Mathematical!

G is a two-wheeler rider!

I took him to the empty tennis court at our complex because I thought it would make it easier.  It took him one try.  I ran with him with my hand on the seat and he just complained that I was messing him up.  So I left.  And he was fine.  Since the bike is still a bit big for him, he has to use the curb to get started, and he still needs practice with that.  He also needs practice with stopping.  For the most part, he would just run right into the fence to stop, or just topple over.

I should have done this long ago.

Mads doing tricks.

He is riding the girls' bike because he grew out of the one G is riding, and I haven't gotten him a new one yet.  Anyway, that's why he's riding a girl's bike.

Then they decided to give me a heart attack by climbing the fence.  When I looked over, they were at the very top.  I literally jumped up.  The crazy woman part of my brain wanted to scream, but I had to let the rational side of my brain do the talking so that I didn't freak them out so they lost control.  When they were out of "death" range, I took a picture.

Ultimate Destroyer

We had hamburgers the other night.  I took a picture.

Nate wanted a good old-fashioned, American-style hamburger.  When you want a taste of home, you make it yourself.  They were delicious.

They were delicious and tall.  G told himself, "You have 10 minutes to finish the Ultimate Destroyer!" I guess we watch a lot of Man vs. Food.

Alcapone

I finally took the kids to the dentist.  Give me a break!  Going to the dentist in a foreign country (especially this one!) is intimidating.  But we went.  And it went well.  No cavities!

G was a pro.  When the dentist asked if he wanted the channel changed on the TV, he just held up his hand, shook his head slightly, slowly climbed into the chair, and opened his mouth.

Dare.

Mads.  Lucky for me, this kid does a good job brushing his own teeth.  I am not great at being the enforcer.  Or the tooth brusher.

BA.

Rhon.

We stopped by McDonald's on the way home.  We also decided to get some donuts from J.Co.  Since there were no taxis coming, we crammed into a bajai to get home.

We've had that bajai driver before.  He loves us.

The boys love the ride, the rest of us hate it.  But not more than standing on the road waiting for a taxi, I guess.  I'm surprised I was happy enough to want to take a picture!  Check out BA's grumpy face.  That's usually how I feel.

It's worth it to make the boys happy.

We got home and pigged out on donuts!

J.Co uh uh!

Light Tan

June 22nd

 On our way to Europe, we had a stopover in Dubai, so we thought we'd stay there a day to check it out. This is on the tram at the airport.  It was a crazy awesome airport!  It was huge.  And there were hotels, work-out rooms, a pool, and many many restaurants and stores.

The lobby of our hotel.

We got to Dubai at like 5 in the morning.  They were nice enough to let us check-in at about 7am.  We went to the room and took showers.  We had a free breakfast coming, so we headed down for that.  It was so fun!  They had all kinds of things we've never seen at a breakfast buffet.  Like olives and cheese, smoked turkey, hummus, tomatoes, ham, fruit, etc. You name it, they had it.  We all loved it.  They even had waffles and cereal. 

Then we went back to our rooms and crashed.

Jet lag is rough.

The kids were very confused.  It was really hard to tell what time of day it was, or even what day it was.  We didn't get out as early as we wanted on our one day in Dubai.  We missed out on seeing some things, but we still had a good day.

These boats were lining the docks.

We had Subway for lunch.  It's been a while.  Check out the coke cup with Arabic on it!  At least I think that's Arabic...

We took the bus tour.  It wasn't the best choice, but we got to see a lot of Dubai.

We got to see a couple of iconic hotels, beautiful mosques, crazy malls, and the ocean.  The Dubai Mall was even crazier than the malls here.  It has a massive aquarium in it.  And a Garrett's!  It also had a water fountain show outside.  Apparently it is a record breaker too.  The most water?  The tallest?  The quality of pumps?  Something...    

The Burj Khalifa.  Tallest building in the world.

