Adventures with the Crafts: August 2015

Monday, August 17, 2015

1st day of 2nd grade!!!!!

I do NOT like this one bit! My babies are in 2nd grade!
Today was their first day of school and both were very excited to see their friends from last year again! Tyler has the teacher who was in charge of the play we did last year, Mr. Jim, his first male teacher! I have been told he sings most of his lessons and teaches through music. Could Ty possibly have a more perfect fit for a teacher?????
And Grace has a lady who taught one of the little girls I babysat last year. I actually subbed for her and her classroom is amazingly organized and she is one of the nicest teachers I've ever met! My kids are super lucky once again this year to have the most amazing teachers! We are very excited to start the school year together! Yep, you heard right, I will be teaching again! I will actually be a long term substitute for a 1st grade teacher who is going on a 3 month maternity leave starting in early October! Ty, Grace, and I will all be in the same hallway together every day! I couldn't be more excited to be with them everyday at school!

So, the first day of 2nd grade is very different here at TISA, for one thing, the kids are given their first exposure to learning a new language. They are able to choose from Russian, Spanish, or French and they go to language class 3x a week! Tyler will be learning Spanish and Grace will be learning Russian.

The other new thing this year is that 2nd graders are given their own "badges" to get in/out of school with. Everyone (including parents) must have a badge to get in/out of the school through turn styles monitored by security guards. Each badge has the child or adult's picture and name on it.

So today was an emotional on for me.... my babies are growing up and I am excited and proud of them, and yet I miss the babies they used to be as well.

Anyway, here are the few pics I have of today....

Here is Grace walking as far away from Mommy and Daddy as she can because she saw one of her friends who happen to be a boy....on the way into school.....btw this same little girl was holding my hand when we first got out of the car telling me she was nervous......and that hand got dropped as soon as she saw her friends.....and thus it begins.....

Before getting in the car on the way to school for the 1st day of 2nd grade! I asked them nicely to pose together, at first Ty wouldn't take a picture....then Grace wouldn't let him put his arm around her.....I said "come on you two this is really important to mommy, please take a nice picture!" and so they put their arms around each other but Grace wouldn't smile:(

You can see Grace off in the distance still walking far away from us while Ty is awake an ready and happy to smile for the camera.....

Big kid badges.......:( Oh why can't they just freeze in time and stop growing?

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Fun with the Keens in Baku

When we first decided to move to Azerbaijan, we got a lot of comments like "Azerwhat?", "How's your bra?", and of course, "Where the hell is that?"

Our family and friends were sad because it is quite far away, a very long and expensive plane ride not to mention an extensive visa process....so we don't get many visitors. So when Mike and Kourtney told us they were coming to visit we didn't believe them at first. We figured they would rather spend their time and money in Hawaii or Ireland....but they were serious and a day after we got back from our vacation in Europe, they arrived ready to explore! We took it easy the first day since we were all recovering from jet lag and a time change. We took a driving tour around the city and I showed them where the kids go to school. We stopped for lunch at a French bakery and found a playground for the kids to burn off some energy. The next day we headed to Old City and saw the Maiden Tower and they found some souvenirs. That weekend we took them to Gobustan to see the cave paintings and mud volcanoes that weren't all that muddy in the 104 degree heat. We also found some time to hit the beach club at Amburan so we could all cool off as the days were quite hot. They were great guests often buying our groceries and lunch or dinner as well as doing our dishes for us every night. We loved staying up late to catch up on the year's worth of each other's lives we have missed out on. When it came time to say goodbye it was not easy. There were tears for sure and plans to meet again.....even if it might be another year before it happens...:(

Kourtney and I at the Amburan Beach Club. You can swim in the Caspian Sea but we chose to just put our feet in as we saw some fish and a lot of oil. However, the beach club also has several pools where we were able to cool off and swim and the kids had a blast!

On one of the weekends we went to Merdekan Castle. NOT a tourist trap at all. An older guy I think he said he was 70 showed us around. It was amazing.

Candy Cane Mountains. The kids and I took a day off the day Mike and Kourtney went with Barry to these mountains clearly named for what you see.

Sorry these are out of order, but back at the Merdekan castle, the tour guide said these holes were the refrigerators.

Merdekan castle.

These are the infamous flame towers of Baku. There are 3 of them. One houses the Fairmont Hotel and the other 2 are currently empty but plan to hold apartments and offices. Our tour guide showed us the pools and a room and took us to the 28th floor to see the view of the city.

Gobustan.

Cave drawings at Gobustan.

Grace and Lucy in front of the old city and the Azerbaijan flags.

