First week in Saudi (07.01-07.09)

Moving across continents really tires you out, especially with triplets and two big dogs! We all woke up at noon on Thursday, which is not bad considering the kids normally sleep 12 hours. We feed them breakfast and tried to entertain them with what little toys we had. Couldn't take them outside b/c of the freakin HEAT! The heat here is nothing like we've experienced before, it's so stinkin' hot that when you step out of the car, you can feel the heat hitting your feet (I'm always wearing sandals). And when you grocery shop, your frozen food most likely will not be frozen when you get home. Thank goodness for the awesome A/C here! OK enough about the heat.

One of Dan's co-worker, Gerry, let him borrow his car, it's a tiny little 2 door Kia . He and his wife actually bought us some baby gates before we came and left it at the house. It was perfect for the stairs. We needed to go grocery shopping, but we knew all of us and groceries would not fit in the car. Luckily, another colleage, Brian came by and took us grocery shopping in his car and Dan drove in Gerry's car. BTW, we are so glad we bought the kids these Sunshine Radian carseats...they are so narrow they have fit in all of the cars we've been borrowing. And they are a breeze to install, atleast that's what Dan tells me. Brian took us to the Commissary, it's the grocery store inside the compound. We didn't have enough Riyals (money) and he paid for our food, of course we paid him back once we figured out how to cash checks here, a few weeks later. The thing here that's so different from U.S. is that everyone we've met has been so HELPFUL. People we just met, I guess they figured they were once in the same boat and since we have little ones, it's a lot harder to get around and do things. Anyways, we bought the basics at the Commissary b/c we're starting from scratch, I had to rebuild my pantry up, especially w/3 toddlers, I feel like I'm always trying to keep up with them and they're not even two yet! We found the food to be very expensive there especially American brands b/c you're also paying for the import fees. There are no taxes here, but import fees can make an item pricey. So far I really love their milk, juices, and fruits here. They just taste so fresh, I can't help myself! We've been exploring which local brands to buy and weeding out the ones we don't like. I think the grocery shopping trip ended up with Dan carrying somone out (Tobin) and Skyler was walking. Hudson was the only one in the cart w/all the groceries. Thanks for helping us out Brian!

Since they woke up late, we kept debating whether we should put them down for nap, but then that means their bedtime would be midnight...nope that wasn't happening! We feed them dinner and put them down at 8pm. At 11pm, Tobin woke up crying, Dan snuck in to get him out, but Skyler saw him, then she cried, then Hudson. We think they woke up b/c that's about the amount of time they normally nap or they could be hungry since they haven't been eating well since the flight. We were extremely tired, we took them all to bed with us...all five of us on a full size bed! It was very nice but uncomfortable at the same time. I couldn't sleep well b/c I was so afraid somone was gonna fall off the bed or get squished.

Fri, 7/2- they slept til 8:30am and we started their schedule with all the meals and nap. I hung out w/them while Brian took Dan to show him a few stores, malls, and the Ikea outside of the compound in Khobar, a city about 10 minutes out. I did my best to entertain them, I got so desperate I was emptying out the cereal boxes and whatever other boxes I could find. Brian saw how small the other car was, he let us borrow his car, a Dodge Charger, for about a week. The kids woke up from their nap at 4:30 and we took them to the stores Brian showed Dan earlier. We had to buy a phone charger and a laptop since our computer is in the surface shipment (not coming til 9/29- hopefully). I wheeled the kids around in the cart while he bought the laptop b/c the store didn't allow shopping carts. It's been tricky shopping b/c we don't have a car big enough for our stroller and shopping carts here don't have seatbelts and are kinda low and rickety, basically we are getting really good at speed shopping. :-) We made it just in time before prayer time started about 6:30. Saudis have prayer 5 times a day, it affects us ex-pats b/c the stores close for about 30 minutes. Some stores will let you shop but you can't pay for things and some stores just shut down and kick you out.

Sat, 7/3- This is normally a working day for Dan, but they had this day off so we took advantage by venturing out some more to Khobar. We went grocery shopping at Hyper Panda, a big one stop shopping place, which has groceries and household goods, kinda like a Walmart. Once kids are napping, Martin (Dan's colleage) and his wife, Janice stopped by for a visit. They've been here for 20 something years and their kids are all adults now. We waited for the kids to wake up from their nap, but they were still sleeping, we had to wake them up at 5 and took them to Ikea. We did get to do some shopping and finished by prayer time. After we put the kids down for bed, Martin came by to take Dan back to Damman airport to pick up our stroller. They ran out of room in the suburban that night and since I was going to be by myself the next day, I needed that to take the kids for walks.

