G - Year 4

Coffee talk....

Wow.  How did this happen?  All of a sudden we have ourselves a 4 year old who goes to school full time!  Seems like just a blink of an eye since I wrote last years blog looking back at the previous year...

2014 was a big one for Graeme.  Even though we've been abroad for over a year now, with our feet a little firmer on the ground, Graeme's 4th year was still full of many new adventures!

Graeme flew just over 30,000 miles this year.  He touched the ground in 9 different countries and swam in 5 different oceans - adding the Gulf of Thailand, the Adaman Sea and the Sulu Sea to his growing list.

Graeme the Explorer!

Graeme has become so aware of the world and all that it offers.  During International Week at his school he can pick the flags of the countries that his different classmates are from - his class has 9 different countries represented in it (overall the school has 35 countries represented).  In conversation he will ask questions like "Daddy, have we ever been to South Korea?"  and when I reply "No" he says, "I want to visit there".  No problem kid!  It's on the list!








There were many milestones for Graeme this year.  Probably the biggest was starting school full-time at Saigon South International School.  Graeme is in the Early Childhood Education Program for 3 and 4 year old's.  Running full-time, Monday through Friday, Graeme grabs the bus at 7:30a.m. and returns home at 3:30p.m.  He's got lots of new friends from all over the world from his class...it's great to hear him speak about his day when we eat dinner and mention them all by name (not an easy task as there aren't exactly alot of "Steve's" "Joe's" and "Mary's").

Off to school!

Carpet time....

 

Lunch at school during Halloween

Another MAJOR milestone was standing up on his first waves!  You may recall last year Graeme body boarded some nice lefts in Cambodia...well this year he took the next step and stood up on some peelers in Krabi, Thailand!  I think we may have a Waterman on our hands....

Graeme received his first guests in Vietnam this year as well....Nan and Poppy came over for about a month and he dragged them all over Ho Chi Minh, The Mekong Delta, Borneo and Singapore.  What a trip!  Also coming for a visit was our friend Martin from Scotland and just before the end of the year a great surprise visit from Shay, Sean and Hayden from California!  See - it's an easy trip to make, just get here and we promise you a trip of your lifetime!

Sleeping in the trees in Borneo

Going Orangutan in Singapore

Mekong Delta delicacy

Life on the river in the Mekong

Jenner cousin action...

Gram-Cracker!

The year also included a rock-star worthy 6 week bender to the USA...Starting in San Francisco and spanning over to NJ, as well as Great Grand Parents to new born friends, Graeme spent his time setting the world record for BBQ's attended and beds slept in over such a short span...pshew!

The Hawken Clan...

Cherry Hill, NJ Pool action

Learning how to be a boats-men with Grandpa

G-Pops teaching how to throw a right hook!

After squeezing in a few more in-country trips to Dalat and Cat Tien National Park, Graeme ended the year with a banger trip to the Philippines!  Graeme spent his 4th Christmas in as many countries.  Pretty cool!  Santa found us in Siargao and left some presents there with the bulk being dropped under our tree in Vietnam.  Surfing in Siargao and tide-pooling in Palawan - this trip had it all!  Including - the most beautiful and pristine island we have ever seen, a direct hit from Tropical Storm Seniang (which killed 71 people on neighboring islands), 5 earthquakes in row at magnitude 5.5-6.0, no power or running water for 4 days, robbery, inkings by octopi, jelly fish stings, fevers, and much much more!  Stay tuned for that blog in a few days, you will not want to miss it!

Sandman...

A banner year for young Graeme Robert Hawken.  We cannot explain how much each day his spirit lifts us, his energy excites us, his adventures amaze us.  Please raise your coconuts and join us in a toast to Graeme and the best 4th year ever and many many more to come!  Một, Hai, Ba, DZO!!!

Thanks to everyone for reading along...feel free to send over your Holiday cards or an old school letter (there has been great successes in receiving flat mail here, but please do not send anything of value), we love to get them and use them in our glass covered coffee table to remind us of all of our friends and family back home.

Erin Hawken
C/O Saigon South International School
Nguyen Van Linh Parkway
Tan Phong Ward, District 7
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam




Hoà Bình,
The Hawken's in HCMC
#thetaoofgraeme