Island Life!

After a plane ride, immigration and all the works, then meeting back up with some friends yesterday we woke up to a hot day in Borneo and got to having a great time.

The kids were in the pool way before noon while Angie got in some shopping. I am not sure who enjoyed themselves more!!
For lunch we got to hang out with the Taliban. There were two guys with awesome beards, long robes, and turbans that I wanted a picture of but they didn't seem like they were up to it. It would have been great, though, having lunch with those guys at the Taliban...
Don't they look like they are having a great time? Angie is loving her short sleeves and capris. After lunch we went to a nice mall and hung out some. Finally we saw the new Star Trek movie which was pretty cool. It was only proper that they got in some cool lines from the show which I will not ruin for you.

The best part of the movie was when they showed James T. Kirk's hometown and showed the big word IOWA on the screen. Bethany leaned over and asked our friend, "What is Iowa?" We give apologies to all our chiropractor friends and Hawkeye fans. I guess that means they are enjoying Asia.

We do have a few USA puzzles and we ensure they know the Bluegrass state by always holding back Kentucky and putting it in last since as Dad always says, "Kentucky is the heart of America." And it is. Without Washington everyone would be better off. Without Kentucky there would be nothing. Just emptiness where meaning used to live.

So even if my kids don't know what Iowa is ... they do know how to navigate international airports and when they hear "visa" they don't think shopping via credit card. Plus they say stuff like, "Are we going back to Singapore soon?" Most elementary kids don't have the opportunity to boldly go where none of their schoolmates have gone before.

Mom pulled her 2nd one.

Hi! It's me again.  Last night mommy pulled my 2nd tooth. Hey what do you know?  I didn't cry! (Actually I really I didn't feel anything)  Anyhoo, 

Ms. Amanda tried to pull it and so did I but we could not do it. I usually get $1.42 in US$.  So thats my 7th tooth.  What was yours like?   Love, Bethany

Bathroom Humor

Over the weekend we encountered this interesting plumbing work-up. Its actually three urinals and instead of the water going out through the piping in the walls for some reason it was changed so all the "water" flowed into one pipe on its way out of the room.
Here was the interesting part. The pipe didn't exactly match up with the drain in the floor. Since the urinals were constantly flushing (i.e. the water was continually running) all that stuff was just rushing into the floor. Caleb said to me, "I feel like I'm just going to the bathroom in the floor." And it was. What you can't see well in this photo is how the water was just rushing all around on the floor near the drain.

The funniest part was when my friend was looking through our pictures on the camera and he got to these. He just looked at me puzzled and said, "Why?"

That sums it up. A white guy taking pictures in the bathroom. What is he thinking?!?

Another Day, Another Zoo

Its been well documented that we like to go to zoos. We got the chance to check out another one over the weekend. It was pretty good, although extremely hot! Plenty of animals and snack places that sell fried rice. Very tasty.

Notice how much scarier Hudson looks than the tiger. Also Hudson is less plastic.
Based on a true story. At some time some part of this animal was actually real. Some folks in a nearby village had a problem with him and the folks from the zoo caught him and he stayed on display for some time. Now he is just a record holder with very poorly done taxidermy.
Separated at birth? We though Caleb and this pony had very similar hairstyles.
I love the walk-through aviary things. This guy was fairly big as bats go. I judge how much bats bother me by how close they fly to my head. You know if they get caught in your hair you'll go insane, right? But they can be HUGE and not bother me if they just hang still.
Of course we had some serious rain fall for a few minutes. If you see how wet Hudson's hair is you'll appreciate the heat more since I can tell you we were sitting down under the roof when the rain started to fall. Hudson is all sweat.

It got a bit crowded when the rain came down.
Since it was Derby day on Saturday we got in a bit of a horse ride.
Slow and steady. Maybe more like the Oaks than the Derby...
Oftentimes when we stop to make a photo, folks ask if they can either join or if they can get one, too. This group of ladies couldn't pass up the chance to bee seen with the famous Bethany and Hudson. If you know Angie you know how it ended. She offered to take their picture so all four ladies could be in the shot.

Chillin' With Our Homies

We had a great time this weekend, we got the chance to go out to a small town and spend some time with friends as they visited family. It had a kind of "Hiseville" feel but was a bit bigger. For this the kids were glad since it ensured they had access to a KFC.

Breakfast time. Breakfast here rivals just about anywhere. The food is great and you have a variety of choices. Its like choosing between biscuits and gravy and bacon and eggs. You just can't go wrong.
The lady we actually went to visit. She is 80 and very sweet. Also she is quite impressed that sometimes Craig wears a skirt.
Hudson played so hard with these boys he needed 3 showers a day. He was a sweaty mess.
This guy sums up the feeling here. Smiling. Happy. Welcoming. This is our mental picture of our home and so when people in the U.S. say, "I'd never come there because the people hate us and its too dangerous," we just don't know what they are talking about.

