Thailand: Vacationing in Koh Tao

Toren arrive on the 18th -- almost three weeks after Austin and I arrived.  When Austin saw him coming through customs his bottom lip started to quiver and he nearly started crying.  I think he was overcome with emotions after not seeing his daddy for so long.  He gave Toren a big hug and wouldn't let go until we got home (yes, Toren held him during the drive...thanks to no car seat laws in Thailand).  It was really sweet.

My brother, sister-in-law, and future brother-in-law (who proposed to Laura just before Christmas), arrived the next day and we headed out for a 5-day vacation to the island of Koh Tao.  To get to Koh Tao we had to take a short flight to Koh Samui (which was heavenly with eight other people to help me entertain Austin) and then a hellish three-hour ferry ride.  It was monsoon season and the waves were roaring!  I threw up about six times from motion sickness.  Luckily, Austin didn't seem effected at all.  But, we arrived.

The island is a hot spot for divers, which is why we went.  Being a family of scuba divers, all of our vacations now involve diving.   As such, we were surrounded by all sorts of backpacking, hippie types.  Austin was one of only about 3 kids we saw our entire time there.  But, we loved the relaxed feeling.  We spent a lot of time hanging out by and in the pool.  Austin loved being tossed between the men.

We rented scooters and zipped all over town.  Austin loved riding on the scooter.  He would hold his hands out to the side and saw "weeeeee!"

And, of course, we did a little diving.  Unfortunately, the visibility was pretty terrible from the monsoons, but we had a great time.  From the shore we road a long motor boat to a big dive boat.  The dive boat drove us out to the spot and we jumped off the back and into the water.

It was a beautiful island.  I could see myself living there....Toren could be a dive master, I could sell homemade anklettes, and we could teach Austin how to give Thai massages.  

Note: I didn't actually take any of these beautiful pictures.  They are courtesy of my talented brother, David.

Here's the whole gang after we got off the ferry ride on the way home, which was significantly better.  I'm sure the Dramamine I took helped a bit too.

And, did I mention that someone got engaged?!?  We couldn't be happier for Laura and Scott.