Scenes from Vietnam

We woke up yesterday and it was the first clear day we have had here. I went to look out the window and there were mountains-we have been here almost 2 weeks and we didn't know there were mountains surrounding us! The last couple days have been the hottest yet, so we have been taking short outings with Maddy, and then coming back to the room so she can nap. Mostly we have done some shopping and just checking out some of the local culture. The pictures above were taken while we were walking the streets of the Old Quarter, which is an area where there are many, many shops and street vendors selling everything you can imagine. The people have their shops and they live above them, so the whole family just hangs out in front of the shops and they all have these little stools that they sit on and they will even eat their meals there as well. Each street has a theme and all the shops sell the same things-there is shoe street, silk street, art street, baby street, etc. We did lots of shopping and bought more things for Maddy and a few more things for Griffin. I bought some silk lanterns for Maddy's room and one was $3 and the other was $5.

Last night was kind of a rough night with Maddy so we are hoping to get a little more sleep tonight. We will probably just hang out here most of the day and start to pack (Yea!) Our flight leaves here Tuesday at noon so we are counting down-we can't wait to get home and back to normal life!