Phuket...

I'm going to say that I was a little worried about our trip to Phuket. I was second guessing everything before we left - were we staying at an okay place, were we too far from Patong Beach, was the weather going to be okay, was Phuket too "trashy" to bring my family to? But, I can happily report that we had an AMAZING time! Just fantastic! The kids are already trying to plan a trip back for next Christmas and Blaine and I are thinking we will take a "date weekend" there in May! Perhaps we'll play a little golf since we'll be sans kiddos!

Okay...so here's the scoop on our trip. We stayed at a serviced apartment in Kalim Beach. We really liked having an apartment with a kitchen - which allowed us leisurely breakfasts which we cooked ourselves and a frig full of beverages! It was quite spacious and worked perfectly for us.

That being said, it was a tuk tuk ride into town (Patong) - which cost us 200 baht each time (Blaine is a good negotiator - as most drivers wanted 300 baht). I think it was worth it and we really had no trouble getting cabs or tuk tuks.

We are pretty easy going and went to Phuket with little planned. We hung out at the pool, ate Christmas Eve dinner at Acqua (which was delicious if you are looking for a finer dining experience), did an elephant trek (A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!), did a quad/buggy tour, saw the Big Buddha (Is it terrible to say that I'm getting to the point where I feel that if I've seen one Big Buddha, I've seen them all?!?!), went mini golfing, to the go carts, saw a monkey show, watched Thai boxing (missed seeing Beyoncé and Jay-Z by 2 days), ate Thai food, drank lots of margaritas, had many inexpensive massages, hung out at the beach (many days), haggled with the local vendors, watched the Fantasea show, made friends with Nadia, made many sandcastles, celebrated New Year's Eve at Coyote, lit our paper lantern and watched fireworks.

This was our place in Kalim

 

Christmas Eve with my handsome men at Acqua

Elephant trekking. This was my favorite part of the trip!

Quad tour, Big Buddha, Pad Thai and San Miguel Light

Dinner before boxing at a beach side restaurant in Kalim. The service was excellent!

Thai boxing. There were some good fights that evening. It started with two little boys - probably younger than Grayson - fighting. It was so awesome to see the two boys running around the stadium after their fight - just playing and being little boys!

We met a wonderful Thai woman at the beach who we rented chairs from each day and bought our Singha and sodas from. Everyday we would come and she would have "our spot" all ready for us! I love that Blaine and I opted for no Christmas gifts to each other this year and spent our Christmas money tipping some of our favorite Thai people throughout the week. Tipping is not a regular thing here in Southeast Asia and to see unexpected smiles made our holidays special.

Mini golf was a must! Caleb won that day, but I actually came in second - and I hate mini golf! But, I used it as a chance to work on my putting for the real thing!

Go carts! Grayson was stuck with his slow Mama! (Yes, we got lapped numerous times and I can tell that if we go back no one will want to ride with me!)

This was Grayson's activity choice. I have to admit it was more fun than I thought it would be!

Lots of interaction with the silly critters!

So thankful that my kids appreciate the inexpensive foot massages!

 

Patong Beach - and the site of many sand castles! (And topless women and banana hammocks - which all led to many funny conversations!)

Henna tattoos, Nadia and more sand castles

New Year's Eve! Loved lighting our lantern! There were hundreds in the sky that evening. It was a beautiful way to send away your worries and wish for good things in the upcoming year.

 

No pictures from the Fantasea show as cameras were not allowed, but we did really enjoy the acrobatics, elephants and dancing. It was definitely a nice way to spend an evening.

And I think that's it! We were going to do the boat trip to Phi Phi Island, but with Blaine's knee not 100% we didn't want to have him climbing in and out of a boat since there would be no real docks. We'll save that for next time!

I hope 2015 is treating everyone well so far! School starts back up next week and then we'll jump back to our normal routine! Or, somewhat normal routine!