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!