Grandma's Big Adventure

Another full night of sleep for Lucas and Maiya both! I think the crazy amount of visual stimulation Lucas is getting the last week makes him very sleepy! He goes to bed with only a minute of fussing usually and sleeps from about 8pm to 6-7 am. He wakes up happy and likes cuddling in bed for a few minutes. He is LOVING pat-a-cake and starts laughing as soon as you start the words. He loves Maiya and she can usually get him laughing by jumping around and being silly. He tries to use his left eye more so it's kind of funny when he stops and tries to focus out of the left eye - the look is so intent! He still throws up a lot after eating (usually on Brett - 2 kids in and he still hasn't figured out he should close his mouth when he's holding them up like an airplane after they eat!). If you followed Maiya's blog you might recognize the toy sea turtle that appeared in alot of her pics when we were here adopting her!

Mom was feeling better today so we decided to have a girls outing and visit the Vietnamese quilt store that we went to with Maiya. It was founded by an NGO to help local women in rural areas learn a handicraft and the money from sales goes back to the women and their villages.

The hotel has a shuttle and they suggested taking it to the Ben Thanh Market and then walking to the quilt store and an ao dai store we wanted to check out to get something made for mom. The staff here have been great and the driver was no exception. When he dropped us off he gave us directions for where to walk and we headed off. We decided to brave the market first since we were there anyway. It makes a summer Saturday crowd at the St. Jacob's Market seem sparse in comparison!

Not too far inside we stopped at a silk store and checked out the material. The temperature is high enough outside but is even steamier inside. After some debate and attempted bargaining, and a brief walk away, mom settled on some very pretty silk and purchased it. We are pretty sure the price went up at some point but by that point we were hot and Maiya was losing patience! We got a pretty pale purple ao dai for Maiya in size 7 and will get some other sizes later.

Anyway - the fun was just starting as we then followed a lady from the material stall through the market, across a busy street and into a small side street. We stopped at a tiny shop with an open store front and a small cluttered counter - the tailor! Some measurements and a few dollars later we had a receipt and hopefully an ao dai to pick up tomorrow! (hopefully we can find it again!!).

We braved the crowded stalls one more time and made a couple more purchases. By this point Maiya was done in so we crossed the street to a Highland Coffee shop for a cold drink and a break from the heat. With a chance to orient ourselves we ventured out towards the quilt store. We passed by lots of local food markets and on our last turn found ourselves in front of the Bitexco Tower, a new building with a floor called the Saigon Skydeck on the 49th floor. We decided to buy tickets and head up. It was a bit pricey but definitely worth it! The building is very futuristic looking and our ears were popping on the ride up! The view was amazing - totally different perspective to see just how far the city goes. We could see buildings near where we are staying - if you look closely in the picture you can see the tip of the steeple on the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is about a 5-10 minute walk from our hotel.

As we were about to leave we noticed the wall of rain heading our way - and by the time we got back to the main floor the downpour had found us! When we asked the girl at the desk to confirm the direction we had to go for the quilt store, she was quite concerned about us going in the rain. She told us to follow her and took us through a section that looked like something from a spaceship with its digital lighting and security and escorted us to a different entrance, almost directly across from the store! We got our rain ponchos on and splashed across the street....only to find the sign for the store - and an empty room! So that ended our quilt search! We will try a different site tomorrow I guess!

So we got a taxi and headed back to the hotel for a swim and popcorn and ice cream by the pool.

Tomorrow our post will be more about Lucas since we will be busy celebrating his 1st birthday!