The last time I wrote I was too tired to post much about our trip to Crete. The pictures took me long enough post and then I went to bed. Here are some of our highlights.
Carter: I liked the caves. I had pictures of animals to find. I found a spider and a bat.
Cameron: I liked the caves. I saw bats. The caves were really dark but had lights in them. I liked the goats. One tried to get in our car.
Rebecca: I loved driving around the little roads and discovering villages in the mountains. I also loved the beaches. The color of the water was incredible. The Mediterranean Sea is not as salty as you would think. In fact, I never felt like I needed to take a shower and my hair was so soft. That would be the complete opposite of the red sea. I also loved our Villa. I wish we could have spent more time there, but we had so much to explore.
Bryan: I enjoyed driving, relaxing by the pool, playing on the beaches, and hanging out with friends.
We also had an earthquake! 6.3! That would really shake things up at home, but it wasn't a concern in Crete. I don't think too many things concern the residence that live there. It is such a peaceful place.
Now that we are home we are back into our busy life. It is not as busy as back in the States, but we do have a weekly schedule. Carter and Cameron go to the Recreation Center each day after school. Cameron is signed up for Badminton, Ball Sports, and an active kid program. Carter is doing TKD, Active kids, and arts & crafts. We pay about $150 for both boys for a 6 week session. It is a great price! I went to pick them up last week, and they wanted to stay for longer. They would have never said that at home.
Cameron is also doing soccer , drumming club (during school lunch once a week), and baseball is coming soon. Most of these activities are done by 5:00 each day, so it is nice to have our evenings. Our evenings are spent doing homework and exercising. Bryan and I are trying to get these 40 (almost 40) bodies back into shape. Wish us luck! Bryan is going to try and start tball in the community. Carter is a little sad that they do not offer these sports in his age group, so we are working on finding him some other options. However, TKD does take up some time and effort. He is doing quite well adjusting to his new instructor.
So life in Saudi Arabia is going quite well. It is hard to believe we live in the middle of the desert in the Middle East and I am saying things are quite well, but that is the reality. We are managing the heat and making new friends, which were two of the things I was worried about. Our boys are getting an educational experience that is so positive and they have adjusted so well. We hope to someday have some visitors. Hopefully laws will change so we can invite friends, but maybe someone in our family will be brave enough to make the journey. They will then realize that it doesn't take much bravery, just a sense of adventure and curiosity to see what our world holds.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Crete.....
Well, as I said before working overseas has a few drawbacks but many benefits. This past week we took advantage of the best benefit and traveled! Saudi Arabia celebrated EID, which is a very important holiday. Schools closed for an entire week and we took a plane and traveled to Crete. ( I found Crete by looking at Pinterest. I am sure it was a pin by Jenny Depew. Thanks for the idea!) We took over 600 photos. It was BEATUTIFUL! I tried to narrow it down, so here are a few of my favorites.
Party House! We celebrated Zoe's 13th Bday, Sara and Jake's Baby Shower, and Bryan's 40th!
Here is the blue house. Our family was in the green house, but this one was cleaner so I snapped some photos. Both houses were the same.
Praying Mantis
I miss our home!
This pirate shipped came into view while Jake and Bryan were snorkeling. Can you see them in the picture?
Pirates! "Are they real momma?" asked Carter
That splash was made by our Kiwi friend Sam. He was the young buck of the group and showed up the old men by jumping off the cliff twice!
My friend Ngiare.
The Sommerville Family! They are always full of smiles.
Goats everywhere.
Jake, Sara, and baby traveled all the way from Washington. It was great seeing them!
Clear Water!
We stopped at a pottery shop and the owner let the boys make clay fish.
The ice cream melted really fast!
We had to pay a fee to drive this rugged road and then a goat was asking for his own fee. The boys loved this.
I bought someone a Christmas Present!
Kiwi Rebecca and the boys.
We raced thru the streets each day pretending we were in the Italian Job.
Hmmmm.....I am not sure about this 40 year old husband!
This very old women was so cute!
I couldn't pass up buying the pink camel. They haven't found it if it is a boy or girl, but real men wear pink, right?
Sometimes I feel like Carter doesn't look like us!
We took this photo as we left. Good bye Villa! What a great place to hang out with friends and celebrate so many special events. This trip has made for many lasting memories and great friendships.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Carter's Glasses
Carter's Open House
Rebecca's Point of View: About every 6 weeks each grade level has an open house to show off their learning. Bryan was able to go since it was during the school day, but I got a sneak peak yesterday since my class is Big Buddies with Carter's class. I am so impressed by his classroom! There is so much reading, journaling, and discovery happening. I loved the poster of the day they made pancakes! They walked to the grocery store and discussed what is needed for pancakes. They then paid and came back and made some cakes! He is in a classroom with 13 students, 1 teacher, and an assistant. It is amazing what you can accomplish when you have a class this size.
Carter's Point of View: This is my journal. It is a picture of the earth. (He has the Johnson Art Genes!)
This is my friend Llama (I am unsure of the spelling).
You wear these glasses when we have choice time. These glasses help us read the room.
We made bowls out of recycled paper, paint, and glitter. We were learning about man made resources.
These are my raccoons. This is the Kissing Hand Story. It is about Chester and his mom gave him a kiss on his hand. She did this because he didn't want to go to school. Then he wanted to go to school. He always felt the kiss in his hand.
This is me swimming on a motor boat in P.E. We did races.
My teacher's name is Mrs. Malik. I like her. She is a good teacher. She is good at everything.
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