Fun with Daddy

The kids love having daddy around, and they have already adjusted, more quickly than anyone else. Our living situation now often reminds me of a sitcom - we could call it Two Brothers, Their Wives, and Two Kids. It could detail the neat-freak obsessions of one brother and the opposite tendencies of the other (my husband being the neat-freak), with the antics of children and dogs thrown in. But for now, we'll just go to the photos. Enjoy!

Misha was absolutely thrilled to take Daddy to his Fall Festival at his school. Here he is with his great second-grade teacher.

South Dakota!

The amazing Fall Festival petting zoo.

Sebby fell in love with the baby goats.

This sweet screech owl came to watch us eat dinner one night. 

A very cool, very large leaf-footed bug we found shivering in the porch.

Playing Magic.

Dominos!

Spinning on the giant globe ... immediately after eating a whole lot of frozen yogurt. Oog.

Building furniture! We have since branched out from Wal-Mart build-it kits to scoping out Home Depo for wood. Exciting!

A fabulous thrift-store find for the kids. :)

We waited for Josh's return before we made a group trip to the Renaissance Festival. With Bud and Ashley's help, we put together fitting costumes and enjoyed the day meandering among quaint shops, people with cute elf ears, tasty smells, and enchanting shows.

My hobbits :)

Just before Thanksgiving, we had a cozy Christmas-decorating evening. The boys put up the tree, Ashley made delicious enchiladas, and Josh and I headed up the desserts, making peanut butter cookies AND fudge. So decadent!

Snowflakes from coffee filters. Misha made tons!

Setting up the Polar Express train

So cozy!

Cheerio Monsters in Houston

Frozen Yogurt!

It's amazing how little time I have to myself when the kids aren't in school all day! As you can tell, I'm way behind in the blog, but I'm in the process of remedying that. We spent our first week back in the States with Bud and Ashley in the Houston area - a place that definitely felt a little strange after just spending two years in Kyrgyzstan. I kept forgetting that I was now in the same time zone as my parents, it felt unnatural to talk to other people's children in English, and the perfectly landscaped streets made me long for the raw, overgrown beauty of Bishkek. But America's ubiquitous water fountains and bathrooms are wonderful, as is its impressive selection of breakfast cereal. Some funny moments:

- Misha running up to a fire hydrant and exclaiming, "Hey, I remember these!"

- Writing my last name with a Russian "L" on a bank slip, then puzzling over how I could cover up such an awkward mistake in my own name.

- The boys downing bowls of Cheerios three times a day, much to the amazement of Bud and Ashley. Ashley calls them her "Cheerio monsters."

- The boys and I all exclaiming over the pink and green Oreos in the grocery store.

We had a great week in Texas. Here are the photos:

Bud and Ashley's backyard has an aggressive bamboo patch.

Picnic in the park

Ashley's delicious chicken salad for our day out

The boys love the pets. Here they cuddle with Sherlock, who tolerated their affection.

The dinner theater where Bud performs and Ashley manages has tons of costumes for dressing up .... so we did!

Bud and the boys before his show.

"Dr. Do-Bad," a.k.a. Bud, with Misha.

Eating (what else?) Cheerios.

Ashley in the kitchen of their great house.

Riding Bud's longboard. It didn't take long before they were cruising all the way to the park on this!

Often Misha steered and pushed while Sebby rode on the back.

Climbing a palm tree in the backyard.

Fun on an old tree at a nearby park.

Misha's puppet show

Sebby cuddled up with Watson.

Unicycle time

 

Flowers are everywhere in Texas.

A heron and an egret.

Misha's Ushu demonstration - on Ashley's beautiful Kyrgyz rug. :)

Sebby has learned a lot of Ushu from Misha.

We have since been hanging out in the Dakotas, but we'll be going back to Houston soon.