It was a cheerful morning today as the families made their way into the hotel’s breakfast room. The hotel staff was all aware that we had new babies and they all came up to congratulate us and look at the new additions to our families. Everyone in the group was clearly much more relaxed even if a bit sleep deprived from the first night with their new children.

We lounged around eating a leisurely breakfast, watching Alyssa taking in all of the new sights and sounds. Today the several day wait for Alyssa’s passport began and since there was no more paperwork processing we could do until we had her passport, we had some time to sit back and enjoy being at a beautiful resort on the South China Sea.

Novotel Ocean Dunes Resort, Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Just as we finished breakfast, a pony appeared on the grass in front of the hotel. The resort was very kid friendly and since this was a holiday weekend and many families with children were at the hotel, the hotel recreational manager had arranged pony rides for children. Much to our amazement, Jessie jumped at the chance to ride the pony. Before she had always resisted pony rides, but as she climbed on the pony’s back she yelled over her shoulder that she was now six years old and no longer afraid of ponies. She loved it so much that I could hardly get her off of the poor pony. The only reason that she did get off was because a horse and cart had arrived, which was also providing rides. She and Gracie clamored aboard the cart and took off for a 15 minute ride. Both I and Gracie’s mom were quite astonished, since they went on the ride without either parent and didn’t hesitate a bit.After the pony experience, we also got to meet ‘Marguerite,’ the resort’s mascot, a three year old bull that pulls a drag that sweeps the beach every morning. When we ‘met’ Marguerite, it explained why Jessie and Gracie were presented with a small stuffed cow with the name Marguerite embroidered on it when we had checked. (I found out later when chatting with the resort manager that he had fully intended to get a cow rather than a bull, but had traveled 100 kilometers to pick up the animal and couldn’t disappoint his staff who had arranged for Marguerite’s purchase. And that is how a three year old bull named Marguerite became the resort’s mascot.) Now as you can imagine, Marguerite is really very tame and even allowed humans, including children, to ride on her back. But, neither Jessie nor Gracie were willing to jump on top of this huge animal and so neither one got to ride Marguerite.

A bit later in the day, Grandma Patsy took Jessie for a long walk on the beach and they came back with a large collection of beautiful sea shells. Jessie was really excited and carefully cleaned and sorted the shells.

In the late afternoon, all of the girls in the group went to Phan Thiet for an extravaganza hair and nails experience - manicures, pedicures, facial massages, etc. Even Jessie and Gracie got to go along and join in the fun. They all returned with glorious looking nails. While all of this was going on, I got to spend my first bit of quality time with Alyssa. She is a very easy baby to care for and a joy to be around. She coos and cackles and spends a lot of time looking around with a big smile on her face.

That evening to celebrate Vietnamese Independence Day, the resort put on a huge seafood BBQ. About every kind of fresh seafood - lobster, rock lobster, king prawn, blue crabs, etc - was available to be freshly grilled on large flaming grills. That in addition to a giant buffet of more seafood delicacies made for a wonderful evening and a fantastic way to end our first full day with Alyssa. Even a sudden rain storm couldn’t spoil the evening. When the rain started, we all jumped from our tables, grabbed whatever we could and ran for cover. The waiters picked up entire tables and quickly moved them to dry locations. After about five minutes of chaotic re-positioning, all was back to normal and the celebrating continued.

And to top it off, Alyssa had another super sleep night. She dozed off around 10 PM and didn’t wake up until 4 AM for a short time and then slept until 8 AM. We were beginning to think that this was too good to be true, having a beautiful baby who would sleep all through the night or at least for very long periods in the night.

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