Our new car! (Wink, wink) and Farewell to Bethany's Stroller

We're SO thank to have a new double stroller to increase our mobility here.  No, we don't have a car or even a motorbike....it's our choice to remain on foot.  However with two little kids it was SO hard to get around ....although Jonathan is strong enough to walk, he really can't go long distances very fast or without getting distracted. 

We purchased this Phil and Ted's Classic double inline stroller.  The little seat on the back pops on and off in about 2 seconds.....so easy.  The unsightly lump on the side is called a "Saddle Bag."  This stroller has made our lives so much easier and we are so thankful to have it!  Thank you SO much to Aunt Marlene and the Khor family in Singapore who made it possible for us to buy it!

I do have to say a world of farewell, however, to Bethany's Graco stroller, which we had to retire upon purchasing this one.  Bethany's stroller, a gift from my co-workers at Walla Walla Community Hospice, was a special gift of promise and hope.  It was given to me as a pink carseat/stroller set, which I exchanged for a gender neutral gray in hopes that someday I could also use it for a boy.  We took it to Spokane, where we would wait for Bethany's birth.  I remember Cousin Erica unpacking it with excitement and begging to put it together, which she did.  It waited, sparkling new, in the corner of the Salzl living room for the day when baby Bethany would come home and use it.  I don't remember how it ever got packed up and transported back to Walla Walla after Bethany passed away August 6, 2008....but none-the-less it was ready for Jonathan when he was born in November 2009. 

The first time we were able to use Bethany's carseat was when Jonathan came home from the hospital.  The first time we used the stroller was for a family walk at the Whitman mission when Jonathan was about 3 weeks old.  

I made me so happy to have some of Bethany's things used for Jonathan....an important piece of the healing process puzzle.  In the end, Bethany's stroller ended up traveling around the world and back twice and walking miles and miles both domestic and foreign.  It was used and abused.  I don't know how many times the seat got moldy and disgustingly dirty ....I became quite an expert at removing 12 screws to take off the seat and undercarriage so they could be bleached and washed.  I got a lot of satisfaction out of doing that....because it was a gift from Bethany to her brothers.  We also got to use it for Joshua for 4 months. 

A close-up of the final injury -- a snapped off wheeled jimmy-wired together by an Indonesian friend.

A few weeks before our summer trip this year, the front wheel popped off hitting a speed bump.  A friend of ours wired it back together enough to make the airplane trip home as we desperately needed to use it in transit.  Then we had to say good-bye forever. 

Thanks for letting me share.   

Fireman in training -- Summer 2012 recap part 2

During our days in Mount Vernon with Dave's parents, Dave got very excited about taking Jonathan to visit the fire station to see the trucks there.  They made a total of 3 trips to 2 different fire stations and were always welcomed kindly by the staff there who let Jonathan climb and touch and romp and have fun....as if the fire station was merely another playground! 

Joshua didn't get to go the fire station, but he did have fun playing with Dave's old fire truck from when he was a kid, a gift from  Grampa Glen during the Connell days.  I think this photo is one of my top 5 favorites from the whole summer!

What are little boys made of? A morning outside

A dirty little boy is really such a sweet sight!

I don't know how it happened, but while we were gone in America this immense collection of fine dust/dirt appeared in our driveway.  It is a perfect construction sight for little toy trucks and diggers to work.    Whenever he plays there, I have to give him a bath right away but the fun is worth it. 

I love the little foreman supervising in the back on his little pile of dirt. 

I brought Joshua's walker out and did some sweeping of leaves.  This time of the morning we have several shady areas to enjoy.  Joshua is doing great in his walker....he can do backwards, forwards, sideways and diagonally at will.  The research reports that walkers are associated with a slight delay in the development of motor skills....I can't say that we've noticed. 

Ah, I see the little foreman is taking a break now!

We also found a bird's nest in the yard today.  We find quite a lot of them actually, probably about one a week.  This one contained little feathers and moldy bird poo, which is a good sign that the babies grew up and flew away successfully.  We have found others that are new and empty (blown down by the wind before they had a chance to be used), filled with intact or broken unhatched eggs (sad), and saddest of all, filled with rotten dead baby birds (mommy bird didn't make it home to the nest.) 

So I thought you might enjoy seeing our outside broom and dustpan.  The broom looks like something a witch might use, but it is the typical Javanese yard broom.  They don't even sell rakes here.  The dust pan is a nice upcycled staple item iavailable at the local market.   Originally it probably contained palm oil. 

"-Merica" -- There and Back Again

I won't bother with any excuses as to how we've had a 4 month dead spot in our blog, because I know excuses would be a bother to read.  I'm sorry!  But to catch up, we traveled to America at the end of May and returned to Indonesia at the end of July.  Jet lag was horrible....there's just no easy way to help 2 small children adjust to a 14 hour time change.  However we had a wonderful time and made some great memories!  This blog post is dedicated to the experience of traveling with small children....

