Warning!

So here is what you have all been waiting for.  Unfortunately it is an overload now!
Pictures and much more to come.  Pace yourself in reading.  All very long posts and there are several of them.  We are still internetless at home and are just using it at a friends house right now.  So my contact with still be patchy for the next little while.  Hope you enjoy.  Please email or comment question and we will answer them. 

Nanny Troubles.

Nanny troubles!

Our first week of classes went well. I did not have any schedule changes. I am still shocked at that. Robert however did. Just small adjustments to his schedule were made, but still changes. They have told us that we will keep the schedules that we have for 2 months; we will see how it works out. The only thing that did not go smoothly with the first week of school was the nanny that we hired. We hired a mother and daughter (she is 18 years old) who would either both be at our house or just one of them. They were hired to look after the girls, clean the house, and also make lunch for all of us each day. We the house was staying pretty clean and lunch was made everyday, but the most important part was not getting done. Looking out for the children and making sure they were safe. From the first day that we left Kenya was into things she should not have been. The first day she got a hold of some foot powder and was playing in it and she also got into a bunch of other things that are not safe for children to play with. Other things that happened during the week are: Kenya went outside to play all by herself for who knows how long; Kenya climbed on chairs to reach things on top of the fridge and one thing she found was a razor blade that she proceeded to cut herself with; Kenya was holding Jasmin and Jasmin fell and hit her head hard on the our coffee table and got bruise and bump; there were more thing that happened too. These are all things that I would think a nanny would know not to let happen. It appears that they were just not watching with the girls were doing. It is very common in China to let young children do anything that they want, but we really did not expect for the nanny to let her endanger herself or Jasmin. We expected the nanny to put her foot down when something was dangerous and wrong.

I feel like Kenya may be acting out to try to get me to stay home and for that reason I feel so completely guilty! I also know that Kenya is just doing these things because no one is stopping her. What 3 year old would not want to climb on anything in the house and or do whatever they pleased. Our nannies do not speak English, and so I know Kenya takes advantage of that, but really this is my children’s lives in danger. Just today we got home and found that Kenya had drank 2 different kinds of medicine: Tylenol and Gas Drops. Kenya told the truth and told us that she even gave some Tylenol to Jasmin. We were so furious at Kenya and more so at the nannies. Then later when we were putting the girls to bed and Robert discovered the window in the girls room was open. This window has not lock and no screen. Kenya told us she was playing with it earlier today. Yeah, we live on the 5^thfloor and my heart skipped several beats. So, perhaps it is time for a new nanny. Honestly Robert and I have been counting our blessing and recognizing that the Lord has answered many of our prayers about keeping the girls safe while we were away. All of these situations are scary but nothing has come of them. We are so greatful for our Lord and his watchful care of our girls!!

By the way we got rid of that Nanny the very next day.  We are nannyless and have been trading off watching the girls and teaching. 

Blessed With Long Days.

Blessed with long days.

We were so blessed that the first week that we were here sure seemed to have lasted forever. We were not teaching and we were able to get so much done as well as rest and get on schedule. Really I would think about something that we had done since we arrived and would like it was a few weeks ago and then realize that I had not even been in China for a whole week. We were so busy and yet we were blessed with enough time to rest and enjoy our family a little bit.

