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| We had been looking forward to riding an elephant for months! It was like riding a really big horse- minus the saddle or anything that would make you feel like you won't fall off! |
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| This was just after the elephant had sprayed us with his trunk- it was great to get cooled off! |
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| This was Raja's Mom's first ride on an elephant. She clung to Raja for dear life! |
 The Beach!!!
Atamma (grandma) and Hashan near the beach
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| We went to the town of Kalutara, to see this Buddhist temple and to swim. This temple was huge. In this picture we are inside of a giant dome. This day was "Poya" a monthly Buddhist holiday, so the temple had many people inside praying. |
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| We decided to stop for lunch before we hit the beach. Lucky for us, the hotel we ate at had a pool. The water there was almost too warm- all heated by the sun. |
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| Raja's parents and older brother came with us. They watched as we swam. |
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| Raja's older brother, Vladimir, ready to eat. |
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| Yummy! |
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| Hashan and I jumped in too! As hot as it was, I forced myself to stay as covered up as possible it definitely paid off- I didn't get sunburned once! |
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| This was Hashan's first time swimming- ever! He loved it! |
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| We went to meet Raja's Auntie, her son and daughter in law and daughter and son-in-law. |
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| This is Raja's brother, Sanjaya. At first Hashan couldn't tell whether or not this was his Daddy! (They do look alike!) |
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| This is Raja's sister's daughter, Seneniya. |
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| Lunch with Raja's sister and her kids in her home in Colombo. |
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| Raja and his mom took Andrew and Natalia for a bus ride. They loved it! |
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| The fish market where Amma (Raja's mom) usually buys her fish. Andrew and Natalia remembered it by one word- smelly! |
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| Buying shoes. |
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| This guy was hired to climb the coconut trees in Raja's parent's back yard, to cut down the coconuts. |
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| Andrew and Natalia got the job of collecting the fallen coconuts to store in the shed. |
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| Andrew attempts to husk one of the coconuts. He had so much fun trying new things! |
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| Daddy and Natalia as we began our journey to Sri Lanka |
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| Once in the Chicago airport we found the kid's play area where we could pass a couple of hours. |
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| The airport in Abu Dhabi was unmistakably in the Arab world. We tried to get a few pics of the people there, but this was the only one that turned out. (See how sneaky we were! Just taking a quick pic of us- what? There is a man behind us wearing Arab clothing? We had no idea ;) |
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| This little bassinet was heaven sent. This is on our last flight from Abu Dhabi to Sri Lanka. It just hooked into the wall in front of us and Hashan could sleep comfortably. |
