I was hoping to sleep in but Millie was up at her usual 7:00 on the dot. We made a rule as soon as she could read her “okay to wake” clock at home that she couldn’t wake us up before 7, and now it’s deep in her bones and she wakes up at 7 ever day.

We had hotel breakfast and then hung out in the room drawing, dancing, reading, and slowly packing and getting ready until checkout time at Noon. Our train was at 4:50 so we had a few hours to kill until our taxi took us to the station at 3:30.

We dropped off our bags with reception and one of the ladies gave Millie a stuffed bear. They struck up a friendship yesterday and Millie left her love notes and painfully sweet drawings of them together. The last thing we need is yet another stuffed animal to drag around, but Millie was so excited to get it from her new friend.

Millie and I swam in the pool while Nick did his crossword. When I got too cold I got out and sat with him while she entertained herself.

We ordered a late lunch by the pool. I assume all kids goes through phases of eating nothing and then phases of eating everything. She is in an eat everything phase right now and ordered a second lunch because she was still hungry. She made us laugh by wearing ketchup lipstick.

She befriended two little girls who had been playing in the pool all morning. Of course this happened 20 minutes before we had to leave. They had been speaking Spanish to each other so we assumed they didn’t speak English, but once they got playing they spoke perfect English. Between the two lunches and the intense playtime, she felt very sick on the shuttle. We had the puke bag ready but she didn’t need it.

We got to the station and boarded the packed train with all her little companions.

It was quick and easy and we got in a taxi when we arrived. Shortly after it dropped us off we realized we had left the new pink bear in the back. We are so used to checking for the Judies but neglected to check for the third item. I expected big tears but Millie pleasantly surprised us by saying “it’s okay, it was a lot to carry. Hopefully the driver had a baby he can give it to.” She’s almost 5 and all of a sudden has gotten so mature.

We checked into our hotel and headed out for dinner. We were tired and had decision fatigue so we just went to the same place we’ve now been to THREE times. This is so not our style in real life – I would always choose somewhere new over tried and true – but with so much novelty in our lives lately, we wanted something predictable. We had a simple meal and enjoyed our last night in Laos.