The Twinskis

New blog site

2011-09-14T07:34:00.000+02:00

I'm transitioning over to a new blog site. There aren't any new posts yet, but there will be soon!

http://twinskis.wordpress.com/

Exodus from Egypt

2011-02-04T21:57:00.000+02:00

Hi Everyone,

Well, we finally made it back to the U.S. We are staying in California with Jessie's mom. We arrived last night at the house at about 8pm exhausted after a very long week of stress and uncertaintly.

We will probably hunker down here to mentally recoup and figure out what BP has in store for us. It may be working temporarily in Anchorage, Houston or London until Egypt simmers down.

In the meantime, we came with two bags for all 4 of us. We definitely feel like refugees! But we are all safe and thankful to be out of the chaos, so life is good in that respect. Still, it is tough without any warm clothing, only 4 pairs of underwear (well, maybe that is about 2 weeks worth of underwear for a male chmielowski) and no possessions or toys for the kids.

In the coming days when we relax a bit more, I can fire off more emails and call folks, but for now, I just want to sleep, hunker down, eat bacon and salads (remember, can't eat these in Egypt due to giardia) and enjoy all the fresh air outside.

Thanks for all your emails and thoughts during this "revolution." I hope it all ends well for Egypt.

Joe

Joe is going local

2011-01-18T16:46:00.001+02:00

Joe has started to be absorbed into the local Egyptian ways as demonstrated by pictures from his latest desert field trip.

Twin banana

2011-01-17T16:46:00.000+02:00

As the parent of identical twins, Joe was very interested in this twin banana that he found. It was twice the size of a normal banana, and inside the outer skin were two normal-sized bananas. They were consumed by our two normal-sized kiddos for good luck.

Brandon: our first guest

2011-01-15T11:53:00.009+02:00

Brandon is a good friend of ours from Alaska. He now lives and works in Angola and was our first visitor in Egypt. Here are some good tourist photos of us.

At the pyramids:

Riding camels:

Inside the small pyramid:

Brandon:

Me and Brandon by the Sphinx:

An evening felucca ride on the Nile:

Desert camping adventure: days 7 & 8

2011-01-14T11:44:00.017+02:00

Jessie and the boys in the western white desert:

White desert:

White desert chalk formations:

Crystal mountain:

Jessie in Baharia by drawing of Alexander the Great:

Us with Mary, Alice and Kevin in Baharia:

Local in Baharia with Henry:

Desert camping adventure: days 5 & 6

2011-01-13T11:37:00.003+02:00

We spent two days and nights in the Great Sand Sea. The first night we slept under the stars:

J&J in the dunes:

Our trusty steed made it through all the dunes and only got stuck once:

Beautiful dunes:

H&N playing on dunes in the evening:

Family photo:

Henry buried:

Nate buried:

Us with guides:

Cars stopped for a break:

Dunes as far as you can see in every direction:

Part-way between sand sea and white desert:

Flying a kite:

Desert camping adventure: days 3 & 4

2011-01-12T11:13:00.023+02:00

View of desert in Qattara Depression:

Oasis with hot water spraying out of the ground:

Qarah Oasis old mud city:

View of date palms in Qarah Oasis:

Old drinking well in Qarah:

Jessie in Qarah (no local women are allowed outside during the daytime):

Joe in Qarah:

Morning donkey cart ride in Siwa Oasis:

View of old mud city in Siwa:

Temple where the Oracle resided:

View of date palms and olive trees in Siwa:

Feeding carrots to the tired, sweaty donkey:

On way out of Siwa, stopped by old gravesites with skulls inside:

Nathan and Henry with skull:

Desert camping adventure: days 1 & 2

2011-01-11T10:56:00.002+02:00

Here are some photos of our desert camping adventure in November. Reference map located here.

7am start in Maadi:

El Alamain WWII museum on Mediterranean coast:

Herd of wild camels:

Henry before we enter Qattara Depression:

Large piece of petrified wood, it was everywhere:

Sleeping Nathan:

Jessie at first oasis:

Lunch time, Alice and Henry:

Evening on sand dune:

Campsite on sand dune:

Nate playing in sand:

Henry rolling in sand:

Joe getting tents set up:

Desert camping adventure: Joe's summary

2011-01-10T12:15:00.000+02:00

[Reference map located here.]

We took a big 8 day, 7 night desert camping trip recently and drove 2000km (1,200 miles) over rocks, dirt and dunes. It was a marathon driving session, but we had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the trip. It was the best we have felt since arriving in Egypt, as the air was pure, there was no traffic and no people.

It was warm in the day, probably 75F in the sun and it got cold at night. We had to wear hats, gloves and fleeces to stay warm (maybe it was 45 or 50F at night). We saw several oases, Berber people who are the nomadic tribes that used to move around Northern Africa and lots of geological marvels. In Siwa Oasis we saw the ruins of a temple where Alexander the Great was declared a pharaoh (remember he invaded and conquered Egypt) by the Oracle who was kind of a famous swami at the time.

We toured the town via Donkey Cart which made Henry and Nathan very excited. Except when the cart driver beat the donkey with a stick. That wasn't so good. Even worse was that the donkey had calluses on his flanks from so many beatings and he ignored most of them. In which case, things got worse and the driver then whacked him on the Achilles tendons. But donkey's are notoriously stubborn, so sometimes the driver leaned way down and gave him a special whacking that I suspect utilized the scrotum as a focused target. THAT would get his attention! Ouch! Poor, poor donkey. I now think that I will try to be extra good in this life so that I am not reincarnated as an Egyptian donkey. Food for thought.

The Great Sand Sea was amazing. It spans the Egypt/Libyan border and is the stuff Hollywood portrays - hundreds of miles of perfect dunes. No rocks, no plants, devoid of life (except one white lizard, two butterflies and a dragonfly), no roads and no people. Absolutely beautiful and pristine. It reminded me of Thomson Pass in Alaska in the winter - you can see forever and the dunes make shapes just like snow drifts. We slept out under the stars one night and the moon was so bright I could read the ingredients on a box of graham crackers while making smores over a campfire. For fun we sand boarded which is like snow boarding but 10 times harder. The boards are short like a skateboard, they have no edges for turning, and the wax wears off half way down the slope at which point I would do a face plant. Jessie dominated the dunes with lots of good board runs and by high marking and jumping them with our 4X4 truck. She is a desert goddess and is not to be trifled with out there. She was the only woman driver on the trip and intimidated the macho Egyptian males.

We also played cricket, boche ball, threw my boomerangs, flew a kite (I taught the boys how to do this - it was a precious father moment for me) and climbed and slid down dunes on our butts or sleds. Driving through the dunes was great and we got to surf down their slip-faces in an avalanche of sand! Sometimes people got stuck, but we dug them out, towed them out or used sand mats to drive on and get out of soft spots.

We saw the Western White Desert with strange chalk formations, found skulls and tombs in a mountain (which looked like grave robbers had found a long time ago), saw the Golden Mummies in Baharia that were basically Greco-Roman mummies painted in gold and discovered by a donkey in 1997. Hopefully that donkey didn't get a scrotum whipping for a couple of days as a reward for being good. They have just begun excavation and experts think there may be up to 10,000 mummies.

The boys did very well driving for 8 days in the car and there were only 2 or 3 fights per day in the back of the car. Some kicking, punching and clawing but no biting because the seat belts restrain them very well. Thank Allah.

Green and Gold Gala

2010-12-19T19:02:00.001+02:00

In November, Joe and I went to the Green and Gold Gala. It's a formal dinner and dancing event held every year. In June I want to go to the one held at the pyramids! Here we are with some friends before driving to the hotel.

Papa Noel

2010-12-18T17:17:00.003+02:00

We saw Santa Claus at a Christmas bizarre last week. Henry and Nathan each asked for a present. I was surprised that there were no other kids in line to see Santa, and I found out why. He was a dud Santa! Oh, well. I don't think the boys noticed.

Lyn

2010-12-17T17:11:00.009+02:00

Here are some pictures of Lyn taken at Al-Azhar Park. We took the boys there after school one day as a reward for having good behavior all week. Lyn cleans, cooks, babysits, bargains, shops, etc. for us. I couldn't imagine being here with out her.

Cute picture of Nay Nay:

Malta and Gozo

2010-12-16T17:04:00.000+02:00

Here are some long overdue photos from our trip to Malta in September. We spent most of our time on the island of Gozo which we really liked.

H&N making "coffee" out of water:

Cliffs near Xlendi where we stayed:

Xlendi:

Old watchtower:

Xlendi from farther away:

Joe and Nathan playing at the beach:

N&H playing in carved out water pools on the cliffs:

Coating each other in mud:

The Azure Window:

Me:

A reminder to you all about who I'm dealing with on a daily basis:

Henry swimming at the blue lagoon:

Nathan swimming at the blue lagoon:

The blue lagoon:

Me:

Henry:

Nathan:

Sunset:

Canons, we watched one get fired at high noon:

Patchy part 2

2010-12-11T11:26:00.017+02:00

Patchy came home with Henry Chmielowski on November 10, 2010.

Patchy sat next to Henry as he ate snacks and meals at the table.

Henry played soccer outside with Patchy.

At bedtime, Henry read a story about polar bears to Patchy.

We like having Patchy at our house!

Mega Desert Camping Trip Adventure

2010-12-10T11:25:00.002+02:00

While I sort through lots of photos from our camping trip in late November, here is a map that I made of our route. I downloaded our GPS data and uploaded it into Google Earth. Pretty cool! For reference, on the left you can see the yellow line of the Libyan border, on the right is the top of the Gulf of Suez and on the top is the Mediterranean coast. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Bouncy castle movie

2010-11-18T18:30:00.005+02:00

Baking a cake

2010-11-18T10:07:00.000+02:00

Henry and Nathan love to help cook in the kitchen. So we enlisted their services while baking Joe's birthday cake last month.

Nathan helped prepare the pans:

And mix the batter:

Henry helped with the batter too:

Then we cracked eggs together:

And they helped clean up (eat up) afterward:

The finished product:

Desert videos: dune bustin'!

2010-11-17T11:22:00.021+02:00

Video of car driving down sand dune. I had just done this, and you can see my car in the distance at the end.

Video of sand blowing in the desert. It looks like snow blowing on the north slope, only a different color and temperature. :)

Desert driving course

2010-11-16T10:16:00.025+02:00

As you read this, we will be on a mega desert off-road camping adventure! This week is a Muslim holiday for an Eid in which livestock are slaughtered, or so I hear. With 5 other families, a guide and a military escort, we will drive for three days to Siwa Oasis via the Qattara Depression and Qaret Um el-Saghir oasis. After one night in Siwa we go dune driving through the great sand sea to the Western White Desert. Then we head to Baharia oasis and back to Cairo. In all it should take 7 to 8 days. Wish us luck!

In preparation for this trip, I took a desert driving course. Joe stayed at home with the kiddos. We practiced driving on the hard ground as well as on the sandy dunes. It was scary and fun at the same time. I must say that I have natural sand dune driving abilities that were previously unknown to me.

Here are the vehicles just off the road:

Sand, and lots of it:

My trusty steed:

Dunes:

Pool

2010-11-14T10:12:00.000+02:00

Our pool is really just a huge sack of water, but it works great! It is 12 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep. We had fun playing in it during September and October. The winter will be too chilly for the pool so we have put it away.

Joe on the alligator:

Boys playing and having fun:

Fallen tree

2010-11-13T10:15:00.001+02:00

In late September a sand storm blew through Cairo. The next day as we were outside playing in the pool, a huge tree fell down in our yard and on the villa. It was quite a shock to see and hear it fall. Luckily there was only a small amount of damage to the railing on the upper balcony and concrete near the front door.

View out of the front door. We couldn't get out of the house this way:

Egyptian men in dresses (galabeya) cutting down the tree:

Man walking on fence in sandals, wearing a dress and using a chainsaw Egypt style:

Bend adventures

2010-11-12T21:51:00.000+02:00

After almost four weeks in California swimming in the Eel River, visiting Yosemite and relaxing in the Santa Cruz mountains, the boys and I went to Bend, Oregon for some fun on the farm.

They got to use the backhoe to dig up rocks:

They caught grasshoppers in the hay field to feed to Spike (the lizard):

They went swimming with Caitlin in the Deschutes River:

Caught more grasshoppers:

Went fishing in the boat:

Marie with her catch:

Caitlin caught some too:

And me:

Henry at Little Lava Lake:

Bedtime reading with Granddad (aka Grand):

Silly Marie:

Crawdaddy catch:

Patchy

2010-11-11T10:17:00.001+02:00

In the Small Talk preschool room called Stars, there is a stuffed triceratops named Patchy. If a child is particularly good, he or she gets to take Patchy home for the night. The next day, the child brings some photos about his or her time with Patchy to share with class. Here are Nathan's photos.
----------------------
Patchy came home with Nathan Chmielowski on October 19, 2010.
Patchy sat next to Nathan as he ate snacks and meals at the table.

Nathan and his brother, Henry, built a house for Patchy out of wooden blocks.

Nathan and Henry dressed up as firemen and played with Patchy.

At bedtime, Nathan read a story about a baby triceratops to Patchy. We had lots of fun with Patchy!

Egypt passport photos

2010-11-10T10:55:00.000+02:00

I had to get more passport photos of Nate and Henry, so we stopped by the camera shop in the Maadi Grand Mall. Here are the results.

Nathan:

Henry:

Santa Cruz day

2010-11-08T21:43:00.017+02:00

While in California in August, we spent a day in Santa Cruz at the wharf and Boardwalk. It was fun!

Sea lions on the wharf:

Henry on the beach:

Nathan on the beach:

Nathan on car ride:

Henry on car ride:

Henry on helicopter ride:

Nate and Joe on roller coaster:

Henry and Joe on Skywalk:

Nathan and Jessie on Skywalk:

Bike rides around the villa

2010-11-07T21:23:00.019+02:00

There is a pathway all around the villa that is just wide enough for small bikes with training wheels. It took Henry and Nathan a couple weeks to get used to riding over uneven ground and navigating the training wheels around corners. But now they are pros!

Nathan in blue shirt:

Henry in green shirt:

Batmen

2010-11-06T21:23:00.000+02:00

There were two Batmen at our house over Halloween. Every year I think about getting them different costumes, but inevitably there will always be one costume that is better. So I get them the same one, and they are happy.

As if the teachers at Small Talk didn't have trouble telling them apart, it was even tougher with the costumes on (thus the name labels on the costumes):

In the classroom:

In line during the Halloween parade at school:

At the CAC Halloween festival with their friend Luke:

Trick-or-treating in the elementary school building:

Showing me their loot:

Playing games at the carnival:

Posing near the scarecrow:

Flashback to birthdays past

2010-10-30T21:28:00.000+02:00

Here is how Henry and Nathan looked near their previous birthdays.

October 2009:

October 2008:

October 2007:

Happy 4th birthday to Henry and Nathan!!

2010-10-30T21:16:00.000+02:00

Nathan and Henry had a super fun birthday party today. They are four years old now and are getting bigger every day. We invited a few friends over to play and eat pizza and cake.

We were loaned this bouncey house for the party which was a huge hit.

Here is bouncey house scene 1:

And bouncey house scene 2:

Friends playing in the sand box:

Nathan's cake:

Henry's cake:

Yummy!

September Malta trip summary by Joe

2010-10-05T19:03:00.000+02:00

Jessie and the boys returned from the U.S. on September 6th. I then whisked them away to Malta (tiny island nation just south of Sicily) from the 9th to the 19th. We are now back in Cairo and settling in again after a lot travel.

Malta was great! There are 3 islands: big, medium and small. We spent the majority of our time on the small island Gozo because it has less people and is more laid back. We rented a car and Jessie drove because they drive on the "wrong"side as a result of 200 years of British occupation. We saw lots of things and the boys' favorites were the "unicorn bridge", castles, fossils, beaches, boats, ferries, swimming and caves. We went into 3 caves, two of which are accessed via someones house. Yes - you knock on their door, walk through their living room and down into there basement and down, down, down into caves! A hundred years ago their relatives were digging water wells and accidentally found caves. Now, the decendents are entrenuers and charge tourists a couple dollars to see their caves. We also saw Calypso's cave where the beautiful witch "kept" Ulysseus for 7 years. I investigated it thoroughly and me and the boys spend some time in there really hoping to encounter a hot witch. I had no luck, but the kindly witch did leave a candy necklace (still in its plastic wrapper) on a rock near the entrance where Jessie was waiting for us. H&N were ecstatic and Nathan did NOT want to leave the cave until he found the nice witch. He still talks about it. Me and the boys may have to go back for another looks sometime…

We also saw some neolithic temples that are even older than the pyramids. They were constructed in 3600BC and are amazing. Of course, I didn't get to see much because Henry skinned his knee and screamed/cried at this very ancient and holy place. We left after 30 minutes. There are 5 or 10 such sites in Malta. Check out the Malta link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta

On our last day we went to where the Knights of St. John built a city in the 1500s called Valleta (it is the capital). It is a fortified city and castle and is amazing and dripping with history. We toured the canons and we got to see up close how they work, had a classroom session on powder, rammers, different canon balls (some with chains, some that open, some grape shot etc) and finally witnessed it loaded and fired. The boys loved that - but not as much as Ray would have!

All said, a good trip and our first vacation as a family unit without the much needed help of grandparents or friends with the twins. So as they approach their 4th birthday in October, life is getting easier. A little.

Joe

Joe is home alone!

2010-08-24T07:56:00.002+02:00

Update from Joe:

Just a quick update on my end. Jessie and the boys are still visiting Jessie’s dad in Oregon, so I have been in Cairo for 2 weeks on my own. I am definitely missing the family, but have had a lot of time to do chores, read books and see some sights.

Last weekend I did some mountain biking in the Wadi (a canyon in the desert). It was pretty cool and I went back again this weekend. Saw some lizards, some trash and some scraggly bushes. But the cliffs and rocks are very cool to look at.

I went to the Cairo Museum in downtown and that is amazing! It is overwhelming actually. No air conditioning, about 95F inside, and it a fellow Xpat described it as “a garage sale of mummies.” He was right. Most things have no labels on them and there are scores and scores of mummies stacked up like cord wood. Priceless objects are just sitting in display cases you might get at Target or Ikea. But with the intense heat there are few tourists and I went straight for the King Tut stuff and just stared at it. Especially his funeral mask. Absolutely amazing.

A couple days ago I took the subway downtown again (it is very clean, quiet and runs every 5 mins). I went to Coptic Cairo where all the Christians live. This is the place the Josef, Mary and the baby Jesus hid out for a few years when the Romans were hunting them down. I also saw the oldest Jewish Synagogue in Egypt. Nearby is where they found the baby Moses floating in the basket. Man – I tell you, there is so much history hear it makes your head spin.

I then spent two hours in the oldest mosque in Cairo with my guide who invited me in so he could pray. He explained everything to me, how to wash, how to pray, what they say and all about Islam. Very interesting. Also he did mention that a lot of women were going to Hell – so just keep that in mind. Especially for wearing revealing clothes. Just saying, watch out for that.

Anyhow, I am off to Iftar tonight (a special Ramadan meal that they eat after sunset. They fast all day- no food or water from 3:30am to 6:30pm, then eat at night). I hope it is a giardia-free meal. Wish me luck.

Egypt Update: Small Bills

2010-08-13T18:44:00.000+02:00

Hi All,

Most folks are interested in big adventure, and so am I when it comes to those special moments punctuated in our lives. However, day-to-day life is interesting as well albeit more subtle. This is what I really enjoy observing and writing about. Here are is a random description that provides a lot of insight into Cairo life without the big adventure tales.

Joe

It is interesting to note that, while in the U.S., I considered small bills and loose change in my pocket an annoyance. With too many $1 or $5 bills in my wallet, it tends to get fat and puffy and is difficult to close and gives me a sore back. A handful of quarters in my jeans weigh a good bit and my already baggy pants start sliding further down my buttocks. I usually remedy this problem by constantly spending small bills and change to get “rid” of it and make my life easier.

Not so in Egypt. Actually, everything is opposite here. When I go to the ATMs they typically dispense 200LE notes (equivalent to $40US dollars) and are almost impossible to spend. This week I tried to pass a 200LE note off at a small shop and the owner will looked at me with horror. “I can’t change that!” he said aggressively, as if I was trying to screw him over. With great reluctance I pulled out my secret stash of 10s and 20s and handed him the smaller bills. He looked at me knowingly and I knew that he knew I really did try to screw him over.

Maybe I can pass the gigantic bill off at CarrFoure (the big Walmart-type store here in Cairo). No way in hell. I purchased a few expensive items but once again, they wanted exact change. Even more amazing, they knew I had it and gave me the stink-eye until I produced my wad of mini-bills from my other pocket. It was like some sort of Jedi mind game or psychological combat between the two of us. But clearly, he was the superior in this mental duel because he had deduced quickly that I kept my big bills in my left hand pocket and my small bills in my right pocket (never mix big and small, because as soon as you pull out your mixed wad, they can spy your small bills).

Yesterday I went to an ATM and withdrew 500LE and lo and behold! For some reason it came out all in 20s! Needless to say, I planted my feet firmly and stayed at this machine until it wouldn’t let me withdraw any more than my daily allowance (six transactions to get 3000LE worth of 20s). The huge fat wad barely fit in my front pocket as people line up behind me thinking, “What the hell is that guy doing? Maybe I should rob him later.” I got home without incident and put the precious hoard of 20s in my safe at home which is bolted to the floor.

I now feel a strange sense of satisfaction and can rest easily in the knowledge that I have at my disposal, when I need them, a copious quantity of small bills.

Only in Egypt

2010-07-14T17:25:00.003+03:00

Guest post by Joe:

I figured I would write little updates occasionally to share our (mis)adventures with you. Egypt is a special place, and you see things and experience things here that you will never see/experience anywhere else in the world. For example, you can only see the Pyramids here (the only one of the 7 wonders of the world left standing). The longest river in the world is here. In addition, you can see donkeys pulling carts on the 8-lane freeway (known as the “ring road” locally) here.

Not only that, but here are many more things you can see “only in Egypt.”

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/1044625/only-in-egypt

Jessie and I hope to start taking some pictures ourselves to add to our blog and emails. There are plenty of “interesting” things to take photos of, but sometimes they happen too quickly to snap. So that is part of the sport – kind of like deer hunting or something. It is not easy to capture the moments, but with some training and time, I think we will get good.

Enjoy the website and welcome to our new life!

Outside play

2010-07-13T15:47:00.008+03:00

Here is a video of us enjoying our outdoor space at the villa.

Wadi Degla

2010-07-12T15:44:00.009+03:00

The past couple weekends we have taken morning walks in the nearby wadi (a dried up river bed). Compared to the abundant nature of Alaska, there isn't much to report. But it is encouraging that Egypt has set aside this land for conservation and public use. Henry and Nathan love scrambling around in the dirt and rocks.

Pyramids of Giza

2010-07-11T16:09:00.001+03:00

On the fourth of July, Joe and I went to see the pyramids! They are one of the great wonders of the world, and I knew that I could not face my family and friends if I returned without seeing them. First we checked out the big one and went inside it to the central burial chamber.

You can see that the original entrance to the passage way was uncovered later (upside down V-shaped rocks). Tourists enter the pyramid via a second entrance below it and to the right.

The guard took our picture at the entrance to the great pyramid.

Another guard insisted that I pose for this photo. For some baksheesh, of course.

Tourists riding camels in the desert:

Two smaller pyramids. Originally, all the pyramids had a smooth layer of limestone on them like the top of the pyramid on the right, and they had gold caps! The limestone cover rocks, as well as many stone blocks, were taken from the pyramids for building houses a long time ago.

Joe with the Sphinx:

The Sphinx and two pyramids:

And two videos:

Small Talk art

2010-07-10T10:07:00.006+03:00

Here are a few examples of art projects that the boys have brought home from Small Talk.

