitch black outside and you could see a million stars, it was awesome.
We met these young British backpackers on the boat. Their names were Mile and Fahrin. They had just graduated University this year and decided to take a trip around the world before they started to work. They have been gone for about 4 months now and have 1 more month to go. They started out in Mexico and worked their way down Central and South America. Then they went to New Zealand and then into Southeast Asia. After Vietnam, Fahrin is going to India to teach for a month while Mile is continuing their journey into Laos. They were really cool and it was great meeting them.
The next morning we exited the boat for one day and night on Cat Ba island. We were supposed to go trekking (hiking) but we opted out because of Tram and went straight to the hotel. Cat Ba island was really beautiful but strangely quiet. We checked into the Sunflower Hotel, had lunch and then Tram and Ngoc Lan took a nap. Christopher and I started to walk around the island a little bit. There were no taxis - at all - only men on motorbikes asking you on every corner if you wanted a ride. We were walking back to the hotel (there was nothing else to do or see and it was sooooo hot) when a guy drove up next to us. He started talking and Christopher automatically assumed that he wanted to take us for a ride. Then it hit him - he didn't say do you want a ride on my motorbike, he said do you want to rent my motorbike! So we shelled out the 5 bucks (really expensive, I know) and the motorbike was ours until 6pm. We went all over and Christopher drove fast. We saw a good portion of the island. It really was beautiful.
We opted out of dinner at the hotel that night and had dinner at this little restaurant. We had crabs, shrimp and mantis prawns. After that, we went in search of more food. We went to this little wannabe pub that was called the Noble House. That is where Christopher ordered a BBQ chicken pizza. Ngoc Lan and I ended up having to go back to the hotel before the pizza was ready. They didn't even ask Christopher if he wanted it to go, they just put it in a box. A noodle box. It was way funny but didn't taste good at all.
The next morning we woke up early and got back on the boat. We made our way through Ha Long Bay and back to the wharf. We had lunch at the wharf and then headed home. Again we stopped at a tourist trap - this one didn't say that it was for the disabled children but it was the same exact people serving the food and selling the goods. Go figure.
When we got back into Hanoi, the driver determined that since we changed hotels, our new hotel was too far to drive to, so he dropped us off on the side of the rode in Hanoi. As we were standing there waiting for a taxi, Fahrin and Mile walked by. What are the odds that we would see them on that street corner, at that moment. It was too funny.
We got to our hotel and checked in. It took a while but we finally got to the right room. The hotel that we are staying in is owned and operated by the government and that doesn't sit too well with my cousin. But we are managing.
We made the mistake of eating dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was so gross. When our friends Hao and Connie checked in, we made the decision to attempt round 2 of dinner and headed out on the town. Ana, the adoption coordinator, recommended a seafood restaurant on the lake. We went there, sat by the water and ate shrimp cakes, stuffed snails, squid and rabbit. It was all really good.
We caught a cab and went back to the hotel. The cab driver took us for a really long ride. It was way over priced. We thought that if he was going to take us for a tour of the city then he might as well tell us the sights! We didn't have to exact amount to pay the fare but the driver didn't argue, after all - he had already royally ripped us off.
We settled in for the night. Tried to get everything ready for the next day. That is when I noticed it. Christopher had noticed a small rash on my back when we were on Cat Ba island but I just thought that it was a bad sunburn or sun-poisoning. Oh I was wrong. It had to have been from some of the seafood that I had eaten. It manifested itself into a full blown allergic reaction this morning. I was covered in hives. Thank goodness Hao and Connie had some Benadryl. It is kind of under control now - but I still am not sure on what caused it exactly. I guess no more seafood for me!
We have our appointment at the US Embassy at 3pm today. I should be getting my laundry back by 2pm. We have to leave here at 2:15 - so it should be an interesting afternoon because if we don't get the laundry back then I have nothing to wear!!!
Hopefully everything will go well and we will get Tram's visa tomorrow. We have heard stories about families that have been waiting for months to get their visas. That can't happen to us. We are so ready to come home and Jaydon is counting down the days!!! If all goes well, we will fly out of Hanoi into Saigon on Wednesday night. Thursday we will go to Tay Ninh to visit my grandmother one more time and on Friday we will do all of our shopping. Saturday early morning is when we are supposed to depart for the States.
Wish us luck - we are almost there.
xoxoxox - lanmarie
PS - our laundry just came!!!
