Leaving Namibia

Rob has been working a lot lately, but fortunately he did not have to work this weekend. :)  This is our last Saturday in Namibia together as a family.  Wednesday the boys and I will leave for Idaho. 

We started out going to Vintage for brunch, but they appeared to be having a party there so we went for plan b.  We drove on to Avis Dam to walk around a bit and, of course, to throw rocks into the water.  We saw so many pelicans there today.  The boys enjoyed themselves, but I was grossed out by all of the dead fish.  They were washed up on the ground and floating in the water.  Yuck!  A lot of them were small, but one was as big as my arm.  I know I don't know anything about fishing, but when I saw people fishing in the area I thought they were insane.

Some of the lovely fish floating in the water.

Fish on the shore.  I had to point them out to the boys.  They were clueless and I was afraid that they would pick one up when they were trying to choose a rock to toss in the water.

Dad and the boys

Mom and the boys.  Love the windblown hair.

Hmmm, can't really tell that they are pelicans from this pic.  I didn't want to get too close though because it smelled so bad from the dead fish.

After Avis Dam we went to go get ice cream.  There is a sign for ice cream that we drive by eery week on our way home from church.  I don't know how many times Justin has asked if we could go there sometime.  Today was sometime.  We found a parking space and went to the shop only to find that they didn't have any ice cream.  Rob knew of another place, so we drove over to Wernhill Park and walked over only to find that it is closed on the weekends.  Fortunately, we were able to have another place.  We ended up skipping the boring ole ice cream cone for more elaborate items.  Ice cream for lunch!

We also ate out at Spur for the last time.



The boys with Miss Mathilde.  It was sad to have her clean our house for the last time.  We will miss her.

We also went to the petting zoo for the last time.  Ryan cried when we left.  He says the animals will miss him.



I think that ostriches look so funny when they sit (or whatever you call it).

Ryan likes feeding the sheep more than the goats.  Sheep aren't as aggressive.  We also got to see a one week old baby lamb.

Meerkat sentry keeping watch.  I doubt there are a lot of predators at the petting zoo.



The goats never stay put.

Ryan was able to get his Tadpole 3 badge this week.  The boys have come so far over the course of their swimming lessons.  I hope they are able to continue.

Ryan on his back.

Packers come on Monday. Tuesday will be our last day for swimming lessons and our last time to attend playgroup.  Wednesday we are off on our 30 plus hour journey.

Growing Like Weeds!

I just changed my poopy baby and he wanted new clothes too.  As I was looking for a shirt to go with the pants he pulled out, I realized that he is growing SO fast!  I put on an 18 months shirt and he is almost too big for it.  Now sizes are inconsistant and he even has a couple of shirts labeled as 9 months that he wears, but it looks like 24 months/2T is the new shirt size for him.  Of course in pants some of the 12 months are still a plenty big around the waist but getting short.  It looks like I will have a whole pile of winter size 12 months clothes that he will outgrow without ever wearing.  Thank you Southern Hemisphere for messing me up with that!  In theory, having boys both born in December should make hand-me-downs work perfectly.  Not really sure what the winter will be like here.  Not snow and ice, but we won't be running around outside in shorts either.  At least the clothes he won't ever wear are all hand-me-downs worn by at least one other child.  I am sure that there are PLENTY of charities here who can use whatever we have to pass along.

I looked for some pictures of the suburb of Windhoek called Katatura, but don't like to steal people's pictures.  Because I have not yet been, I don't have any of my own.  Here is a link to some that I found:

Katatura 

The pictures were uploaded on 1 February so they are recent.  Looks like the photographer went so some interesting places.  We haven't traveled much yet.  As you can see from the pictures, might be more enjoyable to do some touring without the children or with some additional adult assistance.  Come and visit and we can see some of the country and area together!

Officially Our New Home

We made it to Windhoek and got introduced to our new home. It has a strange layout and will take some time to get used to where everything is. It is also SO much larger than our place in Tokyo! We have a kitchen large enough to eat in, a spacious living room/dining room, a den/computer room, a play room, a screened in porch, laundry room, three bathrooms, a water closet (toilet/sink only), good sized master bedroom, and four more bedrooms. Now three of these bedrooms are on the small size, but I think we can manage. [Symbol] We also have tons of storage space which is always good. The garage is detached. Not sure if that is a pro or a con. It isn’t like we get a lot of bad weather here, but it means further to carry groceries and things.

