Boat and Camel Rides

We recently had the opportunity to take a 40 minute boat ride around the KAUST Harbor and we finally got to ride camels!  The boat ride was our children's first on a real boat and they had a blast.  The crew provided life jackets and juice boxes, the weather was breezy and not too hot, so everyone was happy all around.

The following week KAUST sponsored a Family Barbecue night and we decided to actually ride the camels that are frequently brought to KAUST events.  We arrived early for this and did not have to wait long.  Casey rode with the girls and I rode with the twins.  Nobody cried although it was a little scary as the camel rose since she stands her back legs up first causing us on  her back to fall forward.  The ride was very bumpy as well but I'm glad we finally got on one.  It's a little sad for the camel because they are constantly having to get up and down, after about an hour children could only ride without an adult because the camels were getting too tired and adults would have been too heavy- very sad.  I should correct myself here, we actually rode one humpers- dromedaries- not camels which have two humps although when I looked dromedary up in the dictionary it said that they are also called Arabian camels!

Happy Halloween!

We hope everyone had as pleasant a Halloween as we did!  The girls made a few crafts the weekend before the actual day.  I thought Marcella's 6 little pumpkins sitting on a fence was adorable!  For our after school snack the two days before Halloween I let the kids decorate their own jack o' lantern cookies and made them some jack o' lantern rice krispie treats.  On the actual day we attended a great Halloween party at the KAUST rec center and then went trick or treating.  The party was very well organized and the girls loved running around with their friends.  The local girl scouts group here had assembled some great games like ring the bottle, bean bag toss, and ghost lollipops and KAUST had face painting, tote bag decorating, and cookie decorating.  The best part was that the event was held in the gym so it was nice and cool!  Last year it had been soooo hot at the Halloween party. 

The kids costumes were:
Marcella- hula dancer (costume authentic from Hawaii- Tante Heidi brought it back from her visit to the islands last summer)
Theresa- ballerina
Eleanor- princess
Eben- wizard

Germany Trip Finale

I have finally gotten to the end of our Germany Trip photos.  Below you will see a series of pictures taken in Wetzlar and Braunfels.  A trip to our Vaterland would not have been complete without a visit to Schloss Braunfels.  This was our only castle to visit and it made quite an impression on all four children.  We got to see armor, impressive paintings of past royalty, climb the winding stairs in the castle's tallest tower, and toured the beautiful grounds.  The tour guide let the girls help her switch out castle slipper bins- I think this was their favorite part!  Marcella let Julia braid her hair- doesn't she look adorable?

On our last day, we took the train in to Wetzlar for a quick tour of the city.  The day was brisk and cool and we had such a pleasant time walking thorugh the old part of the city.  We came across a little ship playground which was identical to one we have here in KAUST (although the Wetzlar one is in a far better woodsy location).  On our way to lunch we tried to take the lift to the Ministry of Magic, but we must have dialed the wrong number....Our lunch was at the quaintest bier garten. Casey and I actually got to sit and visit while the kids played on the Bier Garten's playscape!  The restaurant had buckets and shovels and the playscaspe had a pulley and great slide so the kids were in heaven and played away.  It was situated right on the Lahn with the Dom in the background.  We were there for over two hours!  

Columbus Day

We celebrated Columbus Day on the 12th by reading a quick book from my library, making apple and mozzerella cheese boats and drinking Spanish Hot Chocolate.  I love working in the library!  It is so easy to get books now and the school's selection is far better than the public library's here.

I got the boat and hot chocolate idea from my favorite blog, Shower of Roses.  The hot chocolate was incredibly rich and thick- nothing like what we usually have from the package.  We will definitely be doing this again each year.  Columbus used the stars as a guide with a compass so we made the chocolate and put it in a thermos and headed for the harbor area and Kaust Beacon.  This area of Kaust is so beautiful at night because it is nicely lit, but unfortunately this beauty hindered our star gazing. 

I'd like to comment on Eleanor's shirt in the apple boat picture- she loves this shirt and wears it at least two times a week.  Oma Christel (Julia's mother) in Germany gave it to her and it has become quite the favorite!

Here is the Spanish Hot Chocolate recipe:

Spanish Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk
6 ounces baking chocolate
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch

Directions:

Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the cornstarch, whisk to dissolve. Heat the milk on medium heat just until it boils, then remove from heat. Add the chocolate immediately and begin stirring until the chocolate is completely melted.

Note: If the milk cools off too fast, place the pan back on the stove on low heat to melt the chocolate.

Add the sugar into the chocolate milk mixture and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Taste the hot chocolate for sweetness and add more sugar if necessary.

Place the pan back on the stove on medium low heat, stirring slowly, but constantly. As soon as you see it thicken, remove the pan from the heat so the cornstarch will not thin. Ladle immediately into cups and serve piping hot.





Germany Trip: Home Away From Home

Julia and Frank were so gracious by letting us stay in their house for our entire visit to Germany.  Little Annica was amazing in that she never complained of our kids taking over her room.  Thank you soooo much Lohs!!!!

Their house is actually a remodeled barn and they live in the "hayloft" or top floor.  Below them are two other families.  They have a lovely view of the surrounding area and Casey and I enjoyed having the windows open at night and the stillness.  We never get to open windows in KAUST due to dust and heat so a bit of fresh air was certainly welcomed.

You can walk to everything in Duttenhofen including a nearby lake and some stables.  There was this quaint little trail through a small wilderness filled with plum trees and we got to see several rabbits running about.  August was the perfect time of year to go visiting the area.

Germnay Trip: Steindorf Playground

We played on the nicest little playground near Julia's parents' house in Steindorf.  It had a sandbox digger, a slide that actually slid the kids down a little hillside, and a cute little playhouse.  It was entirely surrounded by trees and shrubbery making it quite enchanting.  In fact, it is so hidden this is the first time I have seen it despite the fact that I have been to Julia's parents' house several times and have even stayed there for a month! 

Happy Birthday Mommy!

We celebrated my 37th birthday last week and I had a lovely day.  The kids made me beautiful cards and Casey made one of my favorite meals, crab cakes, and a scrumptious carrot cake.  One of Marcella's gifts was a game she made using cap erasers and buttons.  She did such a great job with it and we had a lot of fun playing it.  Basically, we each chose a color of eraser cap to be and had to roll the dice to move our man to the finish.  If we rolled a 5, a button got placed on the board.  If all the buttons got placed on the board before our men got to finish, the buttons won.  When we rolled a 6, we got to put a button back and got an extra turn.  Two longer versions of the game were to use all the eraser caps or to keep score with the dice rolls. 

On Friday we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary by making a decade of the Rosary with cupcakes and coloring pictures of Our Lady while praying one decade.  The beautiful tissue paper covered cross and doves was made by Marcella and Theresa early on Thursday morning.  We came down for breakfast and they had it done!  It was a sweet way for us to end our weekend!