Henry's jellyfish:

Nathan's penguin:

Nathan's girlfriend, Lily's, mermaid. Not sure how this ended up in our bag! :)

Sandbox

2010-07-09T10:06:00.011+03:00

Nate and Henry have a new sandbox! It was custom built by Ahmed's brother (see photo at end of post). And very importantly, it has a wooden cover to keep the Egypt cats out!! H&N are in heaven. But now they come in the house completely coated in sand. Oh, well.

Mohammed (Ahmed's son), Joe and Ahmed:

Flowers

2010-07-08T10:04:00.012+03:00

One day I just grabbed a camera and took pictures of some of the flowers in our garden. I'm not used to having so many flowering plants around. It takes a lot of work from our gardener Hassan to keep the garden green and tidy. I only know a couple of the flowers' names.

Jasmine:

Nathan's favorite purple flower:

Rose:

B-Day Party

2010-07-07T10:08:00.001+03:00

We celebrated my 33rd birthday a few days late this year, but it was fun nonetheless. Joe and I had an outing to the pyramids, and we had our friend Ed over for a steak dinner. With cake! Nate and Henry picked out the birthday candles, none of which contained the number 3. Here we are having our first dinner outside on the back patio.

Fourth of July at Maadi House

2010-07-06T10:01:00.001+03:00

Here are pictures of Nathan and Henry celebrating Independence Day.

Post from Joe

2010-07-06T09:57:00.001+03:00

Guest post from Joe:

Just wanted to wish you a happy 4th of July. I took the day off and we went to the pyramids and actually climbed up inside the big one. That costs an extra one hundred Egyptian Pounds per person (is about $20 U.S. dollars). It was very hot and humid in there, and after climbing hunched over in a very short tunnel we made it to the burial chamber inside. After that we walked around the other large pyramid (didn’t go inside) and saw the sphinx as well. By 1:00pm we were parched and drove back home – which, the driving is even more breathtaking and adventuresome than the Pyramids!

We then celebrated the 4th properly at a place called Maadi House which is a club for the U.S. embassy employees. We got in as guests after getting turned away at the door (we are not embassy employees) and Jessie was frustrated. She asked a couple going in if we could be their guests and they said “sure!” It probably helped to have the twins whining and crying and saying “we are thirsty.” Once inside they had hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, music, stuff for the kids, a marine unit raising the flag and a small swimming pool.

So – we had a good day and life is getting better each week as we settle into our new surroundings.

PS – speaking of grilling, I got my grill from Alaska hooked up. Tougher than you think because they sell butane over here, not propane. Had to have someone help me retrofit the valve, get new tanks etc. to make it work. Now we can make our own hamburgers (I purchased some frozen meats off of a guy who is moving back to Houston).

Pool time

2010-07-04T22:51:00.011+03:00

We have been hitting the JW Marriott pretty hard the last few weekends, splashing and playing. H&N are acquiring more pool toys like kick boards and Batman rings. Our kids are the safest ones in the whole place with their West Marine life jackets on. Here we are beating the heat:

Preying mantis

2010-07-03T22:43:00.009+03:00

A few days ago, while we were walking home from a friend's house in the early evening, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. It looked like a leaf, but I knew it wasn't. It was a large preying mantis sitting on the hood of a white car outside the villa! A large one too - at least 5 inches long. As we viewed him (or her), he sat like this viewing us:

Henry and Nathan loved him! Everyday they want to find him, but we haven't seen another one. There was something very smart about this one. Not your average bug. It was pretty cool, I guess, if you're into huge insects.

Mangoes!

2010-07-02T22:38:00.003+03:00

We have three mango trees in our yard! Every day we find 8-15 mangoes in the grass. We keep a few and let our gardner, Hassan, have the rest. Well, sometimes Joe hordes them all. He has been known to go outside early in the morning before Hassan gets here to pick up all the mangoes. They fall down pretty far, so usually one side is a bit soft from the impact. Once they turn completely yellow after about a day, they are so sweet and delicious. We have a stash of frozen mango slices in the freezer for smoothies. Yum!

PJs

2010-07-01T22:37:00.000+03:00

Due to the heat, we have made some modifications to Henry and Nathan's pajamas.

Before:

During:

After:

They look so cute in capri PJs!

Taxi trends

2010-06-28T20:30:00.003+03:00

It seems like there are a million taxis in Maadi alone. When they see me walking down the street, they all honk trying to get my attention and a fare. The taxis here run on natural gas and they just cruise around all day. I can get anywhere in Maadi for 5 LE (~$1). It is also the style for taxis to have a faux shag covering on the dashboard as seen below. Cool, eh?

June update

2010-06-25T18:54:00.001+03:00

The posts have been a little slim this month. After our Palmera trip, H&N got really sick and were diagnosed with giardia. Then I had giardia, and Joe had an amoeba. Good times. I decided not to post too much about the giardia sickness details and stool samples. Have I mentioned that every place here delivers? Did you know that the local lab will come to your house to pick up a stool sample? And the pharmacy will deliver any medicines right to your door. You don't even need a prescription!

The next week our air shipment was delivered to the villa. We decided to stay in the temporary apartment for a few more nights until we got the basics settled in the villa. June 10 was our fist night in the villa, and we really like it! On June 17 the sea shipment was delivered. Yeah for having our king size bed again! We have been spending a lot of time getting unpacked and sorting through our stuff. It seems like our life has revolved around packing and unpacking for so long.

This week was also one of the hottest yet. Highs around 110 degF. The locals say this is higher than normal for the summer, and I sure hope they are right. Today it cooled down to the low 90's and it makes a huge difference.

This weekend we were supposed to go to Paradise Beach on the Sinai side of the Red Sea, but then I came down with giardia again. And it's worse this time. So we'll try again next weekend.

That's about it for now. Henry and Nathan have been cruising around the villa on their new bikes with training wheels. And we have mango trees that provide anywhere from 2 to 8 mangoes per day. Joe has switched from a raspberry obsession to a mango obsession and we are building a good stock of frozen mango slices for smoothies.

Palmera

2010-06-24T18:39:00.009+03:00

A few weekends ago, we decided it was time to get out of Cairo again. So we booked a room at the Palmera hotel in Ain Soukhna. There was a terrible dust storm when we left on Thursday. It was like being in fog it was so thick. We hoped the coast would be clear, but the sand from the desert blew all the way to the Red Sea. On Thursday night we thought we'd have to head back and stay indoors all weekend. Thankfully, on Friday morning the dust had cleared out and the sky was blue. We had so much fun that we decided to stay another night. There were a mix of Egyptian nationals and foreigners at the hotel. Some people in string bikinis, and I saw one lady go swimming completed dressed with face veil and all.

Here is the view from the beach chairs to the sea:

These large palapas gave us plenty of shade:

A view down the coast. You can see some dust still blowing down this way:
We took a few walks out on this pier to look for crabs and fish:

H&N slept together on the floor on their Thermarest camping mattresses:

Here is Nathan relaxing with a sandwich:

Henry wrapped up in his towel:

Henry and me cuddling:

Nathan and Joe chowing down:

Dream Park

2010-06-08T11:01:00.000+03:00

On Saturday, May 22, we woke up to a dusty, yellow Egypt day. Thinking that we could escape the dust by going to Al-Azhar Park again, we drove up there first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, the dust was just as bad there. So we asked our driver, Hesham, if he knew of a park that would be away from the dust. He said yes, and off we went. We drove for about 45 minutes past the pyramids and found ourselves at Dream Park. While a theme park was not what we had in mind, we thought we'd check it out anyway. It turned out to be a super fun day. We paid an entrance fee of less than $20 US for all of us, and once inside all the rides were free. Amazingly, the place never got crowded! Almost all the rides were empty, and as soon as H&N climbed on, the rides would start just for them.

