Two weeks ago, we ventured outside of Bangkok for the first time since we've been here and spent seven days on the southern Thai island of Phuket.
Back when we were still in Michigan and I was checking out the map of Thailand, I saw the word "Phuket" and thought that it was an odd (and somewhat shocking name) since the letters "ph" sound like "f" in the States. I am pleased (and relieved) to report that the correct pronunciation of this island paradise is "Poo-ket."
We stayed at the Laguna Beach Resort, which is part of a big complex of similar family-friendly resorts situated on the water. This place really caters to kids with a nice-sized pool that has a huge slide (not shown).
They also have a program called "Kids Club" which my daughter Julia (age 5) really loved. They have games, crafts and other activities that were perfect for a kid her age. She is a pretty social kid and made several new friends, including Kerrian from England.
The activities at the Kids Club were a little remedial for Max (age 8) and Olivia (age 2) was too young to hang out there without supervision, so while we were able to drop off Julia for extended periods of time with no problems, we were left having to constantly entertain those two for the rest of the day. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, but it doesn't necessarily make for a relaxing vacation.
We spent most of our time in the pool, but the kids enjoyed the beach and Max and Julia liked playing in the ocean.
The crashing waves were too much for Olivia, so she kept a cautious distance at all times.
Another thing the kids couldn't get enough of was the daily appearances by a 3-year-old elephant named Anna. Twice a day (around 9:00 am and 3:00 pm) Anna would show up and every kid in the resort would go berserk. I can understand the excitement of seeing these magnificent creatures up close, but I thought that after a few days that excitement would wear off. That's wasn't the case. They fed Anna, rode her and hung out with her every day like it was the very first time.
After a few days, it seemed like Max made a life-long friend with this elephant.
In the morning, Anna would show up at near one of the resort's breakfast buffets and twenty kids would feed her from a basket specially marked "Bananas for Anna." That supply would usually last about two minutes so then the children would raid the buffet for more food.
Later in the day, Anna and her owner would spend time in the beach and she would even cool off in the ocean.
One thing I never really knew about elephants until I started to see them up close is that their skin is covered with strands of thick, dark hair which has the same consistency of a wire brush.
Their tails remind me of the brooms that street vendors sell in downtown Bangkok.
Generally, I'm not one to want to spend my vacation at a resort hanging around the pool and beach. I would prefer to rent a car, explore the island and sight-see, but with three kids that seemed like a bit of a hassle at this time. Laguna Beach did have a few activities for adults and I tried several of them. Their scuba diving lesson in the pool lasted about 3 minutes and was really just a commercial to get you to sign up for a more expensive certification course (something I would actually like to do but didn't have time for). I tried windsurfing, but soon found out that I am just too old or not strong enough (or a combination of the two) to pursue this for more than a half hour. Para-Sailing seemed like it could have been a good time, but when I tried it there was hardly any wind so the fun quotient was cut down considerably.
Max and I did manage to sneak outside of Laguna Beach a couple of times, but for the most part, we just stayed put. And with a view from our room like this one, I guess that's not such a bad thing.
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