April, gone in a flash!

April has ended and with it Ramadan. Yes this year the holy month of Ramadan lasted all of April and we are now celebrating Eid, the end of Ramadan. It is now safe to eat and drink outdoors again and go to restaurants during the day! Yay. 

Because of Ramadan the schools here start an hour later so the kids who were awake in the middle of the night to eat could sleep in. It was great for us because we didn't have to wake Mackenzie up for the bus. Now it's back to 6am wake up time but just for one more month.

April was a jam packed month of fun. 

• General Conference. We got the girls interested by encouraging them to listen for 5 special words (like Jesus, Family, Love, etc.) and every time they heard it they marked it down. Then after the session each word was linked with a treat and they made their own General Conference trail mix. They loved it. And it was so easy and no extra prep or items needed for purchase. Win.
  
  
  
• Ward Cookout out in the desert. We saw camels! And until that point, it was the most exciting Kuwait thing we'd done in our 18 months of living here.

  

  The camels are tiny in the background.

  
  
• Primary Easter activity. They rotated around to 4 different areas and did activities like make palms for Palm Sunday, hunt for meaningful eggs that had items representing the Holy Week and making resurrection rolls. Then there was an egg hunt. They had a great time.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Spring break! And right before there was a Ramadan holiday in which Mackenzie came home with so much candy!
  
  
  
• On days when the air wasn't terrible (which wasn't very many days sadly) we went to the Blu to swim. When Daddy could come, the girls love to do "belly bonks" with him which is just them swimming underwater attempting to ram into his stomach with their heads.
  
  
  
• And when we did go outside the weather was still pretty nice. Cool in the shade and in the mid 80s. I remember last April it was really hot, mostly 90 degree days so this was wonderful.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We painted Bennett's room and we LOVE it!
  
  

  
  
  
• Easter! Kiersten gave a talk in church that Friday and then on Saturday we invited two families over for brunch and an egg hunt. It was really fun.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Kids' Sports Day at the Embassy. Lots of fun, easy games for the 4 and under crowd and one giant obstacle course by the Marines for the older kids. Mackenzie was the first kid to do it and she did amazing. Even ran the second half of the course holding two 10 pound weights. Her arms were sore for days!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We got what we think is the last rain storm until November on April 29. It poured here and we of course went out in it. The girls were so happy to wear rain coats and jump in the puddles.

  

  Rainbow activity curtesy of Grandma Jackson

  
  
• Lastly, we finalized our R&R plans for this year. Originally we assumed we'd head back to the States for the summer and Kiersten and kids would remain while Scott made the journey back and forth. Well plans changed when Scott's youngest brother announced his engagement and wedding to take place in Boston in October. So we're sticking around this summer and heading back for a few weeks in the Fall. Wish us luck with... everything.

The Mackenzie Update:

• They had their 100th day of school at the end of March and she needed to make a project. We went to the craft section and found some shiny plastic shells and we glued them down on poster board. She then added a few extra things to her beach scene all on her own. 
  
  
  
• She started doing math quizzes in school. She gets 3 minutes to complete as many as she can and she averages about 1/3 on the page.
• One of our neighbors has a daughter who rides the bus with Mackenzie and they've been able to have a few play dates this month which has been really fun for her.

  

  She made a store for us one day complete with price tags and money!

  
  
• Her helper skills continue to amaze. She loves getting on the floor and entertaining Bennett and creating new worlds in play with Finley.
  
  
  

The Finley Report:

• New expression: "I'll be back in a flash!" or as she says it "fash". No idea where she learned it from but it's funny.
  
  
  
• Daddy took her floaties off at the pool last time and she's been thrilled. Summer goal: swimming lessons without floaties.
  
  
  
• Learning to recognize and spell with the letters in her name. Her favorite game has been hunting for Easter eggs with magnetic letters in them.

  

  Hunting for eggs.

  
  
  
  
  
• Also learning some important life skills like laundry and chopping.
  
  
  
• She started to ask if she can hold Bennett more which only lasts about a minute maximum but it's nice to know she likes him.
  
  
  

The Bennett Review:

• 4 months old! He's rolled over a few times but nothing consistent. He is a chatty, happy, smiley, cooey, giggly boy.
  
  
  
• We've switched to outward facing in the baby carrier and he really likes it.
  
  
  
• In the last month he has discovered his fists which he has been aggressively trying to eat, his feet and toes which he grabs at happily and his tongue which he sticks out in fascination.
  
  
  
• He went swimming one time and it was a 50/50 experience. Sort of liked it, sort of didn't.
  
  
  

Quirks of Kuwait:

• Why pull the weeds in the medians when you can just mow them?
  
  
  

Now for Eid Scott has had several days off. Today we decided to go to the Kuwait Towers and it was so cool. It was a somewhat clear day and we could see a good deal of the city. Then McDonald's for lunch. Also our new nanny started this week, just two days this week because of the holiday but it's been a wonderful transition so far. Catch you next time!