Wednesday June 21, 2023 Take Southwest airlines to Nassau, Bahamas. Hotel Transfer: Majestic Tours, book thru Atlantis hotel 2 weeks before the trip. Stay 4 nights at Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Thursday June 22, 2023 Explore hotel
Friday June 23, 2023 Two hour tour of Nassau: 2 historic places are Ft Findale and Queen staircases.
Saturday June 24, 2023 Explore hotel
Sunday June 25, 2023 Check out Atlantis hotel, fly to FLL, from FLL fly to John Wayne airport.
William got 1 week of Spring Break so we decided to go to Thailand this year, mainly because the tour cost is reasonable and the food is cheap there. The drawback that we did not like is the travel time is too long (12 hours on Air China to Beijing and 5 more hours to Bangkok; on the way home, same travel time plus 5 hours waiting for connection at Beijing) and the weather was too hot over there.
In summary, we first stayed 1 night in Bangkok, then 1 night in Pattaya, 1 night in Ayuttaya, then back to Bangkok for 1 more night. Then took flight to Phuket and stayed there for 3 nights, then flew to LAX from Phuket airport. We went with Stunning Tours, our tour guide was Ellen, she speaks English very well (she’ also the tour manager for Gate1).
William could not stand the hot and humid weather, the moment we got out of the bus for sight seeing, he immediately asked to go back to the bus. He’d kick, cry, drag his feet on the ground so that we’d take him back to the bus. Often he asked to go back to the hotel and to play in the pool.
Buddha face in the tree
The only times he’d enjoy the outdoor is in the evening, when we went to Asiatique in Bangkok where he can ride the mini motocycle and ride the Tuk-tuk in Ayuttaya which he danced to the music and lights.
The rest of the time he’d enjoy sitting in the hotel pool for hours.
As for food, in the morning he only wanted to eat cereal and milk or bread with butter from the hotels free buffet. Lunch time if possible we’d get him McDonald Kid meals but he only ate french fries. We’d also order the pizza from the hotel ,or if we went to Asiatique in Bangkok, we’d go to Pizza Company shop and ordered small cheese pizza with onion rings. He loved the onion rings! We also brought the instant noodle cups from home, but he did not like the noodle too much. Seven-Eleven or Family Mart in Thailand is everywhere, here we could buy hot dog, cheese sandwich, snack and stocked up on the water, soft drinks with a good price.
On the bus, or airplane he likes to sit near the window
William loved to sit in the back of the tour bus; there were 2 other guys in the tour goup like to sit in the back also, so 4 of us always sit together. There was 1 time in Phuket when the tour company sent the van that only has 2 seats on the back, the other 2 guys already sat there; when William ran back there and found no available seat, he sat on the floor! I had to ask him several times before he was willing to move to the other seats.
William loved to sit near the window so that he could watch the streets and the bus passing by. Some times he sneaked in between me and the other 2 guys so that he could look thru the back window.
As for riding the airplane, this time he did not want to run up/down the isles. I tried to keep him busy by giving his little phone that is loaded with his favorite videos. He’d sit and watch for hours, the only annoy thing is that he made noise while watching videos by imitating the sounds from the movies, which some people found that too loud. I tried to tell him to keep his voice down but he did not listen. Another good thing is that he’s not afraid of the restroom anymore; he’d go with me without me asking so many times when he needed to go; but he’d cover his ears when he was in there. So what I did is that I let him out of the restroom first before I flushed the toilet.
Phi Phi coral island, having lunch
For some reason his eyes got so itchy that he kept scratching them, which made them swollen. He looked really bad toward the end of the trip, which made me realize that he’s not ready for any tours yet, especially he’s too young to care much about the sight seeing, temples or history; all he wants was just the pool!
William doesn’t like to take pictures, it was so hard for him to stand still for a minute to take a good picture. He’d just turn his head away or run around or pull his shirt up to scratch his body; so turned out we did not have a any good family picture at all.
