#23. Dad Nights Out

With our days in Bangkok numbered, we have been trying to accomplish everything we hoped to do before leaving. Last week, Chris and I (with twins in tow, of course) headed to a tailor to be fitted for custom suits.  We were very impressed with the process.  The first day we were measured in ways I never knew existed.

One of a dozen measurements performed

On the second day, we tried on our custom made shirts (we have never had shirts fit so well) and suit forms. The store owner took careful notes for necessary alterations.

Wow, what a fit

Then, we came back one last time to try on the finished product and pick things up.

We scored two suits and five shirts (all custom) for under $400!

Being that it was our final weekend in Bangkok, we decided to hire a babysitter for a couple of evenings so we could get out and relax a bit.

Chris and Na

We think Luke and Clare enjoyed having someone else around.  Na was great and I think it would be more appropriate to call her a babystander since it seems like she was always up rocking and singing to one of our twins.  She has a one month old daughter, so the twins were in great hands.

One of the nights we left the kids with the 'babystander' we headed to a rooftop bar at the top of a hotel.

This is the dome you can see atop the hotel from most view points in the city

This is the same sky bar filmed in the movie Hangover II.

The views of the skyline...

...and down the river were fantastic!!

We had a couple of drinks

I drank this one for you, Steve Carroll!

and enjoyed the cool breeze, great views, and expensive cocktails (590/32 = $18.43) as darkness set in over Bangkok.

The sun is going...

going...

gone.  Fireworks, yay!

On our second 'free' night, we went to an interesting place for dinner called...

Their tagline is...'our food won't make you pregnant'...so far so good

This is a unique Thai restaurant that has great atmosphere,

Overlooking their patio space...notice the lamp in the upper right corner

and interesting decor made out of (you guessed it) condoms!

Condom chandelier

The food was decent and some of the proceeds go to a non-government run organization that helps with family planning.  We found this place in our travel book and it was an experience as advertised.

Forget the temples, this will be Chris' favorite Bangkok sight

On our way to the sky train to take us home, we took a quick stroll through Soi Cowboy (soi means side- street in Thai),

Who says two dads don't know where to find fun

another of Bangkok's famed red-light districts.  Not only were we invited into several seedy establishments, we had our arms grabbed and tugged.  The uninvited attention made for a pretty quick departure from the street since we were really only there to view the scene. Besides, we had a midnight (livin' it up!) curfew to relieve our babystander.

Clare and Luke didn't seem too rattled that we took a couple of evenings for ourselves.  We made up for it by serving Sunday morning breakfast in bed.

Chris fed and snuggled with Luke

I served breakfast to Clare

Luke lets things settle

Got formula, Clare?

After breakfast in bed, we enjoyed a lazy Sunday but did manage to sneak out for a playdate with a friend(s) staying about a 10-minute walk from our place.  

Clare, Luke, and Kian

One of these days, Luke and Clare will stay awake for a play date.  For now, the dads are enjoying the quiet time and opportunity to socialize with other sleep deprived adults!

We only have a few more days here in Thailand.  We are looking forward to coming home.  Details on our trip home from Bangkok coming in the next post.

#22. Parks, Pagodas, Play dates, and Passports!!

Monday March Through the Park

Our goal of getting out of the apartment has been achieved each day this week.  It's been nice to get out a bit, but carting two twins in a stroller or carrying them in their portable bassinets definitely takes its toll on two dads. On Monday, we headed to Lumpini Park,

Park gate

which is the park I have been jogging in the past few weeks.  The park is Bangkok's largest outdoor public space and is a popular place in the late afternoon when the sun begins to fade.

Ready for a lap around the park

I like how the park frames parts of the Bangkok skyline.

Bangkok's 'Central Park'

Chris and Luke with Bangkok buildings behind

Apparently the park wasn't too exciting for the 16-day old crowd,

Beginning of the park loop...

since the twins slept through the entire walk.

...and end of the park loop

We enjoyed the walk, however.  There are many interesting sculptures,

Row of hearts

Dunno what this is about

 

gym equipment,

Crossfit didn't prepare me for this

and the Chinese Pavilion.

Still snoozin'...love Clare's pose

We couldn't find a taxi that would take us home after our trip around the park.  Bangkok traffic is so bad in the late afternoon that nobody wanted to travel down our gridlocked street.  We were denied by a couple of drivers, so we walked home instead.  Even though the park wasn't interesting to the twins, it seemed to motivate Clare in her early evening naps.  I caught her in a couple trademark Clare sleeping poses.

Playin' Super Mario Bros. in her sleep 

Rocky pose

Temple Tuesday

On Tuesday, we decided to take the twins to their first temple.  We headed to Wat Traimit near Bangkok's bustling Chinatown area.  For this trip, we took the kids in their bassinet carriers.

Luke and Clare...reporting for (sleeping through) another adventure

Wat Traimit is the temple built to house the 'Golden Buddha'.

Bring on the gold

Before we could head inside to see the Buddha, we were flanked by folks more interested in our babies than the gold.  This included some sweet temple workers who were absolutely smitten by Luke and Clare.  After they took a photo for us,

Wats up Knapp-Heald family??

they begged us to hold the twins, and we could not refuse these two friendly Thai women.

Clare and Luke making new friends

They even asked if they could 'take just one'.  After we stole our babies back, we headed up the stairs to see the famous Golden Buddha.

