Adele's 9th Birthday was on December 1st. We did all sorts of travel machinations to be on a tropical island for her birthday, we arrived at midnight the night before. It was a wonderful day! We were able to scare up some balloons and a beautiful birthday cake, her inbox was filled with birthday greetings from all her friends and family and she got exactly what she asked for: a few "cultural" gifts. Please see photo for her modeling one of her gifts. I have to say, I was brought to tears by the sheer joy she expressed in her simple, but meaningful gifts. Unlike other birthdays, it was VERY light given where we are and how little we can carry with us. We love you so much Adele!!

Starting in Turkey and lasting throughout Asia, Vince has been living the life of a Rock Star. He can't go anywhere without the paparazzi and the people demanding his attention. In most of the countries it has been the men who all want to speak to him, they yell "hey baby" to get his attention then try to tweak his cheeks. He's has been asked be to photographed with school boys  and security guards in Jordan, all of our guides in Vietnam wanted their pics taken with him and he (as well as Adele) were given copious amounts of candy in Turkey and Jordan.
His stardom peaked at the Cham Museum in Danang where there was a group of young school girls having lunch. As he walked into the courtyard they giggled and pointed at him. He kindly blessed them with a "sing chao" then proceeded into the museum. Upon exiting the museum the excitement level grew such that the girls were squealing and they actually gave him a standing ovation--he doing nothing on his part besides being Vincent, to deserve it. He casually waved his hand over his back as if to say, this star thing is so exhausting, but here's a small acknowledgment from me.
The final straw, in my opinion of course, is when Vince was told by our guide in Laos, at the Cave of Buddas, upon picking his "fortune number" that he will get everything in life that he wants. There were other positive future predictions, but this is the only one that stuck  Now imagine walking through the night markets in Laos and Vince saying "I want this or that" followed by "I get everything I want, right mom?" No, son you do not.
Let's hope Australia already has their fill of blond boys and he can return to being just Vincent.