Myrtle Beach (part 1)

 The kids and I decided to head to Myrtle Beach ahead of Ryan so the kids could get adjusted, spend some time with the grandparents and of course enjoy the wonderful warm/hot weather and the beach :).  That meant a 10 hour plane ride with 2 kids, a 3 hour layover and another 1 hour plane ride.  Kherington did awesome.  I would fly with her any day.  Kevin wasn't horrible, but just wanted to sit on my lap the whole time instead of his car seat.  He slept the first 3 hours of the flight, then was awake for the last 7.  On the second flight he finally fell asleep again (I was holding him...I decided to gate check the car seat) and of course 5 minutes later Kherington decides she needs to go potty.  I nailed Kevin's head on the bathroom door which woke him up.  He wasn't so happy about that, but after a good scream he went back to sleep.

We've been here for a week and half now and have been having a great time.  We've been to the beach 4 times and played in the kiddie pool outside a few time too.  Low tide is really the only time to go when you have kids.  It is awesome.  There are little pools of water for the kids to play in.  Kevin makes sure to keeps tabs on Kherington and for the most part want to do whatever she is doing.  If she has a bucket and shovel, Kevin will run back to the stuff to get one too.  Kinda cute.  I love that Kherington does her own thing.  She literally skips around/through the puddles, will plop down and play for awhile then head off to some other location.  Kevin's favorite is standing in the puddle and plopping down making a splash, then standing up and plopping right down again.  The also both love having snacks at the beach :).

 We went to the mall and played in their tiny toy area.  It could really use a little work...it didn't keep the kids attention for very long.  We followed that up with a train ride around the mall.  It's pretty was pretty awesome :).

All of us have been enjoying grandma's kitchen and good food ;).  We made sure to pack Kherington apron and she has definitely gotten some use out of it.  Kevin likes to help too...and really really like to eat.  When asked what she wanted to do when she went to Myrtle Beach she'd say, "Eat Oreos with Grandpa at the beach."  Well, she at the Oreo...and sometime maybe she'll do it at the beach too.

We've also been playing with new toys.  Grandma found a bike at the 2nd hand store which Kherington is becoming quite the expert on (with training wheels...and no breaks).  Kevin is more into the balls...look at the basketball pose.

Oh and how could I forget one of the big reasons we came...Uncle Adam is home from his mission!  Kherington has repeatedly told us that he's the favorite uncle yet he is the only one she doesn't really talk to or give hugs to before she goes to bed.

Kherington slept in the bed with me the first night, but she is not fun to sleep with.  I always end up with her feet kicking my face.  So I decided to try having her sleep on the hide-a-bed by the back bedroom (Kevin was in a pack n' play in the back bedroom).  She went down fine.  Then in the middle of the night Kevin started crying to I went to go get him.  As I walked past the hide-a-bed I saw Kherington was gone.  I looked between the bed and the wall, on the floor, the couch, in my bedroom...no Kherington.  I then went back to get Kevin and found that at some point Kherington had moved herself into the Queen size bed in that room.

My workout goal was just to keep a workout routine going until I left for Myrtle Beach.  Luckily, grandma has been awesome and when she gets up I leave the kids with her and go running.  I us mapmyrun to find the loops and figure out how far I'm going.  The first day I didn't get out the door until almost 9.  It was hot and humid outside.  It's a whole different ball game, but I still feel great when I'm done

Here's us just chilling...grandma painted Kherington's nails and made play dough with Kherington.  The kids love 'playing' the piano and both love the computer.  We've got to video chat with daddy too.  I definitely have the better end of things.  While we've been here enjoying all things family/US (including lots of kid free shopping), Ryan has been deep cleaning our place in Belgium.  What a guy.

Playmates

One of Kheringtons best friends will be moving back to Bulgaria while we're in Myrtle Beach.  Even though they don't speak the same language, they love playing together.  We've had Lea over a couple times after school (we did a playgroup together before they started school, then they started at the same school on the same day) and they play so well together...yes there are still little fights, but look how cute they are:

We also got most of the other playgroup kiddos together for a last play date/lunch before they move.  It's fun to be around friends we made early on and that live so close.  We don't see most of them very often due to different schools / vacations / kids ages, but it is reassuring to know there are friends near by.

Since today is our last day in town (we fly out tomorrow), we had Lea and her sister Yana over.  We made pizza for lunch and followed it up with peanut butter blossoms.  Kherington and Lea did an awesome job unwrapping the kisses...but I'm pretty sure most of them ended up in their mouths :).

I know Kherington is going to be a sad little girl when we get back and Lea can't come down to play.  It amazes me that we've already lived here 2.5 years and really this is home for the kids.  Kherington is starting to get more attached to people and is much more emotional than she used to be so we'll see how it goes when it is our time to move.  Until then, we love making new friends and learning about different parts of the world.  Oh and I love love love eating/doing potlucks with people from all over the world...I must say I never know what to bring, but I always love to try what everyone else brings.

Vacances Week 2

The first week of vacances we didn't leave the house much.  I guess we did have some new friends over to play and took them grocery shopping (2 adults, 6 kids...so entertaining :).  Anyways, the second week Ryan had a normal work day then training each evening 6pm-midnight (US training hours).  That schedule made for a long week with kids.   I did try to make things a little more fun thought since dad wasn't going to be home to chase them around each evening (I'm pretty sure they think mom is kinda lame most of the time).

We went to Technopolis twice.  Kherington and I built a house on each trip using the mega blocks while Kevin ran wild (I just made sure he was within eye sight).  We also did a lot of marble run building.

We made strawberry cupcakes together.  The kiddos helped with the entire process and it made a huge mess.  Then we ate them 3 different times which made more messes each time.  In the end, Kherington really was only interested in the frosting. I think she might have nibbled on the cake part, but she licked the frosting clean.  Kevin went for it all but had to have a utensil in his hand while he ate with this other hand.

The rest of the days, we played, made messes and ate more food...sometimes without mom knowing.  I'm pretty sure I posted a very similar Cheetos picture of Kherington when she was Kevin's age.

By Saturday I was done with kids BUT Ryan had to go on the youth temple trip so it was just another long day.  We went to the store and I picked up some fresh cherries for myself thinking I could enjoy them without the kids.  Well, Kherington really loved them...so much for that idea:

Kevin and Despicable Me

Kevin's new favorite song: