Insert Good Excuse Here

If feeling in the Christmas spirit was hard in Cairo, it's even harder here in Bahrain. Oh hi, it's me again. I've had my internal dialogue on all month, it's your fault you can read my mind! I've had a major case of the "I don't cares". The sick cycle of guilt has been rotating on me. It goes something like this:

"Crap, I haven't blogged in a few days. Oh well."
"I haven't blogged in a week! Double crap! I'd better make the next post really good."
"Crap-ola, this is a record, two weeks! I'll do . . . ooo, something shiny!"
"Whoa, over three weeks. *BAM* (that was the sound of Thanksgiving hitting)"

And so it would continue; the feeling of duty to blog, then guilt over how long it has been, followed by the knowledge that anything will be inadequate to make up for the lost time. Finally the avalanche of all insurmountable odds to right my blogging wrongs buries me and I crawl under a rock.

Well no more, my friends. I know, you're all shaking your head going, "Yeah, we've heard this one before." I can't promise the world, but I can try. I've got a backlog of pictures that need showing and the holiday season coming up. I need somewhere I can procrastinate my time away while I should be doing other duties.

Here is a shot from yesterday when we went to the Bahrain Fort. This is why someone always lugs the tripod around on our outings. And that someone usually ends up being Spencer, bless his heart. And he loves the fruits of my hobbies just as much as I do!

Ship tripping

I have found blogging a bit harder lately. With a laptop balanced on my knees, my office (and all the clutter that goes with it) is located wherever I park my bum. That just doesn't work very well for me. I'm like a moon that orbits a planet, my desk & computer are supposed to be the stationary objects and I come to them when I need to. Maybe because my laptop is a beast, too, at 8lbs. Just when I crack it open & plunk down on the couch, someone needs a jam sandwich or a nose wiped. I don't mind the sandwiching or nose wiping, it's the feeling of being pinned under an anvil & hefting it to a safe place multiple times in the space of 10 minutes that bothers me. I like laptops, I just like having a desktop better. I allows you to come & go without the physical workout! Though maybe I need more of that . . .

Ok, the promised trip to the USS Harry S Truman. You do know that his 'S' initial doesn't stand for anything. His middle name is S. This ship is also a Nimitz-class supercarrier. Need translation? Yeah, we did too. Nimitz class aircraft carriers are a class of nuclear powered carriers, of which, there are only 10 in the world. A supercarrier is the unofficial term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 tons. {all this technical stuff is courtesy of wikipedia, since my memory isn't the sharpest. btw, think abt donating a little to wikipedia. they rock.}

The whole tour took almost 3 hours. It was not for the weak of leg or lung. Trotting up those narrow stairs and throughout all 10 levels of that ship we got quite the workout.

Top row, L to R: the chains for the anchor, Mairyn by the ropes, going up the stairs, on the flight deck, view of the tower.
Bottom row: Planes parked, solo plane, the tower close-up, the middle of the runway where they land, the cable that they 'hook' to land.



Top row: Eliza in the captain's chair, Mairyn's turn, the bell in the control room, Mairyn taking her time in the chair 'o' power.
Bottom row: *The* carbon copy of the note that ordered the A-bomb, Eliza steering, Mairyn too, the girls with Truman's bust.

Funny thing: The captain's chair. Our tour guides were Navy officers that worked on this carrier. They told us that we could sit in the captain's chair & that we should take advantage of it. They weren't even allowed to sit in it. Mairyn asked, "Not even if your legs are tired?" The guy said, "No ma'am, that's above my pay grade." They were serious! So where the girls are sitting is the view the captain, and only the captain, gets when he's commandeering the ship. Though after seeing the inner workings of this carrier, it's a team effort. I wouldn't want to park a 70,000 ton beast all by myself! Oh, funny thing #2: I told the girls to stand by the bust (for a picture) and they looked at me like I'd grown a third head. "What's a bust?" I then explained what a bust was and then they proceeded to ask, "Why would someone want a statue of their bust?" Both Mairyn & Eliza then dissolved into giggles. Probably because 'bust' sounds so close to 'butts' without actually saying it. They said it the whole way home. "Hey Eliza, wanna take a picture of my -bust-?" And I don't even have to imagine what it would be like if I had had boys instead of girls . . . . .


P.S.
I just looked it up. Top Gun was shot on the USS Enterprise and is the 11th heaviest supercarrier. USS Harry is the eighth heaviest. Just think if Maverick had had that kind of space to strut his stuff . . .

