September 22, 2013

This week was another fairly routine week.  Justin started after school activities on Monday and Wednesday.  On Mondays he will learn and play a variety of playground games and on Wednesdays he has soccer.  Otherwise, school was pretty normal for both boys.

This week Louisa started working for us.  She works 4 hours a week and does things like ironing. :)  I can't believe how much she can get done in the few hours she is here.  I certainly don't mind giving up some of the other chores, especially ironing!  I guess in all honesty I can't say I gave up ironing since I just didn't iron.

Thursday I went to a PTA meeting.  I'm not the kind of person who wants to be in charge of anything, but I certainly don't mind helping.  The first event we are going to have is a Fall Festival on November 1st.  Justin's school is an international one so they don't do Halloween.  This will be a nice substitute.  While I was there, Rob and the boys went across the street to help out the neighbors with their internet.  The boys met Skylar, a 13 year old girl who they think is totally awesome.  They can hardly wait for her to babysit them sometime.  Justin thinks Rob and I should go away for a few days.

Friday after school I had a meeting with Justin's teacher.  We are trying to come up with some ways to enrich the curriculum for him so that he isn't bored in school.  She is a great teacher and has a lot of ideas.  It is wonderful to have a teacher who seems to really "get" my child.  He spends so much of his day there so it is important to me that it not be a miserable experience for him.

After we got back from Justin's school, we got ready for the Embassy Hail and Farewell BBQ.  The boys were thrilled that Skylar was going to come over and then ride to the Embassy with us in our cab.  She played wii with them a bit and got to have them talk and cuddle with her all the way to the Embassy.

We were hailed even though we have been here awhile because we got here after the last Hail and Farewell.  The boys had fun on the playground and I always love getting out of cooking something for dinner.

J's teacher has the students doing raz-kids online and both Justin and Ryan are addicted to it.  They love to get online and read and take the quizzes so that they can earn points.  In fact, Saturday that is the first thing they wanted to do.

So into his quiz that he didn't even know I came in to take his pic.

Ryan is having fun reading a nursery rhyme.

Saturday was Armenian Independence Day and the country celebrated 22 years of independence from the former Soviet Union.  We went to Haghtanak Zbosaygi, which is also known as Victory Park.  Ryan got an Armenian flag painted on his face and an American flag on his hand.  Justin passed on the face painting though.

The park isn't too horribly attractive in my opinion.  There just isn't a lot of green.  There are a lot of statues and monuments to see.  There is a lot of open space and a great view of the city.  Somehow this isn't enough for me and it seems bleak.

Entrance to the park.

So tired of walking.  This was BEFORE he saw the rides.

Isn't Armenian writing interesting?

Mother Armenia statue

Once the boys saw that there was a section of the park with rides, their energy increased.  Justin was just about to die from all of our walking, but he made a miraculous recovery.  The boys went on the swings, the storm, and the baby ferris wheel.  They liked them so much that they decided to go on them all again rather than choose a new ride.

This is what I called the baby ferris wheel.  I didn't realize that in addition to going around
like a ferris wheel it also spun around the other way.  It was far from a baby ride and we weren't
sure Justin was enjoying it at first.

The ticket system for the rides seems a bit complex.  The rides cost between 50 cents and $1.25.  You have to buy a ticket for the rides rather than pay cash.  How you explain what ride you want is beyond me.  Perhaps you ask for tickets of various denominations, but I didn't see how that was marked on any of the tickets.  We really lucked out because most of the rides were free until 2:00 pm for children under 15.  For us the money wasn't a big deal, but it was great not to have to figure out how to pay.

At 2:00 we bought tickets for our family to go on the ferris wheel.  I found a ticket booth near the ferris wheel and pointed to the ferris wheel and our family.  I gave her some money and took the tickets and my change.  Seemed to work.  The boys were unimpressed with the ferris wheel.  It moved slow enough that you could get on and off without it having to be stopped.  Of course I wouldn't want to step off just anywhere so we waited until we were at the bottom. :)  We followed up our ferris wheel ride with ice cream and cotton candy.

Hopefully they were part of some sort of performance.

 

The boys didn't dare complain too much about our stop to Yerevan City to pick up a few items.  It was pretty crazy in the parking lot, but we managed to get there, buy our things, and return home with Justin only needing to remind Rob once not to use bad words.

