They're coming, they're coming!

If I seem excited, it’s because I am.  You see today Husband Dear’s sister, her hubby, and our one year old niece board a plane to come all the way to see us.  When we said goodbye, we did so with the expectation that it would be quite a while before we’d get to see them…so we’re thrilled it worked out for them to come now.  Thrilled. =)  As in counting the days, every day.  

Why aren’t they here already? 

So, if I’m gone for a few days, you’ll know why.  But, knowing us, I’m sure we’ll have many adventures and a few photos to share at the end.  Two more days…

A-Tisket, A-tasket

Youngest imp in a basket.  The conversation went something like this:
Imp:  "I'm sleeping here tonight."
Me:  "No you're not."  (I'm not very playful near bedtime.)
Husband Dear:  "Why not?  She's got everything she needs..."
Me:  "This from the man who spent the entirety of the sleeping hours of his third grade year in an upholstered avocado green recliner.  You also ate hot dogs every day for breakfast, but surely there are some things we do not wish to pass down to our offspring???"
Husband Dear:  Sigh.  "I guess not..."
After which, Husband Dear took our basketful of imp and deposited her in the designated sleeping place--her bed.
Ah parenting...

Milestones

I can still remember when our oldest children started to learn to read—it was thrilling hearing their voices sound out words and knowing that a new world was opening up to them.  Our son now, almost daily, informs us of some new fact about an animal that he’s picked up from reading in one of his many animal books, or from the San Diego Zoo website.  As a side note, I’ve had to promise him that someday when we go back to America that we will take him there—anyone live in the San Diego area? =)

I’ve promised eldest daughter that one day I will take her to Paris (that one was maybe my fault—but I do love France, and now I have a promise to fulfill that requires us to go back there before she’s a full-grown teenager).

I haven’t had to promise youngest imp anything…yet; but I’ve a feeling she’ll catch on to this pretty quickly.

Anyway, lately we’ve been experiencing another new milestone (beyond learning to read and learning to extort promises from us):  the eldest two are riding bikes, without training wheels.  This one has been a long time in the works.  See, we had bikes in America, but no really good place to ride consistently (we had a gravel drive).  So we would go in spurts and, occasionally, right before we left, eldest daughter would get brave and ask to take the training wheels off, but no one ever got the hang of it before we left.  Then we arrived here in middle of the summer, which is a lot like turning your oven on high and then sticking your head in it—not conducive to being outside during the daylight hours.  However, the temps, at least for now, are milder and all three children received bikes for Christmas so we’ve been out a lot practicing.  Now, the thing about buying bikes here is that, well, while they look like they might be high quality they really aren’t built to last.  The training wells started bending up the first day, which could have been frustrating, but it actually helped the eldest two to start balancing on their own.  A couple days of doing that and they we’re ready for them to come off.  As no surprise to me, eldest daughter went first, which spurred on eldest son (who is the oldest) to catch up, as he didn’t really want his little sister to pass him.  So the two together have been wobbling, careening and crashing, and through this actually riding.

As to youngest imp, she decidedly is not one to follow the crowd—also no surprise to me.  As she watched her older brother and sister take off on this new adventure, she emphatically told me to NOT take her wheels off too.  Which is fine with us, it gives us something more to look forward to in the future—and really, who wants three children learning to ride bikes in a tight space at the same time? =)

Riding the bus--on purpose

So, many of you will remember the free ride our youngest imp took on the school bus when we were still very new here.  Well, while I know this may seem crazy considering the previous story, all of our children are now riding the bus—on purpose—these days.  

Our kids have always wanted to ride the school bus ever since they found out they existed.  A sentiment I could hardly understand having ridden many school buses in my life, but one we realized we would have to indulge as getting the kids and ourselves to and from school on time had increasingly become very difficult.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about it all, until I actually sat on the “school” bus one day.  That was when I realized that our three children may be riding on one of the cushiest school buses I’ve ever laid eyes on.  Now, if any of you have ever ridden one of those canary Blue Bird specials like I did as a kid you’ll feel me here.  You remember the ones I’m talking about, right?  The hard plastic covered seats that you melt into in the summer, the press and slide half windows that let in more exhaust than air, the crowded conditions, the smell, the “how in the heck did I get gum on me in this seat???” (maybe that one was just me).  Anyway, our kids’ bus is more like a tour bus with upholstered seats and air conditioning and a very nice bus monitor who rides with them to make sure all goes well on the trip home (goodness knows that one would have been nice in my day), and our kids are picked up from and delivered to the front of our house—not too shabby.  All that to say, our kids at last are livin’ the dream—finally, they too, ride the bus.

Some pictures from our latest adventure

On the road to our adventures...

 The eldest and youngest (and Husband Dear's sleeve) getting ready to exlplore...

