A VERY Busy Day

Day 3 was another early morning, we got on a bus at 7:00am and had a very busy morning with many stops.

After a quick stop at a an overlook area, we headed to The Big Buddha.

One Big Buddha and 4 Little Ones

There were statues for each day of the week in different positions.  I took a picture of the girls in front of the Wednesday one since it was Wednesday on our visit.  Come to find out, it about what day it is....It is what day you were born on.  This worked out well because these 3 were all due on Sundays and came on Wednesdays!!!  Whitney is our Thursday girl.

For Wednesdays: it is common to see two images. One is a standing Buddha image holding an alms bowl. After four years in his ministry, Buddha journeyed to visit his father, younger brother and son. His father was appalled when Buddha "begged" for food holding an alms bowl. Buddha calmed his father informing him that the lineage of Buddhas was to perform pindabat, (Paang Oombaat) that is, to be available to followers who devotedly bring food. Still today, the virtue of giving is strong among Buddhist followers Also for Wednesday, an image for the evening is displayed. When Buddha sought solitude to meditate undisturbed, the animals of the forest brought him sustenance. Thus it is usual to see in a temple garden, a seated Buddha image with an elephant offering a bowl of fruit and an approaching monkey offering a honeycomb.

Whit wanted to join the fun and take her shoes off too.

Next stop was a Buddhist temple.

Then, what the girls had been waiting to see.......

ELEPHANTS!!!!!

Images of elephants can be found everywhere in Thailand.  In the past, they were used in warfare and aid in construction.  

The elephant has special spiritual significance with Buddhist and Hindu beliefs.

The expression ‘white elephant’ is believed to come from when kings used to give white elephants as presents. If somebody was in favour with the king, land would be given in addition to the elephant. However, if the king wanted to prove a point to somebody who needed to be taught a lesson, the elephant would be given but no land. As it was forbidden for the royal elephant to work or to be sold, its upkeep became a very expensive undertaking and with no land for the animal, the recipient would often be driven to financial ruin in trying to maintain the elephant.

Our Brave Animal Lover!!!!

The girls weren't too impressed with the monkey show since we have seen monkeys around here.

However, watching the monkey ride a bike forward and backward was pretty entertaining.

Elephant Trekking!!!!!

Her feet looked so tiny compared to the elephant's huge ears.

Macy was not a fan of this little down hill area!

I was a little nervous that Whitney would freak out half way through the ride........

.............wasn't an issue.  

So glad we did the trek.  I am sure it is something the girls will remember for a very long time.

Next, was an cashew orchard.

We didn't go on a full tour of the orchard.  We did learn that each cashew starts off looking like this:

Whit was still out.......

Honey Bee Farm

Macy goes to Buzzy Bees for preschool, so she loved the bees.

We had just enough time back at the hotel for Whit to nap again, the Bigs to get their hair braided and Macy got to swim a bit.  

Then, we headed to Phuket FantaSea("The Ultimate Nighttime Cultural Theme Park") for dinner and a show.

It is a theme park bringing ancient and traditional Thai culture together with more modern technology and special effects.

It had a Disney feel minus the characters and rides.

The main street (Carnival Village Shopping Street) had............carnival games and souvenir booths.

Both the buffet restaurant and theater had great Thai architecture.

We needed our tickets to get seated for dinner.

  Luckily, Macy had her new purse with so she knew right where her ticket, mine and Kaylee's were.

The Fantasy of a Kingdom..Cultural Illusion show was great. 

 You couldn't take photos and they even had you check your cameras, so I don't have any pictures.

It was almost like 3 stories in one:

1.  A Disney like Thai princess story where her prince saves her

2.  Ancient, Traditional Thai scenes

3.  Modern Circus with magicians and acrobats

Of course elephants were incorporated A LOT...At one point there were 16 of them on stage!

It was very entertaining and for the 75 minutes no one needed to potty or whined that they were bored!!!!

On the way out, I bought a handmade, wood carved elephant made by this man.  He said mine took 6 days to make.  I can't wait to display it on my chicken coop that is coming next week.....I will post pictures of the coop once it comes.

It was a busy day and a late night, but so glad we got to fit some much in.

Our flight left at 8am so it was yet another early morning on departure day.  

Whitney seemed to have a slight fever for most of the trip.  She was a little fussy, but I would be too if I didn't get to nap in my bed and got drug around as much as she did!!! On the flight we noticed her left ear was draining, so off to the doctor we went....ear infection.

Life is Good with Great Vacations with Grandparents!