Post 1 of 2 Jordan and Pre-trip Activities

This and the next blog post will focus primarily on Kimber’s trip to Jordan and Israel.  A couple of updates before I (Kimber) get into the trip though. 

I have completed a couple of sprint distance triathlons in the last month. The first was on September 29.  The distances were 500 meter swim, 13.7 mile bike and 3 mile run.  It has been many years since I have completed a triathlon and I have not been swimming, which was obvious.  I signed up on a whim after seeing the poster at a store.  But it was close to home (less than 5 miles) and a challenge.  The swim ate my breakfast but I did manage to get out of the water under my own power.  I am mad at myself for my performance and will be working the swim for the future.  The bike and run were much better with my overall bike time being 5^th in my age group and my run time being about the same.  It rained heavily during the bike ride and some of the run was on access roads so those became quite slippery.  I have included a picture that Kirk took.  Kirk’s comment was the guy didn’t pick someone very appropriate to draft.  You actually aren’t allowed to draft and he wasn’t but it is a funny picture.

I did the second triathlon on October 13.  This one was equally close to home.  The swim and run were the same distance but the bike was a bit longer, 15 miles.  I signed up to redeem myself from the first swim, however Mother Nature had other intentions.  The swim was canceled because of lightning.  We still biked and ran in the wonderful pouring rain.  One advantage was that when I got home I could just start lathering in the shower, I was already wet.  Also, both of these were on a Sunday morning and I was at church by 10 minutes after 10 am on both days.  But I won my age group on the second triathlon.  So If I can work out the swim, I may be able to really improve my performance.  The season is nearly over so I probably will have to wait until next year but that will give me time to focus on the swim. 

Finally, although Halloween was after my return, pictures of Sidney’s costume are warranted.  I made it and she was a Peregrine Falcon.  One thing I noticed from trick or treating is that homemade costumes are a thing of the past but equally, she received all sorts of comments on how cool her costume was. 

Temple of Hercules - Amman Citadel

She has been in love with peregrine falcons since 1^st grade.  The other picture I have included is the before trick or treating picture.  I went for a run and she joined me on her bike.  This was after 5 inches of rain in the area and Sidney went straight into puddle losing control of her bike and went down in the mud.  A soft, ungraceful and messy landing.  I was so proud of her getting her and her bike nice and muddy.

Roman Theater Amman

So now, on to to Jordan.  The flight from Houston to Paris was uneventful but also sleepless.  We had a 5 hour layover in Paris before flying into Amman (pronounced long “a” followed by “man” by Jordanians). Fortunately, I was upgraded to business class for this shorter flight so I slept a bit.  But one part of the meal was boiled leeks.  Who eats boiled leeks? We arrived in Amman at 2030 local time on October 15.  It took a couple of hours to get our bags, clear passport control, drive to the hotel and check in. This hotel, along with others in Amman, has metal detectors and they x-ray bags. Many hotels in Jordan take these precautions after bombings which occurred at this hotel and two other nearby hotels in 2005 killing 60 people. After getting settled we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of hummus, veggies, olives, cheese, eggplant dip, and lemon chicken (I have only listed about 1/8^th of what was on the buffet).  Everything was high quality and flavorful. 

A couple of points about Amman - it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, originally settled in the 13^th century BC by the Ammonites.  The Ammonites were constantly at war with the Israelites. One example in the Bible is when King David got involved with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. 2 Samuel 11 describes the Israelites besieging Rabbah as it was called at the time, which is now Jordan. It was conquered several times and at one time was also named Philadelphia and was a Decapolis city.  Earthquakes and natural disasters have destroyed it.  Following those disasters, it was a small village until 1878 when a railway and major station were built. It remained a small city until 1948 after which many changes occurred to make the population grow to over 2.5 million today.In 1948 there was a major influx of Palestinian refugees from Israel.  The population further grew with refugees from the West Bank, Iraq and other war impacted countries. More refugees came after the Six-Day War in 1967 and following the 1991 Gulf War and after the 2003 invasion.  The city is very hilly, originally being built on 7 hills but now covering 19 hills.  Think San Francisco but covered in buildings built primarily of stone.  It is a city built upon a city and built upon many other cities.