Grace and Lucy in Port Baku near the playground.

We found ketchup flavored Pringles that Tyler, Mike, and Grace loved!!!!

Tyler, Lucy,, and Grace by the Caspian Sea near port Baku.

On the funicular.

Kourtney and I by the Caspian sea with a sunken ship in the background.

I took them to a place called Bina which is like an outdoor clothing market. You can find jeans, shirts, shoes, and sunglasses here. And Schwarma which Mike tried while the rest of us looked on.

The infamous sheep route where the sheep are cut and cooked to order right on the street.

Leg of lamb anyone?

After we went to Merdekan, the tour guide invited us to his house for tea! He lived with his son, his daughter in law, his wife, and his granddaughter. We sat in their courtyard under the shade of their plum trees. They served us tea, plums, cookies, and candy. I was too scared to try any of it, but everyone else did.

The Merdekan castle.

Spain, France, and Italy

So after being out of school for a week or so.....we got up at 4am and headed out to Barcelona, Spain via Frankfurt, Germany! The kids were great on the plane, they love to travel! We rented an apartment in Spain that was cute! But had no a/c or internet.....which ended up being the theme of our trip pretty much. Lesson learned.....Europe is NOT America.....you must RESEARCH and check REVIEWS before booking hotels or apartments and EVEN if it SAYS they have internet and a/c you must read SEVERAL reviews to make sure they really do! Ok got it. We are spoiled Americans, yes!

So we saw the Picasso Museum in Spain, and the aquarium, and ate lots of lots of tapas and paella. We loved the markets and Ty had a great time riding the metros! Then we took a train to France and rented a car there. In France they say "voila" for everything! It means "here you go" or "all set" or pretty much anything you want it to say. We liked saying it and Ty loved saying Bonjour to anyone and everyone. SO much that he rolled down his window and shouted it as we drove down the street one day! We rented a Ford suv that actually had a navigation system and was brand new. The navigation system was amazingly helpful considering we had no internet at the hotels and no other way to get directions to all of the places we wanted to go considering our Azeri phones of course don't work in Europe.

We saw lavender fields, vineyards, tasted wine, and swam at many beaches across the French Riviera and really enjoyed the sights in France. Then we hopped another train to Milan, Italy and rented a car to get to Venice. Venice was nice but super HOT and it quickly wore us out at the end of our trip. We had planned for 3 days in Venice but at the end of the 1st day we were all (except Ty) feeling quite sick with a nasty cough and exhausted and hot and pretty much done with vacationing. We actually all wanted to just come back to Baku. We left on July 20th and our flight was so late we were worried we might miss our connecting flight in Frankfurt. The kids were not pleased even when we told them we might end up on the same flight a day later with our good friends Mike and Kourtney Keen! Luckily that didn't happen, as we made our flight and got home just in time to get a good night sleep and clean the house before our long lost friends arrived the next day, but that's the next post.....

These shades on all of the houses and even hotels in France were WONDERFUL! Seriously, it helped Ty sleep in until 9am every morning! I need these!

Grace posing in front of a waterfall in Barcelona.

Barry's favorite city in France, called Gigondas.....best wine tasting and wine here! And a cute little town to boot!

After awhile you get sick of eating out while traveling. Lucky for us we found a hotel with a kitchenette and have a good cook in the family (not me).....

A cool fountain in Barcelona.

My Ty in front of the Barcelona fountain.

My girl and I in the streets of Barcelona.

Daddy and his girl in the streets of Barcelona.

Grace and Ty found this Angry Bird video on You Tube called Epic. They want to recreate it and needed Burger King crowns to do so. Burger King was happy to oblige even though we didn't eat there! That was nice of them!

Some polka dancers in Spain.

One of the many churches there.

Grace and Ty both developed a new favorite pastime......chasing pigeons.....

Barry took this amazing picture capturing the love this woman has for her child as they danced to a street musician's song.....in the streets of Barcelona.....beautiful!

My girl enjoying Barcelona.

It was quite hot in Barcelona so we often stopped for lemonade slushies......

Cheers....

Tyler's happy face because we found a strange Chinese restaurant that served......."Italian"? The boy will do anything for his spaghetti......

Tyler perfecting his pout....because....why not?

Very interesting timing.......while many laws are being passed in the US taking marriage to a new level.....there was also a Gay Pride Festival/Parade going on in Barcelona as well. The kids saw a lot sparking a great conversation about what else? "love" and how it is ok that there are many types of love.......

Our apt was right around the corner from this stadium.

Ty and his beloved metros.......