We headed over to the kiddy ride section, stopping on the way to admire this bizarre dinosaur statue:

H&N on a front end loader:

Henry on the merry-go-round:

Nathan on the merry-go-round:

H&N swinging high:

Tea cup ride:

Villa

2010-06-03T09:27:00.002+03:00

Here are some photos of our villa. We hope to move in by next week! Here is Joe standing near the driveway and car gate at the back of the house. This was widened so that we can fit our car inside the gate and near the house:

Here is the living area downstairs. The walls are all repainted and floors have been sanded and varnished:

This photo was taken near the front door looking out over the yard:

This one was taken from the corner of the yard near the small palm tree:

Aquarium

2010-06-01T09:21:00.007+03:00

On Friday, May 21, we took a trip to the "aquarium". I use the word "aquarium" loosely. First we ate a snack and used the "bathroom", then we stopped in at this playground. It had lots of good, rusty playground equipment - Egypt style:
Before we could shake our self-appointed guide by giving him some baksheesh, he led us into this musty man made cave: Inside were the fish tanks:

Most of the tanks were only half full of water and had catfish inside. Some didn't even have any fish:
The bad news is that the aquarium sucked. The good news is that Henry and Nathan could climb around near the tanks like they always want to:
Several displays were dry with stuffed creatures covered in dust: Nate and Henry's favorite part was running around inside the caves. We pretended they were dinosaur caves.
Here is a display showing a variety of pickled fish like in a science lab:
This one was so dusty I could barely get a photo. Super dusty and snarling seals:
Here is a view of the cave structure from the top. H&N were sad to leave because they loved the dinosaur caves. Side note: Twice (at the zoo and aquarium) we have been asked by locals to get photos with them. First Joe had his photo taken with a guy on his cell phone. Then the lady wanted her photo taken with me. I asked for a photo on my camera so you can see that it's true. I guess our white Alaskan skin is photo worthy.

No nap

2010-05-31T09:29:00.001+03:00

Sometimes, even though they need one, Henry and Nathan do not take a nap. These are also the times when they might emerge from their room with 6 shirts on:

Big and small

2010-05-30T09:15:00.002+03:00

One of my favorite times of day is when I check on the boys at night while they are sleeping. It reminds me that while they want to be big, they are still small.

Nathan:

Henry:

Throw another shrimp on the barbie!

2010-05-24T15:40:00.005+03:00

On Wednesday afternoon, Hesham, the boys and I took our second trip to downtown Cairo. It is a long, stressful trip, and best done with a driver. Our destination was the World Trade Center building which will always sound ominous. Here are N&H by a fountain in the center courtyard:

There was an Egypt dog near the fountain who tried to get near us. Before I could shoo it away, it touched my leg with its old dry nose. I like dogs, but these ones give me the creeps. View of the building upward:

Street view:

Why do I care so much about this old building, you ask? Well, it's because after nearly a year of research, phone calls, overseas letters, consulate and embassy visits, and excruciatingly detailed application forms, I picked up these from the Australian Embassy on the 11th floor!!! Three Australian passports for me, Nathan and Henry. Now if the sh!t hits the fan for Americans in Egypt, the ankle biters and I will become Aussies. We'll be in Perth throwing shrimp on the barbie, mate. Now what to do about Joe...

JW Marriott

2010-05-24T03:38:00.002+03:00

On Saturday, May 15, we joined our host family (and former Alaskans) at the JW Marriott. They have a membership to the Marriott, so we could go as guests for a small fee. The JW Marriott is about 40 minutes away from Maadi and at a higher elevation, so it is cooler with a breeze and has cleaner air. We all really enjoyed a day at the pool. Or I should say pools, for there are several: wave pool, heated pools, water slide, etc. It seems strange to need heated pools in Egypt, but the nights can be chilly so unheated pools can feel very cold. Especially for skinny 3.5 year old twins. So H&N loved the shallow heated pool and played in there for a long time. Here are some photos that Joe took from our lounge chairs while eating lunch.

H&N seem to be growing accustomed to this expat lifestyle. Too accustomed...

Al-Azhar Park

2010-05-23T03:35:00.000+03:00

On Friday, May 14, we went to the Al-Azhar Park. To paraphrase from the Lonely Planet guide book: It was opened in 2005, and is the city's only park of significant size. It has a profusion of gardens, emerald grass, fountains and a lake, while ambient Arabic music drifts from speakers. The park is located near the Citadel which is beautiful, and you can see a mosque in the background of the first picture.

View across man-made lake to mosque:

H&N staring at an ant. They didn't see many insects during the long Alaskan winter.

Different part of the gardens. You can see the hot, dusty haze over the city in the background.

Nathan resting in the shade near the large and completely unshaded playground:

Playing in the water fountain before the guard told them to stop. The veiled ladies in the background also cooled their feet in the water.

CAC

2010-05-22T03:32:00.005+03:00

The CAC is the place to be! It stands for Cairo American College, and it is a school for pre-K through high school kids. It is supposed to be an excellent school. Unfortunately, H&N just miss the September 1 cutoff so they won't be able to attend until fall 2011. No big deal except that without kids that attend the school, we don't have access to the campus. There is a huge wall all the way around it with guards at every entrance. With very limited ourdoor space for kids in Cairo, the large grassy lawns, pool and multiple play structures is a must for us. We got in a couple times as guests of other people, but we definitely needed our own pass. BP does an annual lottery drawing for people without kids at the school to get access passes, but that doesn't happen until August. Thanks to Joe, I now have a pass to the campus since BP agreed to transfer the pass of someone who is no longer in Cairo. So here we are enjoying some late afternoon playtime.

Henry beneath a flame tree:

See how happy they are to play?

Status update

2010-05-20T15:45:00.006+03:00

I think I am overdue for a status update, so here we go. The last two weekends have been very hot! Over 100 degF and dusty. There are two weather patterns so far: hot, dusty wind from the desert and cooler, clear, more humid 85 degF air from the Mediterranean. You can guess which one is better. The weekends have been hot and the weekdays cooler. The hot weekend weather has made our zoo trips and other outings a bit more difficult because we have a hard time with the heat. The forecast for this weekend looks good, however.

Joe and I bought the Rosetta Stone Arabic language software before moving here, and we have been good about doing at least 30 minutes per day. I can't say much yet, but I can recognize words that are spoken or written which is an improvement. BP also provides language classes, so we will sign up for those too. The software teaches 'classic' Arabic, and the Egyptian dialect is slightly different.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but Joe officially signed the rental lease for the villa that we like. I'll try to take some pictures this weekend. The landlady has many people over at the villa everyday working on things like painting, installing new air conditioning units, replacing sink faucets, repairing loose steps, etc. They are making good progress so I hope we can move in soon. It is normal for people to negotiate a wish list of things to be done to a place before signing the lease and moving in.

We still don't have our car yet. BP security had to drive it to Alexandria to get the duty free title transferred into Joe's name. It should be done soon, but it's not a big deal since we still have a rental car.

Last weekend we met and interviewed a lady, Lyn, who cleans and babysits for another BP family that are moving back to the UK. We like her a lot and have hired her to work for us starting in July. We also hired the gardener/security man who worked for the people who lived in the villa before us. His name is Mustafa. So we have assembled a staff of two people so far.

All four of us are getting rabies vaccinations which is a series of three shots. We have had two so far and get the final one next week. Apparently the risk of rabies is higher here than most places because of all the stray cats and dogs. So we will be protected just in case. Henry and Nathan now think there are two new species of animals in the world: Egypt cats and Egypt dogs which we never, never go near.

Finally, I signed up for some gym classes to keep me balanced: Pilates and Spinning. So far Spinning is my favorite. The Pilates is OK but I loved my core class in Alaska more. That's it for now!

Grandy Mad Mall

2010-05-10T07:03:00.000+03:00

So continuing our activities from the zoo weekend... On Saturday we went to new favorite hangout, the Maadi Grand Mall (or Grandy Mad Mall as the boys say it). It is the Sears Mall of Cairo! It is air conditioned and not crowded. Even this relatively modern mall is not super safe so we keep a close eye on the boys. Here they are peering down at the peeps below:

And I found some new places to shop. Just kidding. But there are a lot of shops selling fashionable head scarves.

