Cambodia: Angkor Wat

This summer was amazing. We had a great trip in June to Cambodia with our dear friends in Singapore. Our main objective there was to do some service and show our kids a thing or two about real life and the immense blessings they have in their own. Did we achieve our objective? Well, we did do some service and we did take our kids. We hope some of it sank in a little bit. To show you a bit of what we did in between all of that, I thought I would show you a few photos.

 Here we all are at Angkor Wat. This place is just magnificent. So enormous. Intricate carvings, statues, towers and all built in (and after) the 12th century. It was originally Hindu but is now Buddhist and the largest religious structure in the world. And it is a sight to behold.

The thing about kids is their attention span for ruins and temples was limited (as one might expect, although I did not).  But they did try hard. At a certain point Ronin was upset with me for telling him to stop playing and rough housing (I mean these are ANCIENT ruins. Not a play gym!) and he ran off. Got lost for an hour and really gave me a panic. Patrick kept his cool and felt that things were going to be fine, regardless of the situation.  A lost kid in a foreign land is not my kind of vacation, but as suspected, Ronin was finishing his pouting out by the van and was safe and sound. Thank goodness. We had a long and tearful discussion after that one! Here are the boys trying hard to be serious and stand still for just ONE picture!!

Angkor Wat was absolutely stunning (when I wasn't running around looking for a kid). Very tranquil and so much to see.

Just trying to absorb the magnitude of building this structure all those many years ago, had my mind boggled.

The imagination and concern for beauty on every inch of this place was just stunning. We definitely don't make 'em like we used to ; )

These cute tourists loved our kids and quickly became friends with them. I was really surprised at the kids willingness to have an impromptu photo shoot with them. Usually Cache doesn't want anything to do with strangers. It was really funny, because I know these guys weren't used to seeing kids like ours, and they weren't afraid to show it. They were fascinated. I think the kids could tell and were having fun soaking up all the attention.

Here is our little gaggle of kiddies... and a donkey in the background

We had such a wonderful time exploring Cambodia and learning from the people and surroundings. The people there are so kind. Even though they may have been skeptical of us, they were still welcoming.

We got to see how everyday people live and how they survive. We saw how their built their houses (on stilts) and what they ate. We swam in the pool (the kids favorite,) and delivered food to those who needed it. We met kids, and elderly people, families and singles. We are amazed at how much it changed us. We plan on it being an annual trip for as long as we live here and maybe if the heavens smile upon us, even after we move.