Out and about with the boys

We had a fun long weekend. The sun is going down early, around 5pm, so we have been doing a bit of night walking and playing. This weekend we walked to a different park that is close to our house, that has lots of great play equipment. 

Ben is becoming a great climber like his big brother. Just a few weeks ago he would not cross this bridge and now he can do it all by himself.

Around here, a lot of parks are not lit at night and safety standards are a little different than in the US.  It's not uncommon to find play equipment with no bars to preclude kids from walking or falling off. Well, the boys had lots of fun playing, but after both boys walked right off of the equipment and fell to the ground, we thought maybe it was time to call it a night. They both shook it off and were fine, but I guess we should go back to this park when the sun is up ;).

The next day we went to the Science Center, saw an IMAX movie, and went out to lunch. We played by the water for a little while before going inside the science center.

And we even saw a man walking in his underwear!

 Enjoying a strawberry donut at Starbucks.

 Caleb admiring the skateboards in his new skateboard shoes that daddy got them when he was in the states.

 Benjamin lining up his trucks in the sandbox.

 He is turning into quite the dare devil and likes to jump into your arms.

 Boys were excited to see the Galapagos IMAX movie. They did great and both sat through the entire film. Caleb wore his 3D glasses and asked about all the animals. Ben chewed on his glasses, but he liked seeing all the blurry animals.

 Afterwards, we ate at a new Applebees that is connected to the science center. Nathan and I were saying at lunch how much things have changed with the boys this past year and a half. When we first moved to Kuwait, we could only be out for a couple of hours, before they crashed for naps and now we can be out for hours on end. Lots of fun time ahead!

 And that day made for two tired boys…and parents!

Happy Monday!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We hope you had a great Christmas day, we did here! On Christmas morning, ironically Nathan and I woke up early, and the boys slept in. As soon as Caleb woke up, he asked if Santa visited our house. 

Before opening the presents, we read the bible story about baby Jesus's birth and talked about the meaning of Christmas, and what we are thankful for. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

Brothers funny faces and Christmas morning hugs.

Ben especially loves the singing and dancing penguin from Grandpa Mark, there been a lot of singing and dancing in our home the last couple of days :).

Then the present opening began. Caleb and Ben knew exactly what to do, and Nathan did a good job playing Santa. The boys received a lot of very nice gifts from family and friends. The boys and us say thank you all very much!

The boys made daddy their mistletoes ;).

It's hard to see, but there is a shoot out going on. Daddy brought a few nerf guns home from the states. They are a big hit!

Caleb's favorite toy is his new rocket ship, with two astronauts, 3 aliens, and a space car.

Enjoying the holiday cheer from family and friends.

It was such a nice day, that we went to the park that Nathan recently found. Unlike in the US, everything was open and traffic was very heavy on Christmas day. We were glad to see so many people out enjoying the beautiful day.

The boys like to hang like monkeys.

And climbing like monkeys.

It was a fun way to enjoy a chilly Christmas Day.

In the evening we ate a crock pot ham, which is a nice treat we don't get often in this part of the world, actually it's the first time in a year and a half that we have had ham here. And, mom way overcooked it! But everyone still said they liked it, and the boys thought it was hot dogs, so win for all. Afterwards, we sang happy birthday to baby Jesus, and we ate this delicious cake that Tes made for our family.

Hope you had a blessed Christmas day, where ever you may be! 

Christmas Eve 5k and Surprises

We had a fun Christmas Eve today. One of our good friends at work plans a 5k race for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, so you know we did this morning…get in our most festive Christmas gear and go for a run! 

 They were good runners!

 And afterwards climbed high on the tank to shoot the gun.

 And collect their medals

 And of course post-race snacks :).

 It was a fun monring.

 This afternoon I spent a couple of hours cooking a spinach lasagna and butternut squash mash recipe from southern living. It was awfully cheesy, and it was so delicious!

 And surprise, we all got matching Christmas pajamas. We started the Christmas Eve pajama tradition when Caleb was born. Nathan said this beat the footy fleece PJs we all got last year :).

 And the boys got some fun new headlamps and mustaches too.

Watching the Charlie Brown Christmas movie, then off to bed. Merry Christmas Eve!

Daddy's home!

Daddy's home = happiness ;). We love you Nathan!

Congratulations x 2

We are so excited to welcome our newest niece and nephew Abigail Louise and Abram Carl to the world! They were born on December 21st, Abigail at 3:40pm weighing 5.3 pounds and Abram at 3:46pm weighing 5 pounds. We are so thankful for a safe delivery and two healthy babies. Congratulations Jolliff family, we love you and can't wait to kiss those two sweet little faces!

Waiting for Daddy

Daddy has been away the last couple of weeks. This weekend we were so excited for his return, and we wanted to get things cleaned up and ready for him. We know daddy likes a clean car, and around here there is mobile service for everything. So, we had the car wash come to us. The boys thought it was fun sitting in their seats to look at books and watch the people wash our jeep.

 

The boys got haircuts too, at the kids haircut place in our co-op across the street. Ben is always very laid back at the barber, and Caleb is hit or miss. They both did great this time, I think thanks to the lollipops! 

Two handsome boys

Afterwards, they scooted and played for a while. Our friend lent us the scooter, it may be a hard return...

Today we went with a friend to one of the malls with a bigger grocery store in the morning. I was trying to get some ingredients for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner, and got about half of them. I am still looking for spinach, fresh basil, and fresh thyme. Hope I can find it, or there goes my spinach lasagna! This afternoon, we played at our neighborhood park. The boys like bubbles, and Ben was so proud of himself for blowing them!

We still double swing it in the rocketship swing.

We played until the sun went down, then got schwerma and falafel on the way home. 

And Nathan just called to say he landed, so he should be home really soon! He will have two little boys (and of course his wife), excited to see him!