Kids Club

On the Resort there was an entertainment team. They had programs for adults and children. My kids were a little worried going to Kids Club the first day but they had such a great time they couldn't wait until it was time to go again. Hayet was the Kids Club counselor and my kids loved her. The first day she asked all their names. For some reason she didn't hear Bailee, Chase and Talynn. She heard Bailee, Jason and Helen. We kept repeating the names and she still said Jason and Helen so we just decided to go with it. The second day she finally figured out Chase's name but never Talynn's. The whole staff loved Talynn (I think because of her beautiful, long blonde woman hair) and called her Helen. You would hear them yelling Helen clear across the resort. The funny part is Talynn would answer to the name of Helen and asked us if we could start calling her Helen. By the end of the trip she wanted us to change her name to Helen. We still laugh about it. Everynight there was a mini disco for the kids to go dance. My kids were a little scared to dance in front of everyone staying at the resort so mom would join in on the fun. You know I'm always up for a good dance off!!!

Speaking of Dance Off, well, everynight after the Mini Disco the entertainment team would do some kind of program. One particular night Hayet came and asked me if I would be a part of the show and dance. I love dance off's so I was thrilled to participate. Now a little background, JON HATES TO DANCE!!!!! He leaned over to me after I said yes and says "I hope they ment just you and not me." I told him of course they just ment me. Well, they started announcing the dance competition and it was worded this way "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome tonight to a great show. Tonight we have for you a dance competition. Four COUPLES will compete against each other dancing to five different songs." The look on Jon's face was priceless. He says "Absolutely NO WAY!!!" I just started laughing. After about 5 minutes he leaned over and said "Maybe, just maybe it will be okay as long as we all dance at the same time." He barely got the words out of his mouth when the announcer says, "First couple will dance to a waltz." I thought Jon was going to run from the room and hide himself. Again, I just started laughing. The first couple danced a beautiful waltz so I knew we had be cleaver or else we wouldn't stand a chance. Jon and I decided to just go out and have a great time dancing any way we chose. It turned out to be a hit! I threw out some sprinkler moves, Jon imitated the dance moves on the movie Hitch and made a pizza and threw away the Q-Tip. The crowd went wild! It sparked Jon's dancing abilities and he was ready to go for the next dance. The next dance was the twist. Again, we went out and did our own thing. I didn't know what Jon was doing until I about stumbled over him. He had twisted himself right to the floor and was lying on his back twisting. I was laughing so hard I couldn't move. When the dance was over Bailee leaned over and said "You guys are so embarrassing!" After dancing to a Tango, Tunesia Belly Dance, and how you would dance at a Night Club the points were tallied and (drum roll please) we came in SECOND place!!!! As we were walking back to the room that night Jon said, "Don't you every expect me to do that again!" It was a great time. Wish I had pictures to show.

Okay, back to Kid's Club. Jon and I loved having the kids go to Kids Club. It gave us some alone time together which we haven't had in a long time! We actually remembered that we do like and love each other and can still laugh together. Here is a slide show of some of the fun stuff the kids did at Kids Club.

Tunisia

For Christmas Jon and I decided to take our kids to a warm climate. A guy at work told Jon about Tunisia. We had no idea where Tunisia was or anything about it. Tunisia is in North Africa. The climate is around 65 - 70 degrees this time of year so we decided to go for it. We stayed on an all inclusive Resort right on the beach in Hammamet, Tunisia. Since there is so much to blog about I decided to make different posts instead of fitting it all in one. Enjoy!

We arrived in Tunisia Saturday night. It was so dark! We had a van pick us up from the airport and take us to the resort. As we were driving along I kind of got a sick feeling. Every round about (which there were a lot of round abouts) were police. Jon commented "Umm, are they looking for suicide bombers?!" It felt kind of creepy and I was wondering what we had gotten ourselves in to! Before going on the trip I looked up Tunisia on the USA government website making sure it was safe for Americans to travel and the only red flag it had was beware of H1N1. Well, H1N1 is everywhere so I didn't give it another thought! We arrived to our Resort safe and sound. The Resort was gated with a guard so I felt pretty safe inside the walls. The next morning we woke up to BEAUTIFUL sunshine!!!! We haven't seen the sun in so long it took forever for our eyes to adjust. This vacation was planned with only three things in mind: rest, relaxation, and family time. The first day we enjoyed laying in the sun, walking along the beach, swimming in the pool and eating everything in sight!

