ayutthaya

 I'm not very good at staying home for long periods of time. After three days straight of quarantine, we took a Sunday afternoon drive to Ayutthaya.

 E was still a little sick, so we basically just drove there, walked around for 30 minutes and drove home. She enjoyed it more than this picture suggests.

 Ayutthaya was the capital of the Thai kingdom. It was founded in 1350 and during it's height, was the largest and most powerful kingdom in Southeast Asia. When it was destroyed, it was one of the largest cities in the world.

 In 1767, Burma razed the entire capital. It was gruesome and devastating--to the point the city was never rebuilt and the when the Thai people founded a new kingdom, years later, they made it's capital Bangkok.

 The white line is how high the flood levels came up last year.

 The heads of almost all the Buddha statues are missing. Those that were not destroyed by Burmese invaders, were lopped off by western tourists--Thailand has apparently laid claim to many Buddha heads that have surfaced in museums in Europe and America but to no avail. I of course cannot judge, as I found a piece of brick from Ayutthaya that E had stashed in the stroller. I will probably not return it but store it, British Museum style, with the cobblestone she pocketed from the Hotel de Ville.

 Vi let E borrow the stroller for the day. E was stoked. Though, now that I think of it, the stroller may have been the gate way drug for the binky she's been carrying around lately.

 I never thought the three year old would be more difficult in pictures than the four month old. FYI, Rocky wants to shake your hand, E is practicing a few simple spells, and Vi is a bit bored of being perennially surprised.

 We only made it to one temple and will definitely have to come back, especially since it's only an hour drive.

Don't be fooled by her sweet look. She hates her car seat as much as the Acropolis Museum in Athens hates Lord Elgin.