Summer Tour Stop 1 - Northern Virginia

 Last picture of our family in Kuwait before we boarded a plane for a 14 hour flight to DC!

 Kiddos hanging out in the Kuwait airport!  It was INSANE when we arrived there - 100+ people in line out the front door of the airport.  We got ushered inside past all the people by a porter.  Not sure why.  Maybe because we didn't look like everyone else?  Regardless, it was packed because of an Egypt Air flight...Our flight was uneventful, which is great!

 We hit the ground running!  Grammy and Grandad picked us up, we stopped by Anita's for some breakfast burritos and then headed out to Walmart and Old Navy to get much needed items!  We never bring toiletries with us to the States, so we head to Walmart to buy everything - toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, etc :)

 Meggie and Grandad chillin and relaxing in the middle of shopping!

 The next morning we drove up to Bridgeton, NJ to attend Dan's cousin's wedding!  Because we were a bit early, we stopped for smoothies at McDonald's :)

Me and my Stateside Tweeter!

Odds and Ends

 Our last Bible Study luncheon - amazing, wonderful ladies!!!

 Me and Cheri - a lady I am so very thankful I've met here!

 Our Bible Study

Shirley, Marsi, Cheri, Debbie, Me, Gabby

 Megan wanted to paint a sign for her art teacher - so she did!  And she did a great job, too!

The great colors she chose for it!

 And the finished product!  It's beautiful!

 We played Soap Soccer here with friends :)  A tennis court sized field lined with a huge sheet of plastic like a slip 'n slide and inflatable goals and sides, covered with a couple inches of water and 3 bottles of soap to make it super slippery!  

 The big kids played, Kylie just had fun being in it, but not playing soccer - and everyone had a blast!  The guys were insane sliding, slipping and taking each other out...and everyone had some crazy falls, but stayed safe and in one piece :)  

 So much fun!

Jack and his buddy Cesar who moves this summer.  They were friends from the first week of school (and maybe even the first day)!  This was their last playdate and they had a wonderful time - and were sooooo loud in the house!  Not bad loud, just 2 boys together loud!  

 He's a sweet kid and we're thankful they had a great friendship for this year!  We will all miss him and his family!

A Morning in the Life

 Kids get breakfast while Dan and I get their lunches ready

 Jack's favorite lunch - noodle soup in a thermos, a blueberry muffin for snack, a cucumber, pretzels and a piece of bread underneath!  Then we send a bowl to pour the soup into, a spoon and a plastic grocery bag to put all the dirty stuff in to bring home!

A mixture of snack bags with foods and lunch bags

Kylie's lunch bag - with pretzels, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a muffin and either carrots or a cucumber

 Megan had leftover lasagna, pretzels, a cucumber and a roll maybe?

And Jack's lunch box all nicely packed up!  We searched for 8 weeks last summer to find the perfect lunch bags.  I wanted them insulated (because of the Kuwait heat) and they had to come in 3 different designs for the kiddos...we found them at Gap after searches at more stores than you could imagine and they've been perfect!  We also picked up these bowls at Walmart on clearance for $0.25 each!  They are large enough and low enough to fit perfectly in there for the noodles!

 All 3 bags - Kylie, Jack and Megan's from back to front

 Getting shoes on and backpacks packed up in the front hall

 My 3 kiddos

 The inside of the bus - Megan normally sits with Ava.  Jack and Kylie sit together.  This day, Megan had her final (she got 100%) so she was studying on the way in to school :)

 The bus goes down and turns around, then comes back by our house.  We stand and watch for the kiddos, and then blow kisses and wave - and if you enlarge this pic, you can see 2 little kiddos who always wave and blow kisses and "I love you" signs back :)

Last Day of School

Last Day of School

June 2012

Kuwait

First Day of School

September 2011

Kuwait

Last Day of School
June 2011
Bangkok

First Day of School
August 2010
Bangkok

Last Day of School
June 2010
Bangkok

 

First Day of School
August 2009
Bangkok

Last Day of School
June 2009
Bangkok

First Day of School
August 2008
Bangkok

Dust Storm(s)

 Our front door

This first picture doesn't look like much...but there is a fine (and thick) layer of dust covering everything...we've had a few dust storms in the last couple of weeks and it's getting old, to say the least.  The sky turns orange and hazy and it looks freaky in the filtered light coming in the windows of our house!  Thankfully, our house is pretty well sealed, so we don't have much dust inside - a fine layer on everything, but not the same amount that we get outside, for sure!  We also try to keep the "garage doors" down on our windows during the dust storms to keep the dust out.  This last week we had a crazy one where it was hard to even walk out to the car with your eyes open...and the amount of dust that settles in 24 hours is INSANE!!!  Take a look at our pictures :)  Now I fully get the reason that most buildings/houses are sand colored here in Kuwait...Oh, and the only way to get rid of it outside is to wash it away with water...so, it takes FOREVER to rinse it all out because it turns to mud!

 The dust that was swept to make a walkway into our house

 The layer with footprints to our garage

 Covering our nice black hose

 Our nice milk jug on our porch...with dust

 The second big sandstorm of the week and the layer covering outside again...

 And the corner pile

And what it looks like when you get in your car and turn your windshield wipers on!  It looks like wet runny mud...but it's actually perfectly dry.  Just a really fine, fine dust!

Bowling Field Trip

 Jack and Cesar

Both Jack and Megan had field trips last week - and they both went to a Bowling Alley (albeit different ones)!  I was allowed to go on Jack's field trip (the only parent for 5 classes) and I had a blast getting to help chaperone and watch Jack!  He had a great time with his buddies and got the 2nd highest score of 101, while his best buddy Cesar got 102 :)  Unfortunately Megan's trip was the exact same day and time and I had already committed to going on Jack's field trip, so I didn't get to go on Megan's. 

 Bader, Jack and Talib

 A view from our lane, which was the last one!  Five classes altogether!

 Jack bowling

 Me and Jack

Cesar and Talib bowling at the same time!