Now if only I could get all three kiddos to sit still in the same picture...well, maybe next vacation!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It’s been a fun week of vacation for our family with Christmas to start and the New Year to end with many adventures and more stories in between.  Here’s a recap:

Christmas Day was different but good, many, many thanks to those of you who sent little gifts and cards (and Christmas crafts—a lifesaver since we were confined to the house due to sickness the week before!)—it’s those little things that really make the difference here.  It was, of course, tinged with sadness, missing those dearly loved, but thankfully with the help of technology (and a little perseverance) we were able to see/speak to some the day of and that made it much better.  Later in the day we had several other expats over for a meal and games and that added a lot of good cheer and fun.

Boxing Day saw us making a border run to the closest mall, only it was not nearly as packed as I’m sure it would have been in America—you gotta count the perks sometimes. =)  The reason for our trip?  After nearly nine years of marriage, Husband Dear has finally won the argument to have a TV in our bedroom—his winning point: “If we have a TV we can sit next to each other instead of with the laptop between.”  Does this man know me or what?

The following four days were slated for vacation and a little travel/exploration of our country.  Here is where the adventures really started.

Day one:  We travelled to the capital to meet up with some friends who will be in charge of our sightseeing trip.  They have family in town but managed to get us a place to stay (a sort of rental apartment).  Simple, but very clean and nice—things are looking good for the start of our trip.

Day two:  Travelling always renews culture shock for me to some extent.  In our home I’m settled, I have my routine and I have essentially what I need for the day i.e. coffee.  One of the major problems we always deal with is finding a good cup of coffee on our travels.  I know it seems like such a minor thing, but for those of you who need that daily dose of caffeine bliss you know what I mean.  Needless to say, the day started a little rocky, but it improved upon acquaintance (and a can of Coke later =)).  Our first stop on our journey was at a town of major cultural importance in our country, where we disembarked to explore the fort and the market.  It was also where I seriously considered selling my children.  I love my children, but they were definitely not at their finest in these places.  After a short "Come to Jesus" meeting at the car before lunch things were looking up and we were ready to head to our next stop:  camping in the desert.    What can I say about the desert?  It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.  Really beautiful; and once I stopped freaking out over whether our children were going to go tumbling down every steep and high dune, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Now I know our kids can scramble with the best of them and have a lot of fun doing so.  Another highlight: dune bashing or zooming over the dunes in 4WD vehicles—I think our kids might be thrill seekers after this.  Our children also got to ride camels and all three enjoyed it and no one screamed to get down—a rousing success (compared to our experience with riding horses anyway).

Days three and four:  We left desert camp and headed to a beautiful valley with hiking and caves you swim to enter.  Needless to say we didn’t attempt the swimming caves, but we still enjoyed swimming in the open—the views were beautiful.  The next leg of our journey took longer than expected, but we finally reached the beach at sunset.  After spending the night in the desert, I was really looking forward to a nice hotel and a hot shower…let’s just say the hotel was not exactly all that I’d hoped for, but playing on the beach with husband dear and our kids the next day more than made up for it.  I didn’t actually go in the water but we built sand castles and went hunting for sea shells and had a great time.  After the beach we headed back to the hotel and I decided to clean out the car while husband dear helped with bathing the kids.  As we were getting ready to leave husband dear reaches down to the newly cleaned cup holder of our car and asks, “Where’s my wedding ring?” which he quickly follows with, “No, you didn’t” upon seeing the expression on my face.  Yes, after nearly nine years of marriage I threw my husband’s wedding ring away in the trash, but I maintain that throwing your silver looking wedding ring amongst a handful of pop tops is perhaps not the best idea.  Lucky for us both, the trash had not been taken out or added to and we were able to quickly retrieve his ring—I’ll not be able to live this down for a long time though. 

After several hours journey we returned to the capital and to our rental apartment.  My first clue that things were not as they should be came when I couldn’t get the lights to turn on.  I alert husband dear of this and he goes to look for a flashlight amongst all our things.  He finds a flashlight but the batteries are dead so he’s off to look for batteries.  In the meantime, I hear the sound of water splashing from the bathroom.  Husband dear returns with batteries and we then discover that an outdoor pipe has burst and is spraying water against a ventilation window in the bathroom, causing the leak over the floor and the electrical wires to be tripped.  We alert our friends who very graciously make room for five more in their already full home.  We all went to bed exhausted but grateful for a place to lay our heads.

Day Five:  We get up and thank our kind friends and then head back home.  A few hours later we arrive home thoroughly exhausted and in need of a vacation from our vacation with loads of stories and laundry, and as I cannot share the laundry =) I thought I would some of the stories.

Hope you enjoyed!  Happy New Year and remember all that is silver is not trash. =)