funny antics!

Hello there! Hope this finds you all well! We are getting very excited about Tim's Mum and Dad arriving tomorrow! Naomi was very excited this evening when she realised that she only had one more sleep before they arrived! It will make a change to have guests in our house that speak English! We hope that they have a safe journey and that they have packed a picnic if BA are still not feeding anyone on their flights at the moment!

We have had a pleasant few days but they have been quite busy. On Monday we went to Costco and to Trader Joes to do our shopping; I was very impressed with the girls as they behaved really well and did not make any fuss! In the afternoon we went to the park which was fun! The girls took their buggies and were laughing at them rolling unaided down the hill. A flock of Canadian Geese have arrived at the park and there is a lot of geese poo on the floor, which has fascinated them! Esther stands and stares and goes "Oh" and Naomi asks questions such as "why is there geese poo, Mummy" and "yes but, why does it poo?" It just does Naomi, trust me!!

On Monday evening, Tim and I visited our Russian friends as it was S birthday on Monday and he wanted to share it with us. WE had a lovely time with them and were impressed at how much their English has improved in just 6 weeks. We are now able to have a simple conversation about life generally and although it still takes time to make the message get understood we are able to do it much more easily than before. We were also able to spend a few minutes with our other family and were able to see their new appartment which was good. I think they will all be fine! The men had gone to play football on sunday and had beaten the Mexicans which had pleased them!!

Yesterday we finally managed to talk to my Mum and Dad and then finished off the shopping in the morning and then we had a lovely long time in the new park not far from us! All of us had a great time and it was nice not to feel that we were rushed for a change!

Today we were supposed to go back to Kent to visit the clans but Naomi had a bad night's sleep and woke up not feeling too well. she had had a nightmare over night and had woken up shouting that she didn't want them to get her, poor love. she went back to sleep but I think this had taken a while and then at 6:30 am she woke up again feeling nauseous and retching. However, she soon recovered and you would not have known that she had had a rocky start for the rest of the day! Still, we didn't want to give it to anyone down in Kent and I could not be sure this morning that Naomi would travel well and so we didn't go. Instead we went to the park this morning and then stayed at home in the garden this afternoon. We will go sometime soon!

Esther is still not really well and is continuing to have diarrhoea several times a day. You just about think it is getting better and then it hits her hard again. I spoke to the nurse today and we are going to get her weighed on Friday but all the cultures have come back negative which is good; it must just be a virus but it is very unpleasaant. she has been more of her usual self at times though the last day or so which is an improvement. She was chasing me this morning with a toy spider so she can't be too bad!

Both the girls have had me giggling the last few days! There is a very silly advert on television here at the moment where a lady sees a leaf and screams as she realises summer is coming to an end. It rang true yesterday for us thoughas Naomi was very upset that we had to wear a cardigan when we went out! I had lots of "why do we have to wear a cardigan, Mummy," and "why is it cold mummy"! She was most upset!! Later on she was saying to me "I have caught Esther's wind" which I really couldn't understand until I realised that she meant that she had caught Esther's cold!!! She obviously realised that the saying had a meteological connection but couldn't quite get it right!!

Naomi has realised that different people don't all speak English this summer but has not realised yet that there are many different languages! yesterday she overheard a Korean family speaking Korean in the park and said to me " Are they talking Russian Mummy?" Bless her! We are very proud of her as she is now able to choose her clothes and dress herself (with a little bit of supervision!) She is now feeding herself at dinner time too, which makes life a lot easier! she has been able to do this for ages but has been choosing not to!

Esther is fine too and beginning to follow simple instructions like "take the apple to Naomi, please Esther" which is good! She is fascinated by all sorts of things, which is both good and bad as she is not always supposed to be investigating the flour or the pepper for example! She loves bubbles and calls them "bubub" in the bath! She is good at saying 'No" and sometimes "yes!" and loves singing! She is very good at singing too! she makes a lot of noises at the moment which mean something; one of them is "um, um" which makes sound a bit like a cave man but it means that she wants food or a drink! Once you know it makes sense but sometimes we play "guess what the sound means" for a few minutes before you work out what she wants! She always knows what she wants of course!!

