Same ol'

It's been a few days since my last post, and I'm feeling this naggy urge to get on and write something....but what?  There's not much going on here.

We are doing the usual workweek-to-weekend, preschool pickup and dropoff, craft playgroup on Mondays, two-naps-one-nap-every-other-day-nap juggling, what-are-we-going-to-have-for-dinner routine.  Wish I had something more exciting to tell you.

Recent roses:
   Catherine loves to wave.  She waves at everyone in the Queen's style.  Even our British neighbors say she waves like the Queen, so you know it's true!  She is so proud of herself.

   Lawrence is working hard to be dry through the night, and he is succeeding!

   Everett has been eating SO MUCH FOOD lately that we are sure he is getting ready to grow.

   We have some new friends from Minnesota who moved in up the street, and we really like them.  

   We found matching chairs for our new table - same wood and everything.  They are ultra-modern looking, and it's an antique/modern juxtaposition that works.  We also made it to Ikea for chair cushions.  Amazing!


   It rained today!



Recent thorns:
   We've been out of milk for two days and can't seem to get to the commissary to get more.

   There is not much to do here for fun.  The kids are bored already and it's still January.

   The lady who runs E and L's preschool told me that Lawrence may no longer wear shortalls because the teachers find it too hard to get them up and down for the potty.  The last vestages of my former life have now been swept away.  

   Today I got so mad that I ripped my abaya off in the car (on camp) and threw it out the car window.  Of course I had to go back and get it later (in the rain) so I can sew it up and wear it again.  


So that's life over here these days.  Hopefully something good will happen soon that will be worth reporting.  And we hear there's been some crazy weather back home...enjoy the thunderstorms for me. 

Homemade Bread!

Hey, look what I did!! 

All by myself, too.  And it was good!  So easy!  I rock!

There is a certain gourmet cook in Rock Hill, SC, and I hope she is reading this and being impressed.  IEM, if you are impressed, then I have succeeded!

Pictures of the Children

Today the kids were amenable, so we took some pictures outside in the yard.  Some of them turned out pretty well!  Enjoy. 

Lawrence got a hold of a red whistle for the photo shoot. 

They are laughing because I am getting ready to poke them with a little kid broom (to make them smile). 

Chasing each other!

Back to Ras Tanura

Today we were bored so we drove to Ras Tanura to be on the beach and scoot.

Ras Tanura is so pretty.  It's more humid and tropical than Dhahran, and there's something about it that just feels more comfortable.  The beach is gorgeous, it's more lushly landscaped, and it's just nicer in general.  It's a pain to get there with the three kids:  we have to wait until after nap time, it's a 45 minute drive up and back, and we always end up eating dinner there so we get back later than I would like.  But every time I get out of the car when we arrive, I am so glad we came.  It's refreshing and relaxing.  And of course, there's nothing that beats the real beach.  (Half Moon Bay is more like a lake - no waves or anything - so it doesn't feel like the beach.  Ras Tanura is a real beach with real waves and lots of real shells, and it smells and sounds right.) 

The first thing we did when we got there was to stop at the RT Commissary and get a couple of bottles of strawberry milk, which is the boys' favorite.  Then we parked near the Beach Path and played on this new play structure before we headed for the water.  

We ran around on the beach and collected shells and then found this steep wall with sand underneath, so the boys spent a long time climbing up and jumping down.  

Then we got back in the car and headed for the Golf Course to eat dinner (there's a snack bar there). (The kids call it "The Restaurant".)  Tired, happy, and hungry. 

[Hang on a second...I think this picture is from the day we took pictures in the yard, not the day we went to RT.  Check out the clothes.  Huh.  Oh well.  At any rate, this is what it looked like when we got in the car in RT, but the clothes were different.]

It was a good trip.  We really should do that more often.  The kids love it, it is re-energizing for me, and of course, it's Mike's home and favorite place to be.  A winner all around.

Assimilated

Well, it's official!  Mike has assimilated.

I guess we all knew it was just a matter of time.



Ha ha, actually, this is the guy who works at the shop where we bought our new table!  It is an antique window turned into a table.  I have no idea what his name is, but he is hilarious.  Next time we are home, please all of you remember to ask Mike to do an impersonation of this guy.  He is SO energetic and effervescent, and he calls the kids "cutie."  The closest way I can describe it is as though Apu has had one too many Red Bulls and suddenly exclaims, "Ohhhhhhh, cutie, cutie, cutie, would you like chocolate?" Everyone here is always offering the kids candy and wants to hold them and touch them (it's a cultural thing that I am still getting used to), but when this guy whipped out 5 Snickers bars (one for everyone, even the baby!) and immediately stopped a Lawrence meltdown, I figured what the heck and let them eat it.  Lawrence used to be terrified of him, but now he's Lawrence's good buddy. 


So anyway, our new table is made out of teak and it is extraordinarily heavy.  It is just the right size for our dining room (seats six), and I really like that it gives our boring-white-walls-and-Company-furniture look some pizazz.

Now we just have to pray that the children don't destroy it.  And that's like driving in Khobar - good luck! 

Trip to the Beach

Today was nice and we were bored, so we went to the Company beach at Half Moon Bay.  There are three beaches at the complex - two of them are more Western-attended, but you have to be members of the Yacht Club to get onto.  We are not members, so we have to go to the third beach, which is almost entirely Saudis.  We went on a Friday early afternoon in order to avoid the Saudi rush, which happens on Friday evening. 

 The beach is nice, and Everett picked up a few interesting shells and three half-dollar sized starfish.  That's us walking along in the picture. 

After the shell hunt, we headed to the playground. 

Catherine has learned how to wave!  She waves like the Queen, but with both hands most of the time.  She is very proud of herself!