He doesn’t like the beach either. 2 years ago we went to Cancun, he’d cry and kick if we took him to the beach. This time we went to Batong beach in Phuket, he acted the same way, but this time at least he was ok to stand on the sand, and eventually he sat down to play, but still refused to get wet.
He refused to step down to the water
One thing I felt bad is that I forgot to ask for special meal when checked in at LAX so he ended up eating bread with butter because he refused to eat rice. When checking in at Phuket Airport, I asked for special meal but they said I have to order it 1 day before checking in. When we were at the gate, I asked again and they said I need to call in 3 days before checking in. Seems like Air China staffs are not on the same page about this. Learned my lesson, I will make sure I request the special meal for William when we book the tickets!
Riding mini motocycle at Asiatique
It was a 10 days trip, not sure if William felt it was long but he did not ask to go home like we were on the Japan trip last year; I guess partly because all the hotels have pools for him to enjoy. Last year he was still afraid of water; I think taking swimming class really helps him to feel comfortable with water. Now he’d just run to the pool when he sees one. 2 year ago when we went to Cancun, I’d have to drag him to the pool because he’d kicking and crying saying “No, No!”.
Private house next to our hotel belong to 1 of the riches man
Our little boy is now growing fast, he’s 3 feet and 43 lbls now. He talks a lot more and pays attention more to his surrounding. I’m so happy with his progress. I hope that one day he can tell us if he likes or dislikes the trip and why.
It was so hot, he only wanted to go back to the bus
Son, I’m so proud of you. We love you! Maybe no more long trip until you’re older.
It’s been raining few days a week for the last 2 months here in Southern California which is very rare to happen; which is pretty good because we were so lack of water last year. This also helps the wild flowers to bloom so much that everyone is calling it’s a Super Bloom year. Of course with our love for wild flowers, it’s hard to pass this opportunity so we we went to Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore last weekend, and this weekend too.
We love Poppies Flowers
Luckily for us the weather was nice, no wind so it was not cold; and the city provide a huge parking space right off the freeway exist (Exit Lake St., make a right turn, the parking lot is right on the left. It closes at 4 PM so make sure to move your car out before that time). From there, walk under the bridge then you’ll reach the mountains, 3 minutes walking.
With Grandma Tuyet and Aunt Eliza who also love flowers.
First time we went here, William mostly sat in his stroller and refused to get out. But this time he refused to sit in the stroller; he enjoyed walking on the dirt road while eating his M&M chocolate. That’s what we want to see from him: enjoy the nature. The only thing we wish is that he’d listen and would walk with us, not running ahead or around without asking us so we ended up running after him because we don’t want to loose him in this huge crowd (I’ve never seen so many people coming to see the flowers like this before, way so crowded). Because we had to always pay close attention to him we did not have much time to take pictures but Tim managed to take some good pictures of us.
Whenever he’s in the open or huge space, he has the tendency to run off without waiting for us, and refuses to hold our hands; and our only choice at that time is to run after him. Telling him to stop doesn’t work!
He loves to run around in open space
We were taking pictures, and he just decided to run back to the yellow gate. Tim followed him. Then he continued his way to the ice cream truck. He did not ask for ice cream but he said Yes when Tim asked if he wanted one.
So Tim bought 2 ice cream: 1 minion lemon ice cream bar and 1 shave ice cup. William was so happy licking his Minion ice cream and followed us to to back to the flowers field.
Eating ice cream is the best in a sunny day
We came up to the yellow gate and he decided to sit on it to enjoy his ice cream. I thought he’d sit fine but as soon as I take my hands off him, he felt off as well as the ice cream bar. I guess I should have told him so that he’d hold on to the gate better. He cried but not because he was hurt: “I want my ice cream!”. We promised him we’d get a new ice cream on the way back. He stopped crying but did not look happy. Now he wanted to sit on the stroller, drinking coke and eating M&M chocolates.
The yellow gate. Going down is to the parking lot where the ice cream trucks are. Going up hills are to see the flowers.
So on our way back to the car, we stopped by the Ice Cream truck to get him another Minion bar as promised. As we were waiting in line, he tried to stand up from the stroller, and then the stroller lifted backward, and he felt again! This time he did not cry but he was shocked! so I held him in my hands and comfort him.