Anyway, I am tired and it is late and so I am going to end this here! Good night!

Soggy Sunday evening

Greetings from a soggy sunday evening in Seattle! We have been to Evergreen Fair today and we were amazed at how quickly the weather turned from being warm and sunny to cold and windy! Although I am glad (again) that Microsoft is based here in Seattle and not in Louisianna for example! I think it is going to be a little wet there over the next few days!

We have had a busy few days since I last wrote, but they have been fun!It was Tim's birthday on Friday and the girls and I met him for lunch to make it a little bit more of a special day! We had been to the park first thing in the morning, which the girls had greatly enjoyed and then we went onto his office to meet him at 12:00. We walked to a place known on Campus as Lake Bill - it was more of a pond really but it was a lovely place to sit and eat our picnic! The girls liked it as there were lots of ducks and fish in the pond. Esther was doing some very good expressions of the fish when she realised that they were in the pond! She was also chasing the ducks with a piece of bread in her hands _ I think she was trying to feed them - and she was getting most upset when they kept on running away! In her usual way, she was saying "hiya" to all those people who walked past! Some of the single men didn't quite know what to do with her!!

Tim then took us to see a piece of the Berlin Wall in one of the buildings which was amazing! I was very impressed! It was so badly made, tall and went back a long way! A fascinating piece of European history that I didn't expect to see in Seattle! Naomi and Esther didn't quite know what to make of it though!

After this we came home and let Esther have a sleep before popping out to buy some ice cream for pudding! I managed to do some clearing up before Tim came home and we got the children to bed just as Jo and Kieran came round for a meal! We had a lovely evening with them and it was nice to see them before their baby arrives and puts a stop to such things for a while!!

Yesterday we did some shopping in the day and bought Naomi a new curtain pole amongst other things which we can now put up!

Today we went to church in the morning and it was a family service, the thought of which, if I am honest filled me with dread and fear as I have experienced too many terrible family services in the past! However, it was well done and the children did very well and so I think it was quite successful in the end, which was good! After church we went to Melinda and Chad's house for lunch and then onto Evergreen Fair which is near where Chad's family live. Melinda came with us to the fair and it was such fun!! We think they are so fascinating but they are so tacky!! It is so funny!

However, today we spent a long time in the children's farm section and the children could pet the animals which they enjoyed! We all stroked a turkey, a pig and some goats! Esther was in there like a flash but Naomi was a little more reticent, although she did come round in the end! We went to see the pigs racing and the wood carvings made by a chain saw, as well.

As Chad had not come with us to the fair, we decided to give Melinda a taste of the fair to take to him! We decided that we would have our photo taken and imprinted onto a large badge, which we did! We were pulling funny faces and it did look a bit odd (apart from Naomi, who looked
quite photogenic in it -typica!!) and we made Melinda wear it pinned to her jeans!! She did look funny!! We hope you like it Chad!!!

It was a fun day! The children were tired when we got them home and so it was a quick bath and bed this evening for them! Tomorrow, we start to get ready for Tim's parents who arrive on Thursday - we are getting excited now that the mouse is nearly at the cheese! We hope the weather improves for them before then - th ey only saw rain last time they were here!

Naomi made me laugh the other day! We saw a squirrel running across the road and Naomi said at first that she was a squirrel. So I said "are you sure?" and we went through the fact that she didn't have a bushy tail, pointy ears or 4 paws, so we decided that she wasn't a squirrel. So to determine if she was a person, she said that she had flat ears, a bottom and did poos in the potty!! It was so funny but I was impressed at her classification. My old biology teacher would have been proud!! She was also using the word "frivolous" yesterday which made us laugh!!

Esther is as cheeky and inquisitive as ever and has started to say "oh" w hen something goes wrong which is quite funny! I wasn't too impressed though when the "oh" related to my black pepper powder on the floor. It made her sneeze and I wasn't at all sympathetic! I can stop her getting into most of my cupboards with an elastic band, but not that one so we will have to investigate other means! I asked her to find her buggy last night and, bless her, she wandered all the way round the house and came back and said "gone" when she couldn't find it! IT was so sweet!

Anyway, am going to end this now and go to bed! Hope you enjoy your bank holiday tomorrow! Good night!

