Labor Day Weekend

Thursday was Amber's first full morning of preschool.  She was so excited to go!  I took the boys out to the playground where they need to wait and she was pulling on my leg "Lets go to my classroom"  she kept saying.  By the way to get to the boys blacktop, we park and walk through the lot, then up the stairs and across the black top in front of the school, then we walk through the foyer of the school, pass the cafeteria, down the stairs and out the back of the school onto the playground blacktop.  It was cold outside this morning so the boys even came downstairs to the preschool area with us.  She knew where to hang up her coat, change into her indoor shoes, and put her bookbag in her cubby.  I walked her into her classroom and she went to play then ran back and hugged my leg and was about to get a little sad and then one of the aides came and showed her a place to play and she went happily!  So that was great.  I was expecting tears.
So I had a free morning in a long time!  I did some grocery shopping and bought a birthday present for myself- a food steamer.  I hadn't seen one here yet and I love mine at home.  That is how I cook most of the vegetables.  I am not sure if I will be able to wait a few more weeks till my birthday or start using it now!  Funny thing is the steamer is huge.  So some things are little here and others not.  It has 3 stacking trays for steaming.  It looks like a tower. 
The bread here is wonderful.  The olive oil is a staple at the dinner table now.  The grocery stores even have wonderful fresh baked bread- a lot of it.  And then in the big grocery stores there is also a bakery in the store with even more bread, and pastries for sale.  Then outside those big grocery stores is the mall, and in the mall there is always a bakery right outside the grocery store exit which sells the same stuff.  So they all sell a lot of bread, then a raisin loaf, crossants, a pastry that is made out of the same dough as a crossant but is a rectangle and has chocolate in the middle- yummy.  Then something that looks like a cinnamon roll, but it has raisins and something else in it.  Then some desserts.  The most popular one is a tart with a fruit topping.  We have tried the one with the strawberries on top and it was pretty good.  Needless to say I think I have been eating more then exercising so that is why I did some walking next! There are no bakeries within walking distance to my house so that could be good or bad (:
Once I got back from the store I went for a walk/jog around the neighbor hood.  And here is a picture of the house that I like best here so far.  It is so pretty.  It is in the double court up the street from me.  The side on the right is the one I like the best. It is a duplex.  So one family on the right side and one on the left side.

When I picked Amber up after school she was so happy and she was talking about her new friend she made.  I asked her what her new friend's name was, and she said, "Oscar, he is a boy, so when can he come over and play".  Ok too funny.  There are 11 girls out of 18 kids in the class and her new friend is a boy!  She said they played outside together at recess and played inside together.  I asked her if he spoke English, b/c a lot of the preschoolers don't speak English yet and she said no.  So now really funny, b/c that is the perfect person for Amber she just does all the talking!
Here they have no paper sacks for lunchs or for kids to bring a snack.  So the kids have the lunch boxes for lunch just like at home, but then they all got to pick out a snack box.  It is a rectangler box and  that is what they bring their snack to school in. 
Sean was excited today in music because he gets to get a recorder.  At our old school the kids had to be in 3rd grade. 
One thing that always throws me for a loop is writing or reading the date here.  You write the day first, then the month and then the year.  So sept. 1st is written, 1/09/11. 
After school today we had to drive out by Jason's work and everyone needed a physical done and some paperwork for us to start getting a local drivers license.  All of this took about 1.5 hours so afterward we tried to go out for Chinese, but the restaurant didn't open until 6:30 or 7:30.   A lot of places open for lunch, then close and open later in the evening for dinner.  So we had seen a big Pizza Hut and hadn't tried it yet so we went there.  There are only 3 Pizza Huts anywhere around here.  It was very nice.  Nicer restaurant then at home, better service and the food actually tasted better we thought.  They  had a little kids play area.  The menu was even in English.  Pizza Hut was in Brazil too.
Friday everyone finished up their first week of school.  When I dropped off Amber I was looking around at the name tags and didn't see anyone named Oscar.  There is an Oliver and I asked her if that was it, but he wasn't there yet and she said no.  After school I asked her to show me Oscar.  She pointed to him and we walked over and I introduced myself and asked what her son's name is.  It is Oliver, and his mom is from MI so of course he speaks English.  The teacher even said these two have become good playmates and played together these last 2 days.  Too funny Amber's new best friend here and she is calling him the wrong name!
Two of the things on Amber's list to bring to school are rain pants and rain boots.  I was thinking for pants they just meant those silky jogging suit pants, but then I went to the store and saw these pants that are made into overalls and are water resisitant.  They look similiar to wading pants a fishman would wear.  I didn't buy any because I thought maybe they were for winter.  When I get to school the next time I see a ton of these pants hanging on kids coat hooks.  So I guess I will have to go back and get some.  I have never seen these before.

