Zoe Turns 1, January Adventures in Cambodia 2018

January was a month when a lot of things hit at once. I know I can usually eek out a blog post between the kids, and the part time job, and the house work, and the Bible study, and the homeschool, and the working out, but this time it just wasn't happening. But that's for another post. Today I want to celebrate the good things that happened this January.

On the top of that list, is our sweet Zoe turning 1!!!


I remember when our first child turned 1 and had a party with lots of relatives and gifts. By the fourth child you realize that 1) you don't really need that much stuff and 2) they're not going to remember it anyway. There's always the drawback of missing family while abroad, however.

We tried this astringent tasting fruit at the market again.

We found a really cool place with a great swimming pool and playground where you can go for free if you buy food. That’s why Talia has rosy cheeks here, she’s a water baby who will stay in the pool until you make her get out!

The playground was really nice too.

It’s next to a golf driving range, so everything is covered with a net roof to catch stray balls.

The kids really enjoyed it and slept for a good 2 hours when we got home! Ben was at an Environmental Summit in Singapore for five days because the group of students needed the principal along for the trip abroad, so napping children meant more sanity for me!

Ben came home really impressed by Singapore! It was clean!

It had great museums.

And he especially liked the Singaporean chicken and rice!

I’m glad he’s back home!

Ben's Field Trip to Koh Kong, Near Western Border

Grade 10 at Ben's school raised a percent of the $6,000 needed to help build a school in Koh Kong Khong. They traveled with their principal and teacher to the ribbon cutting ceremony.

It was about 8 hours by bus.

The place they stayed was a floating lodge on a river! http://www.theriverlodge.net

Because the lodge is dedicated to not impacting the environment, it's a little pricey to pay for the upkeep of the canvas tents. (Principal chaperone duty paid Ben's way.)

Everything is so green in this part of Cambodia!

Here's the bedroom of the floating lodge:

The students from Ben's school did some kayaking and paddle boarding on the river. 

Students in this region have to take a boat to school because this area of Cambodia is where soldiers from the Khmer Rouge fled, preventing its development (but eating up several species like the alligators that no longer exist here)- so there aren't motorcycles here as there aren't roads. As the school has grown, there are now too many students to fit on the boat in one trip. Some have to hike part of the way along the river until the boat is empty enough to hold them. If they want to continue school past grade six, they have to take a two hour trip one way to get there. Currently the guy driving the boat is carrying the expenses of gas and upkeep, but that isn't sustainable. He's looking at charging and other options.

This was the fruit portion of breakfast: not pictured was the omelet and pancakes.

They also got to see a beautiful waterfall. The guide said all of the tourists go see the waterfall and Ben thought it would be cool if someone created a floating coffee shop to sell to the tourists and maybe have some of the proceeds pay for gas to get the kids to school.

If you visit Cambodia, these would definitely be handy!

(disclaimer: if you buy anything from the link, we might get enough for a cheap Cambodian coffee.)

It's definitely beautiful outside of the city!