These folks said since we came this weekend we are obligated to come again! You don't normally get that when visiting relatives. You more expect the, "Here's your hat, what's your hurry?" treatment. Instead we got, "Stay, stay. Eat, eat. Come back, come back."

Even when they aren't smiling they are happy. Its a photo thing. Often when we are getting our picture taken with people we are thinking, "I am the only one smiling and I look like a dork."
Our neighbor is the tallest guy he is a great kid and a lot of fun. He especially enjoys laughing at us when we say things that are close to right but really very wrong.

GONE

Hey guys! We are out of our city for a couple of days and don't know how often we will be able to post. It has been fun so far. We went "home" with our neighbor and met her family yesterday. After having "snacks" at 6pm, we went to the hotel for a shower and some rest time with the understanding we would wait at the hotel until our friends called us around 8pm so that we could all go out for dinner. When 9pm arrived and everyone was VERY HUNGRY our friend called and asked if we were ever going to come back to the house. WHAT? We were waiting for you.... oh well, such is the way of life when you are communicating in a second language. We load up and head over to grandmas house and when we arrive they are all in their car, VERY HUNGRY also. Off we go to the restaurant which was about 20 to 30 minutes away. The food was good and we have a picture of the fish we ordered which we will post at a later time since I do not have the cord to download the pictures with me.

After eating our friend asks us if we are tired to which we of course responded "no". So he takes us on a tour of the city. We stopped at a couple of places and took pictures and had a very good time. We got back to our hotel after midnight! We are becoming party animals.

Sports Day

A couple of weeks ago, Hudson had his sports day through his school. It was basically a field day but included a bunch of the schools from the area. It started at 9am but was still sweltering!!

This is actually before they started playing their games. Hudson is the kid in the center, notice how sweaty he is already!
I used to love field day as a kid ... as a parent, not so much.
The main sporting event--PSP. If you are young enough, its a spectator sport. The kid on the right is enjoying some chicken nuggets on a stick. Its a delicacy here.
Hudson and his on-again-off-again buddy. Some days they are good, some days they are no longer friends. Oh to be five again! I like how Hudson is smiling like he is with the President.

Pre-School Spelling

Don't get us wrong.  We are all about academics.  But we keep finding ourselves shocked at Hudson's preschool spelling test words.

Actually his Dad finds the concept of spelling tests in preschool to be a bit off the charts at all.

So here is a look at this week's words including pencil and teacher.  I miss the days when preschoolers ate glue not spelled it...

Ouch! You Know Me Too Well...

Folks around here have this thing about being out late.  One night last week after everyone except me had gone to sleep Angie heard an odd sound.  I was awake, reading, but paid it no attention.  A couple of things have been well-documented about us: 1)  we like to go to bed early and 2) Craig doesn't get up to check out odd/scary noises.

So ... anyway ... Angie was sleeping and Craig was reading when the noise happened.  Angie says, "Is that someone at the gate?"  (**important note, we have a metal gate but no bell, so when people come by they will tap on the gate with a coin or the padlock hanging on it**)

"No, it's some kind of bird," Craig responds.

Tap, tap, tap.  Ouch!  Its a tapping at the gate and Craig is wrong again.

So I jump up to look out, switching off the light first.  It IS the gate and outside is a guy we met recently.  At this point its REALLY late (i.e. 9:40pm) and so I stand there debating with myself when Angie says, "He saw the light go out.  You have to go to the gate."  I did and immediately accepted an invitation to go out and drank tea, staying out until almost 11:30.  

A few days later we ran into the same guy who said something along the lines of, "Blahblahblahblaheatsomethingblahblahblahtonight."  Now I have this bad habit when I don't know what someone is talking about.  I just say the last word they say and then they go on talking.  So I say, "Tonight." And then he kind of says, "OK, see you tonight."

Zoinks!  To what did I just agree?!?  Turns out nothing since he never showed up.

Sunday morning, we see him again.  He asked about getting together tonight and drinking some tea.  Since I'm trying to break bad habits, I didn't say "Tea," and wait for him.  Instead I said, "Oh OK, call me."  Then he goes on talking and I say that he should send me a text message and maybe we could meet.  Again trying to be noncommittal.  That was when he got me.

He says, "No way because if I call you you'll say you can't go but if I just show up at the gate, you'll go with me."  We all just burst out laughing since he is absolutely right!!  

Now the plan is to go out and drink tea some time long after nightfall.  Its funny what a little shame can do for you!!

Angie's New Watch

We got Angie a new watch last week that came in a bag with this awesome quote:

Time Like Career,

Time Like Love

Have truer words ever been misspoken??

