Park Fun

We go to the park everyday. The kids love getting out of the house in the late afternoon when it's not as hot. Riley's favorite thing is the seesaw. She climbed on all by herself but had no one to play with. So sad!


A little later Owen climbed on and I helped them seesaw together. They love playing together! Here are more pictures of my cuties!



Owen encounter a mean little boy as we were leaving. I told Owen it was time to leave because we had to cook dinner. Owen sometimes, wait no, typically always prepares for battle when we have to transition from something he wants to do. The mean little boy started laughing and calling Owen a baby. Owen started yelling at me and huffing and puffing around the park, kicking dirty, fighting the tree. I could tell he was really upset. I wanted to clobber the mean little boy. But as he was probably 5, I thought I'd better not. Plus as much as you as a parent want to protect your kids from everything, nothing would ever happen to them. "Let's see how little Squirt does flying solo." (Thank you Disney's Finding Nemo for the helpful parenting tip.) However I could not help myself and asked the mean little boy to please talk nice. Then started walking home with Riley. Owen was very quick to follow. Half way home I asked Owen if the mean little boy hurt his feelings. (Note: I didn't call him that to Owen.) He said "Yea" really bummed out. Bless his heart! We talked a little more and it seemed to lift his spirits. Then had lots of fun at dinner and Pirate Veggie Tales!

Ciao!

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A Wonderful Start to 29

Celebrating my 29th birthday was an adventure! Some of our new friends and one of Nathan's colleagues ventured to the island of Mussulu for the day. Immediately upon entering the parking lot to the port our car was surrounded with men. They all wanted to be paid to watch our car for the day. I thought our driver Aires was going to run them over! Haha! Fortunately he did not but he did roll down the window and tell them off in Portuguese. Nathan and our driver haggled prices with the guys running the boats and then we loaded up. Owen didn't want to get on but once we got going fast, he thought it was a load of fun!

We had the boat drivers take us to a calm, peaceful area. There was a good 75 yards to the next groups on both sides of us. Perfect for the kids to run around and us to relax. We didn't let the kids get too far into the water. 1. None of them are actual swimmers. 2. The current was quite strong and fast. 3. The jet skiers and boats got way too close to our swim area. But they had a blast nonetheless! We found tons of African sand dollars and shells. The sand dollars were really interesting and different from the ones we find in the Gulf of Mexico. They look almost identical except for one half has tentacle looking arms and the other half smooth. and of course sticks are swords! En guard!

Nathan bought the kids two sets of sand toys which proved to be a huge hit! Especially for Riley who sat and shoveled sand into the buckets for hours. Our new friends made me a cake which was delicious! Their last assignment landed them in the UK so both the girls have lovely accents. It is so fun listening to them talk. Adorable!

Nathan got me a yummy chocolate cake which the kids were more than happy to help eat it. They love blowing out candles so they helped with the too. Owen sang me Happy Birthday which was spectacular! Sweet Riley kept saying "Happy Day!" I'm very blessed to have my loving family with me on my birthday.

Overall a really wonderful way to celebrate the start of year 29. Birthdays can only get better and better when surrounded by my family and friends!
Ciao!
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Compound Living

Our new home is starting to feel like home. We are as settled as we can be until our air shipment arrives. Here are pictures of the house for anyone interested.



This is an iron cross I brought from our old house that is just outside the front gate. The top right picture is our house plus a little glimpse down the street. We are house 38! And the bottom right picture is of our backyard. We have a really large porch and brushes lining the fence.



The top two pictures are our dining room and living room. It's one giant room nicely divided into the two living spaces. The bottom two pictures are of our kitchen. It's been nice having so much cabinet space! But we'll see if that changes once we load them with all our kitchen stuff.


These three pictures are Owen, Riley and Nathan & my room. I took them with a pano app so they aren't perfect. But you get the gist. We all have mosquito nets to help not get bitten at night. It feels a lot like camping under it! Riley is perfecting her zipper skills so the nets are pretty beneficial.


Modern bathrooms. The great thing about our shower/tub is we can close the doors and the kids get to splash as much as they like. It's hilarious and they love it!


We have an office which will be really great once we get all of our stuff. Our closet is fantastic! All built-in with lots of storage. (The kids have cabinet. Lots which have tons of space too.) Our washer and dryer are in a small room just off the kitchen. Nathan moved the dryer to plug in on the side. Otherwise we have to switch the power back and forth meaning only 1 load at a time. NOT efficient with all the dirty laundry kids produce.


On the top left to right, our front yard, the car port, & one of the pretty hibiscus plants. The bottom picture is of the backyard again.

Love to all our family and friends from Angola!

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Location:Rua Centro Convenções S8,Luanda Sul,Angola