The next few days are all a blur. We were so busy getting things done for our apartment and unpacking and then running around with whatever else we needed to do that it became one very long week. If we were not doing some of the things listed above then we were sleeping or trying to keep our girls and ourselves awake as we tried to adjust to the new time zone. I do know that Tuesday we returned to Wal-Mart by ourselves and survived. And on Wednesday we called and had dinner with some other Latter Day Saints that live here in Wuhan. We actual figured out that they live in the complex just behind our complex. So it is nice to have some neighbors, per say, that share our same believes and that live SO close. They are a pleasant family with 4 kids, who are mostly grown (but still younger than us). One day, we went to the hospital here and got physicals for our residency. Man are they thorough with the exam here: x-rays, blood tests, vision check, ECG, and a couple of other things I am sure. We were excited to meet with Tammy, who we knew from Yaohua, and she told us what exactly we would be teaching. Robert and I both are teaching literature. I teach only 12 classes a week because I am contracted part time and Robert is contracted to teach up to 25 classes a week. I will be teaching 4 classes of 10^thgraders. Robert will be teaching 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th graders. Each of us will only be teaching the students half of the book. We are teaching from an American (Glencoe) literature book that would be the corresponding grade in America. When we attempted this at Yaohua it was a disaster. We will see how this works out. On Friday we got to go to the school to see the campus and where our offices are. Robert and I have a nice sized office all to ourselves. The campus is huge! There are over 5000 students on the campus. However the International Section (the students that we teach) of the school is just a small part. It was then we saw Mr, Tian for the first time. He is the owner of Yaohua in Shenzhen. He took us to lunch and gave a small welcome bonus. While at this lunch at the end I heard someone mention that classes might begin the following day, on Saturday, but the teaching schedule will be for Thursday. (They change their schedules around here to “make up” for holidays and such. It is really confusing without showing it and a long explanation, so we will just leave it at that.) At this point I did not have anyone to watch my children, so I began to think the school had put themselves in a hard spot. Then later that night after dinner we got it confirmed that classes started the next morning at 7:45am and that it was only for 12^th grade, which I do not teach. So Robert went to work and I was able to use that day to find someone to watch the girls for Monday. They told us that Sunday would be Friday’s schedule and that Robert and the other teachers would have to work. We began to fight that because we were told we would not need to work any Sundays. Then at almost midnight Saturday night we got a text stating that they would not be teaching. We were so glad, but really we were all asleep and it sure did startle us.

So the school that we work at now is a public middle and high school. This high school is very prestigious and has contracted with Yaohua for teachers and the curriculum for its International Section. So, I think technically we are working for the same school as before. I think.

We were all settled into a pretty good schedule and adjusted to the time change by the weekend. We have a couple of beautiful storms with lightening and thunder in the first week. It did a lot for the heat and took some of the humidity away. We have only had 2 days of extreme humidity and heat. There is a cool breeze that often comes through as well. Don’t get me wrong we are sweating like crazy everyday, but just not over whelmed with heat like we were expecting.

So then Monday classes began as planned, but not without last minute changes. There were changes to everyone’s schedule except for mine that were handed out Monday morning.

The reason that I write so much detail and explain all of this is because it just goes to show that life will have the same stresses as before when living in China. It was not just the school and the area that we lived in. This is life for these people and they just accept it. Knowing differently it is so difficult to have such chaos and disarray in life, especially in the work force. When we think of work it is often the most constant thing in our lives and if there is a change we expect and are notified well in advance so that adjustments can be made. Oh well, this is something that is part of life here in China. I cannot say that we will ever get use to it or that we will ever stop fighting it. Oh how much smoother things could be! Well, that brings you all the way up to the morning of our first day of work.

A Very Long Day 1

After we arrived at our apartment we were shortly taken to lunch. Both girls were so exhausted as were we. We needed to get supplies for our house. Immediate things like toilet paper and dishes to eat on, pillows to sleep on, the list goes on and on. Robert took the girls back to the apartment to rest and I went to run around with our helpful Chinese friends. On the way back to our apartment Robert got lost in our huge complex. Really, the complex is at least a few blocks in area. He got some help from ladies in our complex that spoke some English. They passed out as soon as they got home.

Let me preface this next part by saying, doing anything in China is not quick and easy. All we wanted to do was go to Wal-Mart and buy minimal supplies for our apartment. We got a couple taxis because of course we could not all fit into one. That would have made things to easy. We arrived at Wal-mart and waited for our friends to get there too. It is about a 10 minute taxi ride from our apartment to Wal-Mart. Then of course we did not know where anything was in their Wal-mart and so we had to walk around the whole store. We were gone 2+ hours on our excursion. We took 2 taxis back and when we arrived we could not find the other taxi for at least 20 minutes or so and they had some of our stuff in it. Of course when we got back we had no water. We cannot drink the water in our faucets and so our next concern was to get bottled water into our home. We set out to find water and buy a cell phone so that we could communicate with those from our school. Well again Robert stayed at home with the girls because it would have just complicated things more. Again I was gone at least 2 hours just to get a cell phone and water. When I got home they were all passed out on the couch again. I was so exhausted by then I got home showered and went to bed. Just a few hours later the girls were up and rested. That is the end of day 1 here in Wuhan.

