First Full Day in Phuket

Thursday, April 21: Day 9
So this morning we went down for breakfast then packed up to go to the beach. We were there by 9:30 or so and secured a couple of lounge chairs under an umbrella. The water was a little choppy, but ok if you got past where the waves break against the beach. I took Audrey out while Joe sat under the umbrella with Scarlett nursing his club foot and scraped up shin. He wasn't sure how salt water would feel on the scrape. Audrey really liked "riding the waves" and swimming around with her goggles on. Then it was Scarlett's turn. Normally I don't mind handling both girls at the same time, but in a choppy sea that can have strong undercurrents, I don't feel comfortable with more than one at a time. I wasn't sure how Scarlett would feel about going in the water b/c she wanted to have nothing to do with it in Penang. I grabbed her, brought her to the water's edge and asked if she wanted to go in. She said "toes. water. swim?" Ok then! In we went. She LOVED it and was saying "simming! simming!" between giggles. I then managed to convince Joe to come in mostly because I didn't want him to remember our time in Phuket just watching from under an umbrella. He came in and was fine. We all then retreated under the shade of the umbrella for awhile b/c it was starting to get warm and we were feeling parched. Chang beers were 40 Baht, so we had a couple with apple juices.
One thing I had read about the beaches here, and that turned out to be true, is that there's no shortage of people wandering around trying to sell you stuff. After a couple of 6.4% alcohol beers, I was in the mood to haggle with them. So they walk past you and hold out their goods. If you shake your head no, they are pretty good about walking away and not bugging you. But if you show any interest, they are right there wanting to chat. Audrey of course sees these pretty little things going by and starts pointing, saying, "oo!! Mommy! Can I have that? Please? It's SO beautiful!" This type of enthusiasm does not help set me up into a very good bargaining position. A guy came by with necklaces with little dolphins & elephants made out of "real fish bone, not plastic." He started at 500 Baht for one and even with Audrey exclaiming how much she liked them in the background, I was able to get him down to 180 Baht for 2. I learned in China the fine art of doing this (learned by watching Tim & Laurel do some amazing bargaining in the markets in Shanghai). I set my own little rule to not pay more than 30% of the starting price and that you can usually get down to 20-25%.
Then a guy came by with some sunglasses and even though Joe got a pair in the food market in Penang, he saw a pair that was exactly what he was looking for. The guy started at 1800 Baht ($60) and Joe got him to go down to 600 baht ($20). I was slightly disappointed as I thought he could have gone down to 500 Baht, no problem, but in the end it was still an ok price.
We then ordered lunch from a food stall down the beach- some sweet & sour veggies and pad thai. So yummy and deliciously inexpensive, especially for beach food.
It was too hot to spend any more time in the sun, so we walked back to the hotel. I stupidly did not put cover ups on myself or the girls and all 3 of us managed to get sun burned! As soon as we got back to the hotel I could see the red on Scarlett's arms. :( It's not a horrible burn by any means, but still, we are trying to be so careful with them and the sun.
Audrey and I headed to the shady part of the pool while Joe worked and Scarlett napped. We then popped out to find dinner down the street, where we wandered in and out of shopping stalls (not in the mood to bargain, so no shopping was done), got some drinks & ibuprofen and some other swelling reduction medicine for Joe, then stopped into an Italian restaurant for dinner. We ordered a pizza that was actually a really good New York style thin pizza. I was surprised it was that good. Then back to the hotel for bed.