Hello Kamala Beach!

Sunday, April 24: Day 12
Today is our 1 full day at Kamala (with the accent on the last syllable) Beach. We intended to go to the beach in the morning before it got too hot, then do the pool in the afternoon, but by the time we did breakfast and got the sunscreen slathered on, it was pretty hot out already. So we decided to do the pool in the morning and the beach for dinner and sunset. (how horrible that THAT was the extent of our decision making for the day, right?!) After the morning pool time, we wandered down the street to find lunch. (The main street in Kamala is way less busy than in Kata) We ended up at the end of the main drag at an open air restaurant that sort of had a pub feel to it. It overlooked the ocean and had a nice little breeze which was perfect because it was HOT today and the kids were grumpy. While wandering around outside with Scarlett trying to divert a melt down and waiting for the food to arrive, Joe noticed a little Indian place that he wanted to try for dinner. And I wandered out for a bit later while the girls were finishing their meals and watched a local fisherman throwing his net out. He just wandered around in the knee deep water looking for a good spot. He didn't catch much that I could tell.
After lunch it was back inside to escape the heat and let the kids rest, while Joe coded for a bit and I went to get a foot massage. When I returned, it was time to hit the pool bar for happy hour (can't pass up on a BOGO!) while the girls swam & splashed around a bit. Audrey has now added diving from the pool step to her list of swimming accomplishments. (The last time I took her to the rec center pool in March, she would sit on the pool ledge and jump into my arms, but only if she was holding onto my arms the whole time & her head didn't go under)
We then wandered across the street to the beach, walking through a Tsunami Memorial Park (see later post). We walked along the beach slowly- it was quite lovely with very little waves, perfect sand and a nice late afternoon temp. Unfortunately the girls were obviously hungry and not in the mood for going in the water, so we made our way to the Indian restaurant. It was Northern Indian cuisine and super yummy! The naan was thin, but good. I got a mushroom masala, which I've never seen on a menu before. It was very tasty! And Joe got a daal makhani that was apparently delish. Scarlett gobbled up her Tandoori Chicken, Audrey ate a little of it, but ate most of the naan and rice. Mostly she complained about how very little attention she receives from her parents (seriously) and was on the verge of a full meltdown with tears brimming in her eyes. She was definitely tired, but beyond that, she has been extra sensitive lately, turning to tears if you just look at her funny. I've been trying to understand what it's all about. The best I can figure is that the seasons are changing and it's her 1/4 birthday (she has a definite pattern of major mood swings with the changing of the seasons, and the quarterly age mark falls in the same time frame).
Anywho, if you could get past the whiny, melty down 5 year old and the rather content but squirmy toddler who kept wanting to lean over the unsafe railing next to the table, one would notice (which thankfully we did) a lovely, picture perfect sunset occurring over the Andaman Sea. We saw it from start to finish and attempted to savor every moment. Even the kids enjoyed it but Audrey was stuck on the thought of "Well if it's getting darker b/c the earth is turning away from the sun, then how come we don't fall on our heads?" And "I don't feel it turning, so it must not be." None of my rather lengthy and detailed explanations about gravity and the position of the earth and sun seemed to work for her, so we just dropped it and watched the sunset and the little lizards crawling on the walls.
A quick walk (really more of a light jog) back to the hotel to get the lovely little beasts, er, I mean ladies, their beauty sleep. Tomorrow, we leave Phuket Island and head to northern Thailand!