Tyler Place Days 4 & 5

We made it and are on our way to New York City. We have another 8 hours left on our journey, wish us luck!  Both kids are exhausted, but aren't sleeping. M had a terrible night last night and just cried and cried. Then she'd trick us by sleeping 20 minutes or so and then cry some more.  It was like this until 2 am and then she passed out until morning! Phew-y! Maybe it was the glee from getting to eat blueberries in the middle of the night and not having to share with N that allowed her to take pity on me and let us get some sleep! Still never figured out what was wrong, probably overly tired more than anything. 

We had a good rest of the week. A little more ran and some warm sun. N and I went fishing, he was so excited and finally got to do it. Though it'll be a few more years before he has the patience to let the hook and line sit in the water to try to catch a fish. He caught 3 though and had a great time casting and reeling in. Every time he'd reel the line in, he said, "N caught a worm!" So cute! He also went pony riding, swimming 3 times, to a dance party, on wagon rides, trampolining, gardening, cooking, etc. He had a busy week and always seemed to be having a great time! In other news, N seems to want to sleep in his own bed these days, last night he actually did, and the night before he started over there. My little boy is growing up! *sniffles*

M and her crowd didn't quite have the variety of activities, but they all spent a good amount of time crying. :( It hurt to see her little heart break when we dropped her off or after coming by to nurse her and leave again. I guess I could have pumped, but that wouldn't have been worth the hassle. As they both get older, they'll both be more comfortable and almost excited to leave mommy and daddy each day! 

S and I rounded out our week with kayaking for S and aqua aerobics for me and on Friday we both went rock climbing on the wall at the place. I was freezing so the guy picked me to go first, luckily it was designed for people who didn't know what rock climbing was so I shot straight up! Zoom zoom!  S enjoyed his short kayak, Vermont is beautiful!  We hired a babysitter last night to finally have a night out. It was supposed to be drinks, a slide show and games...one couple was playing checkers and there were only a few others mingling and drinking. We left soon after the projector crashed and called it a night. We tried to go out, we really did! Since we had spent most of the week just hanging out with each other, it didn't seem like too much of a loss! 

As to the question we spent yesterday answering, whether we will go back or not...the answer is of course "it depends." If we are back in DC finishing up home leave, then probably. But otherwise the journey here is/was too long and costly for the price of the place. We had a great time and think the kids will have even more fun in future years, so we will see! Pictures will be posted soon! We left the camera at my MIL's house, so we had to buy the official ones for $2 a pop!

 Exhausted and sleeping on the train! 

 

Tyler Place Day 3

We are a tired group, but having a lot of fun! We have been trapped inside all afternoon because of thunderstorms, but the weather seems to have cleared a bit and I want to take the kids swimming. Aparently they close even the indoor pools due to inclement weather these days. N and I got soaked trying to go swimming after his program, but were turned away. I thought indoor swimming was a good alternative after our fishing expedition had been cancelled. N has been so excited to go fishing, but we have no idea where he got the idea... 

S and I did a low ropes course all morning, it was awesome. Most people think of team-building, which it kinda was, but it was more about the fun for all of us. We climbed over a 14 FT wall as a group, did a human knot, 13 of us stood on a 2'x2' platform and rope swinged across to three small planks and a rock without touching the ground, and lastly we balanced on two cables that gradually spread apart pushing against each others' hands. It was good fun, except during the trust fall, S decided to play a trick on me and caught me late GRR. And then when he went he tried not to tip over when the point was to be caught by your teammates. :-P 

BTW, in case you are wondering the food is excellent, fresh, and diverse. Different main courses, usually 2 each meal, plus 3 types of dessert!!  My favorite is always the breakfast and S enjoys his nightly 14th Star IPA from a Vermont brewery. According to their counselors, both N and M enjoy their meals immensely. 

N's past 36 hours have been fun-filled! Gardening, playing with goo and gak, DJ dance party, cooking, field games and other stuff!  M did a lot better today, but didn't sleep much at group. For those who are keeping track, M has 4 teeth poking through and took 5 steps today! She is growing up so fast. (Though don't start asking when #3 is coming, we are done!) 

No pictures right now! And I apologize for the bad writing and typos, I'm not used to the iPad. 

Tyler Place Day 2

Checking in partway through our first full day at the family camp.  M and N spent yesterday evening and this morning in their groups. N had a great time for both sessions and ate well. He went to a bookmobile and played with goopy stuff. He was playing with a sit-on backhoe when I picked him up and he didn't want to leave. Jury is still out if he has made any friends, but we've met a few of his peers' parents. He loves the train table and the endless number of play structures sprinkled about the property! 

M didn't have quite as much fun. Everyone says she does great until she decides she is done having fun and done eating dinner. Last night around 7:45, I got tapped on the shoulder because M was hysterical and the babysitter (fantastic with 11 years of experience) couldn't get her to calm down. She was worried that she was making herself sick. She was only scheduled until 8:30, so it wasn't too bad. This morning I swung by to nurse her around 10 (the program runs 8:30-1:30 so I have to nurse her at least once) and she was really upset. :( I nursed her to sleep, but couldn't put her down. After I passed her back to the ladies, she fell asleep for an hour plus and then ate a great lunch! At 12:45, I figured I'd grab her early and it was a good thing I did, she was just starting to get hysterical again. Hopefully M will get used to it so I can worry less. 