Our apartment is quite big and nice. It is double the size of the one we had in Shenzhen but a little bit older than the last one. It is still a new apartment and is well kept up. We have 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom with 3 balconies. The kitchen has a door to separate it and keep the heat from getting to the rest of the house. We live on the 5^thfloor as I mentioned and there are not elevators. Bummer! What can I say, we will have great calves when we get back. It is a very nice double-gated complex. We have a small shopping area with lots of places to eat just outside of our complex. Our beds feel like boards and our couch is quite comfy. Mattress pads are one for the first things we are going to buy when we get paid. There is only one bed in the girls’room and so we are trying to train them to sleep together. It has been interesting. Our apartment was fully furnished when we got here. We really are enjoying it so far.

Long Time No Blog

Long time no blog! We have several good excuses and we will get right to them. We hope too many of you did not think we just got really lazy and stayed at home doing nothing for the last 6 weeks or so. We have been quite busy.

Our trip to China.
We started our trip by moving out of our apartment in Shelley on the 16^thof August. We rented a U-Haul and moved our things to Montana where my family would be able to watch over them and make sure they were safe. We also were leaving our cars with my mom and so we had to get those up to her. We were not sure when our visas and plane tickets would be so we decided to go and visit Montana until we left. A few days after we got to my sister house and stayed there we got news that we would be flying out on Saturday the 25^th. So we had a week to get ready and pack our bags for China. We were not able to pack much during the day because of the girls playing and getting into things so we pack little by little at night. We also started and completed watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy extended versions. We were up late ever night. When we left from Shelley we had sorted through things of items going to China and items not going to China. I impressed myself at how much I was able to bring. There really was not much of the things we had planned on going that got left behind. So we had 8 carry-ons and 7 giant check suitcases and 2 strollers. That is a lot of luggage for 2 adults while handling 2 toddlers. We definitely were not going to fit into our little car to drive from Kalispell to Spokane to get on the plane so we had to hire help. We asked some friends to transport our luggage in their van and we drove our car. Then one of our friends drove our car back to Kalispell for my mom to get at a later date.

We started out trip out on Saturday morning at 5:00 am from Kalispell to make it to our flight at 10:30 in Spokane. Robert and I went to bed the night before just after 3 am. I am not really sure what it was we were doing, it just seemed that there were so many odds and ends that we were trying to figure out or tie up. The trip went well. Our friends got pulled over for speeding and Robert felt horrible. Really the cop said that it was still the night speed, which clearly it was after dawn. We stopped in Libby to say goodbye to Granny and Kenya had some breakfast. Then off we went again. We arrived at the airport with hardly anytime. We made it and the got Seattle. We had a short lay over there and then on to our 10+ hour flight to Korea. The girls did great on both flights. On our flight to Korea the airlines had a basinet that we put Jasmin in a couple of times. It was a life saver because I was prepared to hold her the entire flight. Kenya watched way more movies in the month than she had in her entire life before that. It helped us get things done. On the flight she watched movies to keep her entertained and then slept for a few hours. We had an 15 hour lay over in Korea and we broken down and got a hotel that was over $160 for just a small room with 1 bed and bathroom. They did bring in a basinet there too that helped everyone sleep. This hotel was in the airport terminal and so we did not have to claim our baggage or go through customs to stay there. It was a lifesaver! But sure enough we were all up and awake at about 3:00 am. Off we went to catch our flight to Wuhan, China at 8:00 am. While waiting we met the other teachers who will be teaching with us. Samuel and Mel. They were very nice and began to help us out and play with the girls. It was only a 3-hour flight and that went well. When we arrived in Wuhan it was raining and we could not have been happier. Wuhan is known as one of the three furnaces of China because it is so hot and humid here in the summer. So to see that it was raining was nice because then the heat was not so bad. We got our luggage and that was interesting. A Chinese worker helped us just walk right through customs and we found Jack. Jack is the teacher the school has appointed to help us out with daily life and other Chinese matters. We then all got on a mini bus with our luggage and drove to our apartments. As we were taking our bags to our door it began to down poor. Only 3 of our bags got soaked. We then carried our 7 70 lb suitcase and 8 carry ons and 2 children up the 5 flights of stairs to our apartment with the help of Jack.