Oval Plaza Jerash

Cardo Jerash

Hadrian's Arch

October 16 – The day started with an amazing and proper breakfast in our very nice hotel.  Throw in great coffee and jet lag and it was hard to leave in the morning.  We toured Amman in the bus in the morning and also visited the Amman Citadel which is basically an open air archeological   After lunch we traveled to Jerash in Gilead.  Jerash is one of the best-preserved Roman cities and was occupied for 6500 years.  We entered Jerash through Hadrian’s Arch that was built to commemorate the visit of Emperor Hadrian to Gerasa in 129 AD.  Jerash also has a hippodrome for chariot races that could hold 15,000 spectators. The city has walls that were began in the 4^th century and expanded through to the Byzantine era and have a total length of 3456 meters. There is a large oval plaza in the middle of the city and a colonnaded street with chariot ruts still visible.  An underground sewage system ran the length of the streets.  This main street is called the Cardo.  Where the Cardo intersects the first cross street is a Terapylon marked by four pedestals. There are Umayyad houses that were inhabited from 660 to 800 AD and a Byzantine church.  The great pillars seen in Jerash and elsewhere were not usually one piece, but many sections of milled rock held together with lead pins in the center. 

Roman Manhole Cover Jerash

The city also contained a Nymphaeum, which is an ornamental fountain. There were many other temples and churches as well as a theater. Jerash may have had 20,000 inhabitants at its peak. Jerash was also a Decapolis city.
museum in Amman.

After a super lunch at the Green Valley Restaurant we returned to Amman but stopped to view the Jabbok River in the Wadi ez-Zeqa.  The Jabbok River is where Jacob fought the angel through the night and received the name Israel following the battle as described in Genesis 32.

A general observation about Jordan, which was noticeable immediately in the daylight, is the extraordinary amounts of trash everywhere.  The side of the road is sometimes not visible due to the trash.  It seems there may be a lack of infrastructure to deal with the trash.  The most obvious are plastic bags.  Our guide, Naim, said that Jordan had identified this as a problem and were trying to introduce re-usable bags.  But it was just astonishing.  I also saw a great example of re-use though.  We drove by a nursery that was using 1-5 gallon cans, like you might buy oil or lacquer thinner in, as pots.  The nursery had huge piles of them.

We arrived in Jordan during the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, Eid Al-Adha. This holiday honors the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. The feast is observed by sacrificing a sheep, cow, goat, etc. and giving away 1/3 to friends and 1/3 to the needy.  The holiday lasts several days.  As such schools in Jordan were closed for several days and many shops were either closed or had shortened hours.  Of course all tourist attractions were open as normal. One other thing I noticed about the hotels in the area, even in Israel, there is always a direction to Mecca marker.  Sometimes on the ceiling but usually in a drawer.

Mosaic Bethany Beyond the Jordan

Site of Jesus' Baptism

October 17 – The day started with another super breakfast and great coffee before we left to head southwest of Amman.  Our first stop was to one of the few New Testament sites in Jordan.  We stopped at Bethany Beyond the Jordan where Jesus was baptized by Joh
n the Baptist. What is striking about the location is that the Jordan River is much smaller than in Jesus’s time and no longer actually flows at the location of the baptism. After seeing the site of the baptism, we walked over to look at the now vary narrow, maybe 15 feet across, Jordan River. Just a stones throw away is Israel.  Many of us dipped out feet into the Jordan for the first time here.  We made this stop first because it was very hot and full of flies. There are a great many churches both ancient and new near Bethany Beyond the Jordan. Elijah’s hill, where Elijah ascended into heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11) is also commemorated here.

Poster of Madaba Mosaic

We went from here to Madaba.  Madaba is the site of a unique mosaic, an index map of the Holy Land during the 6^th century. The mosaic is preserved in the floor of a Greek Orthodox Church. Madaba has maintained the art of mosaic for centuries and has an institute dedicated to the art and restoration.

