Spring Break!

In April, we decided to take a quick spring break trip with my parents.  We headed south, to visit Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and Dead Horse Point State Park.  We stayed in Green River, UT, in a lovely little Super 8 with a pool, free breakfast, and refrigerators in the rooms--the trifecta.  With Green River as our base, we visited Dead Horse and the Islands in the Sky region of Canyonlands one day, Arches the next, and the Needles region on Canyonlands and a bit of Moab the last day.  The weather was perfect, often overcast but not raining much at all, and not too hot, particularly on the day we hiked up to Delicate Arch, a strenuous hike over slick rock we made very early in the morning to beat the crowds and the sun.  We brought picnic supplies for lunch every day and had dinner in Green River most evenings, except for one stop at a diner in Moab.  The boys had  a good time hiking around as long as we didn't call it hiking, though the way up to Delicate Arch was a challenge for them, and they were quite terrified of the steep approach to the arch itself.  But we were mindful of our group and only attempted short hikes rated appropriate for families all the rest of the time, which turned out to be exactly right for us.  The boys completed the junior ranger activities at both national parks, earning badges after they said an oath with a park ranger at each park: very official! And we ended our trip with the consummate vacation activity

At a rest stop before Green River, after a drive in which we played I Spy
and Going Across the Plains, long-time family travel staples, and answered
kid trivia questions out of a book Grandest brought along.

Looking out over Dead Horse Point.

An Island in the Sky.

And another!

Learning about cairn trail makers.  

Still more islands.

So many islands!

The famous Delicate Arch after our long hike up.  

Here is the whole family at Delicate Arch...but you'll just have to trust me
on that, since we missed the arch in this shot!

Me and my dad.

Another arch at Arches.

Elsewhere in Arches as the temperature rose.

In front of Newspaper Rock on the way to Needles.

Look at all the petroglyphs!

On top of a mushroom formations in Needles.

At our favorite "restaurant" in Green River, La Pasadita, a food truck outside
a defunct gas station, serving the best Mexican food we have had in ages!

We ate their several times... 

And played while we waited for our food.

This was an amazing "side" at the diner in Moab, cinnamon roll ala mode! 

Nothing on the bottom of the ocean!

After many long weeks (more than three months, to be exact), our shipment from Doha finally arrived in Utah.  J was convinced it was going to end up sliding off the ship during high seas and plunging into the depths of the ocean, and we have heard many horror stories about folks putting their trust in shady moving companies and ending up losing their belongings or paying thousands of dollars to get their shipments out of port, but, fortunately for us, the container was able to stay on board safely and our four cubic meters of boxes are now in my in-laws' storage property, awaiting their next destination.  And the delivery was all good news: our US customs' fee was only about $100 (we were told it could be as much as $1500), all the boxes were still in tact, with no dents or water damage, and the container our Doha folks had built around our boxes was so sturdy it took the local guys here almost half an hour to get it open to unload.

Look how snugly packed out little less-than-container load is!

Our last shipment arrived in Doha somewhat damp and with many boxes opened and not repacked by Qatari customs agents, but everything was more or less fine.  I can't even remember who we went with that time...let me think...ah yes, it was Corrigan International, and they were very good as well, but it's much easier (though not as easy as you would think--there are a LOT of moving scammers out there!) to find a reputable company going from the US to Doha versus finding someone to take you the other direction!

In case anyone was wondering (particularly our Doha friends), we went with Allied Pickfords, and they were great the whole way through.  We liked the fact that Allied was in charge of our possessions the whole way, with the exception of its time on the shipping vessel itself, and they even gave us a tracking number for that stage of the journey.  They weren't the cheapest quote we got, but they were the most professional and reassuring, and, when you're trusting folks with what's left of your worldly goods, professionalism and reassurance are key!

