And We Danced at the Marine Corps Ball 2013

Saturday began like this:

And ended up like this:

We had a blast, attending our second Marine Corps Birthday Ball. I don't know if any future post will ever live up to the bar that has been set by Mission Bangkok. I know that is silly of me, being such a lemons-into-lemonade person, and I will find other things to love about wherever we go. But with almost 500 guests, this event was fabulous. As soon as the music began, the guests abandoned their dinners for the dance floor. I'm so proud of our Marines, and really lucky that Phil wrangled a picture with them again this year-its an honor to be in such great company.

I'm glad we started the day with a run, because it gave us the energy to keep going until almost dawn. After the Ball ended and the room was cleared, we celebrated with the gunny and his wife at Q Bar before heading home.

Now I just look forward to seeing all the photos our State friends share from Marine events all around the world.

And Then We Ran

Here's a little before-and-after action for you.

There is really no great story behind these photos; just the fact that we love to torture our kids.

When we packed up the kids to do a little 5k in the park last weekend, we tried to arrange them so that we all had a nice time. However, a six year old on a bike doesn't go well with crowds of runners, so after one lap around Lumphini I asked Little P to ditch the bike and finish the race on foot. He was happy to try.

For about five minutes. Then he began to whine and wanted to stop, and my normally agile and extremely nimble boy began to flop his feet and flail his arms. When this didn't get the desired response, he whined a bit more, tried to walk, and started in on the "I can't"s. Somehow, during all this drama, he managed to flop past a race photographer, and was caught and immortalized on film. I will show him this photo someday. Perhaps when he is raising kids of his own.

We did manage to finish the run, flailing boy, jogging stroller and all.