While we were there, a large gaggle of Saudi women stood near us laughing, pointing, and taking pictures.  Ugh.  Really?

We figured turn about was fair play.  This is about half the group.

So there you have it - pictures of Saudi women.  Ta da!  Most of the beach, mall, commissary, Ikea, etc etc, (everywhere you go) is populated by men or people that look like this.  It's sad, and I still have trouble dealing with it.  And I've been surprised - it's very easy to forget that they are people under there, and not just black obstacles to push your shopping cart around.  I guess if they think so little of themselves, it's easy for other people to think so too.

Anyway, the kids had a good time at the beach - I'm glad the weather is good right now.  We need to be out of the house while we still can!

First day back at preschool

Today was our first day back at preschool.  The kids were excited to go!  They wore some of their new clothes from the States.

After preschool, we went to, as they call it, "Miss Jeannette's Playground" which is the playground next to preschool (their preschool is run by Miss Jeannette).  

 

Catherine had fun watching the boys swing.  And it's nice to be back into a routine!  We are enjoying 70 degree days and about 50 degree nights, so it's lovely and pleasant outside.  A fun day today.

Hiking on the Jebels

Today everyone woke up from naps early, so we went out on a hike on some nearby jebels (rocky hills in the desert).  It was great! 

It's really hard to tell, but this is pretty high.  The desert floor is on the same plane as the houses.

This shows a bit better how high we were.  Those are large benches and a big fire pit below us.

It was SO windy up there!

Everett had a ball looking for "rock crystals" on the desert floor, and he was a "real mountain climber" as we climbed up and down three jebels. 

Lawrence had me hold him at first, but he warmed up toward the end.  He did not like the sound of the wind.  It whistled in his ears, and he does not like loud noises (like train whistles or vacuum cleaners).  Fastening his hood helped a lot. 

Catherine did ok, too.  She cried at first, but then she settled down.  We'll definitely go again, and hopefully next time it will not be so windy, for her sake. 


Everett has already picked out the next jebels that he wants to climb!  A true adventurer at heart!

EWWWWW!

Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!!!  GROSS!!  Bugs in the food! 

Here's the scoop:  After a hard week back to the grind, I bought an (expensive) box of actual Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate 9x13 Fudge Brownie Mix.  I was all set to get the evening chores done, make the brownies while Mike was out on his evening run, take a nice hot shower while they were baking, and then settle down together to watch the new episode of Downton Abbey.  I had looked forward to it all day! 

Mike went off to run, and I got out the brownie mix.  But when I opened the box, here is what came out!!

YUCK!!!  BUGS!!  Not in my Betty Crocker expensive brownie mix!!  NOOOOO!!!  

There were hundreds of them inside the bag.  They had chewed through the plastic.  I threw all this away (while groaning in agony) and then looked on my pantry shelf.  YUCK!!  They are all over the shelf and inside most of the dry goods!  NO!  They are called meal worms.  They are common here, although I have not had a problem with them yet. 

So I spent the rest of the evening sifting, checking, and cleaning everything in the top of the pantry.  Ugh.  So much for shower and brownies and Downton Abbey.  

But my loving husband to save the day!  He came home from running and saw my mess, went out to the commissary for more brownie mix, and then stayed up late with me after I got it all cleaned up so we could still have our fun evening.  Thanks, honey!!

Bedbugs last year, meal worms this year.  I have to keep telling myself that this blog is aptly named:  ADVENTURE, Elisabeth, it's an ADVENTURE.  Every moment is not going to be great.  But I hope this is our last bug incident this year. 

 

Pudding

One of the boys' favorite things to do here is to make pudding.  It's a great snack!  And dessert!

They are really good at it.  The only help they need is getting out the bowl and pouring the milk into the measuring cup.  They even clean up after themselves!

Enjoying the fruits of their labors.  We are still trying to do anything that will get us outside in the sun during the day.  Got to get this jet lag under control. 

New Car Seats

After Christmas, it was time for all the kids to graduate up a level in car seats.  We brought a new seat to Arabia for Everett, and Lawrence inherited Everett's old one, and Catherine inherited Lawrence's old one.  It feels momentous, both for us and for the kids.  Movin' on up!

So proud of himself!  And no worries, Junebug, we'll move the baby mirror too.

Lawrence says, "I'm back here, too, in my new seat!"

Gigaball!

Well, we made it.  It was as smooth and seamless as it could possibly be, with short connections and everything on time.  Our seats were terrible, but oh well.  The kids did as well as can be expected.  We are all still loopy from jet lag.  That trip gets worse and worse every time.  By the end, when we have been traveling for 22, 23, 24, 25 hours, I start asking myself, "Why are we torturing our children this way?"  But there's no choice at this point.  It is what it is. 

Baby sleeping in the stroller, boys watching Fox and the Hound in Detroit, waiting for our transatlantic flight to begin boarding.

We arrived at home at about 12:30 am on the 4th, (having left at 5 pm on the 2nd), and we all bathed and fell into bed by 2:30 am.  We slept until 1 pm, and then we begin the battle with jet lag. 

To get us all out into the daylight, we rounded up our next door neighbor friends from Wales and inflated the Gigaball.  We took it over to a large grassy field near our house, and we discovered that the Gigaball is great fun! 

 It was a great way to get out and run around - and to stay awake during the daytime - even for Catherine!  We'll have fun with this thing this winter!  Thanks, Santa!

Headed back again.

Argh, now we are gearing up to head back again.  We have spent the last 3 days packing, and I think it's totally impossible that we are going to get all our stuff and all our Santa presents and all our other  presents into eight 50-pound bags.  I am so frustrated and overwhelmed that I am bowing out entirely.  Sorry, honey.  I am not going to be much help this time. 

Catch you on the other side!  We arrive late at night on the 3rd.  Wish us luck!