Hammamet, Tunisia
View of Mediterranean Sea from Resort

BAILEE'S X-MAS LIST

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, Cheese-It's and Jolly Ranchers. I figured you could pick them up for me while your delivering presents in the U.S.A. Thank You! Bailee

Piano Recital

Bailee performed in her first piano recital on Wednesday night. She played two duets with her friend Isobel. She did a fabulous job! I remember the nerves that would come right before it was your turn to go play and the thought of not remembering your notes. I asked her after it was over if she was nervous. She looked at me and said "Why would I of been nervous?". I was so proud of her. Jon said on the way home, "Well, that was 100 times better than her dance recital!" When she was 4 she had a dance recital and didn't move an inch the entire time. In fact, even during the lessons she wouldn't dance. She has come a long way and we couldn't be prouder!!! We love you Bailee!!!! Good job!!! You are a great piano player and make us smile every time we hear you play!

New Specs

Chase's teacher approached me last week and said Chase was having a hard time seeing the board. On Saturday we took him to see an eye doctor. After all the testing the doctor claimed Chase can only see about 30%. WOW! What a shocker! Jon was suspecting Chase needed glasses since he stands so close to the TV but I just thought he liked to be close to stuff. Chase loves his new glasses. All the way home from picking up the glasses Chase was telling us everything he could see that he didn't know was there. He mentioned that bricks have lines, buildings have names and he can actually see the branches in the trees. Now I'm wondering, all the fabulous places we have taken him in Europe, how much has he really seen?!

Call me bias, but I think he is very handsome in his glasses!

SinterKlaas

So, in Holland they celebrate SinterKlaas. SinterKlaas is Santa's cousin who lives in Spain. Instead of elves he has Zwarte Piets (translation: Black Peter's). SinterKlaas comes on December 5th but not while you are sleeping, he comes sometime after dinner and drops your gifts off at your door. SinterKlaas is welcomed in to your town about 15 days before December 5th. This past weekend SinterKlaas arrived in our town and we joined in with the Dutch to welcome him. We really couldn't believe how big of a deal it is. The festivities started with a parade lasting about 30 minutes. The Zwarte Piets came along handing out papernoten (special gingerbread like cookies they make special) and other candy. The Dutch were prepared with the bags but we had no idea. Good thing Talynn was prepared and had her purse with her. By the time the parade was over her purse was over flowing with papernoten. Once SinterKlaas has been welcomed in to your town the children can put their shoes by the fireplace or front door at night. The Zwarte Piets come and leave little goodies in the shoes. The kids have been very excited for SinterKlaas and the Zwarte Piets. They put their shoes out last night and were bouncing off the wall with excitement. The Zwarte Piets came and brought them each a HUGE chocolate letter representing their names. Talynn was so excited but really wanted a necklace and Chase wanted some more go go's but my darling daughter Bailee stole my heart. She was so excited for the chocolate and is hoping the Zwarte Piets bring her all the letters of her name in chocolate!! Who doesn't want that?!!!

I would take a picture of the chocolate letters but we got a new camera and I don't know how to use it yet.

BOO!!

Halloween was VERY different for us this year. Living in a country that doesn't celebrate makes it a little difficult to go door to door trick or treating. Since we go to an International School, Halloween in celebrated a little bit. I volunteered at the end of school year last year to be an American Community Rep. at school. Little did I know how much time this would consume! Well, a friend and myself were put in charge of Halloween. We needed to coordinate homes of families who attended the school who would be willing to open their doors to trick or treaters. Sounds easy right! WRONG!!! Our town (CITY) is pretty large and finding people who live close to each other (walking distance) is harder then you would think. Along the route we also asked for volunteers to park and let us "trunk" or treat. It turned out to be a fabulous night with about 25 stops (not bad for a country that doesn't celebrate!). Bailee didn't think she got enough candy but it was just enough to satisfy the candy graves without left overs to throw away.

Bailee and Talynn were witches while Chase was some Spider something (he had a great mask but wouldn't wear it!).

Bailee was so good to help Talynn and Rachel walk to the door and yell Trick or Treat.

Wicked Witch of the North and East!!!!