Goodbye to our second family!

Good evening from a warm Seattle. How are you? Hope you are all well and looking forward to a Bank Holiday weekend! Our Bank Holiday weekend is next weekend, which is good!

We are fine here, although I am weary! I have had a week or so of disturbed nights from Esther which takes its toll after a while although I didn't sleep too badly last night! We have said goodbye to our guests today, which means that the house suddenly seems very quiet again! I have spent most of the evening tidying up the play room which has been chaotic ever since they arrived! However, it is straight again now which is nice!

The family were lovely and we enjoyed having them but they were understandably anxious to move into their new apartment. Unfortunately although we were told that they could move in today they have been delayed until tomorrow and so they are staying with the brother and his wife tonight. I am assured that people will be able to help them move into their new apartment tomorrow. I hope that they get on OK. G (Mum) was very anxious about the apartment anyway and this mix up will not have helped her feel less homesick.

They kept very different hours to us, which meant that we really only had the mornings together to do anything. Their children and them would sleep most of the afternoon and then be up all night whilst our 2 have an early afternoon nap and then go to bed early. I much prefer it that way!! Anyway, by and large the children got on Ok but my 2 have enjoyed a quiet afternoon reading stories and playing with me this afternoon.

This week we went to the Supermarket on Tuesday, which they coped with well although they are amazed at the size of everything - I said I was too when I first arrived! I think they will manage quite well when they get the hang of it; certainly the men have been working hard on their English this week and have come on rapidly. It is amazing how much information you can illicit with only a few words! I have found out all sorts of things, like how the brother died for example (he was a logger and got hit on the head by a tree).

On tuesday afternoon Naomi, Esther and I played in the garden which was fun and yesterday we went to the Beach, with the other family. The other family were being hosted by a family who have access to a private beach for the houses and so we spent a very happy hour or so there. Naomi and Esther loved the water and the sand! The other children did too! In the afternoon I took Esther to the doctor as she is still suffering from diarrhoea and we picked up Tim's birthday present. Yesterday evening I compiled a shopping list with G for today. This morning we went to Kent to take our family and we saw our last family too which was good.

It is Tim's birthday tomorrow and I had been puzzling over what sort of cake to make for him. The problem was resolved by G who made him a Russian cake! IT is a fatless sponge with a cream of condensed milk and butter on top. IT is very nice but definitely different. It was their wedding anniversary on Monday and I had made them a cake, which they liked so it has been a cake filled week!

It is true that you learn something new everyday. This last week, I learnt that you can rapidly reduce a child's temperature by washing their head, trunk and arms in vodka! I am serious! Y had a high fever over the weekend and it was not coming down with antipyretics like I would expect it too. G said that back in Russia she would bathe him in Vodka and as she had bought some with her, she gave it a go! In less that about 30 minutes, he was a different child, running around and playing with the others! I was amazed. All I can think of is that it is the alcohol in the vodka that makes it do that! I am going to remember it in the future!!'

'The family were very kind and cleared and tidied out our garage this week, too. It was a job that I have meant to do for ages and I came downstairs on Tuesday lunch time having had a nap to discover that it had been tidied and swept! Wow! They can come again!

Anyway, I am going to end it here and will write again on Sunday as normal, all being well!

Until then! Bye for now!

Russian Family No. 2

Hi everyone! Hope that you are all well and have had a pleasant weekend. The weather has been lovely here for a few days now and we have had lots of fun outside in the garden over the weekend. It is clouding up today and so I have taken the children to the park this morning so that if we aren't able to go later then at least we have been!

Our newest Russian refugee family arrived on thursday evening and they are really delightful! They consist of a mum (G), Dad (Z), daughter (3, A) and a son (18mo, Y). We think it is inappropriate to give out their names so I am afraid that you will have to make do with initials. I am not clever enough to make up false names in Russian! They have had a rough few years but hopefully they will soon settle here and learn the language and then I think they will be fine. They seem to have more money and education than the first family we had.

They arrived on Thursday at a reasonable time and so it was easier to settle them into the house and show them where things lived. Anything is easier than 00:30 am like the last lot! They have had a disrupted couple of nights sleep but are looking more refreshed than before. they were in shock for the first couple of days! However, G (mum) and I have been getting along well and she has quite a sense of humour when she gets going, so it has been fun!! Dad has quite a lot of English already and has picked it up rapidly so it is easier to talk to him, too.

