School Starts Once Again

Jack started preschool this week!  He had great reports from his teachers, and has made many new friends already.  There is only one girl that he already knew, a little girl whose parents are also teachers.  Until now, he has been in a nursery with all staff kids, but now he is in the big school! 

The preschool building is brand new, replacing an older building which was torn down last year. It is right in the middle of our campus, so Rob and I walk past it several times a day.  Jack says he see us walk by sometimes.  He also sees Cora's group from nursery out walking around.

Our campus has three schools on it - Dhahran High School, where we work -  DEMS (Dhahran Elementary/Middle School), which is where Jack now attends! - and Dhahran British Grammar School, which is Preschool to grade 10 following the British national curriculum.  The district offices, like the superintendent and HR offices, are also located on our campus.  We are next to the US consulate.

Hoping for a break from this humidity and another good week of school!

Summer in Wisconsin

Our summer was mostly spent at our cabin in Wisconsin.  We were lucky to have lots of friends and family come to visit us.  Here are photos highlights of the first half of our summer.

Cora and cousin Stella

A visit from Uncle Jason

Fish Pond at the 4th of July Festival at Somo Lake

My baby writing his own name on the tickets!

Minnow races

Cora won this bucket

Grandma Ruth trying on Jack's new BlockFace mask

A visit from the Bialiks! (They are our friends from our first year in Saudi...see earlier posts about "The Guy who Gets Stuff" - now they are in Jeddah so we will see them again! Here Cora is playing with Triniti.

Abe thinks he is so strong

Trinti and Jack - she was the first person Jack met when we moved to Saudi

Laura and Jack with Tammy <3

A visit from Auntie Angela, Ben, and Olivia!

Picnic with the Hueckmann kids

Pirates: Heston and Jack

It's been a while...

So it turns out having two kids keeps people busy :)  That's my excuse for not blogging. 

We are back in Saudi for year 4!  We spent the summer in our new little cabin on Somo Lake in Wisconsin.  Lots of great family and friend time!  I'll post some more pictures of our summer soon. 

Here are a few of Cora's one year portraits, taken at Somo Lake by my friend Amy Blomberg.

Halloween 2012

We had our compound Halloween party last night.  The kids all gathered for pizza, and then went trick or treating to all the other teachers' houses.  Rob set up an adult trick-or-treating station with food, drinks, and a showing of Treehouse of Horrors on a screen outside.

Jack wore the penguin costume that Grandma Karin made, and he said "waddle waddle" the whole time he walked.  At the end of the night, Jack declared that he loves trick or treating and candy is his favorite thing.  He was covered in chocolate.  Cora tried to eat her tutu and was covered in glitter.  A great night had by all!

Summer Fun

Here are some more photos from our summer in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

With Grandma Karin and Cora's namesake, Great Grandma Ruth

Napping with Auntie Baba

Children's Museum with cousins Ben and Olivia

The little angel

A visit from Amy & Luca

A trip to Wildwood Zoo with cousins Jake, Barrett, Addy, and Stella

A visit from honorary grandparents Paul & Sylvia

With Grandpa Steve

First day of school

Jack had a great first day of school, and Rob had lots of first day meetings.  Cora and I spent the day  hanging out with the neighbor kids who are home.  School hasn't actually started yet, so the older children of teachers sometimes stay home rather than going to the school-provided day care.

Full disclosure: this is actually Jack's second-day-of-school picture.  Below is the first day pic, which I took outside, forgetting how the crazy humidity and heat affects my camera!

Cora has been smiling a lot!  She is a really good baby, and has had plenty of attention from our neighbors!

We're Back!

Sorry it has been soooooo long since the last post!  We are now back in Saudi Arabia for the 3rd year, this time with a new addition...

Cora Ruth!

Cora was born July 17th, 6 lbs 6oz, in Wisconsin.  She was a full week late, which means I am still on maternity leave for another week!  Amazingly we got her birth certificate, passport, and Saudi visa in 3 weeks and were able to come back all together.

Here are some of Cora's passport photo options:

Jack and Cora were great on the plane ride - they both slept much of the time.  We are now working on getting over our jet lag and adjusting to the new time zone.  It's been super hot (of course) so we have been going for night swims in the warm pool, which Jack thinks is hilarious.

Teachers start on Saturday (except me) and students on Sept 1, so we will be in a routine soon enough.  So far we have stocked the fridge with groceries, put away the clothes we brought, and orders shwarmas and hummous.  We've been busy with visitors coming over to meet Cora, also!

Here are a few summer shots...more to come!

Jack and his animals babysitting Cora

Helping Grandpa make a sandbox by the new playhouse

Hanging out with Luca

Getting ready for a campfire