Ahhh, the weekend

We made it through 2 full days of being home. Seems like MONTHS that we've been here. Today, we're reconquering our home after the onslaught of arriving with 2 new toddlers and a keen sense of total confusion and unfamiliarity after being away for so long.

Yesterday, Friday, we went to Chick-Fil-A, again, mainly because Angel and I were craving a fine chicken sandwich, but also to give the kiddos their first taste of a fine southern tradition. However, they just don't like chicken. No idea why. Dub tricked us by making all his chicken disappear, so we gave him his reward for making all gone, a bite of a brownie. A few minutes later, we found half of his chicken on the floor. Oh well. Lena ate half of hers. The both LOVE fries, and, of course, brownies. After lunch, we let the gals from Paper Affair (Angel's former employer) gush all over them. Lots of fun.

Naptime, normally 12-3, turned into 3-430, and we woke them up to see Aunt Liney (Caroline) and her husband Ronnie and daughter, "Princess I", Jessica. Su Jackson, a dear friend from Church, also visited with her children. Dub & Lena were fairly gracious, but very shy with their new friends. One thing's for sure: they take a while to get comfortable, and then they let loose. We're not sure what that "while" is yet, and maybe it's different for each environment.

We did finally see them act themselves in public, as we went out for pizza with Diana and Mark Harris and their newborn, Houston Harris. We went to NY Pizza in Vinings, which is right next to a train track. When this BIG machina went by, Dub and Lena were in awe. There was also some LIVE entertainment, to which Dub sang along gleefully. But, for the most part, they were pretty quiet...until we got them in the car on the way home, then they wouldn't shut up! Obviously, they are very comfortable with us, and rightfully so, but we do hope that someone else will get to see this very funny side of the monkeys.

So, you're caught up to today. Tomorrow, Sunday, is a big day. Church at 1030 - July 4th is something else at Church of The Apostles (www.apostles.org) - and then lake and fireworks on Oconee in the afternoon. I'm sure we'll be exhausted after that. Good thing Monday is actually a holiday.

One story to relate, from last night. Dub got up all by himself to garshok in the middle of the night (4am). He climbed up on the stool, just as Papa arrived to make sure he didn't fall over or whatever. I got him turned around (he faces forward now with the new training seat, and does just fine), and then he leaned forward as he always does to make sure, uh, things point in the right direction (down rather than up). At that point, I don't know what happened. Somehow, he missed the seat when his hands when to prop him up, and he tumbled head first and arms behind him onto the tile floor. His head softened the fall, if you can imagine that. I picked him up to comfort him, then realized that he might be so hurt or upset that he'd garshok all over me! He didn't, and he has a remarkably hard head. After a couple minutes of comforting, he did his thing, and toddled off to bed as if nothing ever happened. then of course he proceeded to keep mama up for the next 2 hours babbling and refusing to go back to sleep. She finally got him to sleep at 6...then Lena squawked "gaahhshuuuaak". That's 'garshok' with a distinctly southern drawl.

Oy. Now for the pictures. We had to FIND the camera and the flashcard reader first!


Nothin' like flying first class!


Lena is noticeable weary, and this is the FIRST of three plane rides in 36 hours.


Papa, whassat? Whassat? Whassat?


Dub made a new friend in cousin Jessica, aka, Princess I.


He even dresses like Papa!


We got a good long time playing on a playground WITHOUT any rude tweenagers!


Remember YOUR first time on an airplane? They were a little scared, but more curious.


We saw on Thursday just how small Dub and Lena are for their age. William and Madaline are 9 months older, and 2x as big.


The new Sandlin dinner table. Notice the dog underneath. He serves several functions in their new lives. First, he licks up everything they drop. Second, Fezzik has taken on the now official role of personal body guards to the monkeys. I'm reading "Executive Orders" (Tom Clancy) in which Jack Ryan is suddenly made President. He hates having the SS always around him, but they have a job to do. Fezzik is the MSS - Monkeys' Secret Service.


Thank you to the Hales for a lovely - and edible - homecoming treat!


First trip to Chick-Fil-A


EVERYTHING with wheels is a machina, including their new wheelbarrow.


EEEEEEK!!! Newman's gonna eat us! PAAAAAAAAAPAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


Really?!? We get to play here all day? With nobody to knock us down? WOW!


Perfect size for little Kazakh monkeys.


Be it ever so humble...This is a fresh photo from our morning walk, sure to be a new daily event. At just before 7, we met up with 2 other couples out walking their new additions, and lamented the fact that it's not gonna be "cocktails in the cul-de-sac" but rather "sippy-cups at the sandbox" for most people on our street. Four new babies arrived while we were in Kazakhstan.

Still reeling a little, and everyone is still nursing colds. We'll get there. One thing that helps is that it only takes a few seconds to upload all the pictures. Back to the re-conquest of the house!

Blessings,
Kevin, Angel, Lena and Dub