New

Zach is not a sandals guy.  He'll wear them, but he prefers to be in socks and shoes, even when its 94 degrees outside.  Sadly, his Jake and the Never land Pirate slip on shoes were totally worn out.  We headed to the store yesterday and Zach was beyond ecstatic to find glow in the dark Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shoes.  Life is good for this four year old!

We're about a month into swim season for the boys and the chlorine is taking a toll on Bens hair.  Its dried out and usually full of knots.  Ben was tired of it and volunteered to let Jon cut his hair.  That never happens.  When it was all done, the first thing he said: "I kind of like it!"

Ramadan

I'm in the process of volunteering with an organization that matches Americans with students from the middle east who are here to study.  Your level of involvement can range anywhere from picking a student up at the airport and dropping them at the dorm to having a student move in with you for a school year or more.
The students can be pretty much any age.  Some students have family or friends here already, but some don't.  We are a friendly face in a scary situation.  The goal is to be a friend and at the same time expose them to Christianity. We don't have any illusions that we'll convert all or even one of the students we come into contact with. We've learned that Muslims have just as many misconceptions about Christians as we have about them.  This is a great chance to learn about each other in a safe setting.
Last Friday, Jon and I had participated in our first event. Muslims are currently celebrating Ramadan. A group of about 70 volunteers and students met to break the fast and share a meal together.  It was a little overwhelming at first.  We still don't know all the intricacies with women greeting men (married vs single), what is or isn't appropriate conversation topics--we met with students from opposing tribes and asking them about that was a big no no.  Some spoke English really well and some didn't, some had the "I'm superior" mentality that we were warned about which got a little frustrating.  Fortunately, when food is involved, most of that gets set aside. We had 75% ethnic food.  I tried most of it, but some I just couldn't bring myself to put on my plate.
Overall, I thought it went really well.  The media teaches us to fear Muslims, but fear was the last emotion I was feeling.  I met a large group of friendly people.  They gave me a geography lesson, taught me some Arabic that I'm sure I've already forgot and introduced me to some interesting food! I'm definitely looking forward to the next event.

Meet 1

The boys swam in their first meet of the season last week. They both had a blast and Ben even came in 2nd for breast stroke in one of the races.

This is my favorite picture.  Sam was ridiculously excited to swim.

Ben giving us the thumbs up from across the pool.

Backyard fun

Splash pad

Explorers

The little ones checked out a new playground last week while Ben and Sam had swim practice.  It was a success!

Zoo

Jon took a couple days off this week and we headed to the zoo on Tuesday.

The kids were excited to go and they lasted a lot longer than we thought they would.

Zach was in heaven when we got to the giraffes. He loved being so close to them.

Zach wanted to make a scared face like his brother.

As always, I think the tram ride was their favorite!

Only my kid!

Today was picture day for swim team. We're having an unusually cold couple of days so the kids were outside in swim suits in 50 degree weather.  To make things worse, Sam cut his toe 2 minutes before they were up for their pictures.  He was bleeding, sore and freezing and it did not make for a good picture.  I'm hoping the photographer was able to get a slightly better picture than this one.  At least I was able to convince Ben to comb his hair this morning!

3 out of 4

Ben is still on a long hair kick.  The rest are all about short hair.  They got hair cuts today and they love them.  Ellie wanted to go super short.  You can't really tell in this picture, but she got a ton cut off and looks like a completely different kid.
We went swimming (in the rain) after lunch and had the whole pool to ourselves.  They amaze me every time.  Ben and Sam practiced some of their moves for swim team and are looking great.  Ellie and Zach both wore arm floaties and were all over the pool.  They can finally reach the bottom. Between that and being able to float, its like a whole new world for them.  I forgot to take my phone to get pictures, but I think we'll be there a ton this summer so I'll have plenty of photo ops.

Happy kids

Its rare that I can get all four to agree to a picture and then all smile at the same time.

Piranhas

Its that time again.  Swim team practice officially started yesterday.  This year we have 2 piranhas.  I was a little worried about Sam.  He can swim, but not long distances and he barely moves his arms. His coach told him he kicked butt so he's full of confidence and ready to tackle it all.  Benjamin (my non athlete) actually got pulled out to show the bigger kids how to do a proper breast stroke! I'm one proud mama!

Wordless Wednesday: Face meets ground!