So this is how things work in our family. Dan is the main bread winner. His income pays for the bills and our investments. Whatever I make goes towards VACATIONS!! And that basically is how our family operates.
We work hard and play hard. I try my best to fund our family vacations with what I make and Dan gets all the bills paid. There are somethings that are way too expensive for an average Vietnamese person or American to pay for but if you know how to navigate it, you can enjoy it. For example, parasailing is something Dan and I did for our Anniversary one year in Seattle and it was not cheap for the 2 of us. Parasailing was not cheap in Da Nang but for Dan and Reena to go it was less than for one person in Seattle. They had a lot of fun and it was PRICELESS.
Dan had this amazing idea that hey how about we vacation for a long time where it is relatively inexpensive. Hawaii was fun but it was expensive for a family of 6 and that's why we only stayed for 10 days. So he took us all to Vietnam. We have this gorgeous custom built home that has 5 bedrooms, huge high and vaulted ceilings, beautiful gourmet kitchen, and a not bad size yard with swings for the kids and 10 fruit trees in the best master planned community that is really new with multi million dollar homes and our home worth is over $1M and yada yada yada. I could keep going about that but he wants us to experience leaving THINGS behind for a temporary period for this\|/
Do you see a table? Nope. Do you see happy people? Yes! (ok maybe not our kids) but yes. This right here is priceless. No amount of money can buy that kind of happiness, even though it did take a pot load of money to cross the Pacific.
Do you see padded playgrounds? Nope? Happy kids though. We gathered coconut leaves that landscapers cut off and make toys with them like I used to
Also what happened at the beginning of October that was PRICELESS was this sweet 4 year old of mine. He turned 4 on October 4th, which happened to be on the Autumn festival. My cousins DEMANDED that they throw him a birthday party in the countryside so we could have all the Autumn festival dragon dances and such and omg what a party they threw him. They bought decorations that were hilarious (like balloons that say "happy birthday girl" "happy 1st birthday") and almost everything was pink and polka dots. I laughed so hard but didn't tell them why. They tried, even though attention to details was not on their priority. I didn't have to throw a big party so that was nice. I just went shopping for some green fabric and had a green Ninja Outfit made for Ronin because he is THE BIGGEST ninja lover I have ever seen. He even calls himself LLOYD the GREEN NINJA and sometimes will introduce himself as that. I had 2 things I wanted to make sure happens and they were: A Ninja outfit for him and a ninjago ninja cake.
Cheering for apple crisp and making apple crisp in the world's smallest oven? Yes. I could've had my gorgeous double oven with the best Washington apples for apple crisp but instead I have had to find another appreciation for the small and simple life. PRICELESS!
Walking and uber every where because we don't have our beautiful 2015 Honda Odyssey van. PRICELESS
Meeting with the mission president of Vietnam and the branch president of Saigon branch in our home for Family Home Evening and uniting the one other Mormon Korean family in all of Da Nang...PRICELESS
Meeting Expats from all over the world...PRICELESS
Highrise Luxury experiences for dirt cheap pricing....ok not priceless but still IMPOSSIBLE to find in the States
Working out with husband for a lunch break because he has a job that he can live and work anywhere around the world. PRICELESS!!!
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| We ran 6 miles to this statue |
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| Also found a pretty awesome gym in Da Nang |
Eating delicious food for less than a price of an ice cream cone per person in the States and gourmet pizzas
Hot date with the hubby because we have free family babysitters...PRICELESS
Getting massages for $20 a person for an hour and a half? Are you kidding? Sign me up for life!!!
Riding around the beach on a school day for recess with my daughters...PRICELESS!
Bought instruments for less than music lesson for both girls in a month!
Exploring the Vietnamese Culture through my cousin's Jack Tran Tour...PRICELESS!!! Stayed at one of the best Resorts in town and eating the most amazing buffet breakfast...
See video!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mXjredBcZU&t=156s
Halloween - oh we missed that Halloween experience very much. We went to Bana Hills hoping to find a lot of decorations and activities but got poured on. So we hung out inside and had yummy food and played and saw dinosaurs which was a hit for Roro and the girls got scared to death at the haunted houses and they saw a 3D ghost movie that they shouldn't have seen and cried. My cousin didn't look before she took them in to see it. Whoops
The sky tram was and will always be a favorite thing going up to Bana Hills. Happy birthday to the man who is adventurous and had his heart on the girl who could satisfy his adventurous self. He got one crazy big birthday celebration from my great aunt who got her hotel staff together and threw him THE BIGGEST SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!
Now that's a Vietnamese birthday party for ya. They eat a lot, nap a lot (everything shuts down at 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM so people can go home from work and nap) and they party a lot.
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