Come out, come out!

That phrase always makes me think of Glenda the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz. "Come out, come out, wherever you are/To see the young lady/who fell from a star" But we're not calling on the good citizens of Munchkinland, we're calling for fairies! This weekend, we made fairy houses. And Grant made a sprite house. He said fairies were only girls, so I told him sprites were boys. Whaddaya gonna do?

I made little villages under trees and in the bushes when I was little. The premise is that if you build a little house for the fairies, they'll come live in it. But not if you don't keep it pretty & only use things found in nature, so that it will blend in, just like the fairies & sprites.

This is Eliza's house. She had a brilliant idea to tie the twigs together with long grass to make arches for the roof. And she's pretty proud of that little 'bed'. And that's a fairy scarecrow, to show the fairies that it's safe to sleep here.

This is Mairyn's house. She may have had a little help from me, but she did the decor. See the yard for the fairy? That date tree bark has a little hollow in it, that's the bath. She did find a discarded piece of blue cord and that's the towel rack. It is man-made, but hey, we're running a bit short on acorn caps and pine needles.


Here's some shots of the girls deep in their labor of love. It took some convincing; it's still a bit warm outside & who can blame them. Who wouldn't want to hang inside in the A/C instead of crouching under a tree in 99F weather? I made some lemonade & fairy snacks for them & we sat in the shade weaving little ladders for the playground and tying plumeria leaf stems together. I wanted this to be some 'creative independent playtime', but it turned into a whole girl affair. You won't see much of Grant. He liked the idea, but ultimately found more joy in digging holes & climbing trees. And destroying some of his sister's creations.

Jacqueline: Ga-rant! You woo-ind my house! {translation: grant, you ruined my house}
Grant: Well, something would have ruined it! That's why you make them, then they'll be ruined!

{I prefaced all this house building with the reminder to only use things found outdoors, naturally, so if the wind blew it over & it got ruined, it wouldn't pollute the fairy's habitat. My reasoning: when they are abandoned next week, I won't have trash blowing all over the yard. But the whole nature thing, too. ;) And I saw this as a big insight into the boy's reasoning. You make things so they can be ruined. The whole build a lego tower then knock it over doesn't seem so pointless anymore.

Back to School Feast

First Annual Penrod Back to School Feast


Theme: To Learn with Joy
Jacob 4:3 ". . . our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow,"

No, this isn't my own original idea. But hey, what really is? I really wanted to do this because we now have 3 of the 4 in school (5th, 3rd & 1st grade). They are in a new school. And all had trepidations about everything; homework being too hard, tests, new stuff, etc. I wanted to start the year off with a "celebration" to celebrate education and learning. Hopefully, this can help kick-start their confidence & banish worries. We are all in this together!


Each child got their own unique crown to wear for the feast. They also got to pick their own menu. Meaning they each had something different for dinner; hence, the feast. Eliza & Jacqueline chose spaghetti & meat sauce. Mairyn chose chicken alfredo. Grant wanted pizza. And they all sampled each others food, too. They also each got a little treasure box with the theme written on a piece of paper inside. They are to put their special boxes in a safe place & look for secret messages from time to time. They can also leave each other messages of encouragement. Hopefully. Grant has been collecting seashells on the playground and putting them in his box.

This is what I get when I ask Jacqui to look at me. And I have only been able to snag the two youngest for their "crown pictures".

I have mixed emotions about this one of Jacqui. I like it, but she looks too grown up. *sigh* Also, I love love love these "picture walls" at my house. Grant is in the foyer & Jacqui out along the front porch wall. Perfect time of day, too.

Baby Fun

I have been lucky enough to have my sister and her husband bring my new barely 4 week old niece to visit for the weekend. We have had so much fun. Well, I've had lots of fun. Katelyn & Chris did some napping, which I didn't mind a bit! That meant baby Taylor was ALL MINE! Don't jump to any conclusions, I'm pretty sure we're not going down that road again. It is very nice to cuddle a tiny baby when I'm not the one nursing it, or quieting the screams or getting up at night. *shiver* Not envious at all. But here's some wonderful pictures we were able to capture on Saturday.

Mairyn enjoying some one on one time.

Grant & Taylor; doesn't his face look a lot better?

Sage waiting patiently for Jacqui to drop a morsel of cheese stick.

