A Walk in the Park.

Getting to know the new town is getting easier now. As we become acquainted with the place, and as we find our way the labyrinth of freeways intersecting the city we are taking the time to think about other things too... namely finding fun places to go, especially child-friendly ones!  With this in mind we were thrilled to find a park not so far away (about 10 minute drive) that features a nice lake, a few playgrounds and a reasonably good coffee with outdoor seating... all the essentials!  It was one one weekend afternoon that we decided to head that way once again, to bike around, to climb and swing and run and shout. There, daddy took his camera out and took pictures of his beautiful growing girls. They tell us such moments will come to an end one day (though hopefully not), so we're trying to maximize on them now as much as we can. Carpe diem, every day. We love you girls, from the bottom of our hearts!!

(Not so) Fun Run Practice!

Irini has taken a liking to running. So much so that she wants to run on the cross country team. But there isn't one of them here, so we have to find alternative options. One such option is to run at formal "fun runs", so the other day Irini and daddy went out to jog around the neighborhood. Amalia, hearing that this was in preparation for a fun run, decided to join us. Super!

The girls went up stairs to get ready, and appeared with t-shirts and shorts and socks and put on their shoes. We walked out the door and discussed the plan. Everyone agreed and off we went.... Irini led the group around the corner of the block, with daddy and Amalia shortly behind. But around the second bend, Amalia slowed down. Daddy had to do the same. Irini ran on, leading daddy to have to ask her to wait for them.

Over the next few blocks Amalia started, then stopped, then started again. She looked around. Then asked if there was some other way to do this. She asked if she could skip. "You can do whatever you want, as long as we're moving" was the directive from daddy. So she skipped, then did some cart wheels, then ran a bit more before going back to skipping. She stopped again, looked around. Started a bit more. Then stopped.

Irini was running and stopping too, to wait for everyone else. Finally daddy went over to Amalia and explained that we needed to keep running, even at a slow pace. To that Amalia announced that "what kind of a fun run is this?  There is no one else running and, besides, this is more of a boring run than a fun run!". Daddy couldn't help but smile but explained that we needed to go one and that she was holding everyone back.

Later on, when they had met up with mommy for lunch, Amalia announced she had a plan... "you can all go to the boring run and I can go on a play date at Eva's house!"  Solution oriented thinking. That's our girl!  :-)

Fist Visitors in the New Place

 

Within a day of moving in we had our first gang of visitors! Truth be told they had arrived a couple days earlier and did us the favor of waiting while we moved from one place to the next. But by our second night at the new location we had friends from out of town. How cool is that!  Unfortunately the pictures above, though somewhat indicative of the fun that was had, are limited. Put part of that was because we're getting places! The top picture is one from our sunset beach visit, filled with little games of "avoid the next wave" and watching the sun set. The lower picture is a short visit to our girls' favorite spot at school. The tour would not have been complete without a picture at the location of the world famous Crocodile game*. It was obvious that we're starting to get our bearings here and we seem to need electronic devices to get places less and less and rely on memory or intuition just a bit more. Stetson and Cecilia, visitors from our Malaysian chapter, were the perfect guests... just enough low maintenance and just enough "we'll do whatever you want", allowing us to deal with life just so...  Thank you for the visit and certainly looking forward to more of that kind of reconnections!

PS. *Crocodile Game rules:  

• One person is it. 
• Other people can stand on the little round "things" in the picture
• The "it" person has to close his/her eyes and then spin around several times before trying to move to the play area, still with eyes closed. 
• The other players can move around that area to get away from the crocodile but are not allowed to touch the floor. 
• The first person to either touch the floor or who is tagged by the crocodile is "it" the next round. 

PPS. Stetson, to avoid being tagged, claimed all the way on top of the overhead horizontal bar. In our extensive research we found no rule indicating if this behavior was legal or not. :-)

House (& Home), Again.

It's been a long process of settling in to our new surroundings.  Between the change of country, the change of school and jobs and everything - as wonderful as it has been - there has been a sense of  the temporary throughout the process. Until now. 

Finally, half way through the year we have been moved into our more permanent house. You'll see in the pictures above that it's pretty empty... both green and neighbors, we are told, will be joining us 'soon'. Our days will slowly fill the spaces we find ourselves in and our neighbors will fill the social spaces that current exist as well. 

What the spaces have afforded us, however, is free reign to the playground down the street and rather calm biking opportunities around the neighborhood. Though we can't wait to see our new "hood" with people it we're happily enjoying the calmness that it offers.  

Bring on the next - and more permanent feeling - chapter. May it be good to us and may it provide us with care, good roots (καλοριζικο!) and a life that fills the spaces with memories worth holding on to. 

(Not so) Old Friends!

Winter break came. And with it came a surprise!  The girls knew "something" was happening but they didn't know what the specific visitor would be. So when little Sophie showed up at Eva's house it was a delight for all of them. For three full days the girls enjoying the company of good friends (as did their parents, not pictured here) as if they were still in Kuala Lumpur. But instead of walking down the KLCC park, or hanging out in Ampang, they were walking down the sidewalks of JBR and/or Arabian Ranches.  A visitor who knew these girls in their previous hangouts would have to do a double take to place the people in the location. 

But to the girls - with the exception of that first few minutes where they have to reacquaint themselves - it didn't matter where they were. In the car they sang, and giggled, and were told time and time again to "use your inside voice". In the street they held hands as if they were inseparable. There was a buzz that their unification created. It was the buzz of youth being happy. It was the buzz of enthusiastic children sharing experiences. It was the buzz of life. It was a buzz that the parents shared too, albeit with a more calm demeanor. 

Sophie. Please come back whenever and and often as you like!  And bring your parents with you!  :-)

Reconnections!

So, here we are. In our new home away from home away from home. Things are new and moving fast and furiously and both professional life and family life seems "just out of reach" with regards to normalcy.  Roads and big. Speeds and fast. Friends are a good drive away (with one exception).  But alas, there is a sense of normalcy too. What's better than good friends at least being within driving distance. Somehow, having Ralph, Anne and Maria just down the road (about an hour and a half away) makes things seem a little more familiar. The worries about the "newness" can be balanced with the old, familiar warmth of good friendship. 

On one particular weekend we headed down to Abu Dhabi to see the show Maria was in. She was one of the stars (and what a star!) in the play. We were fortunate enough to have great front row seats for it all. The girls where fixed to the show and declared it "the best" they've ever seen. At the end of the show (it was closing night) Maria came down from the stage and, rather than heading to her own mother and father, ran right up to our little ones and shared a wonderfully warm hug. They were all delighted, as were the parents. 

But it's not just that. They've been up to visit us to watch volleyball games, to go shopping, meet up for lunch, share some down time, etc. Perhaps it was some chat time over the phone. Whatever it is the small and frequent contacts make it seem like our lives are filled with the sharing that makes it worth while. 

How uniquely wonderful to have them in our lives again, on a more regular basis than the summers. And just a short (enough) drive away. We look forward to many such encounters that make life that much more meaningful and the journey that much more wonderful!