Bangladesh Navy-which one does NOT belong?

This one is for you, Rob. These are some photos I took recently on a boat trip from the port city of Khulna, Bangladesh all the way south to the Mangrove forest of the Sundarbans. We hiked to the beach and some folks even swam in the Bay of Bengal. These ships were located in the port of Mongla (sp?) apparently the 2nd largest port in Bangladesh after Chittagong. I thought you would appreciate the Naval ships from this part of the world. Hopefully you can pick out which one does not belong?!

More Sundarbans photos

Here are some more photos of Caroline and I enjoying the boating trip we took last week!

Trip to the Sundarbans

Had a great trip recently to the Sundarban forest on the southern coast of Bangladesh. I left Catherine and Dave at home and travelled for 4 days just with baby Caroline. The accomodations on the boat were fine, nothing fancy, more like camping. We had a relaxing time and enjoyed being out of Dhaka and the smog and car horns.

I saw tiger tracks, but no tigers. I saw lots of deer, dolphins, various birds and a HUGE crocodile! We also enjoyed an hour long trek to the beach and the Bay of Bengal. Caroline was fast asleep and slept through seeing the beach!

The guides on the boat told me she was the youngest tourist they have ever had in the Sundarbans!

Blowout!

Yesterday Catherine took a header on the stairs at the American Club playground and busted open the area above her eye. A a friend of ours carried Catherine over to us and Catherine was not even crying, but blood was streaming down her face. We rinsed it with water and applied some pressure and headed home. We cleaned it better at home and applied some of Grandpa Coach's super-duper antibiotic ointment and a steri strip and off Catherine went with daddy to the local hospital ER.

Dave and Catherine were seen fairly soon (by ER standards) and they thought stitches would be necessary. Another doctor took a look and confirmed this. Luckily, the hospital policy is that any stitches on the face the plastic surgeon will do. So, Dave and Catherine waited while they called him in. Catherine slept for awhile in her stroller while Dave kept Robin updated by phoning home periodically. (Robin was home with baby Caroline). The plastic surgeon gave Catherine TWO shots as a local anesthetic near the gash. Catherine layed down and remained perfectly still and quiet while she received the shots and the doctor asked Dave "Is she okay?" Dave said the most Catherine did was a small quiver of her bottom lip, but never cried. The doctor put in NINE stitches and applied antibiotic ointment and sent them on their way. Altogether, they were gone just over 3 hours. Not bad for a visit to the ER. We decided if that had happened in the States, they would have taken one look at her sleeping soundly in her stroller and had her seen by the next day sometime!!!

This picture was taken the day after the accident and after returning from a birthday party. Catherine has not slowed down one bit and does not seemed phased by her new boo-boo. Our friends all asked us "How is it that she is SO stoic and doesn't cry?" We said that her grandpa Coach told her over and over this summer (so every time she fell or banged her arm, leg, head, etc. ) that "YOU CAN'T HURT STEEL!"

Catherine's birthday party at school

Catherine attends the French school and I was invited to help she and her classmates celebrate her birthday this week. We had balloons, horns, hats, streamers and cupcakes. Fun time!

Catherine turns 3!

A group shot of the birthday party!

Catherine's birthday-Part 2

Just some more photos of the chaos...i mean the birthday party! Catherine received a scooter for her birthday.

Catherine turns 3-part I

Here is the first set of photos from Catherine's birthday party held at our house this past Friday (our Saturday). She had a cake in the shape of a # 3 made by the American Club. It was yummy! Check out her 2nd birthday photos on this blog and you will see a cake in the shape of a TWO! Don't look too close at Dave's photo from last year though, we realized he had on the exact same shirt!

Catherine wore her party dress (put it on at 7Am for a noon party!) and celebrated with many of her friends. The cut outs from the round cakes to form the number 3 were apparently used to make a cake house. With remnants of cake and house left over we dubbed this first picture the "mooky house". Kristine and Michelle are fully briefed on the "mooky" concept....for those who are not...leftover cake which consists of small crumbs, large hunks of cake and misc. icing and frosting on a plate are considered the "mooky cake". Often this can be the best part of the cake. Catherine is still asking for more "mooky house"!

The child in the green shirt is Henry, Catherine's twin as they share the same birthday. Henry was born same day, a few hours later in Boston. The other day he referred to Catherine as his "girlfriend".

Halloween in Dhaka

This year for Halloween, Catherine got to go trick or treating with some of her friends. The families rode in rickshaws from house to house and the staff passed out candy.

She was often right in front filling her bag with tasy treats.

She used her last years Little Mermaid costume, which was great! We have gotten alot of mileage out of that outfit!

The Dhaka Triathlon CLub hosts a 5K Halloween race

Some of you may know that Dave and I started a club when we arrived in Dhaka last year: THE DHAKA TRIATHLON CLUB. We hosted several races last year and also host a weekly long run. We decided to not waste alot of time after returning from home leave/birth of baby Caroline to host our first race this year. We had about 25 participants on Halloween for the 5K road race. Some folks even came in costume!

We hosted the race in conjuction with a fabulous new, local gym/fitness studio run by a Brit. He provided gift certificates for the winners and refreshments after the race. Everyone had a blast! For more on our club and photos and results from the race, check out our club blog at:

http://www.dhakatriathlonclub.blogspot.com/