Our interview with US Immigration on Thursday went really well. The woman that interviewed us wasn't as hard or mean as everyone had made her out to be. It was kind of comical to see Vietnamese people logo-ed up with "US Homeland Security" gear on. They even had hats and shirts for sale!!!
We checked out of our hotel after the interview. We decided to try and fly out of Saigon that night. Well, that didn't happen. We ended up staying at my cousin Yen and Dai's house for the night. We had to wake up at like 5am to get to the airport on time! The problem was that we didn't get to bed (including Tram) until about 1am. Let's just say we were all very tired on that plane ride.
The flight was only about 2 hours long. It was a good test flight for Tram before we stick her on plane for 15-20 hours straight on the way home. She did pretty good too. She fell asleep at the worst part (landing) so it wasn't too bad.
We landed in Hanoi at around 9:30am. It was very rainy and pretty gross. The domestic airports aren't as nice as the international ones. They don't bring you right to the gate. You exit the plane on the tarmac and jump on a bus which brings you to the terminal. Sounds fun with a sleeping baby in the rain - except it wasn't. But don't worry, we survived.
We got a taxi and took a ride into the city. The airport is located about 45 minutes outside of Hanoi. We ended up staying at a hostel that night - it was called The Youth Hotel. It was decent. They didn't have an elevator (we were on the 4th floor) and they had wifi in all of their rooms (which we found out was only for the second floor down, and again, we were on the fourth floor) but their rooms were clean and we were tired. We ordered some room service since we hadn't eaten all day and then took a nice nap.
We went exploring a little bit after dinner. We found a really nice shopping mall which had a grocery store at the top floor. We stocked up on supplies and headed back to the hotel for the night. I put Tram to bed while Christopher and Ngoc Lan went down to the night market to try and get some souvenirs. They came back with umbrellas, go figure. :)
We had to wake up early the next morning because our tour guide was picking us up at 7:30am. We got on a bus, rounded up the other people going on the tour and headed out on the 3 and a half hour ride to Ha Long Bay. We were observing the other people that were on the bus and noticed that we were the only people who had brought any luggage. After thinking that maybe we got on the wrong bus, we finally figured out that we were the only people that were going on the 3 day tour - everyone else were only going for the day trip.
We made a pit stop about half way through the drive to have a little snack. We stopped at a special center for disabled children. They "made" crafts to sell to the tourists. The only problem was that there were no disabled children in sight and they were selling designer goods. Just another way to pull on the heartstrings of the tourists so that they could dip their hand into their deep pockets.
We got to Ha Long Wharf around 11am. It was pure chaos. We had to purchase tickets for our boat and then walk about a quarter of a mile down a narrow walkway where at any minute you could fall into the water. We made it safely onto our boat and settled in for the ride.
It was a pretty nice boat. It was called the Yen Ngoc 2 Junk Boat. We never figured out why they call them Junk Boats, they were really pretty nice. After about an hour, we left the chaos of the wharf and started cruising into the bay. We had a nice lunch and then made our first stop. It was at a cave called Heaven's Gate.
It was pretty cool - except that we had to climb flight after flight of slippery stairs to get to the entrance as well as through out the cave. The cave held many legends for our tour guide to tell us about. It was pretty cool if not a bit cheesy. But come on, who doesn't like cheesy every once in a while.
After the cave, we hung out on the boat for a while - cruising around Ha Long Bay. We were allowed to check in to our rooms at 5pm. Lets just say that our quarters were rustic at best. You had to pay extra for AC - we didn't because we believed someone when they said it would be cooler on the bay - and one of our fans didn't work. Christopher broke the door handle like 3 different times. It was tiny tiny and way hot.
We changed into our bathing suits and stopped at this little floating village to go kayaking. It was pretty cool. Ngoc Lan had never been kayaking before. After kayaking we got back on the boat and had dinner. After dinner, we just hung out. It was pitch black outside and you could see a million stars, it was awesome.
We met these young British backpackers on the boat. Their names were Mile and Fahrin. They had just graduated University this year and decided to take a trip around the world before they started to work. They have been gone for about 4 months now and have 1 more month to go. They started out in Mexico and worked their way down Central and South America. Then they went to New Zealand and then into Southeast Asia. After Vietnam, Fahrin is going to India to teach for a month while Mile is continuing their journey into Laos. They were really cool and it was great meeting them.
