Fun at the Pool

I have definitely been a slack blogger since being in the US. We are having so much fun and with so many visitors all the time, getting on the computer to blog is not something I have enough time for. Had to post this fun photo from the pool yesterday. We are still on Kiawah Island but the kids needed a break from the beach. It was fine by us! We decided to do shoulders and chicken fights so here I am with our trio, Terence, Mia and Ali and then our great friends Riley and his sister, Keira. They've been with us since Sunday along with our friends Agnes, Dennis and Margaret. Everyone leaves today - boo hoo... And then we head up north on Saturday - double boo hoo.

This photo was taken at the Sandcastle pool on Kiawah Island. The best thing to come out of this day was that I met a very nice lady who heard we lived in Europe. Dottie and I got to talking as she told me her grandchildren (twin 7 yr old boy / girl) also live in Europe. When I found out more, I found out they are in Paris with their American dad and French mom and they spend 4 weeks every summer in Kiawah!!! Bravo. T and Mia will now have good friends to play with, do tennis camp with, etc next year. And, they can all practice their Francais! Dottie was equally excited so we exchanged contact details.

While we've been here Terence and Mia have been working with a French tudor 2 - 3 days per week. This week they had off as Corinne returned to work (she's a French teacher) and we are surrounded by lots and lots of friends. It was very helpful and she was very good and very strict with them. It seems cruel to not let them have fun during the summer but since we don't speak French and they aren't hearing much of it this summer, it is important. They also worked a lot on their reading, writing and math so I was very happy that their brains' power is not fading in the sun!

Gone Fishing

Yesterday Curt went out and purchased some fishing rods as he thought it was time to take the kids fishing. About 2 years ago he took T but a baby alligator kept stealing their bate in one of the lagoons. This time he thought it was time to try the ocean and see if they had better luck.

We thought it was best to wait until a quiet time on the beach so we went for an early dinner and went out afterwards at about 7pm.

I took quite a few snaps for you to look through. It was a perfect evening!

Ali and I were the spectators. I brought out a good book, The Help, so read, took snaps and sipped on my white wine while Curt fished with T and Mia.

Then suddenly Curt screamed my name! T had caught his first fish only 15 mins after we started!!! It was so exciting! The few people on the beach ran over to see the big fish that he pulled out of the ocean... It's a good thing as Curt had trouble pulling the hook out of the fish. We wanted to throw him back as we had already eaten dinner! T was so disappointed. He wanted to take it home and have me cook it. I'll admit I am an adventurous cook but cleaning a freshly caught fish is still something I haven't yet attempted. Nor, do I plan to anytime soon! Around here there are tons of local fisherman selling already cleaned and filleted fish... Next time maybe we'll take T's catch over. Then, I'll cook him up for dinner.

Can anyone tell me what kind of fish this is?

And the video of it all in action! Look how excited T is!

Mia never managed to catch anything but here she patiently waited by her pole.

Then, T caught a 2nd fish. Much smaller but still a thrill. He reeled it in all by himself.

After each fish he went and sat by himself in one of our chairs. I finally asked him what he was thinking about. I asked him if he was sad that we didn't keep the fish to cook up. He answered, "No. Not really." thought a bit longer and then answered, "I'm just thinking about how that fish felt when it was out of the water. He probably feels like I do when I am under water." He's always such a deep thinker...

3 Kids on the Beach

This was taken last week when we were walking down the beach (they are on the dunes here) to get ice cream at the Sanctuary Hotel. It's very, very difficult to get a photo of the 3 of them all posing (ie looking at the camera, eyes open, not making silly faces, etc). So, I have to share it as I like it!

Fun Ali videos

Okay - I must admit that Ali's recent progress with swimming has amazed me. At year 1 she had no fear and swam with arm bands on her own. However, at year 2 she developed a fear and I remember spending last summer with her digging her finger nails into my neck and squeezing to hold on every time we got into the pool.