Yea, we made it!!!

Back to China

WE'VE SET SAIL!!

Just after 5am August 25, 2012 the Draper family began the long journey to the city of Wuhan in China. The adventure started off right by having our friends, who were hauling our huge and hefty luggage, pulled over and warned by a Montana policeman. We before for crossing the Idaho border  we saw a moose cow with her calf, a wild rabbit, Robert saw wild turkey and our friends saw a coyote.

We were also running late and so had to make like a bread truck and haul buns to the airport, but we made it.

So now we are at a hotel in the airport in Seoul Korea. Since we have a 12 hour lay over we really want to get a stamp in our passports and have a look around the city, but we are all beat so we just got the room, got some food, and hit the sack! Tomorrow we will finally be in China!

All about Jasmin at 1 year.

Jasmin is so fun!  Here is a little bit about her.

Her year old stats were
height: 29.5 inches         40th percentile (ish)
weight: 18lbs 12.5 oz    15-20th percentile
Healthy and developing like crazy!
Kenya says her favorite color is purple.  I thought her favorite animal was a cow but I think it has now changed to dog.

She loves playing with babies,  stuffed animals, she tries to play dress up, she has started to enjoy toys that a little more complex like opening and closing things and putting things in and out of bag/purses/ or anything else,  anything her sister is playing with and reading books. 

She pretty much refuses to eat with utensils.  We began to let her to eat by herself around 7 months because she refused to let us feed her baby food.  We are working on teaching her to use a spoon and fork.   This girl love water.  She drink as much as I do!  She really will drink as much water as we give her and then continue to ask for more.  She is a camel.  She love to eat fruit and eat a good variety of food. 

She walks, runs, and has the beginning motion of jumping down.  She love to climb the stairs and has for a while now, but until just recently she would not even try to go down them correctly (facing the stairs).  She climbs up and all over the couch.   She love to dance play games like Pat-a-cake, Wheels on the Bus, and other songs and be thrown in the air. She love all animals!  If she sees a dog she has to point it out and touch it.  She loved to "love" This.  She will go up beside the cat and just lay on her and hug and kiss her.  She is gentle with animals and knows how to treat them. 

She naps a 2-3 times a day for only about 1 hour each time.  She will sometime tell me when she want to go to bed by signing sleep.  I love to rock/nurse her a little bit and then put her in her crib to fall asleep.   She does this very well.  With Kenya when a year hit I was ready to stop nursing because she wanted to do it all day everyday.  Jasmin is not that way and I cut back so she is just nursing a very little during the day and sometime not at all at night.  But it is always the first thing she does in the morning.  I enjoy that time together in the morning (even if Kenya is right there with us).  Maybe it is just me being lazy because I know she is hungry and it gives me a few minutes to wake up and not have to get her something to eat right away.  I will probably continue to nurse at least until after we move so that she will have something familiar while we settle into our new home.  

She has a gift of communication!  She learns new words everyday and has also begun to put a few words together.  She has begun to sing and hum in the last few days also.  She know more and more animal sounds every time we talk about them. 

Here and Kenya are already the best of friends.  She takes quite a bit of pushing and pulling around from Kenya.  

I cannot believe the things she learns and can do at just one year old.  I feel like i was robbed of having a baby because she has grown up so fast.  There is so much more I want to add because I want to remember her forever at this stage.  Unless I think of something really amazing to add I guess that is all for now.  