The children are fine although the russian children are very different to the last 2 we had. These children are a lot more assertive, which has meant that we have had the children either playing together really well or really badly! Naomi probably feels it the most as it is often her toys that get taken away, but she is coping well and we are here to help with the battles when needed!

On Friday we had a slow start to the morning as there were lots of basic questions to answer and sort out and a little later the Z's brother and his wife who are also staying in Issaquah came over to see our family and to collect some clothes and belongings that were in our garage. Their host came with them and we chatted to her whilst they sorted themselves out. Eventually we had some lunch and then they all slept at various times in the afternoon. Naomi, Esther and I went to the park for a while which was nice for us all. I was keen that we weren't in all day!

In the evening the other family returned to our house and we looked at a lot of photos and drank vodka! (Well, Tim did anyway - I had a bit of a headache and so declined!) On Saturday the other family joined us for most of the day and we went through what the money looked like and how the oven and the washing machine worked. I went out in the afternoon to Jo's baby shower which was fun, whilst the families at home played or sat in the garden! We had tea outside in the end as it was so pleasant and generally had a relaxing evening!

Yesterday, Tim and Naomi went to church and it was great that Tim could spend some quality time with Naomi - she needed it!! They went to McDonalds for lunch and there was a play place in which both Naomi and Tim went down the slide!! Tim was all "tired out" - Naomi's words - afterwards!

The rest of us went to snoqualmie falls, which are very beautiful and which the family enjoyed. After lunch G and I made some bread and prepared for our get together! We had invited the other family, their hosts and our friends Melinda and Chad for a meal and we had such a fun evening! We sat outside and the children played, we ate and chatted and it was really lovely! Despite the language barriers there was lots of laughter and chatting between us all and it was a great way to spend the evening!

The families have gone off to do some orientation today but will be back later - I am enjoying a quiet half hour with both my children in bed and am able to write this!

We have had some funny moments in the last few days though; one of which was before they arrived! Firstly, I have posted a few emails that were sent to and from me, which I thought you might find funny! It was snet from Naomi's nursery.

Parents-

I have had many parents inquire about auto tuition. This is available and comes out of your account on the 3rd of every month. If you would like to sign up please bring your form in as soon as possible and if you don't have a form let me know. It may be too late to start for September tuition, but we can start in October.

Thank you

Connie Montoya

On Aug 18, 2005, at 2:17 PM, Louise Sneath wrote:

Dear Connie

Perhaps it is just because I am English but I have no idea what you are talking about!! I would be very grateful if you could explain. I have in my head children of 3 years learning to drive but I assume that you don't mean that....!

Thank you! Louise Sneath

Okay - you are too funny! Sorry for the confusion! Auto tuition is for the child's tuition to come out of your account automatically so that you don't have to write a check every month. Let me know if this helps.Thank you,

Connie

I forwarded it onto Tim which he then posted onto the British Alias at Microsoft which then in turn generated about 40 responses, with people sharing their own misunderstandings! Some are rather rude as you can imagine (a condom is a rubber here for example- you have no idea how much offence we inadvertantly cause!!). Most of them consisted of a British person making a statement which resulted in the American group gasping in shock and saying "what!!" It is quite funny! One polite one which made me laugh was "Where is the Biscuit aisle" which caused great confusion!

With our Russian family we have also had some funny moments! Both families have been appalled at how little we dress our children in and that we let them play with cold water! G gave me some vests yesterday because she was so concerned that the children were under dressed, but seriously, it has been in the 80's here and they don't need too many clothes! However, all of the Russian children have had lots of layers here despite the heat!

G and I were in the kitchen yesterday and she took some ice from the ice machine, but she dropped it by mistake! She said "Oh Sh*t"!! I was stunned and laughed, which embarrassed the poor lady but I really didn't expect her to come out with that when she knows so little English. I quickly explained that it was not a polite word!! It was very funny!

anyway, I am going to end it here as the children will be up soon! Will write when I next can! Until then!