Then we went to the BCA (some British expat association) club to play and eat dinner. Even though we only know two people in Maadi, we saw them there. On the way home, we took a local Cairo taxi with no seatbelts back to the apartment. Probably shouldn't do that again! Hosed down the boys and hit the sack to prepare for another week.

Waiting a loooong time for the food:
Playground at BCA:

Cairo Zoo

2010-05-09T02:32:00.032+03:00

We asked our driver to pick us up at 8:30am on Friday so we could take the boys out somewhere before it got too hot. Friday is a great day to do things that would otherwise be crowded because many people stay home or go to mosque. On the car ride over we saw the pyramids, several donkey carts hauling fruits and veggies and very bad air pollution.

As soon as we entered the zoo, we were suckered in by photo guide man. He took us on 'behind the scenes' tours to see and hold a 3 month old lion cub, feed hippos, hold a baby nile crocodile and two snakes. We decided to skip holding a 3 year old chimpanzee (concerned about face ripping). All of this in exchange for baksheesh (tips) for him and the various zoo keepers. He also took our photos, and we bought several from him. The five lovely keepsake photos are at the end of the post. They look bad quality because (1) the photos are bad quality and (2) I took a photo of the photos with my iPhone. This tour was fun and scary at the same time. It was strange because we (the caucasian non-Egyptians) were the only ones offered this kind of stuff.

I was relieved to be done with the tour after the reptile house, but then we were way at the other end of the zoo with hot and hungry kids. So we sat and had snacks and water. By late morning it was in the 90's and very hot. Many women wore long black robes which seemed unbearable. There are four main styles of dress for women: 1) no veil and normal clothes (very few of these), 2) veil and normal clothes (long sleeves and pants/skirts, sometimes very tight fitting, usually young women), 3) veil and robes (mostly middle aged women), and 4) complete head veil with only eyes showing and robes (usually also wearing pants, socks and sometimes gloves).

Of course at some point we had to use the public toilets. At almost every toilet you have to pay someone some baksheesh to use it. These were porceline holes in the ground for squatting over. Not great, but not that bad. Good thing we had lots of hand sanitizer during this trip.

Later on one of the zoo keepers let H&N feed camels pieces of bread.

An important thing to note is that cats were in every exhibit except the lions and baboons. These are some wiley Egyptian cats. You can even see one in the hippo video at the end! You can also hear me talking to some young Egyptian fellows who wanted to practice their English.

Week in review

2010-05-07T21:51:00.013+03:00

Here is a summary of our week.

H&N went to Small Talk every day this week. Their teacher's name is Jane, and she has about 2-3 Egyptian assistants who all seem very nice. Wednesday was Splash Day, and their room (Rainbows) had a turn playing in the pools on the roof.

While we have eliminated putting on snow clothes, we have added the task of sunscreen application every day. It is getting hotter every day this week. Yesterday and today are 40 C or 100 F!

It is tough living in hotels and apartments so long. H&N only have the same few toys to play with every day. Hopefully we will get our air shipment this week. Here they are building megastructures with magnatiles:Joe had more meetings with our potential new landlady about the villa this week. We have compiled our wish list of things to be done to the villa, and she has agreed to do most of them. Verbally agreed, that is. On Sunday there will be another meeting to finalize the wish list in writing and negotiate the rent. Hopefully it works out OK.

Joe and I got lots of errands done this week. I went to Carrefour again and bought a water dispenser so we don't have to use and throw away so many plastic bottles. Things like this can seem like major accomplishments here.

Every place in Maadi will deliver. This week I had McDonald's and Pizza Hut delivery. We also go to neighborhood markets, Kimo and Miriam's, frequently to get food and supplies. They have US brand food at high prices but it's worth it.

BP took our passports last week to work on getting our residency permits. Everything went smoothly. These permits are what we need to get our air shipment delivered and buy the Prado SUV.

On Wednesday I joined some ladies for a brunch at Maadi House. It's a really nice building with grass and pools for use by US embassy folks. One of my tasks is to figure out how to get access to this place. Must make friends with embassy people.

On Thursday Joe went on an all day geology field trip to the desert to see whale bones. It was a 3.5 hour drive each way into the 'real' Egypt. He wants me to mention that the whales had tiny feet.

Other good news: we are finally getting our sleep on track after 10 days!

Here are Nathan and Henry riding a carousel at the Carrefour mall:

Red Sea

2010-05-02T15:00:00.000+03:00

The work week in Egypt is Sunday to Thursday. So on Friday we took a drive to the Red Sea. It took about 1.5 hours to get there, but the road was wide and smooth. It happened to also be Henry and Nathan's half birthday! Here is a video of us at the Red Sea. We were at a beach with only locals. All of the women wore veils, and one lady near us was wearing the full head covering. I didn't think it would be good to go swimming in my one piece bathing suit, so I watched from the beach while the boys played.

Cairo Town

2010-05-01T16:57:00.013+03:00

We arrived at the temporary apartment at about 7 pm. It is a groundfloor apartment with three bedrooms, beautiful tile floors and super high ceilings. BP had stocked it with some food which was great. So we had some snacks and went to bed at midnight. And we woke up at 4 am. Thus began our days of waking up super early in the morning due to jet lag. Some days it was 3 am and some days 5 am (like today). It's not too bad except that I get super tired in the afternoon and again at about 8 pm. So we go to bed early and the boys take long naps. Here is a picture of Joe and the boys watching movies on the couch:

Since we got up early on Wednesday and the boys had lots of energy, I took them to Small Talk which is a half day preschool in Maadi. They had fun playing and riding trikes. BP provides a rental car and driver for 30 days while we get settled. Our drivers name is Hesham, and he's really nice. He is actually a very conservative driver for Cairo which makes it more relaxing to be in the car. While the boys were at Small Talk I ran errands to the BP Center and the grocery store. Joe came back around noon and we picked up the boys at 12:30 pm. I can't remember what else we did of significance except nap and get our stuff organized. That night we walked to a nearby restaurant. Here is a picture of Nate and Joe walking through Maadi:

Shopping is a new experience. It's going to take a while to find all the food we're used to eating. Milk is typically bought in boxes like below. They are room temperature and only require refrigeration when opened. Luckily most items have Arabic and English writing.

On Thursday the boys went to Small Talk again. I went to the bank to withdraw money to pay for Small Talk and other things. Then I went to a large store called Carrefour. Not someplace you want to go often, but it's good to stock up on food and other items. It's like the Cairo Fred Meyer. It takes a while to get there, so I got back around noon and then Joe and I picked up Henry and Nathan. Later than afternoon we toured a house that we might want to rent. Here they are called villas. It has a large yard with grass which is unusual. Joe will initiate the contract negotiation process this morning. Then later that night, Joe went to look at a car to buy. We will soon be the owners of this 2007 Toyota Prado. It's a very nice, low mileage car that seats 8 and is all set up for desert camping. We will officially have it once the owner gets back from vacation and we get our permanent work visas. That should happen later this week.

I haven't taken lots of photos yet because 1) our cameras were all out of batteries and 2) the local police don't like to see people take photos. The Egyptian police can be suspicious of people taking photos because there are military zones and lots of embassies in the area. So I'll get some iPhone pictures for now until I get the lay of the land.

Anchorage to Cairo

2010-04-28T21:36:00.009+02:00

Our first plane departed Anchorage at about 9:30 pm and arrived in Minneapolis at 5:45 am local time. Henry and Nathan were excited to finally be on our way to Egypt. Below is a picture of Henry and Joe getting ready for take off:

The boys did great, but it still seemed like a very long 5 hour layover in Minneapolis. Probably because we only got a few hours sleep. We had some adventures like getting stuck in the train that goes between terminals at the airport. We were only riding it for fun. Good thing we didn't have a tight connection. :)

Nathan and Henry rode on a motorcycle video game through Hong Kong:

Then we took a 2.5 hour flight to New York JFK airport. I must say that this airport sucks! It makes other airports seem like spa resorts. Within a couple hours of landing we got the darlings nestled down in beds of two chairs pushed together in the Delta lounge, and they slept for about 2 hours! When we got there the lounge was empty and gradually it began to fill up. We got lots of dirty looks from people about taking up so many chairs, but they obviously didn't know the rule: Never, never wake a sleeping overtired child. Here is Nathan getting some Z's:

And Henry:

The misery of the long day set in once our flight from JFK to Cairo was delayed. And when a flight is delayed for maintenance, that is not good. It ended up that our flight was almost 4 hours late, and we didn't leave New York until about 1:30 am. Here is Henry and Joe worn out at JFK:

Then our luck turned, and we all slept the entire 10.5 hour flight to Cairo! I only woke up to hear the pilot announcing our decent. (The secret pill Joe and I took is Lunesta.) We arrived at about 6 pm local time. All of our thousand bags, boxes and carseats made it, and we only had one box checked by Egyptian customs agents. Our box of junk was not of interest to them so we passed on through with the rest. Ha, ha! Suckers!