Exhibit A

ESPN has a column that talks about making some mascots look meaner. One of the ones they re-do is Big Red from WKU.

This proves my point that the blob is one of the stupidest mascots going. Add teeth to it and its still stupid-looking with teeth. Maybe if your goal is having a logo no one will copy, you could consider Big red a success. Who models their mascot after a towel ... I mean ... seriously???

He is a total waste. Big Red is a drink. Its just that plain and simple.

Medical Care and Body Work

After a few days fighting an oncoming sinus infection, we finally went to the pharmacy for Craig today. We went in and explained the symptoms to the lady who then gave us some medicine. Its the perfect setup for people who just love antibiotics. You say, "I want an antibiotic," and they give it to you.

Upon leaving the pharmacy Craig then backed up and bumped into a motorcycle. So we waited for the rider to come out of the pharmacy, apologized for the bent license plate and opened the negotiations for the repair.

"Can we pay to get it fixed?" he asked.

"Hmmm. Yeah. How much do you think?" the rider responded.

"I dunno, its your motorcycle. What about X?" Craig asked.

"Yeah, that will be fine," the rider responded.

Of course as with any type of negotiations if they take your first offer you offered TOO MUCH.

The final tally is as follows:

--Antibiotics for five days $1.92

--Motorcycle repair $2.74

Wonder if Obama can do something about healthcare costs in the US to get them below auto body repair...

Party Scenes

This is a pretty normal scene. Take your shoes off at the door. We actually go to one book store and it has a sign I keep meaning to get a picture of: Please DO NOT remove your shoes. I try to envision that one at Barnes and Noble.

These kids asked to have their picture taken. They don't want a copy, just want to have it done.
These guys showed up while I was photographing the kids above. Sometimes you think someone is going to ask why, exactly, you are taking pictures. These guys just said, "Is it too late to have ours taken?"

For Emergency Use Only

The sign on this propped-open door (and the one behind it that you can barely see) says something like, "Fire Door Needs to Always be Closed".

But they are obviously only half-hearted in their sentiment.

Otherwise they would do like this fire door at a mall near our house. This fire door has a PADLOCK. If you want it to always remain closed, make it to always remain closed. That is my policy.

Great Ideas...

Isn't this one of the best ideas ever? You take a urinal and fill it with mothballs. Apparently it works best if you can somehow decrease the ventilation and never flush the thing.

I'm not sure who came up with it but its very popular. Right up there with taking a handful of mothballs and putting them in the corner of the stalls. Its all about the ambience.

Easter--the Up part

Easter saw us doing some of the normal stuff Americans do for holidays. We had some gifts including a new jersey for Caleb. Its hard to find a Liverpool jersey without Carslberg on the front. Which we will just leave as a total inside joke for all you people who don't even know what the EPL is and when I say "Liverpool" you say "Beatles".

What would Eater be without chocolate? Well, good but not as tasty. Some chocolate bunnies and chicks made the scene. Sadly some succumbed to the heat and melted a bit. It reminded me of one time the Easter bunny hid a basket at our house too near a heat vent and someone's chocolate got all melted and they cried. That particular sibling shall remain nameless but you know who you are...
We had Easter worship at home which turned out to be good since John was sick the entire time. This is a later photo of "worship reenactment" which explains Caleb's face.
Also a reenactment. We got the cords to hook the Macbook to the TV which is cool and makes us feel like we have a big screen like the big churches downtown.
The Brady Bunch reenactment. Most of these reenactments are not part of normal American Easter celebrations but we like them.
The biggest gift of the day. Amanda found some actual cornmeal at a store here and gave it to Craig so we can attempt some cornbread. Pretty nice.
After a lunch at Pizza Hut it was time for John, Cheri, and the kids to load up and leave us. That was really hard on the kids and made them think about how much they missed family and friends from home.

So there you have it. How was YOUR Easter?

Easter Eve

On Saturday, we got down and dirty with some egg coloring. Now this was made a bit more difficult because our eggs are brown but no worries, we got 'er done.

Hudson and Mercee have had the best time together. They have worked puzzles and played games I forgot we even owned. We've tried to balance the TV between Discovery Channel for the older kids and Playhouse Disney for the younger set.
Uncle John did a great job telling the Passion Week stories while the kids worked away. Today he is felling sick, possibly owing to one of these eggs...YUCK!
The artistry ready for the kiln.
In the evening the kids hid the eggs for the adults to find. Cheri and Angie were battling it out, John and Craig didn't fare so well. They tied for last place.
Ultimately there had to be a winner crowned and it was ANGIE! When she was reminded that eggs are a symbol of fertility, she was not nearly as interested in winning and started trying to give away eggs...
Thanks to Aunt Maria for sending along the egg coloring kits!! And the Sweet Tarts, Robins Eggs, jelly beans, Peeps, M&Ms, suckers...