At the Barcelona aquarium

Ty had no interest in the aquarium.....but he loved the escalators!

Fun in the kids section of the Barcelona aquarium.

More fun in the kiddy section of the Barcelona aquarium.

Peek a boo Grace. There are fish surrounding you.

Barry took this of me taking a break from walking around the aquarium.

Grace and Ty playing outside at the aquarium.

Oh no we have been eaten!

Spain had many of these wash your hands statue stations.....kinda cool.....

Walking in the city....

Time to check out the market.....

Some ancient ruins.....

Pit stop......needed some wine (me) and sangria for daddy.....

Is it a statue?

Nope....definitely a person dressed up.....scared the you know what out of TY.......

Made it (barely) to the top of a mountain in Spain where a an amusement park is......

View of Barcelona from the top of the mountain!

Ty looking at a roller coaster he really wanted to ride.....but only the little kid rides were open on the weekdays.....the roller coaster was only open on the weekends....Ty was very disappointed but took it well....

A playground at the amusement park....

A strange horse roller coaster ride....

Ty in the kiddie train....

This is neat....they hooked up an old plane and the kids go around in circles in it.

Boarding the plane ride.

They are in there, can you see them?

Grace is smiling.....mommy and daddy are not....why? Because whenever we took a break from walking, both kids decided to play in the disgusting dirt, something, their germaphobic mom cannot handle!!!!! So she is actually washing her hands here.

My happy girl.

A great shot of Ty and daddy.

In the streets of Barcelona with daddy.

Made it to the market, Grace can't believe all the peppers......can't find those in Baku.....Daddy is growing his own.....

Now she is amazed the market has fresh fruit smoothies! She loves her fruit!

Just hanging out at the market.

Daddy and Grace at the market.

About to buy a yummy smoothie at the market until I was pointing to the smoothies and the lady yelled at me for touching the signs. I was reading the flavors to Grace so she could pick one. No problem. We took our business to one of the many other smoothie stands.

Ice cream anyone?

This pic needs no caption. These seeds are called penis peppers. Really can't figure out why?

Barry's souvenir from the Picasso museum. And a sneak peak at the kids bunk beds in our Barcelona apt and the fan because it had no a/c.

Just hanging out with daddy.

Shopping in Spain.

Our first hotel in France was a strange resort. It had cabins and hotels plus a market and a restaurant and a pool. We are headed to the pool here.

Tyler loved this slide at our first hotel in France. This is Grace at the top.

Ty heads down first.

A happy boy.

Grace right behind him.

Ty refused to leave the slide, but Grace was ready to swim in the pool.

Ty joined her for a very short time and then headed right back to the slide.

Late at night, this stage held a band and lots of people were dancing. But during the day, Grace and Ty loved to play on it.

Our fancy ride. A Ford SUV with a navigation system. Took us awhile to figure out how to get this baby to go in reverse. It was a stick and we had no idea you had to pull up on the stick to get it to go in reverse. Who knew? We had to look the owner's manual up online as there wasn't one in the car.

Found a beach in France.

It was very windy but the kids loved it.

Ty asking if he can swim.

Grace collecting shells and rocks.

The kids really wanted to swim but we were on the way to dinner.

Got in trouble at the pool for wearing a non French bathing suit? See his green suit above. Apparently American bathing suits are not safe.

Grace fighting car sickness. The manual and her stomach did not get along well.

Ty and his juice. We call it his crack. He does not drink water unless he is completely dehydrated.

So if I can't read or draw without getting sick.....I guess I'll sleep.

Ty was told he could only put his feet in.

Here's looking at you kid.

Well if we can't go in the water, let's dig!

This is one of those things you do for your kids even though you hate it because you are afraid of heights.

Daddy and his mini me.

Ty (aka my mini me) next to me on the crazy ride over the water.

Ok you finally have on your sunsleeves and sunscreen you can play in the water.

How did Barry and I who hate sand end up with two children who love it?

Daddy and Grace building a sand castle.

Not quite covered in sand yet.....

Grace and Daddy's sand castle.

Daddy and his girl in the cute town of Gigondas , France.

Barry and the wine he got I Gigondas, France.

Beautiful.

Daddy's favorite town, Gigondas, France.

We stopped at a lavender distillery and had the most amazing ice cream......

The gift shop was so full of lavender Ty couldn't stop sneezing so we escaped into the ice cream shop and he was given a butterfly.

All of the pics above are of the beautiful French lavender fields, olive groves, and vineyards....plus cute chalets....Barry wants to live in one when we retire....and we both hope mom can paint us a beautiful scene incorporating all of the above.