wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve visited my blog, things have been a little crazy around here lately so I guess that’s probably part of it. The kids are doing well and maturing everyday. Karim’s vocabulary is perpetually increasing and it’s really exciting to see him learning and becoming a big boy. He will be 3 Sept. 28th and we plan to enroll him in preschool soon after that. He is finally fully potty trained, but the funny thing is that I think it was more an issue of me not knowing what to do rather than of him not being ready. We went cold turkey, no more diapers over a week ago and so far, so good.
Roqaya had her first birthday August 12, it’s amazing how fast that year went. She loves watching her brother and learning new things—like sliding down the stairs on her belly, she goes really fast. Here are some recent pictures from our Picasa gallery.
Now for the big news—the kids and I will be traveling to Egypt at the end of this month. Yes, a 12 hour flight with two kids—I’m not really looking forward to that part but hopefully it won’t be too bad. We will arrive in Cairo the next day where we will meet my sister-in-law for the first time. She will travel with us to our final destination in Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, west of the Nile delta. We will then get the opportunity to meet the rest of our family members living in Alexandria—two other sisters-in-law and brother-in-law and his wife, numerous nieces and nephews as well as many extended family members. We plan on making time to visit the pyramids in Cairo and Luxor, and any other must-see tourist sites.
I’m really excited to have this opportunity to meet our family members and experience a new culture. Ahmed, unfortunately, will not be able to join us this time because he is unable to take such a lengthy vacation away from school. He just started his master’s program this month so he’ll have plenty to keep him busy while we’re gone.
After verifying that the kids have all the shots needed for travel (and they did) I realized that I needed to catch up on boosters. I went two weeks ago to get Hep.A and Tetanus, not I know why the kids cry when I take them for their shots, it really hurt! Well actually, the Tetanus wasn’t that bad, but the Hep.A made my arm feel like it was going to fall off, then, from the pain or something, I fainted and had to stay with the nurses until I felt well enough to go home. The Dr. recommended that I get another round of the Hep. A, but now I’m a little nervous that I will have a similar reaction.
We got our passports and visas all ready to go so we won’t have to stop at customs in Cairo. We also have loaded up on tons of gifts for Ahmed’s siblings and their kids. I’m not sure how I’m going to manage all the luggage, but with the help of the flight attendants, we’ll get it figured out.
I will probably be more regular with my blog during our trip so I can keep track of our adventures while sharing with others at the same time, so stay tuned…
