Caleb and Benjamin's End of Year Shows

I have a lot of blog catching up to do from the past month and a half! A lot has happened, the boys finished school, t-ball ended, we took a trip to the Dead Sea, and the boys and I traveled to Illinois and have been here for the past 3 weeks having a fun start to summer and waiting on baby's arrival in a couple of months. So here we are at my attempt of catching up, starting with the boys' end-of-year shows. 

Caleb's show was in his classroom, and the parents were invited to hear a song, poem, and what each child loved best about Kindergarten. Caleb said he loved his teachers, Ms. Reem and Ms. Farah. It was a very sweet show and we are so proud of the great year he had!

The teachers put a very sweet slide show together of the past year that we all enjoyed watching. 

The teachers gifted each child with a sweet card and sand jar with their names in it.

Caleb with his good friends John Joe and Layla.

Caleb with his teachers, Ms. Reem and Ms. Farah. We are so thankful for the wonderful year he had in Kindergarten. He has great teachers, made many nice friends and sweet memories. First grade, here he comes!

Benjamin's end-of-year show was in the auditorium and included both pre-K classes. They sang songs together as a group, and it was exciting to hear them sing about moving up to Kindergarten. The first song is the Jordanian National Anthem, 'Ashen Malik (Long live the King), which is how they start each day, followed by the Star Spangled Banner. Benjamin is in the back row towards the center left, with the white hat on. Like many others, he knows the Jordanian National Anthem well, but not the American one. 

Benjamin was practicing they Dynamite song at home for a while - it was cute to see all of them performing, lots of exciting energy.

Last song, these kids were so cute singing Pre-K had me a Blast, to Summer Lovin from Grease. So cute!

Benjamin also had lovely teachers this year, Ms. Tina, Ms. Maheila, and Ms. Farrah. They were kind, loving, and Benjamin learned so much this past year. He started the year knowing nobody in his class, and ended the year as a good buddy to many. 

 One of his best buds, Christian.

 Best bud of all, his big brother :).

We are so thankful for the great first year both boys had at their new school. Kindergarten and Grade One, here comes the Purcell brothers!

A quick trip to Cairo

Last week, I went to Cairo for work, and it was an interesting place to visit! It was a short trip, so I feel fortunate for the sites I got to see. Here is the view of Tahrir Square from my room, which is the major square in Cairo that was known for the demonstrations during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. The other side of the hotel was facing the Nile River. It was Ramadan, so the setup outside the window was for that evening's Iftar (breaking of the fast). I tried to visit the National Museum, the day I arrived, which is the pink building on the left, but it was already closed for the day.  

 The sun rose early in the morning - this was around 4:45am!

 One evening after work we went to the Khan al-Khalili bazaar, in the center of Islamic Cairo. It used to be a mausoleum from the 8th century for one of the caliphs, is located next to a major mosque and al-Azhar Islamic University. There are many old mosques and buildings along the cobblestone streets, with shops built into the walls. It was very crowded and lively, especially being there during the evening prayers.

There were shops selling souvenirs of all kinds, jewelry, food, spices, sweets. It was full of energy and a really neat place to wander for a couple of hours!

 There is a Coptic Christian quarter of the souq, that is closed on Sundays, which is when we went, and represented a fair number of shops.

 We wandered upstairs to some more shops and found lots of adorable stray kittens. I thought we had a stray cat and dog problem in Jordan, but Egypt definitely has us topped!

 I really want to get an arabic clock before we leave this part of the world - there were lots of choices in this store, and some of the ones on the right are made of old frying pans.

 Lonely pink shirt on the wall caught my eye.

 As sunset approached, the buildings began lighting up. I wish I remember what they all were, but I don't!

Making our way back to the van to pick us up.

Very interesting place to visit!

 The next morning, we went to the pyramids in Giza, which was about a 45 minute drive outside of Cairo. This is the Great Pyramid complex, and I am standing in front of the Great Pyramid, of which I believe there are 6 in total. It was a nice clear day, but it was hot at about 105 degrees, at only 8am!

