Every year our Great-Grandma will go to her hometown Prajeenburi to pay respect to ancestors. This time all the three T's get to go along too. We got into a van and got there in 2 hours.We went to Bang-kang temple and provided lunch for the monks. During the monks' meal, the three T's explored the temple area and saw the three mega-swines which look even bigger than the years past. They were asleep and didn't pay attention to us so we only got pictures of them sleeping.

       Food was a big thing. Everyone cooked their heart out for the best meal. Our favorite is Yum-Yai which requires more than ten meat and vegetable ingredients. Must have taken a long time just to prepare the ingredients. Aunt Kanittha made the best Yum-Yai ever and we gorged ourselves with it. Aunt Kanittha also made a mean Ka-nom-Jeen-Nam-Ya (rice noodle with fish curry) for us. 

        We also had sticky rice with fish and shrimp toppings along with Tom-Yam-Kung (spicy shrimp soup) made by Aunt Jaew. There was also chilli paste with vegetables, Ka-nom-Jeen-Nam-Prig (rice noodle with sweet topping), and Prajeenburi's famous pork satay. 

        The desert was all the sugary yolk in various forms (Thong-yip, Thong-yod, Foi-thong, etc.) with bright orange/yellow color that brought the three T's to finish them so fast that Ko got only one piece of his favorite (Thong-yip.)

There was also a ceremony for a local man to become a monk so the children get to see the ceremony up close. They got to walk around the U-bo-sot (a central area of the temple where a new monk would get ordained) three times. Tanya even tried to do Thai traditional dancing (a 15-month-old's version anyway.) Titus and Tatia had a lot of fun chasing candies and coins tossed around by the relatives of the monk-to-be . Tatia was especially happy to get both candies and lotus ribbons.

After the ceremony, we went to our Great-Grandma's house. This is a traditional Thai house made of wood with raised platform to handle the yearly flood. The house was originally built by her husband, Great-Grandpa Pin. This year, the house was raised so that the floor is 3 meters above the ground so that taller descendants (such as Ko) can walk around under the house without fearing concussion. Of course, the stair steps are even more numerous making the older people walk up even more. Ko told the three T's about his childhood summer vacation at the house where he had a lot of adventures. Grand dad Kowit made toys from banana tree for the children and they really liked them.

All in all, a fabulous time. The kids got to feast, to learn about Thai traditions and ceremonies, and family. They seem quite happy.