Summer days

Hello all!

hope this blog finds you well - you never know, I might be able to post this one onto the site!! HaHA! WE'll soon see.... Useless bunch!

We are OK here. Esther is taking a while to recover from her diarrhoea bug but is improving slowly I think. She has been eating and drinking as usual but has been a bit clingy at times. Naomi is now well again, which is good. Hopefully Esther will be also in the next couple of days!

We have had a good couple of days; Sunday and today especially. On Sunday we went to a friends house first thing as we had a meeting with the lady who organises the host families for refugees which was useful and then we went onto church. After church we came home for lunch and then went to a lake called Beaver Lake Park, about 10 minutes drive from here. It was a beautiful place and the children enjoyed splashing in the water, Naomi especially. Naomi was a little disappointed that it got deep so quickly as she wanted to go far out but couldn't and it was quite cold but she is a real water babe this summer! Esther just likes to sit on the edge and play in the sand and stones! Easily pleased!

They were both funny at the park, though. Esther is still calling most men that she sees "dada" although she is just about starting to say "an" for man! Anyway on Sunday she said it to a young man who looked at her in fear and said "I am not Dada" in a strong tone of voice!! I just smiled and said "no, I know your not dada!!" It was so funny! Naomi was talking to a lady when she came out the water and Naomi said to her that this was a wonderful place. WEll, people don't always understand Naomi because they don't expect her to have an English accent or come out with long words such as wonderful (especially when it isn't quite pronounced correctly). Tim and I had to interpret for her but she is such a sweetie!

After the park, we went and found some dinner in a mexican restaurant - this works well for us as we can all eat it! It was quite late when we got home and so the girls were quickly to bed!

On Monday we had the morning here and then went to Kent in the afternoon to take M shopping. M wanted an ironing board but we couldn't find them in the Goodwill shop where she had vouchers. Still M bought a few things for their appartment and we were able to communicate a few things to each other, which was good. They are so lovely - they gave us a set of Russian Dollies on Monday as a thankyou. Naomi and Esther were delighted but cross that I have put them out of reach!

Yesterday we went shopping in the morning and then in the afternoon went to the library and to the park. Naomi came down to the car yesterday morning with only one shoe on and when I asked why she replied that she wanted to hop like a rabbit! You really can't argue with her sometimes as she has her own reasons for doing things! Last night at bed time she was standing on one leg like an 'ingo (flamingo)! Funny girl! Esther was mooing and mooing this afternoon and it took me quite a while to realise that she was looking at the picture of the cow on the back of a lorry! Esther is using more and more words and has started saying "yuk", "bubub" (bubbles) for example. They make each other laugh so much and often after tea have a mad few minutes when they are chasing each other and giggling and giggling away!

Today we went to a very nice wooded area with Fritzi and Ulrike and then went back to their house for a cup of tea. The girls got very muddy in the puddles and later enjoyed playing in Fritzi's back garden. Ulrike and I were catching up as it has been a long while since we were together.

We are hosting another Russian Family from tomorrow for about a week, I think. I am sure that they will be fine as they have children of a similar age to ours. Then we only have a week before Pam and Ken come so the time will soon go until they arrive which is good!

Anyway, had better go! Speak soon!

Oregon Part III

Sunday was Rodeo Day! A truly unique American experience and great great fun! It really showed the rural side of America! The Rodeo was part of the County fair but the fair did not have that much to offer itself,apart from balloons for the girls! However the Rodeo when it started was worth the entrance fee, in fact I would have paid that to see Esther's excitement anyway! She was sitting on the edge of Tim's knee leaning as far out as she possibly could, pointing, and shouting, eyes wide, "ors, ors, ors!!" She was so funny!

Both girls enjoyed the hour that we watched (it went on all afternoon) and we saw the sheep Rodeo for the children - so funny!! - the bareback rodeo and the lassooing! It kicked off with a horseback routine where the riders rode at great speed in formation. I suppose it was like watching a horse equivalent to the Red Arrows! I was amazed at the speed at which they were riding and the nearness to each other! Having not been around horses much, I don't think I realised how fast they could go!

Naomi told me later that she liked the horses running but I don't think that I will ever get her pony riding! She was very worried about the men falling off the horses and I had to explain that they were falling onto ground that had been made soft!

