So nice to have a helper when it's time to unpack. :)
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Vacation- Part 2 The Outings
The first time we went down to Malumghat we found a great Safari Park that had a surprisingly wonderful collection of animals. Now that Ellie is older, we were really looking forward to letting her see the animals. We were also excited to take a day trip down to Cox's Bazaar, the longest sea beach in the world.
So, our first outing was to the Safari Park.
We got into an auto rickshaw together and were set for a day of fun.
We paid the "foreigner" price for tickets to get in, which is about 10 times the price for locals. And we took some pictures while waiting for the driver to come take us around.
That's when the great disappointment came. The driver was not going to come, he wanted to stay sleeping. And, being that the park is so large, we couldn't walk through with two kids and no stroller.
So, we went back to the compound.
We decided to try again that afternoon, but it was raining.
So, we tried again a few days later, and because it was Ramadan, the driver had gone home.
Alas, we would not get to see the animals of the Safari Park.
But, we still had another outing to go on... our trip to Cox's Bazaar!
Cox's Bazaar is about an hour bus ride away from the hospital compound. We took a local bus.
We arrived at the beach around 10 in the morning. We were told by the auto rickshaw driver who dropped us off, "Now is not a good time to be at the beach. All the people will come in the evening." Ha! We weren't at the beach to be with people! :) We had a different cultural mindset.
We had a lovely couple hours on the beach.
We rented a couple chairs with an umbrella... It cost around $1 for the two hours we were there. It's a good thing we had the umbrella, because even with that and no sun out, I got a bit of a burn.
Franklin loves when I try to get a photo of the two of us together. :)
The kids had a great time playing in the sand.
We found out what happens when a baby with sand on his hands rubs his sweaty face.
Ellie would only go near the water if Daddy was with her.
And then, just about when we were ready to go, a storm cloud arrived. Perfect timing.
There is now a KFC at Cox's Bazaar, so we went there for lunch and for shelter from the rain.
I got a kick out of the poster on the wall. I didn't know prices could fast. :)
Abraham got to play on a play area for the first time.
And my brave little boy decided to see what a slide was all about.
His sister decided to help.
And down he came.
But, all's well that ends well, right?
What else did we learn that day? Abraham likes french fries... like father, like son. :)
What a wonderful day.
What a wonderful week.
So, our first outing was to the Safari Park.
We got into an auto rickshaw together and were set for a day of fun.
We paid the "foreigner" price for tickets to get in, which is about 10 times the price for locals. And we took some pictures while waiting for the driver to come take us around.
That's when the great disappointment came. The driver was not going to come, he wanted to stay sleeping. And, being that the park is so large, we couldn't walk through with two kids and no stroller.
So, we went back to the compound.
We decided to try again that afternoon, but it was raining.
So, we tried again a few days later, and because it was Ramadan, the driver had gone home.
Alas, we would not get to see the animals of the Safari Park.
But, we still had another outing to go on... our trip to Cox's Bazaar!
Cox's Bazaar is about an hour bus ride away from the hospital compound. We took a local bus.
We arrived at the beach around 10 in the morning. We were told by the auto rickshaw driver who dropped us off, "Now is not a good time to be at the beach. All the people will come in the evening." Ha! We weren't at the beach to be with people! :) We had a different cultural mindset.
We had a lovely couple hours on the beach.
We rented a couple chairs with an umbrella... It cost around $1 for the two hours we were there. It's a good thing we had the umbrella, because even with that and no sun out, I got a bit of a burn.
Franklin loves when I try to get a photo of the two of us together. :)
The kids had a great time playing in the sand.
We found out what happens when a baby with sand on his hands rubs his sweaty face.
Ellie would only go near the water if Daddy was with her.
And then, just about when we were ready to go, a storm cloud arrived. Perfect timing.
There is now a KFC at Cox's Bazaar, so we went there for lunch and for shelter from the rain.
I got a kick out of the poster on the wall. I didn't know prices could fast. :)
Abraham got to play on a play area for the first time.
And my brave little boy decided to see what a slide was all about.
His sister decided to help.
And down he came.
But, all's well that ends well, right?
What else did we learn that day? Abraham likes french fries... like father, like son. :)
What a wonderful day.
What a wonderful week.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Vacation-Part 1 The Location
A couple years ago, we went on vacation down to Malumghat. There's a foreign hospital compound there with a nice guesthouse. It's very relaxing. So, in spite of how hard it is to actually get to that part of the country from where we live, we decided to go on vacation there again this year. We really enjoyed our time there.
The guest house itself is relaxing. There's hot water for showers, we had AC in our room, there's a lovely gazebo outside, so even if it's raining you can be outdoors. But indoors was relaxing, too.
They have a corner full of toys for the kids to play with. And a bookshelf of kids' books, too. I loved that the kids could go play and I could read or play piano or watch TV or cross stitch.
We don't have TV in our house, so it was a real treat to get to watch the Olympics while we were on vacation.
We also enjoyed the food at the guest house. I had great memories of our last vacation when the cook made lemon meringue pie, my favorite pie. This vacation he made the pie again, much to my delight. Franklin was also pleasantly surprised. One night for supper the cooked served fresh tuna.
We had fun around enjoying the nature around the compound. The large trees and open grass areas are beautiful.
The compound has a little covered playground area with swings and a sandbox. I was very grateful for the cover because it rained everyday, but with the cover we could still play.
Of course it's important to take a self portrait to prove that you were on the vacation if you are always the one taking the pictures.