Eliza & Taylor

And here's my gorgeous sis. I took her to the old grain elevators for the amazing backdrop and she provided all the beauty. And photogenic goddess-ness. How's that for having a baby just 4 weeks ago?

A Resolution

Photo taken by Eliza (psst, she's working toward her own camera. she'll get it soon!)

So sorry I've been delinquent in the blogosphere. Between trying to suck all the quality time out of Spencer that I can, battling with cabin people and going to the BYU game in Provo this last weekend, I've barely had time to catch a breath! I meet myself coming and going. And now it looks like I've got a sick Jacqui, I'm going to have even less time. So I'll cover the last few "blog-worthy" events in my least favorite, but efficient, format; bullet points and I'll elaborate soon. I promise.

#1: The Cabin

Last Monday morning, I woke up ready for a fight. I pulled up all records pertaining to the Island Park Incident, found the office's phone number and ate a piece of chocolate (to bolster my resolve). I was ready. I got the phone, dialled the phone number and introduced myself calmly, but assertively. Every possible response from them had a solid rebuttal.

"Hi, this is Lydia Penrod. I would like to speak with Susan, please."

"Oh yes, this is Susan. I talked with the owner and we're going to refund you for the whole amount. I was an unfortunate turn of events and we would really love for you to stay with us again. Is a check ok?"

Huh? Good thing I was sitting down! That's it? Ok, yeah, I'll take a check. Really, that's it. And I think we will try and do it again.

#2: Catching up

Spencer and I have been enjoying our quality time together. As most expats know, keeping up with your favorite T.V. shows is very difficult overseas. **sidenote** hulu really needs to solve that. **un-sidenote** We get around that problem by just buying the series on DVD. I don't mind that I'm a year behind. If I want to watch the next episode and find out if Sylar really is dead, I go ahead and watch it! That's the magic of DVD. I got all of our favorites a month or so ago, but just haven't had the chance to watch them. Wonder why? I told Spence I wouldn't wait, but, he came home and I still hadn't watched anything. So we've been digging into Heroes. Very, very good vacation time!

#3: The BYU Game

To be brief, it was a sweet weekend. I will elaborate with more pictures and details soon. But for now, all I can say is that even though we lost, it was all still worth it. Provo in the fall time, wonderful weather, getting together with old Cairo friends, kids cooperating with a fall photo shoot, and Ikea. What more could one get out of a weekend??

State Fair Fun!

What we did with our Saturday . . .

Every Friday, there is a Farmer's Market from 4-8pm. We decided to wander through this week and discovered such a wonderful atmosphere! Fresh fruits and veggies, of course, were the expected fare; but there were fresh cut flowers, herbs, local honey, homemade textiles, hot corn on the cob, cotton candy, and face painting. All of this, set to the tunes a local DJ was spinning on the lawn. We got there a little later than 4, more like 6:30pm. The kids saw the face painting and had immediate tunnel vision. That was the only this existing in their world. It was $5 a face and they would be going to bed in 2 hours. Not going to happen. I told them that if they stopped their whining and fussing, we would have time to go over to the craft shop and buy some face paints. I would paint their faces in the morning so that they could have it for the WHOLE day we were in Idaho Falls instead of just for 2 hours tonight. They weighed their options and everyone voted for Saturday morning. We went over to Porter's and spent $11 and in the morning, I painted their faces for our day on the town. The rest of the day was spent running to do school clothes shopping, grocery shopping and general errand running. Everyone kept asking where we got it done, if there was a fair in town. Hmmm, maybe I should start charging!

Palmyra Temple

Visiting upstate New York was an adventure for all of us. It was (surprisingly) a state I hadn't been to yet. (outside of LaGuardia and JFK) Driving to Palmyra, we were set on taking it all in. My form of "absorbing" is taking pictures. Way too many pictures, in some people's opinions. Not mine. There can never be too many pictures. ;) We set out for the Joseph Smith Farm first and stumbled upon the Palmyra Temple first. It was on the list of places to visit, we just didn't expect to find it without looking. Really, everything we were going to see was like going to the monuments in D.C. It's all right there, within a few miles of each other. Although, back then, the mode of transportation was either on foot or horse, soooo. Anyway, here is the fam on the lawn by the temple. I love tripods. What doesn't show on our faces is that we are all getting wet bums sitting in the grass. It wasn't soggy-puddles wet, but it's the kind of wetness that you don't notice till you stand up. We all looked like we'd peed our pants! We dried off soon enough and continued on to the Joseph Smith Farm. More tomorrow!