Worth its weight in gold

This statue is 700+ years old and was actually only recently discovered to be 'golden'.  At one time, it had been covered in plaster to hide its identity from looters.  In the 1950's it was moved and dropped, cracking the plaster and revealing its 'golden-ness'.  It weighs 5.5 tons and is estimated to be worth $40 million.

The Bangkok trinity...me, Bubba, and Buddha

We had plenty of time to inspect the Buddha since another temple worker (unprompted) took care of watching over and fanning the twins while others took photos and fawned over our two golden buddhas.

Can we take this nice woman home with us?!?

It took awhile to exit the temple as the amassed entourage said their goodbyes to Clare and Luke.  We also had a lot of luck wished upon us.  We enjoyed interacting with the locals who absolutely adore children. After viewing the temple, we walked into Chinatown

Crazy, chaotic, Chinatown

in search of the indoors to cool off.  Chris had his typical watermelon drink, I had my Thai iced tea, and the twins had their 2+ ounces of formula.

Luke lounging indoors

Clare cooling off

Papa Chris performed his first public bathroom diaper changes at the indoor establishment.  Luke enjoyed the experience so much, that he wanted a return trip right away!  After we all cooled down, we headed back out to the humid streets to have a look at the scenes and markets in and around Chinatown. We saw this vendor selling durians.

The controversial fruit banned from public transport for its awful smell

We also saw many markets selling gold, souvenirs, toys, fruits, vegetables, seafood,

Dried seafood to be exact...

unidentifiable body parts of animals, identifiable body parts of animals,

Pretty sure this is duck...maybe not

and much more!  The streets were narrow and crowded and the smells were, unfortunately, free.  It didn't take long for us to call it a day and head back to the comforts of our apartment.

Hanging out on the big bed

Welcome to the 'Burbs Wednesday

Yesterday, we started our morning with a special Face Time session with our dog, Trig.  It's hard to believe we have been away from her (and our house for that matter) for a whole month now.  We miss her so much and can't wait to see her slam that happy tail against the walls when we get home.

Thanks for the Face Time assist, Uncle Steve...we miss you Trig!!

In the late morning, we headed out to the Bangkok suburbs for Luke and Clare's first play date.  It was the first time the twins got all dressed up,

Dressed to the nines

 

even though one of them was none to happy.

Auditioning for The Crying Game sequel?

We met Marc and Zac's dads a couple of weeks ago for dinner in the city.  While the kids 'hung out',

Zac, Clare, Luke, and Marc...guess which pair of twins was sleeping??

the adults enjoyed having pizza and sharing stories of what the first two weeks of fatherhood (that can be remembered given the sleep deprivation) have been like. We also got to meet the two family dogs, which made us even more excited to be closer to seeing Trig again.  Thanks guys for a fun afternoon at your home!

Finally, we have some really good news.  The passports are in!!  We headed over to the US Embassy to pick them up this morning.

One step closer to home

Clare and Luke are now officially able to leave Thailand! We will be working on organizing our flights to come home for sometime next week.  Our days in Bangkok are coming to a close.  More to come on our return details in the near future...  

#21. The Crying Game

Are you ready for some football?!?  I definitely am after catching some Aussie rules football matches this weekend on TV.  They play games Fri-Sun.  I saw a riveting clash between two teams near the top of the ladder, Collingwood and Port Adelaide.  It's actually an interesting and exciting sport to follow (more action than soccer and no start-stop like American football).  I saw a few matches live years ago when I was in Perth.  I'm definitely pumped for the upcoming NFL season.

Bring on DA BEARS!

What better way to start your work week (this post is designed to be read on a sluggish Monday morning) than to look through some photos and videos of babies crying??  We've got a lot of 'em!  While we'd like to say everything is always sunshine, rainbows, unicorns, and 2 ounces of formula, those of you who have parented babies know that would be far from telling the truth. Clare continues to awaken every hour or so needing something.  Here's her way of notifying us.

Brother Luke is typically more laid back, though he has a tendency to launch a bucket in his sleep leaving him scared and confused.  I caught him whining here when he wasn't looking.

Luckily, Clare's screaming issues haven't enabled brother Luke.  Here is a video of the two of them together. Poor little guy.

It's usually an unwinnable game to try to figure out what these crazy little people want...formula, gas relief, cuddling, a muzzle.  With our limited resources here in the hotel room, we try to figure things out as best we can but usually things end with the Price is Right trombone sound bite indicating we lost yet again.

We are tired of losing...

This blog post is dedicated to those moments where we are not-so-Pharrell 'Happy' (though I enjoyed grabbing my camera all of these times asking the twins to pose their pouty best!).

Clare Shots...

I don't like your lap!

I don't like this stroller!

I'd rather wear this diaper forever!

Luke Shots...

Hey, I can get what I want too, right?!?

I want food and I want it now!

Bath time blows!

We can't leave the blog on an unhappy note.  Every cry/scream is typically, immediately followed by a smile/yawn (and vice versa), and the world lives happily ever after...until the next round of screaming, of course.

She was probably screaming 5 seconds ago

You'd never know the power of his lungs

When all else fails, shove a bottle in their mouths

With this likely being our last full week in Bangkok, we are hoping to get out for short excursions with the twins to see some more of the city and take pictures of the babies in their birth city.  We are hoping for happy and/or tired versions of our children in the upcoming days.  Yeah, right.  Don't be surprised if 'The Crying Game' has a sequel!