This pyramid was ginormous! Our guide said that each stone weighed about 2,000 lbs and took about 100 men to lift. Just thinking about the immense labor required to build these pyramids is incredible. I know the Israelites came to Egypt long after the pyramids were there, but I couldn't help but think about the hard work they endured for hundreds of years in this harsh desert environment.

 You see the hole towards the bottom left of the pyramid? That was the entrance to the top.....and this is not an escalator, it's a wooden ramp you walk up. It was good until about 1/2 way up, where the corridor took a turn and the ceiling dropped about 1/2 way, and I had to crouch down and climb the rest of the way up. I was definitely sweating and out of breath by the time I got to the top, and it was probably better none of us knew what we were getting ourselves into! And the best part was, i...we got to reverse our steps on the way down. Going down was easier, and I was thankful it was not very busy inside or the mid-summer temperatures!

My reward, an off-centered picture touching the top of the great pyramid!

 Next we went to see an the Khufu ship, which was discovered at the base of the Great Pyramid around 2500 BC, for King Cheops.  We had to wear feet coverings to get into this part of the museum, but it had AC so I probably would have done most anything they asked at that time to get inside!

 Then we drove a little further to see more of the pyramids.

And lastly we arrived at the site of the Sphinx. Apparently they do a light show at the pyramids at night, which is why all the chairs were set up. They also do high school graduation here!

 Here she is, the great sphinx of Giza, believed to be from around 1400 BC.

It was a really good trip, and I am glad that Nathan and I have both had the chance to see a little bit of the country!

Caleb's Spring Concert

A couple of weeks ago, Caleb had a spring concert at school. They sang one song with all the kindergarteners, one as a class, and and one with the entire school. The new school theater is HUGE and it's so impressive to see the kids courage to perform on stage.

Here is the entire kindergarten singing Springtime Sunshine :)

 Next, their class sang I lost my kazoo. Caleb was excited to be one of the kids playing the kazoo during the song.

And the finale of the kindergarten, first, and second graders singing A Lovely Day

The kids did a great job and it was a fun morning!

Aqaba Red Sea Fun

Last week, our family took a trip to Aqaba to relax on the beach for a few days. The weather was warm and water felt great! All was good until Benjamin walked up to me holding a jellyfish in his hands and I freaked out. Going down to the water, we saw it was infested with them...but after a talk with the lifeguard and some trusty internet research, I believed him that they were harmless, and explained to the boys that most jellyfish sting, so don't assume they are ok to touch. Needless to say, the boys spent most of their time catching and throwing jellyfish! 

After a day on the beach, we ventured into town for dinner at a delicious Chinese restaurant. Along the way, there were murals on the walls and the boys wanted their picture in front of many of them :).

This is the finish line for the Dead2Red race that I did last year. It was fun to show the boys where it started by the Dead Sea and finished in Aqaba.

Next morning on the quiet beach before breakfast.

After breakfast, we took a glass bottom boat ride/snorkeling trip for a couple of hours. It was not busy, so we had the entire boat to ourselves!

Our nice captain Sultan. He didn't speak much English, so it was good practice for me and I think we did ok :).

Check out all the jellyfish!

Mountainous landscape

This boat was anchored in the middle of the sea our entire time in Aqaba.

Boys looking out into the Golan Heights in Egypt.

Nathan and the boys getting ready for some snorkeling.

Caleb went first

Then Benjamin's turn was next.

Nathan said the water was very clear.

Look at daddy under the glass bottom boat!

Nathan caught them some jellyfish!

Love my big boys ;)

Benjamin safely driving us back to shore.

Caleb wanted to go fast. Sultan was so patient and kind with the boys!

Hello!

On the way back, we saw a sunken ship from the Jordan - Israeli war, then took a peek at King Abduallah II's Aqaba Palace.

This was the hotel where we stayed.

At the end of each day, we got in a little pool time. Only one pool was heated, but that didn't seem to bother the boys too much. Note we are sitting out :).

The last day, they decided to catch as many jellyfish as they can in their buckets and throw them back in the water. We also build some sandcastles/jellyfish holding pens...these poor creatures!

Jellyfish shoulder pads anyone?

It was a really fun trip and we were glad for the few days away as a family! Until next time ;)