Niagara Falls

It's really late and I'm really tired. So I'll just put up some pictures and then fill in more of the story when my legs don't feel like lead and my eyelids aren't being pulled down by little sandbags!

In the Niagara Sky Wheel (a big ferris wheel with enclosed cars on it) to get a bird's eye view of the Falls.

The kids on the over look of the American Falls

Before we got on the Maid of the Mist boat. They had a poncho for every size, even Jacqui!

In the Horseshoe Falls!

Where we were. See the big cloud of mist, that's where the boat took us to get soaked!

The only angle I could get that had both Falls in it. The left hand side is the American Falls and the right side is called the Horseshoe Falls. The Horseshoe Falls is the one that people would go over in a barrel. We went in a complete circle on the boat. From right below where the kids are standing, along the bottom of the Am. Falls, over into the Horseshoe Falls and back to the shore. The ponchos did quite a good job of keeping us dry. We had a great time!

A+ Day

We definitely got our money's worth out of the Aquarium membership. We went again this week and it never gets old. There is always an 11:30am dolphin show that the kids don't ever want to miss. Since it is included in our membership, we go. And this time, we got there early enough to get sweet seats in the "Splash Zone". Once we were seated, the questions of, "When is it starting?" began and I had to tell them that since they chose to get early seats, it wouldn't begin for another half hour.

As we were waiting, a dolphin show worker person (whatever you call 'em) came up the stairs to where we were sitting. Great, I thought to myself, she's going to tell us they have to fill up the other side of the seating before sitting here, or something crazy like that. I dug in, ready to stand my ground. ** When in reality, she just wanted to know if the kids would like to participate in the Grand Finale. Really? At the end of every show, there is a musical montage, the dolphins flip & leap and on either side of the pool, they have about 4 kids hold flags and wave them. Yip-yipee-yip-ito. (geez, i've been reading too much skippyjon)


So they moved us into the "Reserved Seating" row, (I always wondered who got those seats) which were better than the ones we chose. And the kids still got wet. This show rocked even more than the other ones because they introduced a new baby dolphin, Bailey. She is 10 months old and really quite cute. They had her jumping in tandem with her mom even doing a few tricks. I didn't get pictures because the likelihood of being soaked was very great. They warn anyone sitting in the Splash Zone of the "possibility" of getting wet. Depending on your location in said zone, you WILL be splashed. It's a trick that the dolphins do; swim around the perimeter and splash the people. We had a great time!




** After we were moved, I was thinking to myself that I'm still pretty defensively programmed. Not being able to sit where we want, being moved for trite reasons and not having any control over it, yeah, that's what would happen in Egypt. I have to keep telling myself, "You're not in Egypt anymore." It's hard.

Leaping Dolphins, Batman!

We loved the repeat dolphin show. In fact, our favorite thing about it was that most of it wasn't a repeat! Compared to the Saturday show, it was the winner! A trainer got in the water with them; more performing, less talk. One dolphin even did a "Flipper Trick", as I call it. She swam backwards on her tail.



There was more leaping, splashing and fun. Oh, and the kids thought I was the bomb when I let them sit by themselves in the "Splash Zone". The Splash Zone occupies the first four rows all the way around the arena. They warn people before the show starts that there is a "possibility" of getting wet in this area. That's a lie. There is no possibility, it's a guarantee! The dolphins swim over and splash water over the side. On purpose. And that's exactly what the kids wanted. I sat safely three row higher, well out of range. The kids were a bit disappointed that they only got their feet wet. But I reassured them that next time, we would get there in plenty of time to reserve "wet seats". For them, not me. Or my expensive camera.

Jellyfish

Since we have a membership to the Aquarium (and we want to get our money's worth) we went back on Monday. But we didn't go back alone, we went with a good friend of ours, Janyece (and her parents and sons). They had quite a lot further to drive than we did, but we all made it. I was amazed that I could leave the hotel parking lot at 9:50am and be parking my car at 10:04am.

We had a mission, see the jellyfish. There is so much to see, it's impossible to see in one day. We focused on that exhibit and seeing the dolphin show again. Oh, and the sharks. Mairyn is currently obsessed with them. I did not know there were that many different kinds of jellyfish. There were these fat little ones that had tentacles like a loofa sponge, others that didn't have any tentacles at all and were mostly blob. The coolest, by far, was the one in the video. Lights, camera, action!