 

Justin had a quick break at home before heading off to a party.  Ryan stayed here and enjoyed some extra time playing on the iPad.  It was a long day and unfortunately I got too much sun and I had to pay for it on Sunday. :(

August 11, 2013

 Last week I didn't write because Rob was kind enough to share his stomach bug with me and I wasn't feeling well.  I will try to catch up and write for both weeks.

August 1st marked the last day of summer camp for the boys.  Justin always seemed to enjoy his time once he got there, but he was never very excited to go.  Ryan, on the other hand, was always excited to go.  It was good for them to get out of the house a bit and quite a nice break for me.  Ryan is on the waiting list to go to the preschool there in the Fall.  I think that he is going to miss Justin once school starts and it would be nice for him to have a chance to have something special for him as well.  Keep your fingers crossed that an opening comes up.

On August 2nd, Justin decided that it was his time for the stomach bug.  He didn't have much diarrhea, but he managed to vomit many times.  Unfortunately, one of the locations was my freshly cleaned floor.  Sigh.  At least it wasn't the rug.  I cleaned up and then mopped the floor yet again.  He didn't eat for the rest of that day or much the next.  I always worry about my skinny little J Man when he doesn't eat.  He doesn't have a lot of weight to lose.  Fortunately, he was feeling better by the 3rd, just not eating quite yet.

Saturday the 3rd we had a BBQ here with employees and families from Rob's section at work.  He works with some neat people.  We had gotten together with them at the beginning of July and I knew that they are a pretty laid back group so it wouldn't be a lot of work.  Everyone brought something so we just supplied the place, the paper products, potato salad, and a few drinks.  The weather was perfect and we were able to sit out on the patio, out on the lawn, or inside the house.  There was more than enough food and it was a nice get together.  Ryan really enjoyed all of the outdoor time.  The pictures aren't very exciting, but at least my mom can see a little of our yard.

 

 

And then Sunday came and it was my turn with the stomach bug.  That pretty much sums up Sunday through Tuesday for me.  Rob and the boys went to church on Sunday.  The boys were pretty good on Monday and Tuesday.  They got a lot of extra time on the ipad, ipod, etc.

 

Wednesday was our 11th anniversary. The boys tried to make it extra special by creating "fun" games for me to play.  They also managed to pull out just about every toy they owned to help decorate.  Joy.  Evidently it wasn't hot enough for them, so they had lots of blankets for me too so I could be comfy.  Ryan combed his own hair without complaint.  I was feeling much better, but not 100%.  I envied Rob being able to go to work and miss out on the celebration.  I guess it was sweet of them though to want to do special things to make it the best anniversary ever.

 

 

On Thursday I had an exciting outing to the Embassy for my health briefing and to get my picture taken for my diplomatic id.  I had the boys with me, of course, but they were hooked up to the ipod and the iphone and headphones so they were angels.  It's nice to be able to keep them quiet when needed.  When we got home, we spent time outside.  They enjoyed riding their bikes outside in our cul de sac.  I hate to watch because sometimes they get going pretty fast and they are not nearly as skilled as they believe they are.

 

 

Friday brought more time outside.  This week I was able to pull quite a few weeds while I was out watching the boys.

 

The weekend was pretty routine.  Saturday the boys wanted to show off their bike skills for Daddy.  I pulled out a scooter that I had purchased for them last month and they got to try that as well.

 

Somewhere along the way, Justin managed to lose his tooth.  Then, when he was cleaning it, he really lost it.  Luckily, the tooth fairy is quite understanding.

 





First Week in July

This week I was delighted to get our first letter.  Meredith sent it the day after we left for Armenia.  Of course that tells us nothing about how long it will take mail to arrive in the future.  Seems there is sometimes an issue getting our mail.  It was fun to get a letter from her though and she included a little picture. 

We continue to enjoy yummy fresh fruit such as cherries and apricots.  The boys always make a mess with cherries.  Justin's two front teeth are loose so he kind of gnaws on the them using the side of his mouth.  Ryan just always manages to make a mess.

 The boys started going to a summer camp this week.  They are going on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 until 1:30.  It gets them out of the house a bit and gives me a little break.  Ryan seems to really enjoy it so far.  Justin has a typical Justin attitude about it.  Hopefully they will meet a few kids from the neighborhood.  Right now a lot of people are out of the country on vacation.