It was a scorching hot day and, once the girls had tired of the rodeo, we more or less came home. Naomi did get a bounce on the bouncy castle though, which she enjoyed! The man leading the Rodeo commented that "If you are from Washington, then this is sunshine - you are not used to that!" He was wrong though! We are currently enjoying warm and sunny days! He was a bit of a character though - we started the Rodeo with the National Anthem (which I was expecting) and then he went onto lead a prayer, asking God to keep those in Iraq, the animals and the contestants, safe, which I was not expecting! I was very relieved that we were not expected to join in the singing of the National Anthem as I have no idea what the words are! The lady singing was not much help as she was very warbly if you know what I mean. Central Oregon produces some excellent horse men and women but I couldn't say the same for the singer!

That evening we packed up in the hope that we would be able to make an early start in the morning. Unfortunately we had noticed that we had a nail in the tyre, which we wanted to get sorted before setting off. Tim took the car first thing but it was 2 hours before he returned, which meant that we were not able to leave Bend until 11:00 am! We had about 350 miles to cover that day so we were a bit anxious! However, it was a fascinating and speedy journey home! We were home by 6:30pm which was great!

The scenery was spectacular although not pretty! It was mostly desert landscape and in places you could drive for miles without seeing much at all! A major town was listed on the map as having 350 people!! We passed through some 'towns' that only had 25 people!! Bizarre! We were in the middle of nowhere! What was really amazing was how different Central Washington was to western Washington. Some of it was desert, but it was very pretty in the valley. I would like to return for a better look some day! It wasn't until we were only about 16 miles from Snoqualmie Pass (where we have been to the snow) that Washington began to look like the Washington we know!

The children were excellent travellers on the way home and were rewarded with a small toy each! It kept them amused on the final, often more difficult, leg of the journey home!
This week, we haven't really done much. We were unpacking on Tuesday morning and we went to the park in the afternoon. Unfortunately Naomi had diarrhoea on Wednesday and Thursday quite badly so we were not able to go anywhere or do anything too much. Esther has only had a touch of it and Naomi is better now.

One major piece of news this week though is that I have stopped breast feeding Esther!! She is doing fine and has slept really well since I have stopped! She has even started to settle herself off to sleep! How contrary is that! Anyway, with the exception that I am making Pamela Anderson jealous, I am feeling a liberated woman! I went out on Thursday night and Tim was able to put the children to bed all by himself!! I went to Seattle to have a dessert party with some friends from church - I got back home at 12:10 am!! Tim called me a dirty stop out and I couldn't blame him! It was so nice to be able to go though and it was such a fun time!

Yesterday we went to Kent to see our Refugee families! We saw 3! We saw the Somali refugees first and then went to see our family who lived here. Whilst we were there we also saw another family that Quest hosted whilst we were on holiday. They are all doing fine and our family were pleased to see us! THe children played really well together and their eldest daughter was in tears when I put our children in the car!

We all went into Seattle this afternoon as there was a photography session that Tim wanted to attend! He took some great photos! The children and I wandered around the pier and enjoyed the sunshine! It is church tomorrow, which will be fun!

The children are fine and haven't found it too difficult to adjust to being home this week! It helped that we only had a short week! Tim went out on Tuesday evening and the girls were very upset then (he had worked from home in the day) but other than that they have been OK. Esther kept on calling out "Dada' every time she went upstairs! Her language is coming on and she is such a copy cat! She can now say "up" and "'ot" - hot - I think they are her new words this week! Naomi has started saying "my dear" which sounds so quaint from someone her size!

Anyway, I have had extreme difficulty in posting this, so if you are reading this after a long gap in entries, that is why. I am sorry - blame the blogging site!

Hope that you are all well - I will try and return to my twice weekly blogging from now on!

Oregon Part II

Welcome back to Part II!

Our journey to Bend gave us some indication of the scenery around the area. It became hotter and hotter and more and more desert like in plants and the soil. It was a beautiful drive and we stopped off at Sisters - a nearby town - for some lunch. Sisters looked very much like an old Frontier Town and it had some interesting shops to wonder round before we set off again. We arrived at our house late afternoon and had some trouble finding it! We were worried for a minute that we didn't have a house to go to but in the end, we were just in the wrong part of the street and that we were Taft St SW and not SE!