Last Days

2010-04-28T21:23:00.004+02:00

Now I can hardly remember what we did during the last few days in Anchorage. Based on pictures, I know for sure we went to the Natural History Museum and a playground. We also shared Pizza Night with Carrie, Brook, Finn & Reid and had a yummy lunch with Rob, Amy, Robyn and Nolan! The extra days in Alaska were good for us since we got to have more time with friends and rest up a bit for the long flights.

Here are some pictures from the Natural History Museum. Nathan posed as a native Alaskan dinosaur:

Me in front of a short-faced bear skeleton:

Nathan next to and wearing a saber-toothed cat head:

Digging for dinosaurs:

Hanging out (literally) on our last day in Anchorage:

Vacationing in Anchorage

2010-04-21T07:13:00.009+02:00

Our second reservation for Monday was cancelled. Now the earliest we can leave Anchorage is Sunday night, and we will be avoiding Europe altogether this time. Our new route is Anchorage to Minneapolis to New York JFK to Cairo. The flights are not as good as the original ones, but this way we can avoid the volcano zone.

With all of our moving chores done, we have been hitting the town. On Saturday we went downtown to the Kids' Fair in the morning and had dinner with our friends Amy, Rob, Nolan and Robyn in the evening. On Sunday we swam in the pool in the morning and enjoyed Taco Night with the Predegers. See photo below of Henry, Finn, Reid and Nathan in costume.

On Monday morning we visited a new hangout, Arctic Playgroundz. Henry (dragon) and Nathan (gorilla) really enjoyed putting on costumes. You can see an unknown child trying to horn in on our photo below.

In the afternoon I took them to Bouncin' Bears and then to the Dimond Mall. We rode cars, did arcade games, rode escalators and got photos in one of those booths. I wore them down! Then we topped it off with dinner at Don Jose's restaurant, and we met Don Jose! Henry and Nathan were very impressed by him.

Today we took the boys to Arctic Gymnastics for some hard core exercise. We ran, balanced, jumped on trampolines, did obstacle courses, and jumped into pits of soft foam. Then we went to Alyeska for their fourth ski lessons. They did great and both spent their lessons going up and down the Chair 3 lift and runs. Below is a picture of them getting shuttled from the daylodge to the lift. By the end of the lesson, Henry was skiing without Edgie Wedgies! Both kids were very tired and slept the whole way home where we picked up Moose's Tooth pizza.

After relaxing and watching the Cinderella movie, Henry applied a healthy amount of "medicine" (body lotion) to his forehead. That tiny scratch should heal in no time!

We found out that we have to move hotels tomorrow since ours is full for the next few days. So we will spend some time relocating all our stuff (junk) tomorrow.

Ready, Set, Wait

2010-04-16T06:31:00.007+02:00

Day one of our adventure was not what I expected. We woke up, got all our last minute gear packed, ate breakfast and had most of our bags and boxes moved into a truck to go to the airport when we got a call... It turned out that our flight to London was cancelled due to a volcano eruption in Iceland! What is it with our family and volcanoes? Thank goodness we found out before we were stranded in Seattle. The next available date for our flights is Monday, so we checked back into our hotel room and got a rental car. It was really difficult to break the news to Nate and Henry that we were not getting on the plane today because they have been looking forward to it for so long. What they got out of the conversation was that a volcano exploded and broke our airplane. Well, close enough.

Since the sun was shining and we had new snow on the ground, we decided to take Henry and Nathan to Alyeska for skiing lessons. This was their third lesson and they did great! They can stop and make turns. Henry even rode on the ski lift! The picture below is Henry skiing down the 'advanced' bunny hill.

While I am disappointed that our trip is delayed, we will try to make the best of the situation and have some fun. Four days isn't that long anyway, right?

Egypt

2010-01-12T03:30:00.003+02:00

Those of you who read this blog probably already know, but the Chmielowskis are moving to Egypt!! Joe received a job offer with BP in December and we decided to take it! Our expected move date is in March or April. We hope to have lots of visitors.

Santa Day!

2010-01-12T03:18:00.003+02:00

Santa came to the ELC! Henry and Nathan remember that Santa gave them "spicy" candy canes. Each one said that he asked Santa for "candy and toys". And Santa delivered with lots of toys (and some candy) for Christmas in California. It's amazing how Santa always knows where you are, even when you are away from home.

Class photo:

Nate & Santa:
Henry asks for candy:

Birthday song video

2009-12-11T04:38:00.003+02:00

Maui luau

2009-12-08T03:03:00.003+02:00

I can't resist posting this angelic picture of Nathan and Henry at a luau in Maui a couple weeks ago.

Random

2009-12-08T02:17:00.000+02:00

Here is a picture of Nathan in his Spiderman outfit (on trike with helmet). Lookin' good! Henry and Nathan wore their Spiderman outfits many places in Anchorage and were often seen at Fred Meyer. Shoppers at Fred's were probably wondering how the same Spiderman child could be so many places at once, not realizing that there were two of them.

It is fun to observe the growing minds of kids. Nate and Henry are interested in building more complex structures now and can play with them for quite a while. So smart and good.

Firemen

2009-12-08T02:11:00.002+02:00

I bought Halloween costumes early this year and selected Fireman (with axe) and Spiderman outfits. Nathan and Henry loved the costumes and took their roles as firemen very seriously. They spent hours "working" on the log pile in the backyard. I'm not sure why firemen would need to dismantle a log pile, but their brains just associate fires and wood. We didn't get into the details of how firemen put out fires.

Alaska State Fair 2009

2009-12-08T01:16:00.001+02:00

I have lots of video of the boys from the fair, but the only still photos are posted below. More pony rides!! Joe and I ran the boys ragged, we had so much fun. It was a free-for-all of food, candy, reptiles, rides, tractors and animals. After the fair, we drove out to Copper Center to stay with Joe's brother's family before spending Labor Day weekend at the homestead. The boys had a slumber party with their cousins, and I think they were up until midnight. Craziness.

The last picture is from the Beach Boys concert. Joe and I went out mid-week and without kids for a date. It was fun!

Toddler beds

2009-12-08T01:12:00.000+02:00

Below are pictures of Henry and Nathan's toddler beds. We bought these early in the summer thinking "surely they'll climb out of the cribs any day now". Our boys loved their cribs so much and they never climbed out! Amazing. Joe and I finally kicked them out of their cribs in early September. H&N are getting so long and we want to get some use out of these beds before they outgrow them. So far there haven't been too many problems with getting out of bed at night. Sometimes I have to separate them at nap time because they get wild. All in all, it has been a success.

Giddy Up

2009-12-08T01:09:00.001+02:00

Nate and Henry are now experienced horsemen. They used to choose the smallest ponies like Blossom, but now they pick the biggest ones like Big Red. They have ridden ponies all over Anchorage this year, and the pictures below were taken outside the Sears Mall this summer. Before I had kids, I thought it was mean to make these ponies trudge around in a circle. Now our car always breaks for ponies wherever they may be trudging. Whatever H&N want, H&N get. :)

3 year old check up and stats

2009-11-05T00:58:00.002+02:00

Henry and Nathan had their 3 year old check-up with the doctor yesterday, and they are doing great. Since we have already had the H1N1 virus, the only immunization they got was a nasal spray for seasonal flu. No stabbings! But the 4 year old check-up will be a doozy for shots. For the first time, the nurse checked vision with an eye chart of symbols and blood pressure with an arm cuff. Henry was afraid of the arm cuff even though he went second. Nothing major to report except their height and weight statistics.