I felt so bad that my negligence caused him to fall 2 times. Both of these incidents can be totally avoided if I always have him next to me. Being active kid, he’d never sit still so I should have pay more attention even when he’s sitting down.
But overall the trip was fun, this time we went with Grandma Tuyet and aunt Eliza. The weather was nice, flowers were beautiful and most importantly we got to spend quality time with our loved ones.
Lake Elsinore
Walker Canyon, Lake Elsinore“I want to Scratch” – some flowers got into his shirt and he wanted me to scratch for him.
Short trip to Palm Springs with my Mom and my sisters’ families (total 13 people), stayed that Palm Canyon Hotel for 1 night, then took the Aerial Tram to the Mountain Station for some snow. It was cold but that did not stop William from lying on the snow! He especially loved the swimming pool and jacuzzi at the hotel because it’s heated.
Our first stop was at the Cabazon Dinosaurs, took a few pictures with the giant dinosaurs. If you want to take the Adventure Tour then the admission is $13.00 but we did not. Then we headed to The River of Rancho Mirage for lunch. It’s a beautiful place; William loved to play with the water in the man-made pond.
Got to the hotel around 3:00 pm and they let us in early (check in time is 4:00 pm). The villa is so roomy that the children loved it. It has 2 bed rooms with each has its own spacious bathroom. One room has 1 king bed which we stayed in, the other room has 2 queen beds for my sister and her 2 children and my Mom. We also booked a studio for my older sister which has 1 bed and 2 sofa bed. Both have fully equipped kitchen and full size refrigerator.
After a short break, we went down to the pool, William immediately jumped in with his Dad; and didn’t leave the pool until it got dark.
It’s too late into the persimmon season but we went to the farm anyway because the owner said there was still some fruits left. I was more into the scenery of the farm: autumn leaves.
It’s 1 and 1/2 hour driving to the place from our house; not too bad.
It’s hidden in a residential area, and it’s smaller than we thought. The owner just got the farm recently. They were selling $2.00/lbl. We had a choice of picking the fruit ourselves or we could get those that they already picked and placed on the table in front of their house.
The owner was nice enough to offer taking pic for us
Tim grabbed container and went picking the fruit from the trees. William did not want to go there; he kept running back to the car; I really had a hard time to catch up with him because it’s an up hill run up to the car from the farm.
I guess because he loved the scale that the owner used to weight the fruits that he kept running back.
The farm owner
William also loved to walk on the stack of hay, even lie down on it; Hay was all over his pants and jacket.
William loved to walk on the stack of hay. 6311 Vonnie Ct, Riverside, CA 92504
Departed home around 1:00 PM, picked up my Mom & Dad and drove to Long Beach port, parked our car, took our luggage to the port. All went smooth. The only thing bothered me is that the man who handled our luggage asked for tip; and Tim did not have small change so he gave him $10.00! All he did was to push the cart with our and others’ luggage to load on the boat, which is only a few steps! It’s not like he was gonna take our luggage to our room.
Since we already printed luggage tags at home, we could go straight to check in in the huge dome house.
Sunday July 15, 2018 – After the church, we went back to the hotel to check out and left our luggage in their storage so that we could go to the Butchart gardens. We walked about 7 minutes to the bus station #75, fare is $5 for a day pass for each person (children under 5 is free). The driver won’t have change so must give him exact amount.
Riding the bus #75
William cried when I told him we would take a bus; but when we got in the bus he got so excited and ran all the way to the back and sat there. It took about 45 minutes to get to the garden. Our friends left before us but because they took the wrong bus #31 so they ended up get on our bus about 15 minutes later. It was a surprised re-union :).
The garden has several gardens which are all beautiful: the Sunken garden, Italian garden, Japanese garden, Rose garden; we like the Sunken garden and Rose garden the most.
Relax in the Japanese garden
Our family hid in the shade eating snack :). Back row from right: Tracy, Julie, Than, Danny. Front row from right: Tim, William & Grandma.