People asked me "How was the trip?"  I answered "Vomiting, diarrhea, and tantrums, oh my!" We had all 3, although no pictures of these events as we were busy dealing with it!  Here are some of the other fun details.....

When you are traveling with small children, it's best to travel as light as possible....ha, ha!  For carry-on luggage we had 2 strollers and 2 backpacks and 1 small roller suitcase.  It's still too much considering we had to somehow carry the 2 grumpy children also!  We found that during our layovers, we had to just choose a place to park and then stay there because lugging around possessions + children was not worth it!

For the most part, Joshua was a very jolly traveler and napped and nursed when he was supposed to.  His only problem was that he started in with diarrhea about an hour after our first international flight -- 4 poopy diapers in about 2 hours!  The diarrhea continued for about 10 days -- I'm pretty sure it was rotavirus. 

We almost lost Jonathan at the Jakarta airport.  I had gone to change clothes with Joshua while Dave shifted some of our belongings.  Jonathan was with Dave playing on this very cool airport golf cart.  When I came out of the bathroom, Jonathan had disappeared and Dave had just started looking for him.  Fortunately an airport employee quickly pointed him out "driving" an identical golf cart across the way.  This was our first trip not using Jonathan's safety harness so we learned to keep our eye on him at every second!  Uhm....I know....you'd think we would have learned that by now but he's gotten faster!

We had an eternal 5 hour layover at the Jakarta airport, during which Dave suffered a nasty ramp vs luggage cart vs shin collision and we made a difficult terminal change.  Here we are waiting for a microwaved snack at this little cafe.

 

The boys got a lot of love at the Jakarta airport.  Here Joshua is getting a handshake and a cheek pinch from the airport security lady.  

It's nice to have a travel companion!

We flew on Taiwan's EVA AIR line which we do highly recommend.  Tip to travelers:  If you ever have a choice between an American airline or an Asian airline, go ASIAN all the way.  The service is always superior.  This was our airplane!  Taiwan is obsessed with Hello Kitty and Eva Air has responded by commissioning 5 Hello Kitty jumbo jets!  Inside the passenger safety cards all have kitty ears, too!

 At the Taiwan airport there is also a Hello Kitty theme children's area complete with a pink playground and a Hello Kitty rainbow mini-amphitheater playing continuous Hello Kitty videos!

Soon after boarding, the stewardesses bring around toys for the kids!  Jonathan got a cool puzzle/construction toy and a sticker/color book with crayons!

Ah, it was so sweet!  Eva airlines has special children's meals!  Jonathan loved the spaghetti-- unfortunately his stomach said "No thank you" since he was eating at the equivalent of 2 am and it all came back up with great fanfare a few minutes after this photo was taken.

My sweet husband let me take a rest at the Taiwan airport while he walked with the boys.  This picture is priceless....  Shortly after this photo Jonathan woke up and had the mother of all meltdowns....it's better left forgotten, but I'm afraid I'll never forget it!

 An eternity later we arrived in Seattle and were picked up by Dave's parents.  Grandma Arlette immediately presented Jonathan with a copy of "Go Train Go" which we also have at our house.  He was so happy to see something familiar he kissed it!  It was Grampa and Grandma's first time to meet Joshua so hugs all around. 

Jet lag with 2 small children ...this picture says it all.  One sleeping baby on back, one grumpy toddler in front and a rather dark circled, aged, wan looking mommy in the middle!  But I will say our jetlag experience this year was better than last year thanks to Jonathan being a little more mature and me not being pregnant!

Fast forward.....sharing now two fun pictures from our return trip.  Our return trip was nice, actually.  Neither of the two international flights were full so we had a lot of room to spread out and run around which made all the difference in the world.

We're leaving and ....A trip to the libary and home again

We are in the busy season of getting ready to travel to the US for 2 months.  We leave on Tuesday....and Jonathan is very excited to ride on the big airplane!
I have aspirations of keeping this blog active during our travels....but it may become inert if circumstances prevent me from  posting.

In the meantime, I have these photos from our walk to school last week that I uploaded but never posted.  Enjoy!

Now that Jonathan is a stronger, more obedient walker, I'm starting to venture out of the house more with both boys.  

So we packed Joshua in the stroller and put a harness on Jonathan for safety and off to school we went for a  visit to the elementary library.

We are SO thankful we have access to this library at school!  We check out about 10 books a week, and it's a treat for all of us, especially on the first day when the books are still fresh!

Ode to the library:
Lord, I am so grateful you have given us access to this library!
I have always loved a library and feel a sense of peace upon entering,
and what would we do without a fresh supply of books each week
to feed the eager and hungry mind of my Jonathan (and myself)!
What a wonderful combination of classics (Babar, Curious George, Clifford)
and character builders (a wondrous collection of Christian classics and newer stories).
Thank you Lord for our library!  I know by the time we are done 
we will have checked out and returned our favorites dozens of times!

