It's been a long, long time since I blogged. Life has been hectic and my work laptop doesn't let me onto the Blogspot website anyway. So, I finally hijacked Gabriel's computer so I could write a REALLY long post to update everyone on my blog list about our lives. If you make it to the end, you're a champ.
-Shirin
The obligatory front step picture...the last time we were at our old house. We will miss you, little condo. Thanks for seven good, crowded years.
Brendan came by to help us move our furniture. This is the last time we're doing this without paying movers.
Poor David pays dearly for being our friend.
It all just barely fit into a 17' truck. Phew!
The front step picture in our new place.
We're renting this place on Knickerbocker Dr, and it's perfect for us. It's a split level house, so we have a lot more room but are never too far away from each other in the house. Perfect.
The boys LOVE having a house with a yard.
We also have nice neighborhood streets to walk/ride on.
We even found a creek two blocks down where the boys can play.
They love to explore the creek and balance on the rocks. I can't wait until the humidity and mosquitoes calm down. Moving two states north has done nothing to rid us of those things.
We had a lot more help in Charlotte to move our furniture back in.
Lisa pretty much organized our entire kitchen.
David, Amber (Ricardo's girlfriend), Ricardo, and Daniel also helped out.
This piano is a beast. It took David, Daniel, Gabriel, and Dylan (a gigantic friend of David's) to move it in. Again...next time, we're getting movers.
One addition we've made to our house is bunk beds. The boys and kitties love them.
The middle floor is our main living space: playroom/living room and kitchen.
The kitchen is also used as an art room as well.
Upstairs are the three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Downstairs is the laundry room, Gabriel's man cave, and my office.
The kitties love their new house as well. I can't wait until there are more cool days so that we can leave windows/doors open for them.
Kitty TV.
Helping me fold laundry while listening to a work module on the computer.
I loved my Camry but I ended up selling it to a nice Costa Rican guy named Juan for $7500. He is going to ship it to his home country since it's cheaper to do that than buy a Camry in Costa Rica. I'll miss you, ol' girl. Incidentally, Juan didn't speak any English, so I did the entire transaction in Spanish. Go me!
We sold my beloved car because I got a new one from Hill's! I like it a lot. It's a 2013 Ford Escape.
Cyrus lost his glasses, so we had to buy him new ones. Thankfully, we signed up for Vision coverage so it wasn't too expensive.
After we bought the new ones, however, Kai actually found his old ones, so now we have two pairs! That's not the end of the word, I guess.
We got a new kitchen toy that the boys love to help me with: a vegetable spiraler--it makes squash into noodles. We cooked them with basil pesto and it was loved by all.
The boys have also started to make their own cucumber sandwiches, which they learned about from a book their grandma gave them (called "Monsters Eat Whiny Children").
I'm glad to say that my boys are still great and healthy eaters. This was one of their dinners recently: hummus on baguette, gouda cheese with apples, and veggies with balsamic vinaigrette. So yummy!
As always, I'm also still on a quest to keep my weight down to a healthy place. I lost about 25 lbs over the last year and gained just a few back after I did so many trips for work in July. This is my breakfast everyday: flat bagel with sprouts, raw kale, ketchup, and soy chicken. I love it.
Along with eating healthfully, the boys have been going biking around the neighborhood while I job next to them. We call it going on a "bike hike." We often stop by the creek to play as well.
Kai's photos of me. First, he wanted the silly one.
Then, he wanted an angry one.
The boys are also playing soccer this year. Kai is FINALLY old enough and he and Cyrus are on the same team. They are the little boys in green and grey, about the run around the track before practice. There is a wide range of ages, so they are separated into two squads (ages 3-6 and ages 7-9).
My dad also took off their training wheels and they are now avid bikers sans training wheels.
Tree-climbing is also a favorite activity. This is the funny tree at Winthrop Univ. that my sister and I climbed on when we were kids.
One day, I picked the kids up early from their Japanese Montessori school and let them ride bikes outside while I worked from home/the front porch. What a relaxing way to work.
We have taken advantage of some of Charlotte's entertainments since moving here as well. One of them is Discover Place. We got an annual membership so we can go back as often as we want.
There are lots of fun things to do, for kids and parents alike.
Building cool stuff with magnet blocks with my precious baby.
There's also a nature section, where you can see cool marine animals like these jellyfish.
Coral reef.
A couple of weekends ago, Gabriel and I had our first date that lasted an entire night without kids in years! (The boys stayed over at my parents' house).
We went to the PNC Music Pavillion for a Comedy Festival that Gabriel got a Groupon for. We got to see some of our favorite comedians: Louis CK, Aziz Ansari, and Hannibal Burris. It was a lot of fun.
We also took the boys to their first Charlotte Knights baseball game a few weekends ago. Lisa and Dan met us there and it was a lot of fun.
A selfie with me and Lisa.
The kids actually had the most fun while playing on the hill next to the ballpark.
Popcorn, nachos, and baseball. How American of us.
We have found a wonderful new pediatrician, thankfully. We loved our ped in Athens, so it was hard to leave her, but our new doctor, Dr Amanda Lanier, is very thorough, friendly, and seems to really know her stuff. I thought Kai in his little gown, drawing on the paper while waiting for her, was so cute.
The boys still are still avid gamers, as always.
Gabriel has found our local gaming store and has gotten a couple of really cool board games. This is Formula D, a car racing board game.
Read the front of this game...Gabriel's is bound and determined to make them computer nerds.
Cyrus was a natural at this game, unsurprisingly.
They are also still really into reading lots of books every day. Cyrus often reads to Kai.
And, sometimes, now Kai is reading to Cyrus (with help).
Cyrus has also started reading silently to himself (this is another book from Grandma that they love). He's reading chapters at a time of Robin Hood while in the car.
We didn't love the Japanese Montessori school, for various reasons, so we switched them to a new private school that's very close to our house, called Charlotte Prep. Their first day was Wednesday, Aug 20.
This was Cyrus' orientation in his first grade classroom.
They aren't totally Montessori, but have a Montessori set-up with themed stations, like math, reading, science, etc.
This is Cyrus' teacher, Mrs Dillashaw. I love seeing Cyrus so attentive and excited at school.
Their first day's schedule. Cyrus LOVES his new school.
I didn't make it to Kai's orientation (Gabriel did), but I was able to go by and snap a few pics of his classroom.
Kai likes his school a lot better too.
And, last but not least, one of the best parts of our move to Charlotte is how often we get to see my family. Tita and Daniel are still in Atlanta, but have been up to RH for two visits since we moved here.
Daniel pretends to be tough, but he's a softie on the inside. The boys love him.
My dad has been spending at least one afternoon in the week with the boys, plus we see them on the weekends, usually. The kids love that.
Demonstrating their creations.
Baba reading the story that Kai wrote (he dictated it to me).
Such a nice pic, if Kai would've just behaved himself and not looked totally insane.
We've had my parents over to eat and play games too. We love Dixit...a great game for adults but the kids can play too.
My mom loves to read and the boys will sit for an hour sometimes, demanding she read more and more books to them.
Out with my parents at a Vietnamese restaurant. Charlotte has a ton of good ethnic food, which we haven't fully explored yet, but this place was delicious.
My dad, in a fit of excitement about the boys coming over to play often, bought the boys a swing set for his back yard. We helped put it together, since he was planning to do it by himself. and got it done in about an hour. Fun times!
