Monday, February 8, 2010

Make You Banana Pancakes

I LOVE Jack Johnson music. I have always thought that I want my life to "sound" like a Jack Johnson CD.... so apparently I want it to be like Curious George haaa! (We watched that tonight with the boys, all the music is JJ) ANYWAY he has this song called Banana Pancakes and I think it is so cute. Well here it is a "tradition" of sorts to head down to Casbar beach on the weekends and get pancakes and let the kids run around. Our friend and wonderful sponsor Nicola was kind enough to meet us at our house and show us the way. She has been such a life saver and is the real reason I am taking to East Timor so quickly. I thank my lucky stars for she and Meredith. Both ladies have two adorable cuties (I get to do a newborn session tomorrow with Meredith woo hoo!) Nicola has Brigs who is five, and Addie who is 2. They are such adorable little kids. Brigs is so mellow and kind with Sam. Sam absolutely adores him and spends the majority of his days here asking if he can play with him. Liam liked the "shikens" that were cruising around crowing, but was a little hesitant around the water.
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This particular day Sam was in dire need of a nap and spent the morning whining to Chris and I... bummers. Luckily it was gorgeous and the food was amazing! Although they had banana pancakes available I had a pancake with Nutella because I am, above everything else, a health nut haa! Sam wanted his plain and then coveted Brigs' eggies and toast until we broke down and got him his own.
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We enjoyed a few different smoothies including Banana, Lime crush, and a mango concoction. Lets just say I can't wait for next weekend to pig out again. My whole "once we are on the island we will be forced to eat healthy" has flown out the window. The only draw back is that I was eaten alive by buggies and that you absolutely fry here if you aren't careful. Before I left I knew Abby wouldn't be able to sport all her adorable crocheted hats since they would be too hot, so I set out to make her an "urban Bonnet". My friend Zoe and I happened upon them on the same day. She knows me so well that when she saw them she emailed me the link haaa! I figured I could make it myself and ended up going to town and making her five of them. With sewing it is sometimes easiest to treat it like an assembly line and just bang out a bunch at once :) Once we are settled I am going to try and make one a little more similar to that one but I still think they are pretty darn cute on her:
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After enjoying breakfast and finally succumbing to Sam's endless whining to go to Brigs house we loaded up in the car and Nicola took us on a short little drive to see another beach. They are constructing a new beach walk of sorts and I think it is going to be gorgeous when they are done:
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This is right below the giant Christ statue that stands on a cliff at the edge of the bay. We hope to hike it pretty soon :)
The boys got a kick out of the many goats that wandered around right by the road
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and Chris and I couldn't believe how gorgeous and blue the water was.
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That afternoon we met a bunch of the other families at the embassy pool. The Dads play ultimate frisbee on saturdays so Christ joined them while I swam with the kids. It was so much fun splashing around. The older expat children are so gentle with Abby and I love girls who are about 8-12 years old because they are soooo helpful with the babies :) We even stayed in for a little while after it started pouring rain. It is so crazy how warm it is when it rains, I am still getting used to it! (And so grateful for my Hunters- Cady:)) Chris and I also both enjoyed hour long massages-- a much needed after this move :) They are super cheap and oh so relaxing. I feel like I need to put up some pictures of the regular city because after typing all this I feel like I am giving a pretty warped view of East Timor. But so far our experience has been great. But a reality check post will follow soon :)

8 comments:

Shanna Dietz Surendra said...

I cannot believe the view from your house - I am so jealous! It looks like you are all settling in well; if you guys can do it with three children, we should be able to manage with a golden retriever... Looking forward to following your blog and seeing more beautiful pictures! (btw, this is Shanna Surendra, a colleague of Chris')

Elizabeth Moon said...

Wow. I am jealous of your sunshine! Beautiful pictures! And I miss you. :)

The Grady's said...

You deserve massages everyday! I am glad that you arrived safely and that you are meeting friends!

Russ said...

AMAZING! Glad everything is going so well!

The Gardener said...

Please do the "reality" post so I won't feel so bad about turning the State Dept. down. I can't believe how gorgeous everything is. I want to come!

Jan said...

Kelly, I forgot to tell you I love Abby- Cutes hat! What a great idea. Start now so she gets used to it.

Jan said...

This picture reminds me of Samoa. On a map you see an island that is fair sized. Then you get there and see that in actuality it is very mountainous and only a small part of it is livable. Very beautiful. I hope you enjoy your pancakes and beach.

Garity said...

Abby's hat is beyond cute! Thanks for posting the link. I am so glad you are having a better start than we did. I did tell you that State Dept takes care of their own and I'm glad to see that you are being taken care of. So glad you have sponsors who have made the transition easier!