Jasmin turns 1

Jasmin turned 1 on July 15th.  Where has the last year gone.  Life has been so fast pace I feel like never really had her as a baby!  She began to walk before 9 months and has grown and developed so quickly that she really was hardly in the baby stage at all.

From the moment Jasmin woke up that morning Kenya and I kept telling her "happy birthday!"  Within the first few minutes she was awake she was already saying "happy bb."  Before church at 1:00pm she was saying a variation of "happy day" or "happy birday!"  I could not believe it.  I was like she was announcing she was 1 year old by repeating everything.  

 For Jasmin cake I made it out of watermelon.  I loved this idea when I saw it.  Jasmin loves fruit just as much as I do so this was perfect for both of us.  So Kenya, and I cut our fruit and used toothpicks to put shapes in the watermelon.  On her cake she had blueberries, cantaloupe, and kiwis.  Yes, she loved it.

This is the cake that we put the candle on and Jasmin got to eat as much as she would like.

She just looked so cute on her birthday.  This is a dress that I made for her for Easter and she asked to have the necklace put on her that day.  (By asking I mean that she came up to me and handed it to me and motioned for me to put it on her.  When I asked her verbally if that is what she wanted me to do she ducked her head and waited for me to put it on.)

My beautiful 1 year old.  (and look at my garden behind her)

"cheese"

Kenya looked stunning as well that day! 

 After church we held a little birthday party for her.  We had some close friends over and people we thought that she would recognize.  Lots of kids and lots of fun!  We celebrated by having french bread sandwiches and chips and lots of playing!

She could not take her eyes off of it once I set it down in front of her. 

 Singing to the birthday girl!

Yes, of course we had "real" cake to.  I made cupcakes inside of ice cream cones.  It was the best ever because we did not have to worry about cupcake wrappers or plates with spilled cake and forks everywhere.  The kids just carried them around and of course there were some crumbs. 

Friends eating cupcakes.

 Friends at the party.  Crowded house but worth it!

At the end of the party the "men" went outside and watched Robert slice things with his Samurai sword.  (a toy, watermelon, kiwis and who knows what else.)  This all started because they were playing with a toy we have and could not find the penny.  They went outside to slice it open and they found it.  Then they took out fruit and had a blast.  I wish those who videoed it would have send it to us because it would be amazing to see.  Robert sliced a kiwi in mid air! 

Here is Jasmin opening her gift the following day.  We forgot to give it to her on Sunday.  We had the hardest time finding a gift for her.  Something that we did not already have and something that we could pack and take with us. 

 

"What is it?"

The toy was a big hit with both girls!  It is stilled played with a lot today and by both girls and both parents today.

Scoop Jam 2012

We have fun last year at Scoop Jam and we went again this year!  Who wouldn't want to support the only all-you-can-eat ice cream activity that I know of, right?  Right!  So we went and enjoyed the ice cream and Kenya and Jasmin got to play around.  It sure was hot!  It was nice and cloudy when we left Shelley so we dressed the girls a little warmed and when we got to Idaho Falls for the event the sun was blaring and we were all super hot!  Bummer!!  Here is our fun time!!

Jasmin with the first ice cream of the day.

Kenya with her first of many!

Kenya went to play on the bounce houses with some friends there and Jasmin kept telling us that she was ready to go play in one with them!  I thought she was too young!  After all she was 1 day shy of being 1 year old.   

Trying to satisfy Jasmin wanting to go in.  It didn't work.

 We finally gave in and let her in when there were not too many kids in there.  She loved it!

Look at all that ice cream!

YUMMY!

Cow Day at Chick-fil-a July 13, 2012

We dressed like cows and got some yummy free food.  On top of a completely free meal my meal tick also had a servery on it to get a free sandwich.  DONE!  Here was our fun day.

 We went to a friends house to play and make the costume.  Then they dropped stuffed cows from a helicopter for free food.  We did not get any, but it was fun to be outside watching.  Then we had dinner there.  Robert came and joined us after work.  It was fun to do something different and get out of the house with friends. 