I wasn't sure what to expect this summer as the few times throughout the winter / spring when we swam she wasn't very keen to let go of me - even with her arm bands on. Our summer began with her clinging on again but within a couple of weeks she not only let go, but took off her arm bands and pretty much taught herself to swim! It's very cool. She dives into the waves at the beach and in the pool she is just tall enough to stand in the 3 foot shallow end. Yesterday while we were there she demonstrated swimming and even managed to... well, swim! Sometimes she pretended to swim but her feet didn't leave the ground. This time she swam on her front and back! And she even did the shark swim - kicking and her hands together making a fin above her head... It was fantastic... We are so excited and even happier that she decided to do this completely on her own and without any pushing. It makes mom and dad's lives much easier without her finger nails in our neck and shoulders!

2 Kiawah Videos

Okay - we are having way too much fun... I have had no time to blog as we are non-stop on Kiawah Island. This week we have Curt's family and there are 14 of us swimming, biking, playing tennis, playing in the sand, eating out, etc.

Anyhow, here are 2 great - and very different - videos that I took this week. I will get the photos and more videos up next week when some of our guests leave and I have a bit more down time.

This first one is of our recent bike ride with the kids and Curt's brother, Jerry. Mia, in her fast wild manner, tried overtaking Terence on the bike path and their pedals knocked into each other and she fell over. Her fall wasn't so bad but she did land on her hands and scratch them up pretty well. She was too injured to ride her bike the couple miles back so my superhero hubby took her bike and put it on his handle bars while she rode on the back of his bike (there's a rack there). While riding behind them I got a very shaky video as it was so funny. Everyone who passed us just laughed or shouted out something funny as it is certainly not something you see every day.

Some of the storms here are just amazing. None of them last very long but they are great to watch. This was last night while I was making dinner (shrimp and scallops). It was unbelievable! It came out of no where and we all sat on our apartment balcony just amazed by it's speed and scariness.

Kiawah Fun

No time to post a long message. Just had to share one photo and an update about our whereabouts. We are now on Kiawah Island where we spend every summer. We've caught up with lots of friends and now have Curt's sister, brother, mom and dad. Tonight his sister Julie, brother-in-law Alan and nephew Dan arrive. Tomorrow their sister Paula arrives. We are having so much fun. The kids went to Camp Kiawah 2 days last week and are scheduled to attend 3 days next week (even Ali). Here is a beach shot right outside our villa.

More Pool Time

This pool in Wichita, KS is seriously so fantastic. Here are 2 more images and 3 videos (with my waterproof camera) from our swimming day yesterday. Ali has been amazing. She went from clinging on to us and wearing arm bands at my brother's home 1 1/2 weeks ago to wearing NO armbands and really trying hard to swim. She actually is swimming! That's the nutty part. She pushes off the bottom and kicks her legs. She's become quite brave and usually jumps (almost dives) into the pool. She was a bit worried in the video below and wanted to hold my hand. If I didn't have the video camera in my hand she'd probably dive to me. Next time I'll try and get Curt to do the camera thing while she's junping out to me. Her progress has been amazing! The other day she insisted on flipping off the side of the pool. She managed to do it before I realized that she was actually trying it. I think she remembered her 4 year old cousin, Jaxon, trying it so she too had to. She's went from being so timid to so brave! I can't wait to see how she'll be in a month's time after we've been swimming everyday!

Ali swimming video

Mia swimming

And, T swimming

Japanese Steakhouse in Kansas City

Tonight we went for dinner in Kansas City with Curt's 2 aunts and 2 uncles. Actually, during the day we hit the Worlds of Fun amusement park in KC, Missouri which was a blast. Terence and Mia were tall enough to go on most of the rollercoasters so we hit all but 2! There was also tons for Ali to ride on. It was a perfect day as the temperature was in the 80s (versus 100s as it has been) and it wasn't too crowded. There is nothing worse than waiting most of the day in lines!

After the amusement park we went for dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse near Sally and Mike's home. Our kids love these steakhouses as they love the fire and watching the guys cook in front of us. The food was delicious and we all rolled out of there after far too much too eat. As always T started with sushi.

The waitress was amazed that he loved sashimi (the raw fish with NO rice) and how quickly he ate it. He only shared a very little with his sisters. In the photo above right is Aunt Karen, Uncle Mike and Uncle Jim. Uncle Mike's seeing eye-dog, Blossom, is under his legs. She liked it there as there was lots of shrimp that had been dropped (ie see below videos).

Our chef was fab! He asked if the kids liked SpongeBob and when they all shouted, 'Yes!', he created a SpongeBob out of the fried rice!

