Parents Day at school

The boys nursery had a parents visit class day. Well on Jaydon's day I forgot and then had a meeting scheduled over the visit time so even when I did remember couldn't go. Apparently Jaydon was very sad that i didn't make it and every teacher who saw me for the next week had to tell me about how disappointed he was that I didn't come. So on Tylor's day I made sure to come.


He really didn't know what to think of mommy being at school, he became very clingy and didn't want to do any of the activities (which was fine with me since I wasn't in clothes very conducive to child activities like painting and playing on the floor). But when the hour was up and it was time for parents to leave Tylor decided he did not like that idea. He threw a full body tantrum (and apparently this was the first time the teachers had seen him do this). But what also happened it that the next morning when I dropped him off he threw a fit again. It's like my visit to the class made him realize that it is possible for mommy to be there too and was going to do everything he could to keep me there. This went one for about 2 weeks before he finally would go to class with no tears in the morning...hopefully next year they decide to just skip parent visit day...

Boys on their own

While i was traveling all around the US Steve stayed home with the boys who all seemed to do just fine.


They went to birthday parties on the weekend (Steve sent me this photo with the caption of "How am I going to get him clean?"


... apparently it required a lot of scrubbing and a few tears. Tylor played dress up at school and did lots of playing.


He's also learned how to 'smile' on demand which is super cute since he isn't much of a smilier.


Jaydon has also become quite an artist.


This painting actually looked like what it was supposed to be when it was finished - a fish.


Our kitchen is very thouroughly decorated with all the masterpieces.

Sailing San Fran bay

Sarah learned that the Air Force has purchased a new sailboat that was open for anyone to rent with a captain for a small fee.


She had asked us months back if we were interested and it sounded like a great idea. Given the price I assumed it was a quick tour of the bay and back to shore. Once I arrived I realized it was scheduled for bright and early the morning after the wedding. Now I can't think of an idea worse than getting on a sailboat the morning after a wedding.


Jet lag made sure that I didn't sleep-in past 6 once the whole trip (as soon as I'd get a little adjusted I'd move west a few more time zones) so i was up nice and early and started hydrating early. The weather looked a little rough and it was very foggy. Several of us tried to bail out but peer pressure won over and we all set off. The captain of the boat was a great guy and was just the kind of person you'd want to be stuck on a boat with for several hours.


During the safety talk Jen (my brother's girlfriend) had her hangover greet her head-on, so to say. We hand't even untied the ropes yet and already had puking over the side of the boat (imagine what the captain was thinking). We debated whether to leave her behind but she insisted she was fine. We headed out.


Got our picture under the Golden Gate Bridge and realized she was not so fine. She spent the rest of the trip with a bucket at her side at all times.


Also, none of us realized this was an all day tour so we came completely unprepared, no food, no water, no sunscreen.


The captain took pity on us and after making a tour around Alcatraz brought us to Angel island were we got some lunch. None of us were feeling 100% yet so there was a lot of chicken soup ordered for lunch. Jen's came back to greet her as soon as she got back on the boat.


The captain realized we were not die-hard sailors so he turned the engines on and brought us back to shore for, what else, some drinks. We thanked him and said goodbye and rushed off to our dinner date with at our cousin Michele's house. She lives in a cute house in San Fran and had invited all the Forte's over for a low key family reunion dinner. She also has 2 kids the same ages as Jaydon and Tylor so I got to appease my Dr.Seuss withdrawals by reading them stories all night and playing with their puzzles and dress-up clothes. It was quite a day.

Trip to Houston...

...all by myself. It all started after my sister got engaged over Christmas. She planned for her wedding to be in March so I started figuring out how best to get back for the big event. Steve was not thrilled about another trip to the US so soon after the last and jet-lag for the kids takes so long that you really need 2 weeks to make a trip worthwhile.
I ended up finding a training course in Houston that matched the dates perfectly. So I signed up for it and got Steve to agree to by Mr.Mom for the 12 days I was gone (he did negotiate a boys only Oman fishing trip as part of the deal).
Since I was heading to the US kid free I wanted to make the most of it and decided to make a quick stop in Florida to see my Grandfather who turned 95 on March 17. It was great to see how well he's doing. He still goes down to the gym, had lunch one day out at the beach and even made me breakfast of bacon and eggs one morning single handily. He's gained back a lot of his strength since his surgery last year which is great for Grandma Squeak who is now able to do more of the things she likes to spend her time doing (rather then staying at home keeping an eye on gramps). It was great to see them both and I was happy that the trip worked out so well to see them.
After Florida I headed to Houston for my week long training class. It was a good class and the weather was perfect all week. I enjoyed some yummy food and spent way too many evenings at the Galleria mall...well I did have to fill up the extra suitcase I brought. On Friday I went to class for about 2 hours and then rushed off to the airport. Sarah's wedding was that evening so I knew I was taking a chance scheduling my flight to arrive only 2.5 hrs before it started. I put everything I needed in my carry-on so the airline was welcome to lose my bags. I scoped out the fastest way from the airport to the venue and since I was so prepared Karma looked kindly on me and we landed early, my bags were on the carousel waiting for me, the taxi got me through the beginnings of friday afternoon rush hour (and I had a nice chat with the driver who was from Sudan) and I arrived with enough time to even take a shower before the big event.

The wedding was beautiful. Sarah and her husband Neal were so cute together.


My dad did a very well received speech and gracefully danced around the floor with my sister.

I saw lots of family members I hadn't seen in a long time. I felt a little guilty the boys weren't able to share the fun but we did lots of skype calls with them in the morning at breakfast with the i-pad getting passed around the table so everyone could say hi.

After the wedding I spent a few more days in San Francisco enjoying the city and catching up with family before heading back to reality. One big bonus is that I was able to book the whole itinerary in business class (Doha-Dubai-Atlanta-Ft. Myers-Houston-San Fran-Paris-Doha, for those who are interested) for cheaper then the roundtrip Doha to Houston which meant the company was happy to pick up the tab - now that's optimizing.
BTW - I highly recommend the website itasoftware.com for any of you overseas travelers. You can't actually book tickets through it but it's excellent at helping you determine the best options for your complicated itinerary.

Morning at the beach

Summer time is quickly upon us so we decided to spend one morning at the beach before it gets too hot for such adventures.

The local beach had a promotion so it was only QR25 (~$6) for the morning - it's usually QR100-200.

The temperature was perfect, the water was a little cold. Jaydon spent the whole morning finding shells.

Tylor spent the whole morning filling up his bucket with sand and dumping it out again.

Once they had gotten sand into every crack and crevasse in their body we headed home for a bath and nice long nap.