She'll have lots to share from her trip in which she was able to view the actual cloth from the miracle of the Virgin de Guadalupe, beautiful art work from Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, ancient pyramids and recipes that she's promised to bring back. She also helped out in the orphanages and donated her milk to local needy children. She's enjoyed her time and loves her host family. While they've taught her much, she's returned the favor by introducing them to basic kickboxing, which they've really enjoyed. Despite all the fun, she's ready to come back and see her little monkeys.
(some Catholic humor)
Speaking of the children, Fayte and Hudson have been enjoying the past 2 weeks being spoiled rotten at Ong Noi and Ba Noi's home in Lakeway. Here are some of their adventures:
Rock climbing at the park...
...and climbing at home
...and climbing the pews at church
Bubba
More fun at the park
Blowing bubbles with Ba Noi
Dim Sum in Austin
Ba Noi also took the kiddos on safari at Sunrise Ranch
Fayte gets to know a reindeer
Fayte feeds a lamb
Hudson feeds the animals as well. They saw all sorts of creatures including zebras, buffalo, and a camel that nearly swiped the entire bucket of feed!
Ba Noi also curled Fayte's hair for her
Here's the result
I was able to take some time off work and came down early to spend some time with them. After a nice lunch with some old friends at Juan In A Million, Fayte and I took a trip down memory lane at the 40 Acres (University of Texas).
Hook 'Em
Bevo
The Drag
Before Desiree left, we were able to grab a bite to eat for Papa's birthday at Cowboy Chow in Deep Ellum. Take a peek at their site. Great concept and even better food. The Mashed Tater Parfait was pretty amazing. Here's Fayte posing in Deep Ellum.
The brood before heading out to Cowboy Chow
The kids are doing well. Hudson is now 10 months old. He can walk, but is choosing crawling as his primary mode of transportation for now. That is when he's not climbing on things. He acts like a boy should act (crazy...bull-headed). With all the wrestling, climbing and rough-and-tumble antics of his, he takes a fair share of spills. Ong Noi pointed out that its strange the kid doesn't cry much from the bumps and bruises and that he's still so fearless. I guess like they say in the fight business, he's got a good chin. He's also a talker like his sister. Most of the time it's jibberish (loud jibberish), though lately he's been saying "DAD!" a lot and "Thanks!" He shouted "Yvonne!" at his Aunt yesterday.
Hudson's chicken legs. Splitting image of his mama.
Hudson's tooth (another one broke through today so he's at 2 now). With all of his rumbling and tumbling, lets hope MINI MAC hangs on to them!
Fayte on the other hand is becoming more girly now that I've shifted my "draft-pick dreams" onto her brother. Maybe Desiree will finally win-out and put her into a dance class (which I've throroughly opposed since day 1). She's obsessed with the Disney princess line of products these days (as you may have guessed from the various apparel she's been able to convince Ba Noi into buying for her). She also loves to draw (unfortunately on things she shouldn't be drawing on) and expresses herself in strange and creative ways like the art installation she created above our bed. She's excited about starting school at the Grace Academy in Dallas next month, and we hope she behaves! The girl likes to talk!
Fayte's art installation. Perhaps following in her father's footsteps?