P.S.  A few of our favorites so far are Go, Dog,  Go (by Eastman) and A Steam Train Journey (by Puck Scarry) and Inside, Outside, Upside Down (by Berenstein)

We left the library a few minutes ago.  As we round the corner by the high school building, Jonathan decides it's time for his first sit down break and a drink.

We're off campus now and stopped at the corner store for a little box of milk to keep our strength up.  Jonathan has a coin in his pocket he's been keeping very carefully ....time to use it for a ride on the toy train!

We've climbed up a BIG hill and are now walking by the "soccer field."  Time to pause for a moment and watch the chickens pecking in a grove of trees.

In my "critter" post not too long ago, I said I could never photo a butterfly, but lo and behold, here is a beauty we saw on our walk and my camera captured his flutterings!

So, these images are just a glimpse of what we see on our short walk between campus and home ....I didn't get photos of the large house being built on the corner (complete with cement mixer), the neighborhood lady who gave me a bunch a orchids, the banana tree garden being cultivated, the discarded paper kite that Jonathan carried for half of the way,  and the security guards greeting Jonathan at the front gate of the school.  We never know what or who we will see, but with a baby and toddler along, we are forced to slow down and enjoy all of the details!

This week's milestones

I now love laying on my tummy and playing with toys!  I can do this for 30 minutes before I need help from my mommy!

In this photo, Joshua is enjoying his shadow. 

Wow, Jonathan is really loving the diggers and dumpers right now. 
Since we don't have a sandbox (yet?) at the house, I'm letting him use the flower bed, which you can see doesn't have any flowers at the moment!  On this day, he played for about 45 minutes by himself while I had a nice visit with my friend Amy!

Our desk finally came back from the repair shop after being attacked by termites.  Here Jonathan is inspecting the repair job before I reload the file drawer.

"Please shut it, please!" is how Jonathan asks me to close the drawer.  So I do, for a game of "Peek-you" (or peek-a-boo, as most people know it.) 

Critters

Help my house is being invaded by giant caterpillars driving a John Deere tractor!  I walked into the living room the other day and THIS is what I found! 

Well, we do live in the tropics and bugs and critters are abundant ...although here in our small city they are mostly on the smaller side and quite common .....lots of ants and mosquito.   Occasionally we hear of friends who have some real excitement.  For instance last year a 6 foot python was found on the school track (and was was adopted and later released back into the wild by some friends.)  Even more scary, last week a friend reported of a "white tipped viper" invading her daughters' bedroom.  It had been disturbed out of it's rock pile home by some new construction. (That one was NOT adopted, as it was quite poisonous.)  I don't hear snake stories very often though.   Today I'd like to share some photos of some of the critters I have managed to catch on camera. 

 

 He looks awful and he is indeed huge...about half as long as my pinky finger and as big around too.   He is indeed a kind of bee and what you see here is just his skin, actually.  I'm not sure if his insides have been eaten or if he just moved out because he grew.  His exoskeleton has been attached there to our tree for a good month now.....weathering quite a few hard rain storms.  These guys buzz loudly around our passionfruit vines quite a bit.

This guy is a chameleon of sorts ...when I first saw him he was brown, and then he turned green when he scurried off the fence into the hibiscus bush.  Jonathan and I played hide-and-seek with him for about half and hour before he found a better hiding place.

 

We do have butterflies come through every day, but they don't land and I can't photo them.  The moths tend to land more and rest a while.  Jonathan was excited to find this guy on our porch yesterday.

 Here's another guy who stopped on our porch last month when my mom was visiting.

Now to tell you about some of the critters who come INSIDE our house.  The lines of ants who patrol the kitchen each evening are just something we live with....but I had to put my foot down when a colony decided to try building a sandy anthill in our bedroom!  Here Jonathan and I are sweeping up a good 1/2 cup of sand that were brought up through holes in the tile/wall junction.  The holes have now been cemented over and no more ants in the bedroom.  Unfortunately they have moved into back bathroom....

What you see here are "termite tunnels."  A few months ago we bought a lovely new desk.  We live in an older house, but I've never seen termites in any of the rooms.  Then last week, I discovered they had bored through the floor and had made "tunnels" all around the bottom of the new desk!  I was so sad I felt nauseated...God's lesson to me not to be too attached to possessions. In the picture, the tunnels you see were built overnight after we had cleaned away the previous ones.   Now those holes have been cemented over too and the desk is still out being repaired.

What is a "termite tunnel" you ask?  The termites have fragile bodies, so they bring dirt and mud (and bug feces) and build mounded tunnels so they can move to and from and around their food sources more safely.  YUCK! 

So that completes this episode of critters around our home!  For the next episode, tune in again to see cecaks, tokeks, massive ant nests hiding inside a blender, cockroaches, and much, much more!