Mumps

Yesterday was our 8th wedding anniversary. Historic in a number of ways.

We haven't been very good at making it much of a special day - it often ends up in the middle of a trans-world move or the like, making it pretty hard to celebrate as we'd like. Last year we even both forgot and ended up touring Ankor Wat most of the day with the girls!

So this year, the fact that we remembered, Michael actually planning something ahead of time, and the proximity of willing babysitters was gearing it up for something extra special for us.

But then

I woke up with the mumps!  No warning fever, just the sudden onset of swelling and pain just below my left ear.  So instead of a romantic kid-free celebration, we went out to be explore the medical system here. Short and sweet - but not much relief: there isn't anything to do for mumps except a bit of pain management and rest. Neither of which is very workable in the current situation. So could be fun... or not.

Highly unflattering, but perhaps an interesting lineup of mumps progression...

Tues Morning

Tues night

Wed morning

Wed eve

hopefully this is the limit of swelling?

While Daddy's Gone

While Daddy's gone....

it's wonderful to get rides to Dalat for Swimming, art, and soccer!  We are walking home, which is working well for us.

it's extra nice to meet with Kay and her kids at Dalat for a bit of a chat while the kids play.

Aiden's sick :o(  We thought he'd gotten over whatever it was on Thursday/Friday last week, but he was just getting going... now he is full of snuffles, sneezes, and is super mommy-ish.  At least he doesn't have the same fever as before though.  It's a lot harder to deal with when there's no one else around to take over tasks while mommy looks after him!  The girls have been wonderfully patient and kind though, which is keeping Mommy sane.

we're going to have a sleep over tomorrow night!  When Mommy suggested it, Grace asked in a tentative yet ever so hopeful way, "I've heard that at sleep overs you get to stay up late and do stuff...you know..... can we?"  So Mommy is thinking of safe sleepover activities to do with them.  Could get interesting. And fun.

somehow, we're managing to get more than usual amounts of school in.  Mommy's really not sure how this is working in relation to Aiden being sick and wanting to be stuck to her all the time (even while sleeping!), but the checked off list is remarkable.

somehow we're eating nearly as much food as the five of us did. Another undeniable reality that doesn't really add up to the sum of the component facts. Mommy is not cooking any less, and a meal's leftovers are not enough to feed a Daddy!

because of that, we need to go shopping. If we go by bus to Tesco, we can't really carry that much home. If we bike, we can carry home even less. Can't borrow a car since we have no carseat available for Aiden. Perhaps a taxi home. Or a gracious friend. If we walk to the market, can't carry much. Unless we pull the bike trailer with us.  Or we could just eat fruit from the fruit truck at the bottom of our hill and buy fish from the roadside stall. Or eat out lots - it's cheap and yummy.  An interesting problem with interesting solutions!

 Interesting week, but we'll all be very glad when Daddy's home on Friday.

Tidbits

E.aster is pretty low key here. Even in church. Though we did get to celebrate a seder meal with one church on Friday evening.  Perhaps next year we can make a big deal out of it - we were just not set up in time for me to prepare what we usually do.  Still, we remember and declare that He is Risen and all that means daily even if the celebration wasn't all it should be.
 These eggs were actually done way after Easter - a craft book from the library prompted craft.  An idea I don't thin I would have thought of: dipping the eggs in hot water in which wax crayon shavings have been sprinkled. The hot water melts the shavings and the wax transfers to the egg as you lift it out of the water. 

 

 One evening we went to the Youth Park - a huge forested area with playgrounds, pools, exercise areas, fields, trails, etc.  The thing is, the resident monkeys are way too aggressive for comfort with kids.  This one raided the garbage can, but we also had some trying to grab food/bags from our kids.  Ironically, Aiden was the only one the monkeys were afraid of :o)






Aiden enjoying red dragon fruit.  It looks wonderfully staining but actually isn't.

The International school in our neighbourhood has a great program for homeschoolers in which we can participate in all the afterschool activities. We were told to put down our top three choices to be sure we'd get in one.  We got in three!  So Monday through Wednesday this week we began making the trip to Dalat for swimming, art, and soccer. So far we have gotten rides, caught the bus, biked, and walked - but we'll have to decide which combination works best to be able to keep it up until June.








And this sign that we see along the way home, had us wondering what it is for....

Is it comforting to you? (I can get out of here if I need to) Or disconcerting? (what might I need to escape from?)

It was a bit of a let down to discover that it is for a "big kids" playland: zip lining, ropes courses, rock climbing, and the like.

Still. I like to see it and think about the possibilities....

Catching up with March

 

Two from the journey down; only two, as most of the time Mommy was chasing Aiden up and down the isle or digging around for yet another thing to do...

  

Another "above and beyond" gift from God was a place to stay while we looked for our own place.  This way we could look without the pressure of each day costing us, like in a guesthouse/hotel.  Not only so, it was a nice place! Right on the beach, with mountain views on one side, and open sea on the other! What a change from Bangkok!

We ended up staying here right until the last week of March; even after we had chosen our new home, we had to wait for our money to arrive so we could rent and furnish it.

 It felt like a long wait, but there was a beach to occupy, and other novel activities like hanging up the clothes with pegs, and walking into doors...

We ate out nearly every lunch and supper! Not our usual practice, but we were so often out house hunting or  pricing furniture or the like,and it is so cheap, that it just made sense.  One place we enjoyed was the food court at the local market.
  The girls' favorite food so far is roti milo.  This is sort of like a skillet baked tortilla with chocolate powder wrapped up in it.  We've tried ones with banana, egg, and even anchovies.  Usually they are served with a little dish of dahl or curry. Very yummy.  Not exactly the most nutritious of meals, so it is just as well that they are generally not available for lunch.

 Slowly now our house is becoming a home. Jasmins' room is the first to be fully completed:

 

And even there, a proper mattress is yet to come!  She is all girl - everything we bought had to be bright pink or with dolphins.  It is a very cheery room to wake up in! Just have to work on the girl actually waking up in it in the morning...still!