Friday was Jacob's day to have PE and at his age he brings his PE clothes, the school logo shorts and T-shirt, and changes into them in a locker room before class.  When Sean has PE they don't change so they have to wear their PE clothes to school that day.  Both boys also need separte shoes for PE.  They need to be clean shoes, otherwise they are made to take off their socks and shoes and play barefoot in the gym.  Friday night there was a social gathering at school put on by the Board, and the PTO for new parents.  It was a wine and cheese event.  Yes they served wine at school!  And they had babysitting for the kids.  We knew some people there but mostly preschool parents since I see them.  We started talking to one of the parents that have a son in Amber's class and come to find out the dad works for the man who used to live/rent our current house.  So funny.  I have no idea who is in the boys classes.  Jacob lines up out back and I think I saw his teacher once, and after school when the bell rings he is just let out of his class.  But we are not to get them from their rooms so I don't even know where his room is.  There was no meet and greet or anything to introduce the teacher.  I have no idea of who the parents might be either.  Sean's teacher I have seen and talked with since she brings them down to a meeting point.  But I don't know where his classroom is either.  And the meeting point is the same for that whole building so I don't know who are the parents of the kids in his class either. It is too bad they don't have anything to meet the families that are in the classes together.  Also since it is such a large school in terms of so many grades they just have a web site and you get an weekly newsletter with updates with information from the whole school.  Notes aren't really sent home.  I feel like I have to search things out to find out what is going on.  It definately seemed easier at home with the school information.
They have a limited number of after school sports activities that I can sign up the boys for and then they just stay for 1 more hour after school and do the sport there and then I pick them up after that. The sign up is online and for some reason mine is not working, and they only take so many kids so I hope that they can get in.
I saw pictures tonight of the graduating classes, and up to 2001 there were only 10-20 kids that were seniors and graduated.  Then last years graduating class there was maybe around 50 or so kids.  So a lot smaller size then at home. 

Sat. was a fun and busy day.  Jason tried out the haircutting lady in the morning, and then we drove about 15 min. or so to a store called Little Britian that sells UK and some American groceries.  We bought things like baking powder (I had found the baking soda at the woman's club house), goldfish, a staple for us, poptarts, this was the kids special yeah it is Friday morning treat at home.  We also bought some low fat mayo.  They have no low fat foods in the stores.  And brown sugar.
After the store we went to the American Woman's Club BBQ.  They had it at a big park with a lake and paths and a playground about 10 min, or so out of town, the other direction.

It was very nice.   We met a bunch of people and had some hamburgers, and hotdogs.  Then before we left the kids got to do a water balloon fight so the boys loved that!  Amber was excited and she went and got a balloon and then she saw what they were doing with the balloons and she just backed up and gave her balloon to Jason and said he could go throw it at Jacob!  Such sisterly love!
After the BBQ we drove back into the downtown area and took the kids to the carnival that is in town.  They come for about 6 weeks in the summer and we hadn't been yet and they are leaving soon.  It is a couple of blocks long and just an amazing carnival.  They come from Germany, so they are these great German engerinered rides. They are extreme.  A lot of the rides were for kids 10-12 and older, so the boys couldn't even do some of them.  But everything was so nice for a carnival that gets torn down.  They had a huge ferris wheel that has about 45 little cages that you sit in and they are all enclosed.

The rides were very expensive.  One of Amber's rides was a jumpy thing that she gets hooked up to bungy cords that help her bounce on a trampoline so she looks like she is flying up and down, and this ride was $7.50!

So the kids were only able to go on so many rides and only once.  At least the length of the rides were long.  I would say double the time they normally are at carnivals.  There were not many lines so that was nice.  Then we stayed and had dinner.  For some of the food there they had made indoor restaurants.  They had walls and doors and windows.  It was nice to be able to sit down at a table and eat with the kids out of the sun.  The bathrooms were in a trailer but very nice and clean and of course you had to pay to use them.  Then they also had a flea market area, so Jacob bought a Brazil flag and Sean a Luxembourg flag that they hung in their rooms. 

Sunday here the stores were open.  I guess twice a year they do big sales and open on those days.  All stores were open today.  So we went on the other side of town to a big super grocery store that again is in a mall, but this one is like 3 floors.  You pick up your cart in the parking garage, put your coin in it of course, and then take them on these moving walk ways that go up and down.  The cart has special wheels so it doesn't roll back down the walk way, but it is still freaky.  We had to buy a GPS for the Volvo.  The previous owners wanted DVD players but I guess no GPS!  The store also had good prices on kids movies.  So the kids each got to pick out a movie for the zone 2 DVD player in the car. 
Since it rains a lot here some people get awnings put on the back of their houses to cover the patio so you can still grill or sit outside if you wish.  Our house has one so Jason was able to grill dinner and not get wet.  I had gotten a box of a type of augratin potatoes to go with dinner, but the directions were in German.  Thank goodness for google translater.  Amber was playing in her craft area and was cutting things up, and accidently cut open her lip.  There was blood everywhere.  It took me about 20 min, to get the bleeding to stop.  It really isn't too bad, but her lip is puffy now with a bloody scab.
Monday here obviously is not a holiday but at least a little lighter day for Jason at work since no one in the US will be working.  Hope everyone had a good Labor Day Weekend!