This week was a fairly normal week. That is part of the problem about writing. I feel like I could often cut and paste one week’s events week after week with only minimal changes. Life is fairly routine. Today, however, is my 40th birthday so it seems like a good time to start writing. We even went out today so I have something to write about today.
Monday was a regular Monday. I took the boys to swimming lessons. The boys are most definitely not natural swimmers. They have, however, made progress. They tend to improve for awhile and then plateau before moving forward again. Right now they are on a forward trend, so it is exciting for them. I don’t care if they ever get to be great swimmers, I just want them to be safe (or at least safer) in and around the water. I am so pleased that Justin is able to swim on his back for the length of a full size pool. As he works on other skills, he is able to flip over to his back when he needs and get over to the side of the pool. I love that he has figured out how to “save” himself when he gets in a situation he finds uncomfortable.
We continued on to do grocery shopping. It can be a challenge sometimes with the boys, but generally they are pretty good. They complain that they don’t like it, but neither do I. They were out of tortillas yet again and with tacos on the meal plan for later in the week I feared I might actually have to make them myself. Not that it is hard, but it is just one more thing. We ended up not only finding tortillas on Friday, but an overpriced can of refried beans. It was a fun splurge. I like refried beans rather than meat on my tacos and I had forgotten to soak the beans.
Tuesday is our normal play date day. It has been a nice addition to our schedule. While we were in the US last August, a couple more families moved into the Embassy community. We now get together weekly with Leah (mother Tanja), Isla and Eamon (mother Leslie), and Nicky and Timmy (mother Sara). Leslie and Tanja both have babies less than a month old, but so far that hasn’t disrupted our group. It is nice for Ryan and Justin. They really look forward to Tuesdays. I am happy that I have some other mothers to spend time with. They are great women and mothers. They are able to teach me a lot and it is nice to have some other people with children at similar ages to Justin and Ryan.
Wednesday is another swimming day. The boys did well and they were proud of themselves. Monday night the boys had slept all the way through the night until almost 6:00! I checked to make sure that they were breathing. Tuesday night they made up for it. They were up so early that I was just dragging. They don’t take naps, but they do have a one hour quiet time which allowed me to take a quick nap.
Thursday we went to a CLO coffee at Michelle’s house. It was a small group, but nice to get out of the house to a different setting. The boys were well behaved and it gave me a chance to relax. Later that day Justin had a dentist appointment. We were happy to learn that his cavity has not gotten worse and does not need it filled at this time. Here they seem to like to go all out for fillings in children. The dentist said that they go to the hospital and use general anesthesia. That seems like a bit much for a small filling. I just hope that Justin doesn’t have pain or other problems until we get back to the US.
Friday Mathilde came over to clean. I feel uncomfortable having someone clean my house, yet I love having my house cleaned without me having to do it. With four indoor toilets and two small boys, it is really nice to have someone clean the bathrooms. I like to get out of the house to give her some space so the boys and I took off for the petting zoo. We spent about an hour feeding the animals and playing on the playground. We will really miss it when we leave. It is definitely unique. It has the usual animals like goats, pigs, chickens, geese, rabbits, guinea pigs, and horses as well as warthogs, eland, tortoises, peacocks, and ostriches.
Friday was also the first night I taught seminary at church. I only had four students, but I hope that more start coming. I want it to be a learning experience, but I believe it can be fun too. I want to show them that teaching doesn’t have to mean someone standing up front and lecturing at them the whole time. When I am gone, it gives Rob a chance to spend some quality time alone with the boys. They spend a lot of time with me and tend to come to ask me to do things for them even when Rob is around. They enjoy spending time with him and this takes me out of the equation.
I love Saturdays. Once Rob gets up I get to go back to bed while he watches the boys. On this day, he took the boys with their bikes over to Zak’s house to ride their bikes. Zak (Rob’s boss) has a flat driveway that is perfect for riding bikes. Our riding area is brick and slopes both north and west. The boys really struggle learning to pedal bikes on it. It is either really hard to pedal or they get going too fast. Hopefully their skills will transfer and they will learn to negotiate our more difficult terrain.
Rob had noted that Alvin and the Chipmunks movie was playing at the theater. Not that he and I were interested, but Justin loves the chipmunk movies. Lately he has also been asking when we could go to the movies again. Our only family attempt at the movies occurred about 7 months ago when we saw Kung Fu Panda 2. Ryan lasted a very short time. Justin made it the length of the show, but probably only because I brought gummy candy. This time, we all made it through the 89 minutes. Justin would have been happier if it had ended about half an hour sooner, but he was able to handle it. Ryan made it that long thanks to popcorn, granola bars, fruit snacks, and a cereal bar.
And now it is Sunday. My boys have been so excited for my birthday. They have been making me all sorts of things. Earlier this week I realized that I wasn’t getting any presents from them, so I found a couple of things in my drawers that they wouldn’t recognize and had Rob help them wrap them up. They love wrapping and they love giving presents. For the past couple of days they have been telling me that I couldn’t open the presents until my birthday. They were also quite excited about the cake they purchased on the way home from Zak’s house.
I chose to go to Na’an su ke Wildlife Sanctuary for my birthday. It is about an hour outside of Windhoek so not bad for a day trip. We went on a tour to see cheetahs, baboons, and lions that are unable to be in the wild for a variety of reasons. You can choose some tour options that let you get up close and personal for a photo shot. No thank you! It was an enjoyable drive and nice to get to see some of the animals up close (with a fence). We had a lunch buffet that included kudu, oryx, chicken, and a variety of side dishes. It was a nice relaxing day.
Here’s hoping that posts in the future aren’t so dull.
