Our amazing hotel in Phuket, Thailand. We didn't want to leave...

Diving in Phuket

View of the boat we took out to scuba dive in Phuket, and then of Sarah getting her book signed by our diving guide - an Austrian woman living in Thailand. Alan got an unexpected chance to practice speaking German.

Sarah and Sam snorkeling at Phi Phi Island in Thailand. The water is so clear you can see tons of fish right from the boat.

The wild monkeys at "Monkey Beach" jump on to the boats to get bananas.

Our boat trip to Phi Phi Island off the coast of Phuket. The water was so clear and blue! This is where the movie "The Beach" was filmed.

Ben and Alan having fun in the waves in Phuket. Ben calls this going "Woosh in the Waves." We'd sit in the sand and wait for the wave to come and wash over us.

Nate and Ben at the beach in Phuket, Thailand. We stayed at a beautiful JW Marriott resort.

The Royal Palace at the center of Bangkok. "Wow" doesn't do this sight justice. Almost every surface we saw was either covered with gold plating, jewels, mirrors or very detailed paintings.

Thailand Trip - May Holiday

Cooling off in Bangkok with a fan and a cool drink. It was hot - even for Texans who should be used to it!

I realized after taking this picture that Sam matches the bear in expression and pose! We took the kids to another of Beijing's parks that has a children's play area with rides.

Images from our walk around the lake at Beijing's Summer Palace Park.

"Hey, this really does help shade me from the sun!"

Ben and his school friend Alice are having lunch together on a field trip.

Llama Temple in Beijing - View of amazing detail in the roof and also of people praying and offering incense.

Temple of Heaven in Beijing - view of outside and also intricate detail of window frames.

These special trees look even more interesting before the leaves come out. We saw this one in the Ming Tombs area outside Beijing.

Two views of the Great Wall. Was quite an experience to see the wall go on and on over each mountain peak as far as the eye could see.

Getting ready to hike up the Great Wall at Badaling section. Sam got to ride...

Alan, Nate and John swimming with the sharks and moray eels at Beijing's Blue Zoo aquarium - right AFTER feeding time so the sharks don't get any funny ideas!

Bundled up for a walk in a park next to the Forbidden City.

Cute Chinese boy bundled up against the cold. Most tourists in the Forbidden City were Chinese people from other parts of the country. Since foreigners are usually only seen in major cities, we got the feeling that we were almost as interesting an attraction to see as the Forbidden City itself! Sam and his stroller always got a lot of attention.

Touring the Forbidden City at the center of Beijing, which was about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. Awesome experience to see the history in this place first hand.

:) Ok... I won't.

Ben's first time on ice skates! Turns out there was a rink minutes away from where I worked (Guo Mao). He had lots of fun but could barely stand on the skates for more than a minute at a time.