Burton's on the Go! Shenzhen, China: Amazing Thailand!

We had the pleasure of returning to one of our favorite countries - Thailand! It was a little bit of a come full circle moment as we started our expat adventures there in 2000 with just Stan and I, but now in 2014 got to take our boys with us. We went to Kho Samui - an island off the mainland. It was our first tropical vacation with the boys and was so much fun! Both boys were delighted by pretty much everything - the airport, the flight, the hotel, the beach, and the food. Cole is convinced there is no better drink than a lemon shake and got one any chance he got. It was a comfortable vacation destination for Stan and I because we both can still speak some Thai. I'll do a list of some of the highights (or interesting stories as it were) and follow with some pictures.

The adventure began with a 5am van ride from our apartment to Hong Kong. It's always a bit of an adventure doing border crossings. When you do it by car you get stopped and you have to open all the car doors and they shine bright lights into the car to see if your face matches your passports and there is nothing suspicious in your car. You go through this process twice each time - once for leaving the country and about 100 meters away again for entering the other country (and yes Hong Kong is considered another country). You always hope the cars ahead of you are simple and quick. We got to the airport in plenty of time and did a quickie breakfast at Burger King. To board our plane we had to change terminals by taking a train and a bus.

When we boarded the plane, the configuration was 3 seats for each side. There were 4 of us so Stan "graciously" volunteered to sit alone on the other side - haha. The boys were super excited - so excited that Cole kicked his foot against the tray table latch and broke it (it flew through the air and landed a few rows away). Aaargh! That meant that his tray table would not stay up, therefore the seat could not be used for most of the flight. Boo! Luckily Kenney was a few days shy of being two so we made him a lap baby and held on to him for take-off and landing.

The hotel staff at the Briza Resort were great and brought us fruity drinks and fragrant leis. Our room wasn't ready so we hung out in the lobby for a while. When we got to our room it was a great villa - outdoor living room, private plunge pool (perfect size for the boys), bedroom, dressing area with sinks, and two outdoor bathrooms - the main one with an outdoor shower and giant jacuzzi pool in a gardenlike setting.

Dancing to "Happy" by Pharrell

Our days fell into a nice pattern - wake up, breakfast buffet, morning at the beach, showers and lunch, a nice nap, play in the villa pool, dinner and relaxing.

Breakfast

Artwork in the restaurant

To the Beach!

Our friends the Chin family who we've known for many years were also there so we connected with them for dinners and a great day of boating and snorkeling - my kids have a rough life - first snorkeling at age 1 and 3!