It was a pretty hazy day.  It kept us cool (well, less hot) but it wasn't good for pictures.

It is very, very tall.

Dubai is a very multi-cultural city.  In fact, there are very few people who are actually "from" Dubai.  People live there from all over the world.  There were just as many people from Europe as Arabs.  But they still have a lot of strict rules.  I was a little worried about my shorts when we got off the plane, but then I realized it didn't matter that much.  Also, at the airport they have signs for the family bathrooms where men are allowed to go in with women.  I guessing it's for when a wife needs help from her husband?  When we went to find a taxi, there was a taxi queue for taxis only for women.  The cars were pink, and the women drivers wore all pink, even their headdress.  I noticed quickly that some men wouldn't talk to me, or even look at me.  Especially if Nate was there, they ignored me.  For example, when we would negotiate a taxi fare.  I didn't care, it was just interesting.  Also, Nate and I were a bit cautious about showing affection to each other.  We kept our distance, just in case.  We saw a lot of women in full black burqas, and many men with the red and white checked head scarves - keffiyeh - I had to look that up.

Dubai was obviously super deserty looking.  But not like the desert where I'm from.  Just dirt, no cactus or trees or shrubs.  There was grass and greenery, but you could tell it wasn't it's natural habitat.  It was always partnered with many, many sprinklers.  We didn't get to see the real desert, like with camel-type desert, but maybe next time.  We also didn't see the spice or gold market.  We were there on the wrong day.  Friday morning everything is closed.

Mind the Gap

After a long vacation, Rhon's tooth fairy is back on duty...

August 28

 Then a couple days later she lost the one on the other side...

September 4

Rhon has now passed BA in number of teeth lost.  It's funny when child number 2 does something before child number 1.

Then last Friday (Sept 28th) she had to get a tooth pulled.  So the tooth fairly had to be on her game again!  Rhon made it a point to tell me she was actually putting the pulled tooth under her pillow that night.  I thought nothing of it, even though she's never said anything before.  But when I got the tooth (right before I woke her up for school :/) I realized there was a note attached to it.  Here's what it said...

To my dumb Poop Fairy,

I want more money than one dollar because I had to get five shots for this baby.  So I expect at least one extra dollar for this little guy.

- Rhon

Remember the "Poop Fairy" letter?  Well, I don't think Rhon forgot.  She's the coolest.

I had Nate read the letter immediately and we had a couple minutes to write another letter before Rhon woke up.  And since I had already gotten the tooth, and left the money, he had to be creative.

Rhon-

Hey, that dumb Tooth Fairy took your tooth before I could get there.  What a punctual jerk!  Anyway, here is a little something from your good pal.  I heard this one cost you some pain!  Haha!  Get over it, you weenie!  Just kidding.  Enjoy that gap!

Your Friend,

The Poop Fairy

Almost

September 25

We saw a lizard in the yard and the boys had to run outside and get a better look.

These are the shoes they managed to get on their feet.

I had them come up to the window so I could get a good picture of the shoe choices.  I love how G wears the non-flip-flop one like a flip-flop.  Looks comfy. 

Awww!  Darling.  Just don't look at their feet. 

After they saw me with the camera, they made me go outside (it's hot!) and take a picture of the lizard.  He was pretty cool.  Almost worth the sweat I sweated.

Stache

September 20
This was the day the boys asked me if I would draw mustaches on their faces.  I don't know about the tough guy looks.  To me, a mustache doesn't make you look tougher.  But for boys who see a small, mustached, Italian guy defeat just about everything in their video games, it does.

Strozzapreti

August 20

Making pasta.

Rhon will always help in the kitchen.  And even though all the kids will help if given the chance, she shows way more interest in cooking the food than any of the other kids.  She and Nate spend a lot of time in the kitchen talking about and making delicious food.

Rhon would probably have homemade pasta every night if she could.  Once she gets tall enough/strong enough she'll be making it all by herself.  I can't wait!