-Marin and Corban got to go for their first camel ride on Wednesday night. It was unexpected so we didn't have the camera. :( We were walking around Harbor square just checking things out and Marin started to wander in a different direction, I went along with her, to see what she was going to explore. I looked ahead to see that it was a camel that had caught her attention, it was all tacked up in it's traditional attire, colorful tassels, a chair with canopy high on top of the hump, all that. Then I realized, that Marin didn't realize, that the camel was real. I called to her to stop because I didn't want her to startle the camel (she was approaching it from the back). I went to hold her hand and told her the camel was real and then together we went closer towards the camels head. The camel turned to look at us, boy do they make strange noises! Grumbley, gargely, throaty noises. Then the owner/handler of the camel came over and by that time Ian and Corban were headed over to see what we had found. The owner/handler didn't know English but he motioned for the kids and Ian to go for a ride. There was a second camel who was laying down so he brought them to that one and on they climbed, it was a bumpy ride and at first the kids looked a little worried but after a bit they enjoyed their camel ride. :)
-Some of you commented/asked about the size our house. It is big, real big, approximately 4200 square feet. That is over 4 times as big as our old place!
-I like that our house faces the afternoon sun, that way the backyard is shaded by the house in the afternoon.
-Marin and I went on a little shopping trip to the mini mart yesterday, it is affiliated with Safeway. The Safeway 'S' is part of the sign and there are some products with the Safeway logo on them in the store. I have never been so happy to see a Safeway sign/logo.
-Eggs here are cheap, 2 dozen for $11.50 SAR which is about $3 USD
-Milk is cheap too, 1L for about $1 USD.
-Ice Cream is not cheap though, about $10 USD for 2L.
-When you buy stuff here they price it using riyals, (bills) and halala (coins), but no halala seem to be used so when you pay they round it to the nearest riyal and that is what you pay. This often translates into a treat for the kids. Yesterday Marin got a pack of gum as our groceries were being bagged. She was pretty pleased.
-Marin and Corban are getting board and tired of the handful of toys that they have been playing with since we arrived. I am too! We are really wanting our shipment to come!
-This is some of what they have been doing instead of playing with toys.
-Corban has a total case of "Monkey see Monkey do", which is both good and bad. It means he will eat what ever Marin eats, but it also means that picks up all her naughty behavior.
-Marin has been confusing the words excited and embarrassed. I will ask her something that she gets excited about and she will get a big smile on her face and say "Mommy you made me embarrassed." When I say do you mean excited she giggles and says yes.
-Corban loves pizza, when he sees the pizza boxes get put on the table he points and yells excitedly "Peezzzahhh, PEEZZZAHHH!" Getting louder and louder until piece is placed on his plate.
-On Thursday (our Saturday) we went over to KAUST and Ian showed us around the building that he will work in. It is dotted with these bright cheery chairs. See. -The KAUST buildings are huge, see the cute tiny people at the bottom of the picture? -You can also get a good view from KAUST of the beacon from the ground up. I am looking forward to being able to walk out to it and under it, it is going to be really neat looking when it is all done I think. -There is a new month's worth of Professional Photos of the KAUST construction out, click here of find them on the side bar.
-The light switches here are opposite to North America, up is off and on is down.
-My friend Karey has started a blog. Their youngest daughter Sara is 7 1/2 months old, and has a heart defect called Ebstein's anomaly go on over and check it out, and join in praying for little sweet Sara. Here is the link to sara's heart.