Unfortunately, now that we are here and getting more settled, I am regretting a few of the things we sold that are NOT in the shipment somewhere.  Not too many things, but a few.  We decided to sell things we could easily replace here, that had no sentimental value, and were not books (which constituted half of our shipment weight).  We knew we would replace all our furniture, which wasn't that spectacular to begin with, but now I find myself wishing we had kept our duvet covers, for instance.  Little things like those won't break the bank, but there are quite a few of them we now have to buy, as well as a house full of furniture, and even for a shopping maven like myself, it's a lot to do!

I have begun the process already, however, so I'm not completely overwhelmed when we do finally move to more permanent quarters.  So far we have a dining table and chairs and a bench, as well as a coffee table and matching end tables, the former bought on super sale and the later from a garage sale last week.  I also have full virtual shopping carts at Ikea and Wayfair and Overstock.com, and I update them frequently as I find things at other local places.  It's a slow process, but I don't want to overreact and buy something we then can't use at our new place--I'm not THAT enamored with yard sales that I want to have one when I move IN and well as when I move OUT!

Sum- sum- summertime

Summer has come upon us sooner than I expected this year, since we switched schools and this new school gets out a month earlier than our previous one.

[Side note: since when do schools start and end so dang early??  As we have been job hunting, I have been looking at school districts across the country and have been amazed at their calendars.  Some schools in Orange County, CA start August 10th or 11th; some in parts of Georgia start August 1st!  That is just a crime, particularly in GA where August is NOT a good time to stuck in desks!  And even among those districts that start later, only a few start after Labor Day.  Who knew August was the new September and May was the new June?]

Before we moved to Qatar, our summers were semi-planned: we rode the coattails of some of my much more organized friends with older kids and went on a couple of field trips a week, visited the library once a week, and spent as much time as possible at the pool.  Then came our summer marathons in the States living with the grandparents, and we had a bit more planned, like swim lessons and reunions and trips back and forth between Provo and Ogden.  I had visions of doing school work that never came to fruition, and we did visit the library occasionally, but we were pretty lax about everything, and often I wondered what we were going to do that day.

Not this summer!  This summer, a much better plan is essential for several reasons: one, we do not have our huge budget of years past, what with being unemployed and all!  Two, we have quite a bit of school work catch up to do with E, because shifting methods of teaching reading mid-stream has really thrown him for a loop and whereas he was above grade level at mid-year in Doha, he is now below grade level in Utah, so we need help him get ready for a smooth transition to first grade where ever we land.  J is fine, above grade level as before, but he, too could do with some targeted review and/or enrichment.  Three, the kids and I do much, MUCH better with structure and routine and what with not knowing what the heck the end of summer will bring, I am feeling even more keenly the need for both structure and routine and the illusion of control those bring.  Four, we don't really have a lot of mom and kid friends here, so we are going to be left to our own devices for activities.  Five, I absolutely do not want this summer to turn into a screen time extravaganza, so I have got to have other fun alternatives ready to go!  And six, honestly, I just really, really like to plan stuff!

So, here is our super malleable but structured enough not to drive me insane weekly summer plan:

• Monday is Library Day and Art Day with Grandma.  Enough said.  
• Tuesday is Movie Day.  There are several local theaters that play kids' movie matinees for either .50 or $1, and you can't be that for cheap entertainment!
• Wednesday is Play Day.  The boys are enrolled in a Urban Gym class, their one structured class for the summer, so we will attend that class, then go hit new playgrounds and/or play games at home.
• Thursday is Trip Day.  These days we will visit local museums, historical sites, nature centers, etc.  We will attempt to make as many of these free as possible and some of them will be up here in Ogden and others will be on the way South, so we will peroidically combine these with weekends at Grandeur and Grandest's house.
• Friday is Water Day.  We will visit splash pads and water parks (there is even a hot springs near by) and take any cousins that happen to be around with us!
• Saturday is Surprise Day.  We will use this day to replace any planned activities that get moved because of unexpected conflicts or do something else exciting that comes our way, such as story times at Barnes and Noble or food truck roundups or what have you.

