Penang, Malaysia

Living in Southeast Asia does have it's perks... like weekday flights to Penang for crazy cheap. So Jonathan and I went with two of our favorite friends on a two-night "moms and babes" trip while the dads worked. 

We had a great time squeezing our two not-Asian bottoms into a tri-shaw, while our six-fingered driver pedaled us around colonial Georgetown singing "Gangnam Style" to the babies, as well as his own original song that went, "I am black man! You are white boy! White girl! Happy Baby One! Happy Baby Two!"

Our little side-kicks could not have been better sports.

And the town had such an understated beauty about it.

He took us to a little fishing jetty...

   

... where naturally, we bought some "Penang Famous" nutmeg balm.

Then we rode a really steep train (I learned the technical term is "funicular") to the top of the highest peak of the island...

Where these two found their fan club. The picture taking and total adoration was only compounded by the fact that they were together. Everyone really wanted them to be twins. J and S are only four months apart and pretty close little friends, plus I'm told all white people look the same, so I guess I can see it. They are both so sweet, they would make the easiest set of twins ever!

The view at the top was stunning but the train ride was definitely the highlight. We waited until we were first in line so we could sit at the first car with the full window looking straight down. 

It was possibly the happiest seven minutes of Jonathan's life (the little thrill-seeker) and we could have gone up and down for an entire day if we didn't have such a beautiful beach waiting for us back at the hotel.

Still not-so-big on sand these days...

Such cute little buddies!

They even synced their naps so the mamas could have a couple nice long chats.

We stayed at the Hard Rock because the location was great and they had an amazing pool with perfect J&S-sized water slides. Plus, of course, we are super-hard-core moms!  The slides were a big hit and Jessica and I heard a lot of "a-geh" (S's again) and "moh moh moh" (J's more more more) from the littles every one of the 230 times we went down.

On our way out we went to a butterfly farm/sanctuary where a butterfly landed on Jonathan's hand for a long time! I thought it was so magical until he tried to eat it, then the butterfly (wisely) flew away.

It was a really fun trip with great friends, and a good reminder of everything I love about this phase of our lives.