I knew that jellyfish could do that, but seeing it in person, wow. Just the coolest! We went to the dolphin show again because we can see it for free each time we go. (because of the membership) It was kinda different from the Saturday show we saw. I was thinking it would be more mundane because it was a weekday. Nay no burrito! Even cooler. We'll find out more about that tomorrow!

Saturday in Annapolis

No, we don't have any ties to Annapolis or the Naval Academy. We just like it. A lot. I love Annapolis. The Bay and the old streets and houses. It just feels good there. We went around the Naval Academy Museum, and the campus. The weather was just perfect. Some people were complaining that it was a little warm. "A little warm"? C'mon, you're talking to a Cairo family here, we can take the heat. We finished up the day at Buddy's Crabs & Ribs. A visit to Annapolis is not complete without eating there. We hit the classic Saturday buffet. And it's not the bad kind of buffet, it's the greatest. And I was in the mood for crab legs as well. Truly, you really have to be in the right frame of mind to eat fresh crab. A lotta work for not a whole lotta meat. But it's the sweetest, buttery-est (is too a word) mouthful that will ever pass your lips. Spencer went to the other end of the spectrum and had the fall-off-the-bone ribs. Win-win situation in my book. Oh, and kids eat free. Win-win-win.

Having a splash!

This is the pool at the hotel. It's ok. Great that we can go downstairs between the hours of 12pm and 9pm and swim to our hears content. Just one thing . . . . it's freakin' freezing! Not heated. I asked the lifeguard if it was heated. He looked at me with a "huh?" expression on his face. *Sidenote* We think the lifeguard is Brazilian. We're not completely sure, he could be Italian, maybe even Chilean, we're just stabbing at nationalities here. And we don't think he speaks much English. I asked, "Is the pool heated?" silence and puzzled expression, me: "Warm? Is the water warm?" him: "Ah, no. No hot." Ooooo-kay. Well, we tried it out for ourselves at about 4:00pm, after the water has had the sun beating down on it all day. Yikes! Surprisingly frigid. The kids did get in because it was so hot, but we left after about a half hour. So much for lounging by the pool while the kids get their wiggles out. Oh well. That and the rain kept us away from the pool until this afternoon. We got a package that had a late-coming birthday present in it. Shark fin flippers for Grant! He'll learn how to use them. If he'll ever get in the water. It wasn't as cold today, it was a bit more comfortable, but still a shock when you slip in. Oh, and we had a new lifeguard today. And believe it or not, I don't think "Complete mastery of the English language" is on his resume either. We're thinking Hungarian this time. Though, we could be wrong

Aquarium Antics

If I could use one word to describe the National Aquarium at Baltimore, it would be: awesomeness. And a quick piece of advice, if you do go, and are in the area for long enough, just buy a membership. Because of our family's sheer numbers, we have a membership paid for in 2 visits. And, members get to show their card and walk right in. Those that just buy tickets sometimes have a 2-4 hour wait for entrance. Your ticket is stamped with an entrance time and there is no going in until that time. Also, we get to go to the dolphin show for free whenever we go. Yeah, the dolphin show. It was quite the experience. Between the sting rays, sharks, jellies and tropical fish, we were adequately overwhelmed.

We also decided to see the 4D show. What? 4D? Aren't we 3D beings? Well, with my curiosity piqued, we snagged tickets and got in line. There was this warning at the cashier and the door saying that if you or your children are startled easily or have back problems, you should not go to the movie. Wha . . ? Are we going to be doing spontaneous yoga or something? So we sat down and I noted that the upholstery of the seats was interesting, just one black button a little off center and in the lower back area. Hmmm. A foreboding of things to come? We were handed the little red 3D glasses and then the show began. 3D is very awesome. This film (about 20 minutes long) was titled "Planet Earth". And they weren't kidding when it says, "The film encompasses all of the senses." You feel the thunder roll (and the lightning strike), the wind blowing and the scent of fresh ocean. You also get sprayed in the face when a humpback whale surfaces, get poked in the back when an eel shoots out of the coral, get the backs of your legs tickled by scuttling starfish and bubbles filling the theater from a shoal of mackerel swimming at you. Plenty of screaming, squealing, laughing and "Wow, can we do that again, Mommy?" was heard. Yes, yes we can kids.