At the end, he challenged all of us to catch some shrimp in our mouths. T actually managed to catch 3 in a row - our tables top record. My favorite is Aunt Sally whose shrimp ended up... well, watch the video... ;-)

YMCA Fun

There's a new YMCA that has opened this May 2009 in Wichita, KS. It is FANTASTIC! Huge waterslides, a lazy river (the one that goes round and round while you float on your innertube), basketball hoops, lots of kiddie stuff, etc. It was amazing. We went for the day today and got in for only $10 for the entire day. This was the family rate!

The kids loved this giant bucket that filled up with water and dumped every 5 minutes or so... This video was taken on my new Flip camera while Curt and the kids waited and then got dumped on.

Wichita Visit

On our first night (Saturday) in Wichita, we went over to Curt's Uncle Tim and Aunt Katrina's beautiful new home for a bbq. They live on this lake that is filled with ducks so the kids immediately gravitated over. Katrina already had bags of bread for the kids to feed the ducks. It was a perfect evening with great food and company. The party consisted of our five, Curt's parents, his sisters Paula and Sheila, Aunt Katrina and Uncle Tim (hosts), cousin JJ, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Romayne and Katrina's brother, Ray, who was visiting from Texas.

the view of the lake from one of their back terraces.

Mia and Ali feeding the ducks with Aunt Paula

Katrina and JJ handing down more bread for the ducks (above left) and Tim cooking up some delicious kebabs (above right).

Curt, Tim, Jerry and JJ (above left) hanging by the bbq. Pat, Paula, Harry (Curt's parents and sister) inside waiting on the dinner.

Some Fav Photos from Indy

We are now in Kansas with Curt's family having a fantastic time. On Thursday, July 9th we drove from my brother's home in Indianapolis to Cincinnati to catch our flight to Kansas City (MCI) airport. We spent our first 2 nights there with Curt's Uncle Mike and Aunt Sally. We all had an enjoyable time catching up with them as well as Curt's Uncle Jim and Aunt Karen and cousin Julie. Kansas City is really growing on me and I particularly love their area in Overland Park. There are great restaurants, shops and culture. If you want to learn more about Kansas City you can read about it at Elle Decor's site which I just came across recently. Also, little fact: Kate Spade is from Kansas City and I believes still maintains a residence. I'm sure there are other amazing talents from Kansas City but since I'm a Kate Spade fan, I liked this one...

As of Saturday, July 11th, we've been enjoying ourselves in Wichita at Curt's parent's home. The temp is hot, however, reaching 100 degrees F daily! Very hot and humid. Yesterday we enjoyed a movie in the cool A/C, indoor go-carting then the YMCA's outdoor pool. Actually, it's more like a waterpark with huge waterslides, a wave pool, kiddie area and lap lanes. It was packed yesterday (Sunday) but we hope it'll be less busy today upon our return.

Below are some of our favorite photos from our fantastic Indy trip and fun time with my brother, Attila, and his family.

These first photos were taken at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. We went with my sister-in-law, Shirley, and 3 of their boys: Logan (12), Brennan (11) and Jaxon (4). It was a fun-filled afternoon. The dinosaur exhibit was great! I have some pretty cool videos that I took on my new Flip camera! I'll be posting them soon.

Digging for dinosaur fossils

There was a section on how glass is blown. The entire ceiling was made of colorful blown glass as you can see from the first photo above. It was beautiful. My 3 nephews laid on this revolving chair to just stare up at it. They had plastic samples of the glass in the making as you can see in T's hand. Jaxon adored his cousin. I love how he's just holding on to him in the above left photo.


And a carousel

One night for dinner we hit the Mayberry Cafe in a town about 20 miles away from my brother's home. It was good all-American food like burgers, steaks, meatloaf, onion rings and - a new one to all of us: fried mac-n-cheese! I could feel my arteries clogging after the first bite of the fried mac-n-cheese!

Bubble time

The kids all got to pick out a toy at the end of our meal at the Mayberry Cafe. I guess the token (for a toy) came with each kid's meal. Bubbles were a popular choice.

Family Time

This photo was taken yesterday evening. It's my brother's family with mine. He has 4 boys and, as you probably know, we have 3. My brother, Attila, and I are the 2 in the center sitting down and our families are around us (kids range in age from 3 - 16 yrs old). I love this photo.