Sun, 7/4- Dan's first day at work and he was in orientation all day. I don't think he started working until the second week b/c there's so much paperwork and stuff to do once you arrive. After work, he went w/two other guys who arrived on the same flight as us to buy TVs out in Khobar. It was really difficult to be home w/the kids b/c we had limited toys, confine to the inside (it's too hot outside), and there was really nothing they could do besides play downstair or upstair and there's only so much of that they do. They were very cranky at their usual 10- 10:30 time and I bit the bullet and loaded them up for a walk w/the dogs, really for my sanity as well! We walked for 30 minutes and I could tell it was too much for everyone. Their faces were getting red and Redford could barely walk on the sidewalk, it was just too hot for his paws. It took the kids about another 30 minutes to cool down, I was so worried about them getting a heat stroke, but everyone was fine. I wasn't gonna do that again!

Mon, 7/5- Another rough day w/the kids, lots of meltdowns, crying, etc. When Dan came home from work, we went to Peter's house (another colleage). Peter let us borrow some kitchen utensils and pots/pans. He also gave me some Tiger Balm, an eastern healing ointment, kinda like Vicks Vapor rub to help w/my aches...I think it's b/c I haven't been able to exercise since a few weeks before we left Houston. We met his housemaid, Sonia and her daughter-in-law, Joanna. Joanna is a housemaid (nanny/maid) to another family and they were on vacation for a few more weeks so she offered to help me until they return or until we founded our housemaid. I was really looking forward to that!

Tues and Wed, 7/6 and 7/7- Joanna was a big help! She was able to atleast play with one kid and I could tend to the other two or vice versa. It was soooooo much better having an extra pair of hands. She even cleaned the floors for me, w/the dogs tracking in sand/dirt (we didn't have grass in the backyard yet) and kids constantly dropping their food, it was really disgusting! Sonia even came by the next day w/a vaccum cleaner since our wasn't coming in until our Ebox shipment. That evening, we went to Sharon & Patrick's house. One of Dan's co-worker mentioned they have a housemaid they'd like for us to meet. We talked to them about the idea of having live-in help, met their kids, a 3 & 4 yr old, and then met Semira, their former housemaid. They currently have her sister, Clud and they used to have her too when Sharon was going to school and now that she's finished, they only needed one helper. Semira is working temporary for another lady and wanted a full time position. I saw how great she was w/Sharon's kids and gave her a try. I was testing her out on Saturday to see if she's a fit for us. On Thursday evening, we returned Brian's car and picked up a Jeep Liberty from Nancy (a lady Dan recruited over here). I'm still amazed by all the helpful and friendly people around us!

Thurs, 7/8- it's our second weekend in Saudi after adjusting to things and not being jet lagged. After breakfast we went out to Panda store and Saco, it's a cross between an Ace Hardware/Lowe's. Once again, just speed shopping at both places! At the Saco store is where I first noticed the "blacked" out women on the packaging of summer products. It's a woman in a bathing suit for a kids blowup pool. I couldn't tell what the "black blob" was at first until looking at it some more, very interesting! After their nap, we visited Martin and Janice's. The kids really enjoyed all of their food and their backyard! They have a huge yard compared to ours, and grass, and a swing. They had an awesome time running around in the yard, walking along their landscaping stones, swinging and just being able to run around and be kids! They really needed that and so did we!!! :-) That evening was the first time I drove on the compound, I went to get us food at the dining hall. The dining hall is like a Luby's, you can get all sorts of food there, really cheap too!

Fri, 7/9- They were going stir crazy, their usual time in the morning if they don't have anything new and interesting to do. We took them to the library since it was the weekend and is inside... thought it was a good idea. They have a kids sections w/lots of books, but of course being almost 2 year old, they just want to run around...so they did and let's just say we were asked to leave. We were going to leave anyway Mr. library man! After nap, we took them to the Middle school, they had a Rwandan fundraiser and there were activities for the kids, mostly big kids, but it was still a great place for them to roam. We met one of Dan's co-worker, Kamal, his wife Tina, and their little boy Ismael who's the same age as these guys. The kids and I have actually been having a weekly playdate with them since then.

I didn't start taking pictures til Sunday. Kids eating breakfast. From the back, Skyler, Hudson, and Tobin. They love cream cheese sandwiches.

Tobin

Skyler



Hudson

These are the 70's looking high chairs I mentioned earlier. They only play in them so we had Aramco take them away.

Hudson & Tobin

Picture of the downstairs. I'll get around to taking upstairs later.

This is what you see once you pass the entry way, a partial view of the living room and kids playroom. Most people use the kids playroom as a dining room, but this is what we're using it for. Of course this was taken before our E boxes came so there's really no toys yet. Notice the "lovely" furniture and drapes, courtesy of Aramco. And Molly settling in.

View of entryway and stairs

The only light fixture that is in this decade! It's in the kids playarea.

A shot of the living room. Yes we have tile throughout the first floor and carpet upstairs.

Future kids playarea

Doggy food stand. We bought matching new ones for them beforevwe left.

kitchen view looking towards the front room, which we're using as the dining room. Most people use this as a living room. One of Dan's colleges let us borrow a microwave before ours came in the E box....huge lifesaver!!!

Another kitchen view

Dining room where the kids sit at this small table. They've already made so many dents and scratches on the table and chairs from banging the silverwares on them. I guess we can say goodbyes to their highchairs once they arrive.