I 'heart' Phuket

That's pronounced "poo-ket" in case any of you were a bit unsure...

After a few months of winter in Chengdu we took off for a pre-Christmas vacation to the most perfect place I've ever been to.  Beautiful, sunny, yummy, friendly, relaxing, and I'll say beautiful one more time because it really is.  Our vacation was a complete R&R.  We spent all of our time at the resort just relaxing and soakin' up the sun.

 

Sophie was in creature paradise with the birds, fuzzy caterpillars, tiny frogs, butterflies, geckos, and Jumbo the baby elephant, who was a hit with all the kids.

Of course there was lots of beach time digging in the sand for crabs, playing in the waves, getting stung by tiny jellyfish, finding seashells and going for walks.

 

 And when we were super sandy, salty and tired and wanted a break, we'd hit the pool

  

We left the comfort of our resort just once, to go for an elephant trek in the mountainous jungle region of the island.  It was super bumpy and I held onto the kids for dear life as we rocked side to side down some pretty steep trails.  The kids enjoyed it because they got to see the elephant in front of us have an explosive bathroom experience.

 

It was a wonderful vacation, a much-needed break from China.  Dooby cried as reality hit, driving home from the Chengdu airport.  Sophie made the sign "I 'heart' Phuket" for her wall the hour we returned home from our vacation in Thailand.  Boo asks me every week when we are going back, and Dooby wants to take up permanent residence there.  Why not?  If only we didn't have to worry about such trivial things as a job, school, and paying out the wazoo to live in a hotel, we would totally do it.  In fact, I'm all for it.  After all, I love Phuket too.  It's the happy place I visit in my head as I look out the window at another grey day, or smell the meat bins at the grocery store, or listen to horns honk and people spit as I walk down the street.

To view more pictures from our vacation, click HERE.