This is after the event.  Our spots and things had fallen off and we were all worn out.  But, here is a photo to mark the day.

Robert "Moo-ing"

I was a brown cow and the rest of the family were black cows.  Again at the end of the day and spots and things were falling off.  Thanks Ammon Chick-fil-a!

Summer Vacation 2012 Part II

Here are some more beach time.  I think this was Tuesday playing in the afternoon.  I cannot remember which day it was.  Before we left for the coast we talked to Kenya about what to do on the beach and she said she wanted to make "sand angles."  When we asked her about them she told us it was just like a snow angel, but in the sand.  What a creative girl.  Here she is making her first "sand angel."

Making "sand angels"

Neither of them could ever wait to get to the beach each day. 

Running to the ocean first thing in the morning.  Daddy and Kenya

Playing on the beach in her patriot swimming suit. You betcha, I love it!  

More playing with sand.

 Daddy enjoying the beach with his girls.

Digging a whole where the tide is still reaching not the best idea.  It kept filling back in, but they had fun none the less.

Jasmin cruising on the beach.

 This video is so cute!  It was of Jasmin calling out for Daddy.  But of course once I got the camera out she stopped.  Still this is a cute video of her walking around on the beach. 

Cutie!

Kenya thought it was funny to put a crab on Jasmin's head.  Yep, she was right.  Kenya looks at this picture now and still laughs about it.

Kenya said she was making stew.  Jasmin was helping her and taking out the things Kenya was adding.  So cute when they play together,

Mommy and Kenya running into the ocean to get "all" wet.  Kenya backed away and didn't go much further.

 We gathered an audience when jumping into the ocean to be sure that we got completely wet.  I did it first and just dunked under.  Then because of his audience Robert went in with style to give them a show.  He ran and cartwheeled in!  What a fun daddy!!

Ready...

Go

brrr...

Getting out.

Feels good!  but a little salty!

Kenya and Daddy getting wet in the "warm" tide pools

 The 4th of July was great!  We celebrated it just like most other Americans: a parade, family time, and fireworks.
First we went to the a Parade in Gleneden Beach.  It was fun.  The walk to get to the parade and trying to leave the area was not so fun. 

Family 4th of July photo

Jasmin trying to escape.

Watching the parade. 

Fun with family!  Christin, Granny, James and just as I took the picture Michelle stepped behind Granny.

Mommy and Kenya loving be American!

Clowns

 After the parade we went and had the worst dinning experience ever!  It was a buffet and yummy food, but they were not really putting out new food, no one was refilling our drinks, it was all just horrible!!  I honestly think it took over 30 minutes just to get our bill after we had already waited forever for someone to come so we could ask them for it.
After that we went to the Yaquina Lighthouse.    It was so fun to just spend time together and enjoy the variety of the earth that Jesus created for us! 

Playing with aunt Michelle!

Looking at seals and sea lions.

"Cheeese" and Granny enjoying her grand kids in the back ground.

 While going down to the beach by the lighthouse I stepped off of a stair and twisted my ankle really bad.  Instant swelling.  I really have no idea what happened, but my ankle bone touched the ground while my foot was firmly planted.  OUCH!  It was strange, not too much pain, but lots and lots of icing and ibuprofen.   We went straight home of that and I iced for over 2 hours in hopes to make it out to the fireworks.  But I enjoyed the view from the room while waiting for the fireworks time to start.  Robert, Kenya and Granny went swimming with Christina and Michelle while I rested and Jasmin napped. 

Sunset on the night of the 4th.  BEAUTIFUL.  This was the view from out room!