Jerusalem on Madaba Map

After Madaba, we stopped for lunch at a resort along the Dead Sea.  There are many hotels being built in the Jordanian area along the Dead Sea following the peace treaty.  We had a short time to relax and some of us wandered down to put our hand in the water.  The water was very thick and felt almost oily as it is 34% salinity.  The mineral composition of the Dead Sea is very different from the ocean in addition to being almost 10 times as salty. I accidentally got some on my toothpick and it tasted awful, salty, bitter and acidic.  You can’t get the water in your eyes or mouth. People were floating in the water and it looked almost like they were on invisible air mattresses because they were floating so high. The Dead Sea is referred to in the bible as the Salt Sea or Siddim, which means sedimentary. Also along the Dead Sea is where the cities Sodom and Gomorra (Genesis 18) were destroyed.

Serpent Cross Mt. Nebo

After lunch we made our way to Mount Nebo, from which Moses viewed the “Promised Land” (Deuteronomy 32:49).  On our way to Mount Nebo, we climbed from 800 feet below sea level to 2600 feet above sea level. The Promised Land did not look so promising to us as the area is now all desert.  But during Moses’s time, the area was all green forest.  From Mount Nebo you can see Jericho, the Dead Sea. According to tradition, Moses is buried on Mount Nebo but the location of his burial has never been confirmed.  There is also a serpentine cross sculpture that is symbolic of the bronze serpent created by Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4-9) and the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

Mt. Nebo Sites

We saw many Bedouin huts and tents along our drive.  Tents were made of everything imaginable, cloth, wood, metal, tarps, and skins.  There would always be a variety of animals around along with laundry outside.  There would we water trailers and sometimes a tractor.  The Bedouins may live at a site for many years if there is good water.  Also, the Bedouins are expert terracers and water users.  Land is terraced and prepared for cultivation everywhere.  As it is now fall, crops will be planted in a few months and will grow over the winter while there is rain.  Rocks, which are removed from the cultivated land, are stacked into fences or made into rock scarecrows.

Dinner at the hotel was one of the best.  As this was the last day of the feast, there was the usual spread of delicious buffet as well as an Alfredo bar.  We totally carbed up.

Only Undisturbed Icon in Umm Al Rasas Mosaic

October 18 – Today was a long drive leaving Amman behind and heading to Petra. The drive was over half the length of Jordan but we had many stops along the way. The first was one of the most amazing stops.  There is no grand biblical history here but amazing history of man and church.  One of the best-preserved and most amazing mosaics anywhere is located at Umm Al Rasas.  The mosaic has the 15 major cities of region when it was made in 785 and the best mosaic is in the Church of St. Stephen.  The floor is nearly perfectly preserved and you could spend all day looking at the detail.  The majority of the site has not been excavated and yet there are more churches already excavated than can be counted. 

Jerusalem in Umm Al Rasas

After leaving Umm Al Rasas, I noticed interesting building near some of the house in the area.  I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture but I have sketched one. The houses resembled a soft serve ice cream on a regular cone.  I discovered these are pigeon houses.  We also crossed through the grand canyon of Jordan, Wadi Mujib. This area is traditionally known as Arnon and is still rich with life.  The river here separated the Moabites from the Amorites in Hebrew times (Numbers 21:13-26). 

Defense Wall Karak

Tourist Police at Petra

We also stopped at Castle Karak. The Karak area has been inhibited since the Iron Age and was an important city for the Moabites.  The castle is a Crusader stronghold on a hill that is approximate 1000 meters above sea level.  The area is ideal for a castle with a defensible position on three sides and access to water. The fourth side was defended using a large rock structure with multiple layers.  The castle was built by the crusaders by 1161 and was taken into Muslim hands in 1188. The castle gated entrances, barracks, storage areas, cisterns, kitchens and churches. One of the most striking things in the castle is the repurposing of items over time.  Destroyed walls were reconstructed with whatever was around, be it doorposts, pillars or lintels.  Today is when I also started to pick up pottery shards, a habit that could quickly grow out of control, as there are shards everywhere.

Al Siq

We arrived into Petra early enough to relax and settle in before dinner at a hotel, the Petra Moon that was just a few hundred yards from the entrance to Petra.