On the parent front S and I enjoyed a free cocktail and dinner with some new friends yesterday evening. We were exhausted so we skipped the magician. We were ready to go to bed before N, who was wired from all the fun he had. This morning we leisurely got ready and dropped the kiddos off. We had a fantastic breakfast, recieved our bikes with kids seats and played dodge ball, blob tag and tug-of-war with a bunch of other adults. It was a lot of fun, more running than I've done in a while! 

This evening and afternoon might include swimming, rock climbing, inflatable water slide, bike rides and definitely another adult evening without kids! :)  Stay tuned! 

Little Things

Since I rarely post, I thought I try to challenge myself to write short entries about the little things!  

The other night, N and I were laying in bed trying to fall asleep, N was tossing and turning and wiggling so I said, "N, you need to go to sleep." I could tell he was trying to fall asleep, but sometimes it helps to calm his wiggle down.  In response, he pulled his little thumb out of his mouth and said, "I sleeping mommy, no worry." Made my heart smile! :-D

Now a short about M. She is getting SO big and her little personality it starting to show. The other day she was sitting with me on the bed (no, we don't spend all day there) and found two of her pacifiers on the bed. She picked up one, sucked for a bit, then quickly shot it out of her mouth to put the other one in. We went back and forth like this for a few minutes and then she tried to put the extra one in my mouth. I'm not sure if she decided that she liked on or the other, but it sure was cute! 

We are now on Amtrak heading to the Tyler Place, a family camp on Lake Champlain in Vermont. I encourage you to Google it if you are curious, but we are excited to say the least. N and M will have age group summer camps while S and I will have our adult summer camp in the mornings. We'll spend the afternoons together and then go back to our adults only dinner.  

5 Pros and 5 Cons of Tegucigalpa, Honduras

A few other bloggers in the Foreign Service are posting their Pros and Cons for their current Post.  I feel that a little over halfway through my tour is a good time for me to compile my list.  Here they are:

Pros:

1. Weather - The weather is always nice here, even in the hot/dry season, it doesn't get much beyond the mid-90s.  Humidity is fairly reasonably and there is a good balance of sun and rain most of the year.

2. Proximity - Everything in town is pretty easy and quick to get to.  Even in traffic, it takes a maximum of 20 minutes to get to the Embassy.  Everything in town is about 10 to 15 minutes from our place.  We can zip around easily to the few things in town there are to do.  (See Cons)

3. People - Hondurans are very nice and kind as you get to know them, recognizing that it is a poor country and people try to get any advantage they can.  This makes for generally stressless visa interviews.  People don't lie as much as they do in other countries and they RARELY scream, argue or get angry even after being turned down for their visa.  Most people say, "Dios le bendiga," and go on their way.

4. US is close and all products are available here - There are no marathon flights or more than two flight segments needed to get home or wherever else we may want to go in the US.  The only slightly annoying thing is flying from Portland/Seattle requires an overnight somewhere en route due to the flight time restrictions coming into Tegucigalpa.  Also, probably because we are so close, we can get anything we want here and in multiple brands.  The only thing I really miss is Trader Joe's, but we can get everything else.  I would even venture to say that things aren't much more expensive than retail prices in the US.  Amazon stuff makes it in about a week!

5. Embassy (Consular) Team - I work with a great group of people, both Americans and Hondurans.  There is good morale and we get the job done well.  I'm glad to have such a great Consular tour...I hear they aren't all this way.  Special shout-out to my office mate in the Pump Palace!

We like a lot of our colleagues and many families have small kids to hang around with.  We have been lucky to have made a lot of friends, new to Post and people packing out.

Cons: 

1. Nothing to Do - There is nothing to do.  Malls, no green spaces without a significant drive, only the American school down the road.  The famed Honduran beaches are 5-7 hour drive, or an expensive flight to Roatan.  There are a few closer beaches, and hotels to visit, but they are marginal.  N goes to school just to give him space to run around.

2. Security Situation - This is always on your mind.  Sometimes you feel fairly safe, but when you look at a map of Tegucigalpa, there is very little area where the gangs don't operate and there are car break-ins and robberies in the area around the embassy and you see private security guards everywhere.

3. Americana - (Borrowing from another blogger)  Most of the time you don't feel too far from home.  Most the fast food restaurants are American owned and you can't find too many ethnic cuisines.  There is Latin American culture around, but you have to get out of Tegucigalpa to feel the culture and personality of Honduras.

4. Lack of Green - I love trees, rivers, streams, grass, nature, etc and there is really none of that here, even as you drive out of town.  The lush green that appeals to me so much apparently exists, but I haven't found it.  I feel bad for saying it, but even the pretty areas can't match to what I love so much about the Pacific Northwest.  I miss it dearly!

5. Nothing to Do - Since this encompasses so much and affects us a lot, I am putting this twice.  It is really hard to get out and do anything.  There is really no place to go after work to work out some of N's energy.  Poor M only leaves our 4 concrete walls once a week if that.

Overall, it has been a good tour, but I really hope we can find a Post where we can at least walk around or get out a bit during the week.