Tuesday, August 31, 2010

6 Weeks In

Ok, so it’s been awhile since my last posting, so sorry for the few of you out there who actually read this thing. . .We've been here almost 6 weeks now and here's what we've been up to. . .

We took the boys on a hike up Vitosha Mountain - just from the top of the Gondola ride to close to the top of the "walking trail," more like climbing trail in spots. Yes, it was a little more challenging than we expected. Lessons learned: do not take a 3-year old on that hike! Don't wear your Trim Step shoes for such a hike. And, for goodness sakes, don't let the kids wear Crocs when hiking!

My 2nd grader had his first week of school last week and I have never seen so many parent orientation meetings as I have at his new school. I will say, so far from what we've seen, it seems like a good program in a good facility with a good teacher. They even had a welcome back barbeque. The school provided all the food, live music and free drinks (including beer). I guess if you charge university level tuition, you can afford to give free beer to all the suckers (I mean parents).

We are now on our second week and homework has started - about 20 minutes/day of written work and 20 minutes/day of reading. The school even has a website, with each teacher having their own page. Whenever Tak has a new assignment, I go to his class webpage and get all the information about what they are working on and what they are expecting from the kids. It also includes a month-by-month overview of the lesson plans for the year. It is awesome!!!!

Our preschooler started going to the Embassy preschool/daycare a few mornings/week. So, I now have a little bit of time to do shopping, errands, exercise, etc . . . . Some mornings he's happily on his way and other mornings, he cries "I stay home with Mamma." It just breaks my heart, but he seems to have such fun at school and is always happy when I pick him up. He needs the time with kids his own age and I need the time to myself every now and again, especially for exercising (though here I am finally catching up on this blog).

Speaking of exercise, my neighbor showed me some walking trails that are really walking trails, as opposed to climbing trails. And, we've been walking about 3 times/week. Though the weather is turning cold, so I don't know how much longer that will last. At some point, I need to start doing gym workouts again and HOPEFULLY find a pool where I can do some laps. I miss swimming!!!!

And, in our biggest news, all of our stuff arrives tomorrow. We are getting the house ready to TRY to fit everything. And, of course, I need to be putting the "Welcome Kit" back together to return to the Embassy. The Welcome Kit is a crate of basic necessities that we borrow until all our stuff arrives. But, seeing as we have 6,000 lbs of stuff arriving, I need to get everything that doesn't belong out of here ASAP. And, with that, I should go and finally get this thing posted. Hopefully, after all of our stuff is unpacked, I will be better about the blog. Keep in touch everyone.

2 comments:

Kaho said...

Hi, Stone Rabbit! It was so fun to read your most recent post!! I think it's a good policy to have no crocks for hiking policy. They don't look so comfortable for a looong walk. I miss swimming, too and I was happy to receive my swimsuits, goggles and swim cap finally yesterday! We are still waiting for our stuff to be delivered. We also went to PTA BBQ this past weekend. We had to pay for drinks, so yours is fancier! Your kid's school sounds very nice. My goodness, your son has a lot of homework! Do you have to supervise him to do his homework? I hope I won't have to work too to help my kids do homework... I'm glad you have your second son in preschool. I agree with you that it's very important for kids to be with the kids of their own age. I haven't been able to find one for my second girl, so we'll see... I enjoy being with her, but I would love to have my own time as well. It's hard to balance, but this city is not so easy to go out with her sometimes.

The Stone Rabbit said...

Kaho,

Ah, homework. It can be a struggle, I tell ya! But, this year his teacher has made a strong point of telling all parents to not push, not hover, ask questions to lead them in the right direction when needed, but don't help too much. It's a work in progress.

It is a hard balance with the youngest ones, isn't it. A part of me wants to hold on to him being a baby for as long as I can. The other part of me realizes that he's just not such a baby anymore. :(

Sounds like you are getting settled at post. Lots of great pics! We look forward to hearing more about life in your neck of the woods!