All of these activities will take place after breakfast and school work, which we will work on for 45 minutes or so in the mornings.  And we will include cousins whenever possible, because having other kids around always makes everything more fun.  And every day, in the evenings, after our activities are done and we have had some quiet time to relax, we will play outside, because it's not a gazillion degrees here and we can.  And then, after ALL of that, if someone wants some screen time, they are welcome to it.

And now, just for fun, a sampling of "we are ready for summer" photos!

First father/son campout of the year!

Practicing our building skills!

Getting out of school on one of the last days!

Making puppets for a second grade puppet show!

Silliness at Ross!

In the middle of it all, E turned 6!

So, in case you were thinking of doing this, the best time to have one of your kid's birthday parties is NOT a week before you are leaving the country you have to leave in a rush!  Unfortunately for E, that's when his birthday occurred, so we simply pretended our lives and our house weren't in a shambles and went ahead with his party.  Fortunately for me, we had bought the favors and decorations over the summer, and I had remembered not to pack them in the boxes to be shipped or accidentally sold them at a yard sale.  He wanted a knight theme, and we added in a few princesses because he wanted some of his girl friends to come as well.  Actually, it ended up being a great party, a chance for him to say goodbye to some of his good little friends before we left, even if it was a bit stressful and haphazard for me.  E loved having time to see everyone, and I was happy we could fit it in before we left, even if there were piles of boxes pushed into corners to make room for the festivities!

Everyone got to breathe fire!

The husband painted the flames, since I have no artistic talent!

The kids made their own silver (balloon) helmets and decorated
their own personal shields.

We did lots of knight training, including hitting targets with slingshots...

and jumping across an ever widening moat.

How lucky we had already sold our couch!

The princesses were flying high!

There was lots of yummy food, of course.

We even had silver cupcakes with silver candles.

All kinds of presents and lots of friends!

E with one of his favorite princesses, who moved to Saudi Arabia
 the week after we left, sad all around but here we were all smiles!

Adventures in Istanbul Part 4

Our final days in Istanbul, we began with a visit to the Hagia Sophia.  It was very cold inside, and I thought the boys would be bored of yet another church, but they were very impressed with the architecture and the little bits of trivia the husband had picked up from a tour he took on his last visit to Istanbul.  The sheer scale of the building is amazing, and the ways in which Christian and Muslim elements are intertwined were fascinating.  The boys loved the hidden passages and huge chandeliers, as well as the frescoes and mosaics.  Afterwards, we also visited the archeological museum, which was impressive but frustratingly under construction.  We also almost had an international incident when J backed into a pillar holding an ancient bust, which then teetered heart-stoppingly while we looked on aghast.  Fortunately, the bust stayed upright, but, from that moment on, J had to hold one of our hands while we walked, and we were all relieved to get out of the museum safely.

Try to keep your thumb in the hole while rotating completely
around: only I was able to do it!

Ancient baptismal font. 

One last shot of the Blue Mosque.

The husband thought these guys looked a little like our boys!

Looking inside a hidden nook, filled with all sorts of treasures
I'm pretty sure were put there by boys like mine 500 years ago.

This is what we looked like every day, walking and/or waiting for the trolley.
Istanbul is a great place for walking even when it's cold--there is always
something yummy to eat along your way.

We thoroughly enjoyed all our time in Istanbul.  Our Airbnb apartment was spacious, very centrally located, and a perfect home base for us.  Our excellent hosts even gave us t-shirts when we left; how's that for service?  Istanbul itself was kid-friendly and entertaining, the food was SUPERB, and the weather was excellent for exploring.   We were nervous going when we did, so soon after the bombing in Sultanamet Square, but we were safe and happy the whole time.  Unfortunately, the situation there has continued to deteriorate, which saddens us to no end.  Istanbul is such a wonderful city and the Turkish people were so warm and welcoming to us, we wish it could always be as safe as it was for us.  Hopefully it will be again soon.