Rose garden, some flowers are done but still beautiful.
Entrance to the garden, after the admission gate. The gift shop is on the right.
Stopping for ice cream, it was too hot. William just woke up from a short nap.
Sunday July 15, 2018. It was a busy day today: church in the morning, Butchart Gardens and then flight back to Seattle.
Breakfast at hotel before heading to church
We had breakfast at the hotel; it was quite good. Then we took a taxi to St. Andrew church. The taxi driver told us he knew where the church is but dropped us at the wrong church so we ended up walking! It actually takes only 7 minutes walking to the church, we should have just walked from the hotel. Finally we got to the church, went inside but William made to much noise that we had to go out. He wanted to get back in so he cried and kicked his legs! I guess after all these days he was just tired! http://www.standrewscathedral.com/
740 View St, Victoria, BC V8W 1J8, Canada
Inside the church, William would not stay still, he kept running around and making noises.
Saturday 14, 2018 – V2V Ferry from Vancouver to Victoria. We got the good deal “Buy one get one free” royal tickets which include lunch and drink on board. This V2V company is new so there was not that many customers. They’re lucky to have our party of 28 people on board.
Checked out at the Holiday Inn hotel around 11 AM; and took a taxi to the Canadian Place where the V2V ferry departs (its location is right next to the Convention Center), which only 5 minutes away. The port is beautiful! Some of our group rented the bikes to ride along the port and they said it was a very beautiful ride. Too bad that it’s one way for the bikers so to finish the whole circle would take 45 minutes.
Walking along the water front
The ferry left at 1:00 PM so we didn’t have much time; we took William on a stroller and leisurely walked along the waterfront while feeding him a hot dog that Tim bought in the morning at a convenient store near by the Holiday Inn hotel. We checked in most of our luggage when boarding so we didn’t have to carry them along which is easier for us.
Boarding was easy and fast because there was not that many customers beside our big group of 28 people. The boat is new so everything is very clean; we got the window seat which William loves!
Soon after the boat left the port, they started to serve lunch. Because we bought Royal Customer ticket, we did not have to pay for lunch, drinks and snack (for beer you can order 1 time free of charge but after that you have to pay). I ordered for William Meat & Cheese; as soon as the dish was placed in front of him, he picked up the bread and ate it. He must be very hungry! Then he had some chocolate truffles and apple juice. But that’s all he ate, he refused to eat cheese or ham or potato salad.
3 hours on boat was smooth. The men in our group was having so much fun eating and drinking beers. Our group occupied the whole top level of the boat!
Watching the boats
The Canadian trail, nice place to walk around in a hot summer day. Lots of restaurants around.
William picked this whale from the V2V office and played with it ever since.
Boarding V2V boat. That’s Tim carrying luggage ahead.
William loves the windows!
Lunch on the boat, foods is great, especially when it’s free :). Right: Danny, Grandma Tuyết, Tracy. Left: Tim, me & William.
William and Meat and Cheese meal but he only ate bread & chocolate.
William ate few slices of this bread
People at this table enjoyed beers!
2 colors of water
Open Face Sandwich
Meat and Cheese
Aunt Julie and cousin Danny
V2V tickets
Enjoy the scenery as the ferry approaching Victoria island.
Memorial Holiday weekend, we went camping with a group of friends (VCF – Vietnamese Cyber Friends) at Zion Park. We left our house on Thursday and drove to Las Vegas, stayed at MGM Grand for 1 night, then drove to Zion Park (3 hours drive) and camped at Watchman campground for 1 night. The plan was to camp 2 nights but the weather was too hot and William had an accident at the daycare right before we left so we only camped 1 night then headed home on Saturday. We got home around midnight on Sunday.
The whole trip, the only time William was happy is to ride the shuttle bus and to play with the water in the river. The weather was too hot (85 degree and above) to make it impossible to sit in the tent during noon, so William had to sit on the chair outside. I know he was tired and just wanted to lie down but every time I told him to get in the tent, he’d get in for 1 minute and then ran out even when we turned on the fan inside the tent.