Mini Crisis Resolved

Our first night in Windhoek we had our first mini-crisis. Justin was happy to explore our spacious new house. He wanted to experience everything. Unfortunately, that also meant locking himself in the bathroom. The bathroom has one of the European style skeleton keys. He was able to twist it to lock it, but not to unlock it. I heard him shouting, and discovered his situation was probably the only one of the day that truly was shout worthy. We have other similar locks in the house, so no problem, right? Since Justin couldn’t unlock the door on his own, we had him take out the key so we could try other keys. Rob even tried unscrewing the door plate where the handle and lock go. No success. The door meets the floor quite tightly, and no key was going to be passed through that way. What should we do?

I asked Justin to read me what it said on his key so I could match up the other keys in the house. The keys are a snug fit and it isn’t easy to just go through them quickly. Justin read me the letters on his key.

“S-O-L-I-D,” came his cute little voice.

Of course that would be the side he would read. All the keys have that on them. He was able to turn the key over and find what we actually needed to know. No other key was coded the same way though.

Rob went to check out the windows on the bathroom while I continued to talk with Justin and keep him calm. I could see through the keyhole that he was playing with the toilet paper. I don’t like him to unroll it or make little TP balls, but when he is locked in the bathroom it is probably not the time to enforce proper TP use. Rob was able to compare the bathroom window to other windows of the house and give Justin directions on how to open the bathroom window. It is a two part process that is not particularly easy. Justin had to raise a handle and unscrew a hinge latch. Standing on the toilet (something else that is generally a no-no) and listening to Daddy’s step by step instructions, Justin was able to get it open and pass the key through. From there it was just a matter of Rob coming back inside and unlocking the door.

I was so proud of Justin. Rob was able to keep him calm so Justin was able to get through the ordeal without becoming upset even though he really wanted to get out. Justin was able to answer our questions and to follow the directions he was given. I think he did better than a lot of kids his age would have done.

The keys are now all removed from the doors. I had planned to do it anyway, but Justin’s little adventure got me to do it a little sooner than I otherwise would have.

Mail in Namibia

I know I haven't written much for awhile. I have been putting pics on Facebook and posting video on YouTube without noting it in the blog. Since I am at my parents' house right now, there isn't a big need for me to keep my mom up to date. I should get better again once we leave Idaho.

We are leaving for Namibia on Thanksgiving Day. We will not have APO mail there. Several people are curious about our mail situation while we are there. We will be able to get mail through the diplomatic pouch. All the long, boring details can be found at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/22183.pdf, but I have copied the most relevant information and pasted it below. The post office also has some information at http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/703.htm#wp1113914. One thing it notes there that I think is worth mentioning (since I have two small boys) is that no weapons or things resembling weapons, INCLUDING TOY GUNS.

U.S. citizen direct hire members of the foreign affairs community and their family members may receive via the personal pouch letters and packages at a maximum size limit of 17x18x32 inches (no single dimension can exceed this limit) and maximum weight of 50 pounds.

In addition, aerosols, alcoholic beverages, ammunition, items for resale, bulk supplies, corrosives (acids), currency, explosives, firearms, flammables, glass containers, illegal substances, incendiary materials, narcotics, plants, poisons, and radioactive substances are prohibited. It is now permitted to send 16 ounces of liquid per box; liquids include anything that flows, such as syrup.

Using express mail services does not get mail to a post any quicker because the express mail service is only from the point of origin to Dulles. Packages may be mailed at any post office in the United States or sent by United Parcel Service, FedEx, DHL, or other non-postal means of transportation (although these also only speed the material to the Dulles starting point).

When using the Dulles, VA, zip code, for security reasons, nothing in the address field should reference in any way the mission, the office, your job title, or anything official about where you work.

All parcels should be securely packed and sealed. Insured and registered mail services are not available for items sent through the pouch and the Department accepts no liability for loss or damage.

FYI: Theoretically, you shouldn't have to pay Virginia sales tax to this zip code since it is only for diplomatic pouch. Don't count on all online vendors to have this in their system however.

Hope this answers questions for people. Let me know if you have others. I will do my best. Most things should be able to get to us fine according to these restrictions. We have many restrictions on what we can send out.