Oh Wendy..

I hope you all arent sick of Thailand because this is taking a lot longer then I thought it would. But I love having it all written down with pictures since I didnt do so well with my journal. So sorry you are all Thailand out.
I would like to start off my post with a HUGE congrats to my big sister.

I seriously just think the world of her, and am so proud of everything she has done.
She went through nursing school while raising 3 kids under the age of 2. She is a stay at home mom, and worked her tail off studying and taking care of her little ones.

Congrats sis, you are going to be an AWESOME nurse.

After a 3 hr drive in the middle of the night (the same drive I took in that dreaded orange bus) I was car sick AGAIN. I was super bummed because I didnt know if I was going to be able to enjoy my elephant day. I had been looking forward to this since the day I bought my plane ticket.
There are elephant tours all over Thailand, but nothing like the one we were about to be apart of. We were about to become "Elephant Owners For A Day". This wasnt just hike up a platform and jump in a basket for a half an hr while someone takes you around. We literally got our own elephant!
Once we got into the big city the elephant farm came and picked us up and took us to the farm. I was so happy I wasnt still sick so I could enjoy the view because we were back in the jungle! It was gorgeous.
We got to the farm and they explained a little bit about what our day would be like. Then they introduced us to our elephants! Everyone's elephants had the coolest Thai name and I couldnt wait to hear what my elephants name was going to be. I was hoping I would remember it.
They called me up and introduced me to my elephant.... Wendy. Wendy? Hmmm, I guess that wont be hard to remember.

Part of being an elephant owner for a day means we had to take care of our elephant.
And the morning routine was checking their feet to see if they had sweat coming out of their feet to show they had enough fluids, checking the wrinkles of their skin, and yes...checking their...doo doo.

We were given a big branch with leaves so we could brush off all the dirt on their backs so we could bathe them.

They taught us commands so we could make our elephants sit,open their mouths, lay down, walk forward, walk backward, lay down and look cute

After we had them all brushed off we led them down to the river to give them a bath. To guide them, you pull on the bottom part of the ear and keep your face close to theirs

We had a little bucket, and brush so I could get her nice and clean!

The farm owners gave us a little cheat sheet in case we were on our walk about and couldnt remember their commands.
Finally we got to take them for a spin!
Two funny things about our elephants, mine couldnt walk 2 feet without stopping for a bite to eat and Russ's elephant seemed to hate walking with us so he was always trying to get his elephant back on the track. It was hilarious

I had no idea how sure footed an elephant was. We were on some STEEP trails and they just took it nice and slow, found their footing and it was 10 times more fun and scary then riding a horse.
We took our elephants up to this amazing waterfall! Elephants LOVE the water. It was so much fun watching them swim and enjoy themselves!

While the elephants swam and cooled off we enjoyed the pretty waterfall


They had packed us the most delicious picnic by the water fall.
Chicken, rice of all kinds! Rice with black beans, mango sticky rice, rice with potatoes...it was delish!

I gave Wendy some of my left overs

And then we jumped in the water for a swim! It was hard trying to stay on them, but kind of a must so you didnt get squished!

After lunch we went back down the mountain and walked along the most beautiful river Ive ever seen. I honestly felt like I was in a movie. It was one of my most favorite times in my life. It was so quiet and there were these black butterflies flying all around us.

Then they offered us to ride "advanced style". We both of course jumped at the chance.
Its riding on top of their heads and holding on to their ears. Now, you might not think this is scary, but that elephant is HIGH! And basically you dont have a lot to hold on to...oh and remember how I said Wendy liked to stop and eat often? Try sitting on top of an elephant head while they are throwing their heads frantically trying to get a piece of bamboo out of the ground. Its scary. But oh so fun.

Yahoo! No hands!

There is only one thing I liked equally as much as Wendy, and thats Russ's V neck


I did not want this day to end!

After,we had to get off and say goodbye...I chose the jumping off barefoot (OUCH!-not how it should be done. Russ chose the ol' elephant ear between the legs dismount (double OUCH!)

Sorry Russ, but thats just too funny.
Then we had to say our goodbyes, by giving them a bucket of bananas.

Ahhhh, one of the best days of my life. Everyone should own an elephant for the day! Even if your elephant has a human name like Wendy!