So no one in Newport really knew anything about the fireworks.  We were going off of what our hotel staff told us so we went down at about 9:30 to watch the fireworks near the bridge.  There was a huge crowd gathered and so we just found a parking spot and wait.  And wait and waited.  I was talking to a few local people sitting next to us and they even said that in the last few years they have moved the location so much that they were not sure where to sit to see them.  When they finally began we could not see them.  There was a hill and a bunch of trees in the way.  We packed up and headed for the hotel.  On the way home we got the perfect view away from people and traffic.  We got to stay in the car and way from the mosquitoes who had been eating us alive.  Michelle, Christine and James were able to walk just a little ways and see them.  We all go to see some great fireworks but just not together!  And I did not get my once in a lifetime chance to watch the fireworks over the bay or ocean.  I guess that just means that we will have to return to the beach.

Waiting for the fireworks to start. 

This was worth all of it those.  A huge orange full moon rised over the bay.  It was an amazing sight!! The locals fireworks were going off right next to it and it took our breath away.  What an amazing sight!

After the show it was back to the room and to bed.  What a day!  We are PROUD to be AMERICAN!!!

The rest of our trip was not documented with the camera.  I will have to steal some pictures of the reunion to get on the blog because our camera never made it out of our bag.  But here is how it went.
Kenya played on the beach Thursday morning with Christine and Michelle as we cleaned out very messy hotel room and rested for the drive to Klamath Falls. We left just after 1pm.  We drove to Medfor(5 hours)d and got to go to the temple there.  First Granny watched the girls while Robert and I went and then we let her have a turn while we ate dinner.   We got to Klamath so late and the girls were SO over tired that we had to just go to bed.  Driving from Medford to Klamath (1.5 hours) was the only break down of the entire trip.  You guessed it, both girls screaming and crying at the top of their lungs.  (1 melt down in over 2000 miles in the car is not bad)  Friday we hung around with family and went swimming.  Just a nice day visiting family.  Saturday was the great Draper/Young reunion.  We were so excited to see so much family!  We even got to see some great friends.  We saw some friends from high school and even some friends that had just moved away from Idaho to Redding, CA came up for the event.  Yet again great fun in the water and a yummy bbq!  It was so much fun to see Kenya this year actually running around and getting in on the water fight.  I, however, was not much involved because of my ankle and Jasmin was not too interested in it. So sad!  After all the fun that night we took off and started our very long trip back to Idaho.  We did not make it as far as we hoped (only 90 miles) and then had to get a motel.  Then we drove to Boise (4.5 hours ish) and spend some more time with them and had dinner and played games.  Then finally home leaving around 8ish (4.5 hours).  Home in Shelley around 12:30 am.  Jasmin woke up when we got home and stayed up until about 2:00am.  That was sure fun.  It was so hot when we got home I don't know if I would have been able to sleep if she had been asleep anyway.  Then Robert back to work again Monday morning. 
What a fun trip and well worth it!

Teaser

So we got back from a wonderful vacation last Sunday super later at night.  Believe it or not I have to first part of vacation up on the blog Monday night.  Then I was trying to mess around with one part of it and ended up deleting the whole post.  So now you  must wait till I have more time to redo it.  It will be coming soon!

Summer Vacation 2012 Part I

Taking 2 toddlers in a car for over 2000 miles in the dead heat of summer who were sleep deprived does not sound like much of a dream vacation, but is was. 
It started out Friday, June 29 right when Robert got off of work we headed to Caldwell (4 hours) to visit my sister and her family, the Hammonds.  We got there late at night and Kenya was so excited that she did not even sleep on the way over.  Of course we let her stay up a while and play with her cousins because we were after all, on vacation.   Night 1 and she already lost 3+ hours of sleep. 
The next day we hung around their house and then in the evening went swimming with them.  It was so hot there!  YUCK!

Jasmin wanted to go down the slide and Daddy's wasn't fast enough at putting her at the top.  She began to climb up the bottom just a little ways and the turn around and slide on her bum while say, "Weee."  Too cute! 

Jasmin ready to go swimming.

Here is a picture of the slide Kenya went down quite a few times.  3 times by herself.  She got a little scared because as she went down by herself she was turning around and at some points ended up sideways for even head first. 

Look at them!  So cute! 