The house was cool and welcoming when we arrived. It was air conditioned and had been decorated very well by the original owner. The current owners are missionaries in the Philipeans. There were 2 big bedrooms and initially the girls were sharing a room. Downstairs it was all open plan and had plenty of room for all the toys! The house provided lots of books and videos too which was great!

In the garden there was a paddling pool for the children and a hot tub for Mummy and Daddy! The children were soon in the paddling pool when we first arrived! We were all tired after a few bad night's sleep with Esther and so we all had an early night!

The next day we went to the High Desert Museum - a fascinating place with otters, insects, birds, snakes and birds of prey as well as an exhibition on dinasours and the origingal settlers to the west. We all thoroughly enjoyed our day there - Esther was so tired by the time we came home she fell asleep before we left the car park space - a record!! One thing that I have forgotten to mention is that Esther is now walking properly and confidently on her own. She was a bit wobbly the first week of our holiday but is now nearly running. When we were at the museum, she walked for a lot of it and we carried her when she was tired! It is great that she is now walking - she is much happier and it is easier for me!

Unfortunately Esther has not slept well this holiday and we had a very bad night that night! However, we went out to breakfast on the Monday morning and then had a wander around Bend. We had delicious pancakes for breakfast that morning too! In the afternoon we visited a very strange place called the Funny Farm but it was too weird to stay too long and so we came home!

On Tuesday we went to the Lava Lands centre. Central Oregon has seen many many Volcanic erruptions over the millenia and this has left an unusual and spectacular landscape. We took a walk through the volcanic forest - all there is for miles is large volcanic rock that cannot sustain much in the way of life. Occasionally there is a lone and spindly looking tree desparately hanging on to life but otherwise it is pretty much just rock. It was fascinating. In the afternoon we went to see an Obsidian Rock flow which is best described as black glass! y ou had to be careful where you put your feet! We had never seen anything like this at all - there isn't any in Europe I am lead to believe. It was amazing! What was hard to comprehend was that this landscape had hardly changed in millions and millions of years. A good day out!

Wednesday we went to see the Tumalo Water falls in the morning and then played in the garden in the afternoon. WE all got very wet in our paddling pool and then went into the hot tub for five minutes to warm up! Tim and I went out for a meal on Wednesday night once the children were asleep, leaving them with a recommended baby sitter! This was great! We had a lovely Italian meal out and ice cream to follow!!

We had a terrible night's sleep with Esther that night so much so that she ended up sleeping in her travel cot in the large cupboard in our bedroom! She slept better in there though! She was a shocker! We were all so tired the next day that we did hardly anything that day! But she slept better that night!

On Friday we finally set off for Crater Lake! Crater Lake was about 2 hours away from Bend and in the middle of nowhere! It is the largest lake in North America and the 7th largest lake in the world. It was created by a huge volcano blowing its top and was formed by rain and snow. It was spectacular. It is so deep that the lake reflects the steep cliffs almost to the point that you cannot see where the cliffs end and the reflection begins! It is so blue that you would imagine that a child had painted it and very very pretty. We took a drive around the lake, stopping at the view points to take photos and to see another part of it. We had a lovely picnic lunch in the woods and just enjoyed seeing such a beautiful place. The children were very good but a little less enthusiastic about the scenery but we were able to take a short drive to another lake that we could paddle and play in for a couple of hours that they really enjoyed, so all in all we had a great day!

On Saturday we went to another lake for more paddling and playing and we combined this with a very scenic drive through mountains and forests. Very pretty! On Sunday we went to the Rodeo at the County Fair in the next town along.

