March Madness Indeed

Looks like we've got a monthly update happening here.

March has been a very interesting month. Here are some highlights:

• We finally got our stuff! After 7 months of living out of suitcases, with family, with borrowed toys and an Embassy Welcome kit we finally have all our belongings... except for our main car.

  

  So exciting. Honestly it was the most excitement they'd had in a while.

  
  

  

  Look at all those boxes!

  
  
  
  
  

  

  We didn't pack the main trash can with trash but did manage the car trash can!

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Happiest moment for Kiersten was getting back the piano.

  
  
• With all our stuff came our pictures which we got hung up recently. It really makes our place feel more like our home. It's nice.
  
  
  
• The Government of Kuwait (GOK) issued a curfew from 5pm-5am. The first day was a mad dash for people to get home before 5pm and then it was quiet. We enjoyed dinner outside on our porch that night. They have since pushed the curfew back to 6pm. It doesn't affect us too much except to do any shopping or driving during the day. More people out than normal since the window to get things is limited.
  
  
  
• We experienced our first "Sand Storm". It was really more of a dust storm we've been told. It happened on a Saturday night and it was very windy. We couldn't see the neighboring building very clearly. The sky was just brown.
• The following week the sky didn't clear and the weather for two weeks held some "dust" days as the weather. The sky continued to be tan.

  

  Ever see a locus before? It was like the plague around here!

  
  
• We had some very hot days this month, the highest was 97F. We spent many days at the pool.
  
  
  
• Scott and Kiersten hosted their first virtual Trivia Night here! It was attended by 5 people but those 5 people seemed to genuinely enjoy it and excited for another. We hope word of mouth and better advertising will increase interest for April.
• We bought a desktop! Our laptop battery was protruding from the case so it was time to fix or replace. It was almost the same cost (overseas living!) so we took the plunge for a desktop. Mac Mini. So far so good.
• GOK announced schools will open for in-person attendance in the Fall. Yay, Mackenzie!
• We got a free, medium sized trampoline from our neighbors. The girls love it!
  
  
  

Those are some of the bigger things that stand out from March. We've been trying to get the girls outside daily and hopefully connecting with friends. Some of our friends have already headed back to the States for the Summer and that number will increase as the school year comes to a close. So we are taking advantage of the nice weather and friends who are here while we can.

Our budding Pickle Ball player.

Participating in our friend's Field Day for school (virtual of course).

Scott has become increasingly busy with work. Several coworkers went back to the States for vacations and now are unable to come back due to GOK travel restrictions. People keep leaving and no one is coming back! Then the Embassy tightened work restrictions to limit COVID spread and number of people in offices so its just as well. But that means Scott is all alone in his immediate office and getting very busy. We are hopeful some of them will be returning soon. And with their vaccinations!

We had the beach all to ourselves one Saturday morning.

Lots of tiny shells.

Kiersten and the girls have gotten into a decent routine. Wake, play, eat, repeat. It's monotonous so when we could go to the pool for that one week it was such a nice change. The weather this week is cooler again with steady breeze so it's been a joy to sit outside while they play. These nice days are numbered.

Virtual Church still going strong.

The Mackenzie Update:

• We've got a reader! She read all the books in her first BOB collection and we got another set. She is tearing through them!
  
  
  
• She wrote her own book: Run Little Bunny Run. It's about Yellow the Bunny who lives with Mackenzie and then a Hunter comes to take her away. Oh and for a while she called hunters or soldiers 'gunners' because they have guns.
• The girls started swim lessons and in 5 weeks we can see big changes in both of them.

The Finley Report:

• More words! She is saying so many I think she is digressing a bit again. She's dropping letters and using sounds again but she's better and pointing and "explaining" the thing she's trying to communicate. Words include: sho-sho (like 'go away'), help, yes (with an adorable lisp making it "yesh"),  knock, night, baby, and Sis (ssiss) - her name for Mackenzie.
  
  
  
• She learned how to do a thumbs up and lets us know when she's "[g]ood" (she doesn't say the 'g').
• No more pacifier! About a week after taking it away at naps we took it away at night and never looked back. It was a rough couple of days but we made it! No more middle of the night screaming and blind searching for it. Phew.
• She is learning her colors and prefers "purpur" (purple).
  
  
  

Quirks of Kuwait: Driving Edition

• Merging on the freeway from an overpass is terrifying. There are NO LINES! Like at all. You come off the ramp, get behind cars and then scramble when the lanes eventually appear again in 100 yards and hope the guy next to you doesn't merge into the lane you are aiming for. WHY? No idea.
• Fancy cars. Nuf said.

  

  In this view I can see a Mercedes, Range Rover, Charger, Audi and Maserati. This is pretty typical.
  

  
  
• Since the curfew was instituted we've seen just how fast and reckless they drive here. With everyone trying to get home in time they just fly past with seemingly no regard for others or the speed bumps on the roads. We don't change lanes and just pray they see us.

And that's our March. We are hopefully that we can get back to the States at some point early Summer and are cautiously optimistic we'll receive our vaccines soon. Until then, we are staying home, trying to not go crazy, enjoy the weather and make the most of things. Keep those Marco Polo and text messages coming! We sure do love them. Until next time!

Finley robot says "Bye-bye!"