Fun With Friends in the East! :)

We were SO grateful to be able to take a few days to see some friends in the east. The area is GORGEOUS and SO much different than our part of the country. We had a wonderful time visiting with our friends and their two boys. The kids played together in the water, sand, grass, park, and OPEN SPACE, which our boys have hardly experienced their entire lives. 

 {So thankful for this wonderful lady's hospitality and friendship!}

{E LOVED every minute of playing outside in the open air!}

 We took the kids to an awesome park... saw TONS of monkeys, swung on the swings and climbed the trees! :) 

We also drove up the mountain and saw some incredible tea gardens... and on the way up we were stopped because we were literally about 40 ft away from a wild elephant! Woweeee!!! What a treat!

{The rice fields were absolutely GORGEOUS after the monsoon rains!}

{Driving up the base of the mountain we saw the sign telling us that Elephants had the right of way in this area. Then we were shocked when people started waving us off the road because there was an actual elephant right in front of us! Apparently this guy is known in the area and has even attacked nearby villagers. In the above photo, on the right, you can semi see a khaki colored object by the small tree in the middle. That was the elephant! Hard to get a good shot when you're on a motorcycle with two kiddos! :)}

{We crossed the border into N3p@l... which literally meant crossing over a bridge. One side is Ind!a, the other side is N3p@l. We learned that the bridge/border is one of the MAJOR entrances where girls are trafficked. We also got to see a watch stand created by a group that helps identify and rescue trafficked girls. The only people who actually get stopped crossing the border are foreigners, crazy huh!?!}