Superbowl Monday!

Of course, our golf cart must be decked out to mark this festive occasion!  Go Giants!

We are all very excited to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow morning!  This time, I WILL NOT get the time wrong.  In fact, since Kevin will be leaving for work very early tomorrow morning, we are doing a dry run tonight to make sure the television works properly and is set to the correct channel.  I am letting the kids stay home to watch the game tomorrow morning and will take them to school as soon as it finishes.  Hopefully, with a Giants victory!  One of Christopher's very good friends is (gasp!) a Patriots fan but I let Christopher invite him to watch the game with us anyway.  I thought that was very adult of me.  

We had a very busy weekend of baseball and softball; however, due to a severe rainstorm yesterday afternoon, it was not as bad as it should have been.  Christopher had a game Friday night that they lost.  I can't even remember what the score was but I think Kevin told me Christopher's team only had two hits for the entire game. Yikes. Christopher also played in two "Majors" division games on Saturday.  The 7th and 8th graders play on the Majors teams and the 5th and 6th graders play on the AAA teams. The ISB 7th/8th grade soccer team was participating in a tournament downtown yesterday and, since quite a few soccer players are also baseball players, there were some shortages for the Majors teams.  Rather than cancel, the Majors coaches asked for some players from the AAA teams to play "up" so Christopher and two of his friends signed on.  One game was tied (Christopher had a nice double that brought in two runners) and the other was a total blowout (loss for Christopher's team), which the coaches ended at 19-1.  It was very painful to watch and everyone in the stands was glad to end the misery.  Just as Christopher was beginning his AAA (and third) game of the day and as Caitlynne/Kevin were taking the field for their softball game, the skies opened with a deluge of rain and all of the games ended up being cancelled.  

Almost every day last week we had a thunderstorm or strong rain shower.  Apparently, we are having an unusual amount of rain for this time of year.  Several people told us yesterday that it NEVER rains in Bangkok during January, February and March.  In mid-April, the Thais celebrate "Songkran" which is a festival to celebrate the end of the hot & dry season and to welcome the beginning of the wet season and the rains to grow rice and other crops.  Songkran also is celebrated as the traditional New Year of many calendars of Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand.  Songkran is a three day national holiday although, in some parts of Thailand, the celebrations may continue for up to a week.  

Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal.  In keeping with the "clean" and "water" themes, a favorite celebratory activity is the throwing of water... at people.  Strangers. No one is safe.  People walk the streets with buckets of water or water guns and literally throw water at whomever might pass by.  We have been warned about kids waiting (hiding) on the sides of the  streets in Nichada with garden hoses, buckets and water guns to drench everyone passing by.  Note to self - no golf cart or bike riding during Songkran.  During Songkran, the Thais also take time to cleanse the Buddha images in their home for good luck and prosperity.  I found a few photos of Songkran courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Takeaway.

Caitlynne and Christopher are very excited for Songkran.  Kevin and I, not so much.

I do wonder how all of this earlier than usual rain will affect our risk of flooding next Fall...

Fingers crossed for a great game today and a Giants Victory!