Height:

38.5"-38.75": 75th percentile

Weight:

Nathan 30.5 lbs: 25th percentile

Henry 32 lbs: 50th percentile

The Big 3

2009-10-30T18:44:00.001+02:00

Happy 3rd birthday to my two angels, Henry and Nathan! I love you very much!!

Fair teaser

2009-09-12T18:00:00.001+02:00

A quick teaser to show how much fun we had at the Alaska State Fair last weekend. On the first photo attempt while trying to help hold up the tail, one of the boys accidentally "goosed" the alligator. So they were asked to keep their hands on top of its tail.

A handsome, mustachioed family

2009-09-11T18:00:00.001+02:00

Joe bought a package of stick-on mustaches at the toy store, and we all took a turn trying them on. We're lookin' good with our mustaches, wouldn't you say?

Wild West Nate:

Señor Hache:

Gamblin' Joe:

Zorro:

Nate tries a mustache/beard combo:

Summer mix

2009-09-10T18:00:00.000+02:00

Here is a mix of photos from July and August.

First, Nate and Henry reading books with me:

Joe gives a horseback ride to a kitty cat (Nathan):

Me and Henry snuggle in his crib:

Silly Nathan after waking up from a nap:

Nathan loves putting the corner of his blanket in his ear. It soothes his nerves:

Henry and Nate ride their pony:

Living Life

2009-09-05T18:00:00.000+02:00

While Meemaw babysat H&N, Joe and I spent part of a day in Girdwood. We went paragliding off Mount Alyeska for the first time and it was super fun!

Joe says he wasn't nervous:

Me getting ready to launch with several onlookers:

Joe took this photo of me in the air:

Getting ready to land:

Safely back on the ground:

Flashback to Fourth of July weekend

2009-09-03T18:00:00.003+02:00

Here's a flashback to Fourth of July weekend at the homestead in Sourdough. Henry and Nathan were modeling the latest in outdoorsman chic clothing: Osh Kosh B'Gosh flannel shirts and Carhartt overalls (with embroidered names on front and excavator on back). We had great weather (sunny and in the 80's) and great company with Meemaw and Grandpa Dennis.

Henry, a kid on the move:

Nathan hauling a rock to throw in the lake:

Looking for bugs with Dad:

Uncle Jon has a super cool RC plane:

But it's a bit loud:

Ironman & Ninja Turtles

2009-08-31T18:00:00.000+02:00

Since Nate and Henry very rarely watch TV, and then only watch "mom & dad approved" dvds, I'm not sure where they learned to love cartoon characters like Power Rangers, Ironman, Spiderman and Ninja Turtles. But they do! They love these shirts as soon as they lay eyes on them. Meemaw spoils the boys by sending them super cool shirts from California to feed their addiction. Here Nathan models a blue Ninja Turtles shirt, and Henry sports a yellow Ironman shirt.

A rainy morning

2009-08-30T18:00:00.002+02:00

On rainy days it's important to get the boys out of the house to burn off some energy. On this Saturday morning, we hit Bouncin' Bears for a jumping and sliding good time. Here are a couple blurry iPhone photos of Henry and Nathan on the jumping pillow.

Garage door

2009-08-29T18:00:00.000+02:00

You know you're a homeowner when getting a new garage door makes you excited. Now to paint it to match the house.

Wild Animals

2009-08-28T18:00:00.000+02:00

Sometimes when Joe and I go to pick up the boys at the end of the day, we find they have turned into wild animals!!

This giraffe (Nathan) is eating foliage:

A brown bear (Henry) is loose in the classroom:

Hikers

2009-08-27T18:00:00.000+02:00

We have taken a couple trips to Flattop. The first one was during a cool and windy day when Henry and Nathan bagged Blueberry Hill. The second one pictured below is at the river running alongside the powerline trail. Joe and I have stricter rules during "hikes". One rule is that we do not pick up the kids. They walk the whole way on their own (at a slow pace) and do great. They need to build up their baby quads. Nate and Henry love seeing all the dogs out on walks at Flattop.

Singleton time

2009-08-26T18:00:00.001+02:00

During late June and early July we were lucky to have Meemaw staying with us. Grandpa Dennis came up for a week over 4th of July. Henry and Nathan each got a 'singleton day' where they got to spend solo time with Meemaw. She took them on fun outings.

Here is Henry at the museum:

Nathan listening to live jazz :

Henry in front of new plants in the backyard:

Giddy up

2009-08-25T18:00:00.002+02:00

On a sunny weekend, we are known to hit the downtown market and let the boys ride ponies. Blossom (the white horse below) is their favorite, although Ninja and Little Red have also given excellent rides. Nathan was brave and took the first pony ride, and he is in the first two pictures. After Nathan proved it safe, Henry wanted to ride but only if he could have the same horse as Nathan. Henry is in the bottom two photos.

Sum, sum, summertime

2009-08-24T18:00:00.000+02:00

We were fortunate to have spells of warm weather and sunshine this summer. Unlike last year's Summer That Will Not Be Mentioned. There were times when even I was too hot. Strange but true. Whenever possible, we would fill up the kiddie pool on the deck and let the boys play outside. Even Joe got in on the action.

Long time, no blog

2009-08-24T00:07:00.002+02:00

I have lots of excuses to explain why I haven't posted anything on the blog lately, but I won't bore you with those. Rest assured, we are alive and well and having fun. Henry and Nathan began potty training on Memorial Day weekend, and they did great. Another big milestone for the boys. The next one is to move them from cribs to their toddler beds. I'm not at all biased, but H&N are extremely cute lately. They like to do more pretend play, like imagining they are baby kittens or baby dinosaurs just hatched from the egg. The boys are also getting bigger and taller, and they can climb all over the playground equipment without help. They can even pee in the toilet without a step stool (tmi)! I'll post a few photos from the summer.

More school photos?!

2009-06-25T22:13:00.001+03:00

I had to post these from the more recent photo shoot at school. Angels!

Happy father's day video

2009-06-25T22:02:00.003+03:00

Happy Father's Day 2009 from Jessie Chmielowski on Vimeo.

Solstice weekend at Spencer Glacier

2009-06-25T08:14:00.008+03:00

We spent a fun-filled weekend camping at the Spencer Glacier with a bunch of friends. We drove to Portage, boarded the train and got off at the Spencer Glacier whistle stop:

Then we walked a little over a mile to the campground:

Joe and I each slept with a child in these 2-man tents:

Nathan cozy in his sleeping bag:

Our tents were very close to this fabulous view of the glacier:
Glacier view near the campground:

Each day we walked along this 1.5 mile trail right up to the glacier:

Joe at the glacier:

Henry walking on the glacier:

Angel Face Nathan on the train going home:

Unknown, Baby

2009-05-04T22:15:00.006+03:00

The ELC had "off season" school pictures in April, and we got the proofs on Friday. They are to die for - so cute. But it reminded me of their first school photo experience at the ripe age of one. When I picked up the boys in the afternoon I was informed that Henry cried during the photo shoot and his pictures didn't come out very well. So I just ordered the ones of Nathan. Hey, they're identical twins so all you really need is a picture of one of them, right? Well, it didn't seem like a good idea to order a bunch of crying baby photos for distribution to the family. A few weeks later when the final pictures were delivered I spied something very interesting in their classroom. A photo roll of all the kids' photos including Henry. The teachers allowed me to take Henry and Nathan's mini-proof photos home, and here they are:

School Daze

2009-04-30T20:00:00.001+03:00

My angelitos are two and a half years old today! They are so cute and so good. Here are a few photos of us in action taken by the teachers at the ELC.

Nathan caught on the blue couch:

Henry playing quietly:Jessie & Nathan making a book of family photos:

Henry, Jessie & Nathan working on the book:

B Ball

2009-04-29T01:23:00.000+03:00

Nathan playing some basketball in the sunshine:

Nathan running away from Henry who thinks he's the only one who can play with the basketball: