Travel Apps - Thailand

Is this not the busiest time of year?!

Goodness gracious.

If it isn't a Fall Festival...it's an oppurtunity for my girls to wear their costumes.

And you know I'm going to show those off as much as I can!

And did I mention that Hubby and I are going to Thailand on Saturday?!
As in...tomorrow!

Umm..ya.

We're kinda busy.

I was worried that our trip might get cancelled.

There is flooding in Bangkok right now with more on its way.

The leaders of the conference we're helping to run have been in prayer about it...a lot.

As of this moment...we're still going.

The area our hotel is in and the airport are still bone dry.

Hoping it stays that way for the next couple weeks!

So you might be seeing some blog posts from Thailand next week!

ooo getting all International on ya!

With that being said.

I wanted to share a travel app tip.

My hubby tracked down one really cool one that I'm sure we'll use in Thailand.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand developed this one.

Makes me think that a lot of other countries and cities may have similar apps.

Make sure to research that before your next trip.

There might be a really useful app just waiting for you!

Speak Thai



Speak Thai on iTunes

It translates over 2500 words and speaks in Thai for you.

Now when I need to go potty...

I just find "Where are the restrooms?"

and the app will ask for me.

phew...that's a relief (horrible pun intended) :-)

I'm off to finish packing and prepare myself to leave my babies for 2 whole weeks.
{sigh}
I mean...I'm not one of those moms that misses their kids when they're sleeping
or anything crazy like that ;-)
I'll be ok.
But I'm pretty sure I will miss them while I'm half way around the world.
Yikes!
{deep breath}



I mean...seriously?!



Embrace the Camera - Turkey Pumpkin

Best and easiest pumpkin decorating EVER!!

At a garage sale a couple weeks ago...

I opened a box to find some painted wooden turkey parts.

A head and five feathers.

I instantly knew what it was for and confirmed with the lady selling it.

I think I got it for around $1

(it was bundled with other things...so it's hard to say exactly)

Bottom line...it was CHEAP!

We decorated our pumpkin in like 2 minutes :-)

With no mess...I might add!

We'll probably carve one next year...

but for this super busy month...

it made my life so much easier!

We just shoved a couple things in the pumpkin...





my concentration face lol



And...we're done.





Anna was not cooperating...so I got a pic with my Ellie.



I look tired and my hairs a mess...captures me pretty well lol



***Embracing the Camera with Emily***

My Prima Ballerinas

Last weekend we took our girls to Sea World

(with free tickets woohoo!)

to enjoy Halloween Spooktacular!
They got to trick or treat and show off their costumes and see some animals.

Here's a few highlight pics.

If you want to see more...you can view my FB album here.

I made their ballerina fascinators :-)

I love how they turned out!

Our skinny little preschool ballerina...

And Chris Farley in a ballerina costume :-)



It's ok Ellie - you'll be that skinny prima ballerina in about a year ;-)

Our chubby ballerina just can't put down the candy lol

Anna was posing for all the pictures all by herself...she was in character all day!

We had a very fun day!

Looking forward to the girls wearing their costumes 3 or 4 more times!

Love getting more use out of them!

Let's put a couple more !!! of these in here!!!

!

Giddy Up...It's Friday!

Thank you nice lady for giving Anna this horsey for free at a garage sale!

And when I saw they had a mini one too!

I was like shut up!

Yes...I must MUST pay .25 so my girls can have matching horseys!

Best 25 cents I've ever spent :-)

Happy Friday!

Embrace the Camera - Photobooth Fun

Ellie and I spent some time alone last night.

Daddy took Anna with him to worship band practice at church.

He plays bass.

Ya...he's pretty cool :-)



So...back to my cute baby Ellie...

We had a little fun with my phone :-)

She is at a ridiculously cute age!

BTW

I couldn't figure out how to make my pictures look like a photo strip

then I found this website Big Huge Labs

I know nothing about it except I used it to make the cute photo strip above

but I thought someone else out there might want to know where to make one too

So there you go!

Photobooth strip away!

hmm...that can be taken out of context lol

Embracing the Camera...Join us!

Silhouette Necklace

About a month ago I posted about some craft projects I was "itching" to do.



Well...

I made the necklace!

And I bought the paint for the pumpkin...so that almost counts ;-)

The playgroup I'm a part of tries to have a Mom's Night Out once a month.

Last month we did a craft night and all made silhouette necklaces using this tutorial.



my finished product

WARNING: cutting out the tiny silhouettes is crazy hard...BUT doable.

I made the Ellie one and then gave up.

I thought "I'll get hubby to cut out Anna for me."

Well, he gave it a try.

Handed me his finished product and said "I don't know if this looks like Anna or not."

I laughed and said "It looks like a muppet."

So I got er dun.

Here's my Ellie on the left and Anna on the right.
I think it actually looks like them...right?

And here it is making its debut at the Fall Festival at our work.  We were on a hay ride :-)



Anna's is flipped over...sad.  But it looks cute nonetheless!

Wish I had taken a pic of everyone else's necklaces at our Mom's Night Out!
I was too busy trying to stop myself from cursing at the tiny scissors ;-)

Thailand!

Did you know that the hubby and I are going to Thailand in less than 2 weeks?!

I know...crazy...right?!

The last time I traveled internationally

(except the Caribbean and Mexico and Canada...but those don't really count)

I was 13 and a freshman in high school.

That was quite a LONG time ago.



13 year old Cheryl in Spain with big bangs and glasses to match



You might be wondering...where exactly is Thailand?!

That's the question I asked myself when I heard we'd be going there lol

So...I googled it.

and BTW...it's a 26 hour travel day to get there

...yes...

26 hours of planes and airports

[deep breath]

so if you have any great book suggestions...I'm wide open!



We will be going to Bangkok, which is the capital.  Map from here.



My hubby and I will be helping run a conference there.

People will be coming from all over the world to talk about Internet Ministry.

More info on that here.

There was no way we were traveling

literally half way around the world

without checking out the country a little.

So we're staying a few days after the conference ends to experience Bangkok.

[in case you were wondering...
my fam is coming to Orlando to watch the kids for us...
26 hours on planes with a 3 year old and 18 month old...
and trying to navigate a foreign country with little ones...
NO THANK YOU ;-)
...at least not this time]

Here's a little taste of what I hope we get to see.
It seems like such a neat mix of old and new.

Source: bestourism.com via Cheryl on Pinterest



Source: flickr.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Source: jetsetter.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Source: asian-images.photoshelter.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Source: ishs.org via Cheryl on Pinterest

Source: bes-travel.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Source: travel.nationalgeographic.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Have you ever been to Bangkok?  If so, have any tips for us??