Innocence lost? Not completely...

After yesterday's travels through Ho Chi Minh's central market where we watched fish get bludgeoned to death and large bull frogs have their heads whacked against a metal table before being carried off by happy customers, I wondered if the little bubble of innocence that precariously hovers around our children had been completely shattered.  My concern was compounded by our afternoon visit to the War Remnants Museum where the kids were both intrigued and shocked by graphic images of Vietnam War atrocities.

Fortunately I didn't have to look far for proof that they are indeed still kids.  Far from seeking guidebook recommended Vietnamese travel experiences, we had our own little "cultural" adventure at the electronics black market as we searched for a new Xbox power cord compatible with Vietnamese electricity to replace Foster's burned out version.  We scoured shop after shop (wondering where Best Buy is when you really need it), doing our best to pantomime our request.  The word "Xbox" seemed to be universally understood and "electricity" worked too.  Usually once we got our question across, the answer was a negative shake of the head.  We finally hit the jackpot (and paid dearly) at one shop where they unpackaged their one Xbox and sold us just the power cord.  Hopefully whoever purchases that Xbox will check carefully before paying full price.  As we left the shop, Foster had a new spring in his step and a smile on his face - a glimmer of childhood pleasure still shining through.

This morning as we hung around our hotel room at 4:30 a.m. waiting for the breakfast hour to arrive (still trying to reset those body clocks), the kids invented a new game with an enormous lollipop straw (see photo) and a bunch of ear plugs: Earplug Darts.  Naturally, since we have no dart board, they use each other as targets.  Innocence intact...

               

Nolan sports one super-sized lollipop with a hollow straw for a stick.  The straw becomes an earplug shooter.

The ensuing battle...

Finally today, after a morning of pagoda hopping, we headed to the water park.  Now, the kids were a bit skeptical given the surroundings.  I suggested that they may want to remember that this is not Disney World (despite the large rodents that we keep seeing).  What we found was a little gem of a water park rendered all the more exciting by its complete lack of rules and restrictions (apart from those regarding modesty for women and Speedos for men. Fret not, I refrained from photographing examples of the male dress code).  You can't pile ten people on top of each other and shoot down the slide head first at Disney World can you?  Try hopping into the Lazy River from any point on the fence surrounding the perimeter of the park, and you would be liable to end up in the mouse house penalty box.  Here it's all part of the fun!  We had a blast enjoying the reckless freedom, and the Vietnamese crowd had fun laughing at (with?) the ATPF.

Did I mention that we are awkwardly tall?

And then there was the crowning moment at the water park when Brianna and Nolan decided to join in on the local fun.  From a mom who watched "Grown Ups" a little too recently, I shuddered at the zip line mishap possibilities as I watched them shoot along the metal cable headed for a metal pole.  I did my best to text them brain messages, "Let go!  Let go!"  Then I realized that was exactly what I needed to do...just let go and hope I had offered up enough prayers earlier in the day at the nearby pagodas to cover this little excursion.