The Neighborhood

I realize that I have never really posted any pics of our neighborhood, so I took my camera as we walked to school for some playground fun. Gong gong, this is special for you so you can envision our surroundings before your visit in October. Having the school within walking distance is a big plus for us and we're stashing away some environmental karma points. Mind you, we sweated the whole way as it is really hot here now. It feels a lot like Arizona in the summer, that whole 'walk out your door and get blasted with a wall of heat' feel. Add a generous helping of humidity and that's Bangkok right now in what is the hottest time of the year.

Another cool Arizona connection is that we have trees and bushes here that are in the same family as my favorite Arizona foliage, the Mexican Bird of Paradise. Wild, eh? They are in bloom right now, and it's a lovely reminder of my favorite desert as we ride our bikes to school.
We live in a neighborhood that is gated and has a man-made lake in the middle of it all. There are some huge fish in this lake--so huge, in fact, that we were a bit freaked out when we first moved here and thought there was some sort of Lochness monster living in the lake. The fish come up and jump out of the water and some have dorsal fins. Right by the grocery store is a place where we can put in a coin and have fish food come right out into the lake.Once we get to the school gates, there is a Starbucks right outside. This is what makes our neighborhood a bit surreal. Because it's gated, many people use golf carts to get around. Picture lots of tricked-out golf carts with all the drivers holding Starbucks cups. Getting a bit of a Desperate Housewives-esque visual?
The final destination is the school playground. This a favorite of Sojo's, and she has just begun using the climbing wall with some help.
Last day of vacation for us. Such a fun, fun week.