The compound also has a pool. Fun, fun, fun!!! Each time we went to the pool I did miniature swimming lessons with Ellie, trying to remember back to what I learned when I had swimming lessons. So, Ellie learned to kick while holding onto the wall, put her face in the water for half a milli-second, and to doggie paddle (with arm floats still on!) from one end of the pool to the other.
We let Abraham try swimming only once because it was a bit cool with all the rain. He LOVED it!
Ellie cracks me up!
She loves to straighten her hair, so this is what she did in our room.
And she is so expressive. :)
The guest house itself is relaxing. There's hot water for showers, we had AC in our room, there's a lovely gazebo outside, so even if it's raining you can be outdoors. But indoors was relaxing, too.
They have a corner full of toys for the kids to play with. And a bookshelf of kids' books, too. I loved that the kids could go play and I could read or play piano or watch TV or cross stitch.
We don't have TV in our house, so it was a real treat to get to watch the Olympics while we were on vacation.
We also enjoyed the food at the guest house. I had great memories of our last vacation when the cook made lemon meringue pie, my favorite pie. This vacation he made the pie again, much to my delight. Franklin was also pleasantly surprised. One night for supper the cooked served fresh tuna.
We had fun around enjoying the nature around the compound. The large trees and open grass areas are beautiful.
The compound has a little covered playground area with swings and a sandbox. I was very grateful for the cover because it rained everyday, but with the cover we could still play.
Of course it's important to take a self portrait to prove that you were on the vacation if you are always the one taking the pictures.
The compound also has a pool. Fun, fun, fun!!! Each time we went to the pool I did miniature swimming lessons with Ellie, trying to remember back to what I learned when I had swimming lessons. So, Ellie learned to kick while holding onto the wall, put her face in the water for half a milli-second, and to doggie paddle (with arm floats still on!) from one end of the pool to the other.
We let Abraham try swimming only once because it was a bit cool with all the rain. He LOVED it!
Ellie cracks me up!
She loves to straighten her hair, so this is what she did in our room.
And she is so expressive. :)
Monday, August 20, 2012
Multi-Purpose Donuts
I made donuts a couple nights before we left for vacation. I had two reasons to make them.
1. During Ramadan everyone breaks the fast with a plate of fried and sweet foods. In our building we share plates of food. If you get food one night on one of your neighbor's plates, within a couple nights, you return it with something on it. I'm a bit shy (read lazy and untalented) when it comes to cooking Bengali food, so I make foods that I'm familiar with and others will like. Donuts work. I know they were a hit, because the next day both families told me how good they were and wanted to learn how to make them. Yay!
2. My other reason for making donuts was because it was our 100th day of homeschooling this year. So, we celebrated with donuts in the shape of 100. It's amazing to see how 100 days of fun learning has influenced this beautiful young girl. I'm so glad we are homeschooling.
Making donuts takes time, so what do I do with my kids while I'm slaving away creating yumminess?
I fence in the little one where he can see me. Then, the big one can't resist and hops in, too. :)
1. During Ramadan everyone breaks the fast with a plate of fried and sweet foods. In our building we share plates of food. If you get food one night on one of your neighbor's plates, within a couple nights, you return it with something on it. I'm a bit shy (read lazy and untalented) when it comes to cooking Bengali food, so I make foods that I'm familiar with and others will like. Donuts work. I know they were a hit, because the next day both families told me how good they were and wanted to learn how to make them. Yay!
2. My other reason for making donuts was because it was our 100th day of homeschooling this year. So, we celebrated with donuts in the shape of 100. It's amazing to see how 100 days of fun learning has influenced this beautiful young girl. I'm so glad we are homeschooling.
Making donuts takes time, so what do I do with my kids while I'm slaving away creating yumminess?
I fence in the little one where he can see me. Then, the big one can't resist and hops in, too. :)
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
Ellie's World
Here's what Ellie was up to during the last couple weeks of July.
Watercoloring...
Doing extra chores to earn her toys back after they weren't picked up...
Doing her own hair and admiring it in the mirror...
Using things from all over the house as props for her imagination...
Dressing up like a princess...
Dressing Mommy up like a princess...
Having her hands henna'd and written on...
Then writing on Mommy's hand...
If only a blog post could accurately show Ellie's drama and capture her conversations and show the power of her imagination. Then people would get a glimpse at the little girl who gives us so much joy.
Watercoloring...
Doing extra chores to earn her toys back after they weren't picked up...
Doing her own hair and admiring it in the mirror...
Using things from all over the house as props for her imagination...
Dressing up like a princess...
Dressing Mommy up like a princess...
Having her hands henna'd and written on...
Then writing on Mommy's hand...
If only a blog post could accurately show Ellie's drama and capture her conversations and show the power of her imagination. Then people would get a glimpse at the little girl who gives us so much joy.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Abe's World
I have lots of photos to post and I want to get to the vacation pictures, so the photos from the end of July are going to be lumped together. Here's what Abe was up to (besides learning to walk)...
Sleeping in the hammock...
Pulling things off of the table, in the case the flour container...
Playing with empty bottles in the bath...
Still occasionally sucking his thumb...
Listening to music with Daddy...
Making messes at mealtime...
until the crayons fell...
and then it was just paper ripping time...
It was a busy end of July for Abraham.
Sleeping in the hammock...
Pulling things off of the table, in the case the flour container...
Playing with empty bottles in the bath...
Still occasionally sucking his thumb...
Listening to music with Daddy...
Making messes at mealtime...
Trying to color while Mommy cooked...
until the crayons fell...
and then it was just paper ripping time...
It was a busy end of July for Abraham.
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