Going to bed at least 1+ hours late Saturday night.  
Late that night Cheri and I got crafty and made some bows for our girls.  After all they needed ones to wear on the 4th of July.

Sunday we headed to Portland (6 hours) to check out Robert's sister Christine's new house she bought.  On the way there we had to stop for a few minutes at Multnomah Falls.  It is just too beautiful to pass and not stop.

So this picture is great.  I was just holding the camera down to try and get a picture of Jasmin at her level and when I pulled the camera up this is the picture I got.  Stair stepped in the background is Kenya and Robert.  Even funnier is the faces they are making.  This one is worth clicking on to blow up and see the details. 

It was awesome and great to see her decorate and enjoy her very own place!  We had an amazing dinner Christine made and enjoyed being her hospitality and company that evening.  Kenya stayed up late playing with Aunt Christine.  2+ hours of sleep lost again, however she did take 2 naps in the car that day.  The next day we picked up my mom, Granny, from the Portland airport and she stayed with us until our drive home.  It was nice to have an extra set of hands to distract and play with the kids.  After we picked her up we went to Newport where we were staying on the Oregon Coast (3 hours).  
These first few pictures are of the view from our balcony at the hotel.  We loved our hotel!  Every night we were there we slept with the door open and listened to the ocean all night long.  

What was the first thing we did when we got there after unpacking?  Yep, to the beach!

Kenya and Granny were picking up sand and throwing it into the waves. Kenya's first tine on the beach!

Jasmin's first time on the beach. 

Granny and the girls having a blast!

Robert went exploring, of course! 

Granny running from the waves. 

Playing with Daddy on the beach.

Kenya holding her first of several hermit crabs.  She had to hold it on the sand first and then after this first time there was not going back or stopping her from hold crabs on the beach.

Our only family photo on the beach.  Nice, right?  haha

Jasmin holding a hermit crab.  She tried to eat it and the after telling her "no" I thought she was going to crush it because she was holing it so tight!

Kenya fell while playing chase with the waves and got soaked.  After the beach we got back to our room and ate dinner and of course swimming in the pool.  Girls 2+ hours past bedtime.  Robert and I slipped, way while Granny stayed with the girls, for a quite date driving around Newport.  
First thing after breakfast Tuesday morning.... beach!

Kenya and me looking for ocean life and exploring. 

Starfish we saw on Tuesday morning in the tide pools. 

I learned that my favorite part of the beach is looking for ocean life.  I could be there all day observing and searching for them.

We found a ton of hermit crabs with brownish shells and most of them looked a lot alike.  Robert found this striped one that was beautiful. 

This was the littlest crab I had ever seen.  Kenya carried it around for at least 20 minutes.  She kept telling me she was going to take it home and that it was her new friend.  It was adorable to watch her talk to it like it was her own baby.  She was reassuring it and telling it everything was going to be okay.  Just the cutest little thing ever!  She continued to so this will a lot of the crabs over the next several days. 

A starfish Robert found in the middle of the tide pools. 

Kenya loved playing in the sand with her bucket.  

Kenya developed a love her the ocean and the beach just like her Daddy!  Every second we has she wanted to be at the beach in the sand playing.  It would not be right to not mention the main attraction our girls love the most where ever we go.  The dogs.  Both girls were in heaven to talk to dog owner and ask to pet the dogs. 
Tuesday afternoon we went whale watching in Depoe Bay, right after an all you can eat buffet.  We all took a Dramamine just to be safe.   We left our camera at the hotel on accident, so no pictures, bummer!  We had a great time and Robert, Granny and I all saw at least 2 whales.  By that I mean we saw the water spray from their spouts and possibly saw the back of one of the whales.  Kenya says that she saw one too.  Jasmin I think got a little sea sick.  She fell asleep for about half of it.  Poor little girl.  The medicine must have gotten to Robert too because he was pretty hard to even wake on the way back to the harbor.  Kenya was a little timid on the boat at first, but warmed up to it and we all really enjoyed being in the open sea and having fun. 
Later Tuesday evening Robert's siblings were able to join us.  We had a fun time that evening with them.