Oregon Part I

Well, hello again!!! We have returned from our travels and we have had a splendid time! We extended our holiday by a couple of days as we were having such a lovely time that we wanted to go on enjoying it for longer!! We ended up arriving home about 6:30pm last night which wasn't bad all things considered! We are all well (mostly! - Tim has sprained his ankle badly and is wearing a support cast, but is otherwise OK!) and we feel rested and relaxed! Tim has been working from home today and is going into work tomorrow. Naomi, Esther and I are going to miss him a lot! Tim has gone out this evening to help deliver furniture to our Russian family and Naomi has been in floods of tears about this! "I want my Daddy" and "Why does Daddy have to go to work, Mummy?" All hard concepts for her to understand I think, poor love! However, she will be fine and we are very much looking forward to Granny and Grandad coming in 3 weeks time!

so, I hope that you are all well. It seems ages since we last were in contact with many of you. It felt that we were away longer than a fortnight and it was weird not being able to be in contact via email. Tim went completely cold turkey and didn't touch a computer at all until today!! Very impressive!!

Well, I expect that you are all anxious to hear about the holiday so I shall stop waffling and begin!

As you may remember, we were in Oregon (the state immediately below Washington) with our friends, Becky and Darin and their little boy, Eli. We started off in Portland on the first night and then we headed down to Tillamook and across to the coast on the Monday. We stayed in Reedsport on the coast for 3 nights with Becky's Aunt and Uncle and then moved in land about 2 hour drive to Eugene for the next 2 nights. We then said Goodbye to Becky and Darin and went in land further to Bend, a city in Central Oregon. We stayed in a rented Town House for the next 9 nights and did day trip excursions from there. So that was our trip in a nutshell and if you want to, you will be able to find all these places on a map I should think so you know where I mean.

Our first couple of days were long driving days, especially when you consider that we didn't leave until after Church on Sunday. It took a while to arrive to Portland and it was late before the children were in bed. Poor Esther was very unsettled that first night as she had had no time to familiarise herself with where she was and it was late. She took until 10:45 before she finally fell asleep and she was so tired, poor love! However, the next day we set off and drove to Tillamook which is the place where they make the cheese that we often buy! We were able to walk around the viewing area and we could see the cheese being processed. Naomi enjoyed this and especially liked the cheese tasting area later on!

After lunch we drove to the coast and had a very pretty drive down to Reedsport, stopping a couple of times on the way so that the children could stretch their legs. We arrived in time on Monday to allow Esther to become accustomed to the house and she slept much better that night! We stayed with Becky's Aunt and Uncle in Reedsport and their house was very well equipped for children, having loads of toys and practical children things! What amazed our children were the animal heads and full bear skin on the walls - the product of many a hunting trip it seems! Naomi wanted to stroke them once she realised that she wasn't going to be bitten by them. She just thought that they were sleeping! The animals had been magnificent beasts in their time and the Elk antlers were enormous!! Becky's Aunt and Uncle were very warm and welcoming and we had a lovely few days with them.

On our first full day in Reedsport we went to Becky's Grandma's house for breakfast as they only live a mile or so away. Grandpa cooked the most delicious pancakes which we had with homemade jam or apple sauce! They were seriously good pancakes!! After breakfast we all went to the beach and had a great time playing in the water or in the sand. Both our children love the water and so we spent a long time splashing and paddling! Tim and Naomi built a splendid sand castle and tried in vain to fill the moat! The weather was great and we had a wonderful time on the beach! In the afternoon Becky and I went out for an hour or so on our own and the guys took the children to a park.

The next day, Tim and I took the children to see some Elk that live close to the roadside, which was fun! That afternoon we hoped to go back to play on the beach but an amazing sea fret had set in and we couldn't see the sea! We did go back to the beach though and were able to take a short but very windy walk on it! It was warm and sunny just a mile in land but cold, windy and foggy at the coast! I was amazed it could change so quickly!

We cooked a roast chicken for the family that evening, which was something of a surprise to them. It appears that roast dinners are only eaten at Christmas and Thanksgiving! Still, the bread sauce was a hit!

On the Thusday we drove to Eugene to stay with another Aunt and Uncle! It was seriously hot in Eugene and we were glad of the air conditioning! The children had a wonderful time playing in the water sprayer! We have some excellent photos of them looking wet and excited!! We were only there 2 nights but were able to see the Univerity of Oregon campus and some of the city. We went into the Uni bookshop and was served by a very nice lady who came from Newcastle ...!

The next day was Saturday and we drove to Bend, but I will tell you about Stage 2 of our holiday in another installment - it is bedtime now!!

Night night!