Wednesday was the Fourth of July party at the Embassy.  It was the first time the boys and I had gone out there.  The kids loved the playground and got to play with a few other kids.  We had a BBQ and played a few games before we decided it was time for us to go home.  It was past the boys' bedtimes and since Justin was upset over losing the tug of war it didn't seem like the best idea to stay for another hour to wait for the fireworks.

Rob didn't have to go to work on the 4th so he and I headed off to the grocery store while the boys were in summer camp.  It is frustrating to try to get familiar with new stores, what is available, how to find what you want, etc. etc.  We were mostly successful and are hopefully stocked up for the week.  Even if I had Rob leave the car here with me AND I could find the grocery store on my own, it isn't like I could quickly pop out and grab something if I realize I need something.  SAS delivers groceries for about $1.25 fee and might become my good friend since they have an English website.

 

After lunch we decided to go to the mall to check it out.  Traffic wasn't bad going out there.  Guess most people were at work and the mall isn't right in the city either.  It is a beautiful building and easy to get to.  There really isn't anything there that I think I need though.  Too bad.  I don't know that I have plans to go back.

 

Ryan saw a store in the mall called New Yorker and was thrilled that he could read that the store was called New York.  Of course Justin corrected him and told him that the -er on the end of it meant it was New YorkER and not New York.  What was I thinking telling Ryan he is reading more and more everyday when he can't even get that right.  Poor little guy.  Justin makes sure to let him know who is the better reader.



The 5th was an Armenian holiday and we went to a BBQ at one of Rob's co-worker's summer house.  It is outside of the city not too far beyond Argel, for what that's worth.  I can see why people go there in the summer and not the winter.  The roads are not paved for a lot of the way and they are narrow and full of potholes.  It was much cooler out there than it was in the city and we enjoyed a pleasant day eating fresh fruit picked right from the trees/bushes (cherries, apricots, apples, mulberries, raspberries, and something like gooseberries), talking, eating some more, and hiking. 

 

I ate my first Armenian meal and it was pretty good.  I would say that it is definitely not the kind of meal you want to eat if you have to impress someone with table manners.  Chunks of meat mixed with grilled veggies and lavash bread may taste good, but aren't so pretty.

For awhile we had to force the boys to take a break from eating raspberries.  We were afraid that all of the fresh fruit they were eating was going to upset their stomachs.  They just ate and ate and ate...

The stones mark the graves where people are buried.

Looking down into the valley

Some of the cows we saw as we walked around the area

I'm sure this tells all about the remains we saw.

People come here and pray and then tie cloth to this bush so that their prayers will be answered.

Church remains.  Someone in the group said that they are from 750 AD but I have no idea if that is true.

This was made recently (sometime in the past ten years) as a commemorative something or other for the remains.  It was beautiful in person, but disappointing to see the date stamped into the side.  I couldn't read anything other than the date.

The remains of the church again

The remains yet again

Part of our group

Justin taking a rest

Street lights along the way

Justin and Ryan proving they could get up the rock.  No, they could not get down by themselves.

Tomatoes on the grill.  I hadn't thought to get the eggplant, green peppers, pork, fish, or other items.

Fish!  I stuck with the grilled pork. 

Cherry cake (Yum!) and the not-so-Armenian flan.  It was brought by a Mexican and it was absolutely delicious.

The green areas are where people have summer homes and keep things watered.

Some fairly typical looking apartment buildings that I saw outside the city on our drive home.

Little produce stand we drove by.

 



Saturday was a lazy day and we picked some apricots.  I made some apricot fruit leather (which we don't care for) and prepared some apricots for freezing.  I have 3 pounds frozen now and will probably do some more.  I wanted to see how they looked and tasted.  I know they weren't frozen very long, but they seemed to do well and not turn brown or mushy.  Since there is no way we can eat all of our apricots now I really have very little to lose by trying to freeze them.

 

 

Sunday I had a horrible headache and slept most of the day.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to sleep all night to Monday as well.  Headache seems to be gone so here I am updating the blog for Mom. :)  Hopefully I will do something besides laundry and dishes so I have something to write about at the end of the week.