Dear friends,

My family and I went to visit temples this weekend. It was really cool to see all the different buildings. We lit a stick of incense at every one. One temple even had a big gong that the monk let us pound with our fists. After we got home, it rained and stormed like it never has here before. Today we went swimming because it was really hot. It was a fun weekend. I miss everyone and sometimes we talk about how fun it will be when we come home. But I decided there are lots of things I'll miss from here too.

love,

Hudson

Hello, again, everyone. I've been away from town for a few days because my Dad had a conference up in the city of Danang, which is in central Vietnam. We decided to make it into a vacation, too, so we explored around the area and stayed in a hotel by the beach.

One day we hiked up this big hill called "Marble Mountain" that has lots of caves, statues, and temples on it. There are five hundred steps going up the mountain, and I walked all of them by myself! This is a picture of one of the caves, with a Buddha statue inside:
Here's a picture of me exploring inside one of the caves with a flashlight. It was really dark in there and kind of spooky, but pretty neat, too.
My Mom and Dad are really good about making sure that I stay on top of my studies. Here's a picture of me sitting in the hotel restaurant working on math. I can do addition up to twenty now, and can read lots more words than when I first arrived here. I'm also learning about maps, which is pretty neat.

Well, that's it for now. I can't believe my time in Vietnam is almost half over!

Love, your friend,

Hudson

The big news for me and Lily is that we started going to a new school here. It's a private Vietnamese American School, though we are the only Americans who go. But my teachers are nice and speak good English and the place has air conditioning. We do lots of art and they have a music room with piano keyboards we get to use. The nice thing is it's right down the street from our house so we walk there and back with my parents. Me and Lily also got new book bags for school. We have to bring new outfits because they always change kids' clothes after lunch.

I am also doing a lot of learning at home with my mom and dad these days. Here is one picture of me practicing my small letters.

I miss you all a lot. I will be going on a short trip on Saturday to northern Vietnam where they have a beach and we will stay at place with two swimming pools. I'm so excited!

love,

Hudson