Active Days

There is nothing like a failing state to get you to plan your weekends.  There's no question of going to wander around downtown, or check out a museum.  So, voila, between horse-back riding, tennis, swimming and arabic lessons, our weekends are nearly as busy as the school week.  Here was Thomas' friday (which is a weekend day here):

riding: (maybe planning the first Egyptian rodeo)

and playing tennis:

We are learning mad skills, yo.

Emmett dressed up as "Superdog" for the Book Week parade at school.  This is a great tradition that American schools should have.  The only downside is the creep in from movie and video characters. I forbid the boys to dress as comic book superheroes (Superdog is a *book*, troglodyte), but other mothers were less careful.  Thomas, who dressed as Dracula, delivered a few lectures to a Darth Vader and other non-conforming classmates.

I think maybe as part of book week, the gym teachers had the kids at MBIS playing quidditch, from Harry Potter.  If you've ever wondered what the game would like like played in earnest, here you go:

And actually, I just looked it up and wikipedia defines "troglodyte" as "cavedweller" a term derived from an ancient group of people who lived on the African red sea coast.  Hey- that's near where we live.  Turns out we're the troglodytes!

Lady Liberty

Once back in New York, we hung out with the usual collection of celebrities, including Grand Kathy and Aunt Lola.  We also had a special cameo appearance by the STatue of Liberty herself!!

Thomas is quite pleased in this picture because he has located where Lady Liberty stows her cash.

I have been assured that all bills made it back to their rightful owner.

More holidays

The cheer continued, with Daddy swooping in like a superhero, and the grandparents setting the stage for all kinds of holiday fun-







Daddy and Emmett joined the Armenians and pastor Margaret for a dinner and stimulating conversation about religion.
                                         

Meanwhile . . . back in the middle east . . .



- Posted by Laura

Location:Street 14,Al Maadi,Egypt

Christmas cheer and Emmett skis!

the NYc studio when we arrived- it was like a dream

So much so that instead of sleeping the boys jumped out of bed at 1:30 am and played raucously until Grand Kath came at 6 am. Mommy then slunk off to the Wythe hotel to read about a memoir by a divorcee having the time of her life.  hmmm . . . . (JK, dk!)

Here are some more shots from the fantastic Houston christmas festivities (before we fell asleep).  These were taken by special guest star Peter Bradford, and feature Mimmie's handsome new fella, David Gonzalez, as well as some cute kids someone found somewhere:

Then off to Vt for a snowy christmas with Grandpa Peter and Grandma Susan. Here we are opening scooters from Grandpa Doug and Grandma Nancy.  *Huge* hit.

Emmett hit the slopes for the first time!

He wasnt actually that into it.  He's kind of Egyptian about cold and snow.

He is, however, very into superheroes at the moment.  Here he is in an awesome pillowcase/cape handmade together with Aunt Anna.  He wore it proudly all over Manchester.

And Thomas was a snowboarding machine . . .

Meanwhile, we interrupt this bulletin of christmas cuteness for a glimpse of life on the shady side in cairo early 2013:

Dave just hosted a security training for journalists led by a former cage fighter, seal team six super bad-ass. After the training, here is the man's description of what happened next:

"Thanks for the message. It wasn't much really mate after I left you
guys I went back to the hotel.  Chilled out for a chilled of hours
then decided to go for some food. Plus I didn't realise the back of
the hotel ran right by the Nile so took the long route back. There was
a youth asking to clean shoes etc. I said no thanks the. He asked me
for money. Being the person I am I was aware someone was now behind me
also. So I played it sensible and gave a small amount then the asked
for more when I said no, one grabbed me the other stabbed me with what
could only be described as a sharpening steel. I disarmed him after
being stabbed and gave him his weapon back (straight into the upper
shoulder). The other one I still had hold of and subsiquently
dislocated his left arm.
Not much to tell really. Glad you had a great day and I hope you learn
a lot.  Thanks again david for your kind hospitality and stay in
touch.
Oh by the way the police said " they'll look into it". Lol.
Cheers mate. Stay safe."

Cheers!

- Posted by Laura