Love is in Stiles

That's right. You heard it here. 

I am blogging when our family went to Thailand almost a YEAR and half ago. 

I'm sorry guys. But I figured I finally need to start going through photos and writing about our adventures before I forget them all! Mommy-brain has taken a serious toll on me. (Did you know that women literally loose brain cells during pregnancy? Let's blame it on that.)

So in August of 2015 we went on a family vacation to Thailand! We spent the first two days in Phuket, then went to Railay (on the tip of Krabi peninsula) for three days, and then back to Phuket for one more day. We went in the bottom of off-season, and had a blast! We hardly had any rain, temperatures were still great, and there were no crowds anywhere! In fact, we loved it so much that we bought tickets when we got back, to go again in January 2016 with Scott's parents! Unfortunately, I was so sick by January (with my pregnancy complications) that me and Maverick weren't able to make that trip :( 

But, that is how much we loved this place!

Here are entirely too many pictures, and some short recaps of what we did:

Our first hotel was in Karon, Phuket. If you go during off-season you get some C-R-A-Z-Y deals, and we stayed in some of the nicest resorts for less than $30 a night. Maverick adored their swimming pool, and playground. That first day we didn't even leave our hotel. Which is unheard of for us. 

Maverick discovered the art of sand-toys, and would clutch his all of the time. 

Just sharing snacks with daddy. 

This is one of my favorites!

I had never been to a hotel with a playground before. Such a good idea!

Maverick learned how to climb ladders two days after he took his first steps, so he was at ease here. 

This was the main-street near our hotel in Karon. 

We stopped at Phi Phi island (which is pronounced 'pee pee'). 

Then we stopped here, at Maya Bay. It's where they filmed 'The Island". It is the most gorgeous place in the world. I don't exaggerate. Except, we came on off-season, left early, and there were still crowds there. 

These are traditional Thai long-tail boats. They can go into much shallower water than other boats, so when you do tours they often have you switch to these boats to bring you onto the islands. 

From Maya Bay we stopped at Monkey Island. It's a tiny sand beach off a cliff island, where monkeys congregate. They scale the cliffs to drop down and greet the tourists. Monkeys here are NOT afraid of people. 

Maverick was universally adored by all Thai people. I think because of his porcelain skin, bright blue eyes, and energy. People would run out of their stores to give him cookies, fruit, toys, and to hold him and take pictures with him. 

Maverick was deep into his love affair with sticks at this point. He carried them EVERYWHERE. 

This island is known for having thousands of tiny fish that come to eat. 

The last island of the second day was where we stopped for the gorgeous sunset. Then our tour guides preformed fire dancing for us (like spinning torches). It was hilarious. They were obviously not professionals at it, and I think someone might have gotten burned. I think they just got drunk, and decided that was more fun than trying to find the bio-luminscent plankton they had promised us. 

One of the few rain-storms we had hit when we got back from our tour. This is a street near our hotel. Phuket has so many bright colored buildings! 

This is Railay. It is on the tip of Krabi, Thailand peninsula. To get there we took a few hour ferry, which switched us (mid-water) to a long-tail boat. The long-tail boat brought us into Railay. It is the only way to access the tiny beach town, because no roads reach it, and it is too shallow for larger boats. The long-tail boats can't reach the shore at low-tide either, so we stopped about 100 yards out in the water, and walked through the water with our bags over head to get to the hotel!

Railay is beyond gorgeous. It's a tiny town with only about 10 hotels, a hundred or so locals, and two streets of restaurants, shops, and spas. It is known for rock-climbing, beautiful beaches, caves, and monkeys. 

One of the many caves. 

Maverick has been a beach bum since birth. He loves to play in the sand, loves the sun, and the water.

Railay beach had all of these tiny crabs that made the most gorgeous patterns when they dug their holes. They carpeted the beach. 

The other side of Railay, with its unique cliffs and stone islands. 

This side of Railay has a cave that is a popular Thai attraction. It is dedicated to a woman that lived their long ago and protected the sailors, it is said if you bring her a 'gift' she will bring you fertility. So this cave is filled with penises. All shapes, sizes, and colors. 

Railay beach. 

As a side note, in Phuket they take people parasailing behind boats. This picture is the tourist strapped into the parasail, and a local hanging onto the ropes, then when they are landing the local drops down a few feet before to help the tourist land. They all did this!