The next morning we exited the boat for one day and night on Cat Ba island. We were supposed to go trekking (hiking) but we opted out because of Tram and went straight to the hotel. Cat Ba island was really beautiful but strangely quiet. We checked into the Sunflower Hotel, had lunch and then Tram and Ngoc Lan took a nap. Christopher and I started to walk around the island a little bit. There were no taxis - at all - only men on motorbikes asking you on every corner if you wanted a ride. We were walking back to the hotel (there was nothing else to do or see and it was sooooo hot) when a guy drove up next to us. He started talking and Christopher automatically assumed that he wanted to take us for a ride. Then it hit him - he didn't say do you want a ride on my motorbike, he said do you want to rent my motorbike! So we shelled out the 5 bucks (really expensive, I know) and the motorbike was ours until 6pm. We went all over and Christopher drove fast. We saw a good portion of the island. It really was beautiful.
We opted out of dinner at the hotel that night and had dinner at this little restaurant. We had crabs, shrimp and mantis prawns. After that, we went in search of more food. We went to this little wannabe pub that was called the Noble House. That is where Christopher ordered a BBQ chicken pizza. Ngoc Lan and I ended up having to go back to the hotel before the pizza was ready. They didn't even ask Christopher if he wanted it to go, they just put it in a box. A noodle box. It was way funny but didn't taste good at all.
The next morning we woke up early and got back on the boat. We made our way through Ha Long Bay and back to the wharf. We had lunch at the wharf and then headed home. Again we stopped at a tourist trap - this one didn't say that it was for the disabled children but it was the same exact people serving the food and selling the goods. Go figure.
When we got back into Hanoi, the driver determined that since we changed hotels, our new hotel was too far to drive to, so he dropped us off on the side of the rode in Hanoi. As we were standing there waiting for a taxi, Fahrin and Mile walked by. What are the odds that we would see them on that street corner, at that moment. It was too funny.
We got to our hotel and checked in. It took a while but we finally got to the right room. The hotel that we are staying in is owned and operated by the government and that doesn't sit too well with my cousin. But we are managing.
We made the mistake of eating dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was so gross. When our friends Hao and Connie checked in, we made the decision to attempt round 2 of dinner and headed out on the town. Ana, the adoption coordinator, recommended a seafood restaurant on the lake. We went there, sat by the water and ate shrimp cakes, stuffed snails, squid and rabbit. It was all really good.
We caught a cab and went back to the hotel. The cab driver took us for a really long ride. It was way over priced. We thought that if he was going to take us for a tour of the city then he might as well tell us the sights! We didn't have to exact amount to pay the fare but the driver didn't argue, after all - he had already royally ripped us off.
We settled in for the night. Tried to get everything ready for the next day. That is when I noticed it. Christopher had noticed a small rash on my back when we were on Cat Ba island but I just thought that it was a bad sunburn or sun-poisoning. Oh I was wrong. It had to have been from some of the seafood that I had eaten. It manifested itself into a full blown allergic reaction this morning. I was covered in hives. Thank goodness Hao and Connie had some Benadryl. It is kind of under control now - but I still am not sure on what caused it exactly. I guess no more seafood for me!
We have our appointment at the US Embassy at 3pm today. I should be getting my laundry back by 2pm. We have to leave here at 2:15 - so it should be an interesting afternoon because if we don't get the laundry back then I have nothing to wear!!!
Hopefully everything will go well and we will get Tram's visa tomorrow. We have heard stories about families that have been waiting for months to get their visas. That can't happen to us. We are so ready to come home and Jaydon is counting down the days!!! If all goes well, we will fly out of Hanoi into Saigon on Wednesday night. Thursday we will go to Tay Ninh to visit my grandmother one more time and on Friday we will do all of our shopping. Saturday early morning is when we are supposed to depart for the States.
Wish us luck - we are almost there.
xoxoxox - lanmarie
PS - our laundry just came!!!
some pics from our trip to Ha Long Bay
In Ha Long Bay
Tram talking on the phone
Looking at the stars
Mommy said no more juice, Tram disagreed.
We look tired
Tram and Ngoc Lan on the boat having a snack
Ngoc Lan
Smile!!!
BBQ Chicken pizza in a noodle box
All of the boats at the entrance to the cave
Family shot overlooking the Bay and the boats
Kisses for Daddy
Tram and Daddy hanging out on the boat
We look like pirates!
Our new friends Mile and Fahrin
Christopher being Christopher
More boats
In the cave
In front of the waterfall in the cave
Hanging out in our room on the boat
It was really little, but we managed. Look!
Christopher's feet don't even fit on the bed!!!!
Ha Long Bay at sunset
Fishermen
Tram and Mommy hanging out -
literally,
we were hanging out of the window.
literally,
we were hanging out of the window.
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