First View of Petra Treasury

Petra Treasury

Tomb at Petra

Mother Nature at Work Petra

October 19 – Today was Petra.  Petra is on one of the many lists of the Seven Wonders of the World. Petra is famous for its rock architecture and water conduit system.  It was established in 312 BCE as the capital city of the Nabataeans and was unknown to the Western world until 1812.  People lived in the caves until the mid-1980’s when everyone remaining was moved to a settlement just outside of Petra. The Nabataeans mastered water in order to settle here, an area where there was either no water or flash floods.  The evidence of water management is evident with aqueducts and cisterns everywhere.  The entrance is through a narrow but mostly paved canyon, the Siq that ends at the “Treasury”, the most amazing ruin in Petra.  The city was all but abandoned in 363 following an earthquake that destroyed many buildings.  The largest monument in Petra is “The Monastery” that requires you to climb 800 steps to reach.  The monument and view are worth the work.  The site is also feature in many movies including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Words cannot describe Petra, especially coming to the end of the As-Siq and seeing the Treasury in the morning light.  It is a spell binding sight. I have included pictures of tombs, aqueducts, and the many ruins.  Some of us walked 17 miles that day and I would still be there if I could.

Monastery Petra

After an amazing day in Petra we had a fine dinner and then sat on the roof top of the hotel next door and watched the beautiful full moon over fantastic conversation.  What a spectacular day.

October 20 – Today we will leave Jordan for Israel.  On the way to Aqaba, we saw running camels.  Not something we see every day. We also got our one glimpse of the Red Sea and you could see Egypt and Saudi Arabia.  I will end this post with a description of the cross over and begin the adventures in Israel in the next post.  The cross over from Jordan to Israel was interesting and the Israelis are serious about security.  You passport is viewed several times on the Jordan side after which you enter no man’s land.  This is a couple hundred meters where there is no one but people walking from one country to the other.  Before we left the Jordan side we also saw several cars that were about to cross over and they must do this frequently because they all had both Jordanian and Israeli license plates.  They took off the Jordanian plates and put on the Israeli plates.  It was quite interesting.

Bus on the Jordanian Side

After no man’s land, you enter a building on the Israeli side and put your bags through x-ray and walk through metal detectors.  Several bags are usually pulled aside from each group as well as a couple of individuals for closer scrutiny.  I was not one of them.  I was one of the first to go through the final review of passport and quiz.  They look carefully at your passport and ask a variety of questions.  Some of the group was asked where we would be going, where we would be staying, why we were here.  Others were asked about their family, like their mothers name, etc.  Once on the other side, we met our new bus driver, Maher and picked up Andy Dearman, our chief organizer and amazing scholar and teacher. 

The Adventures of Summer

It has been a busy summer of course. Sidney spent the first two weeks of summer with her grandparents in Georgia. They spent a week at the beach and then some time at home mixed with some local travel. Last year grandma sent Sidney home with green hair after lots of swimming and not using swim shampoo. This year Kimber sent Sidney to grandma with blue hair. Kimber dyed Sidney's hair with some non permanent dye the night before Sidney was supposed to go to grandma. Sidney was to fly Southwest to Florida the day after school let out. However, Tropical Storm Andrea had other plans. She hit Florida the day Sidney was traveling and so Southwest would not let any unaccompanied minors travel to Florida that day. So Sidney had to come to work with Kimber that day along with her blue hair. To say the least Kimber and Sidney received some comments on the hair. The best comment though was that Sidney's hair was appropriately colored with Marathon colors which is now blue.  Sidney did make it onto the flight the next day and grandma took good care of her hair.

Sidney has continued to make little creations out of things she either recycles or repurposes.  Here you see her "cat fishing device, which had several of Shandy's mice clothes-pinned to it, as well as a little container for cat treats.  There has also been her "Apollo 13" (spelled Apallo) capsule, made from a recycled cooler, and several boxes that become homes for her various animals.  We have to sneak things out every now and then, or else her room would look like a warehouse!

Sidney was then home for several weeks including 4th of July. As she is getting older and more practice staying up later, and loves fireworks, Kirk took her down to Elanor Tinsley park to see the orchestra and large fireworks display. It ended up being a long day for her because it was very hot and we drug her around the zoo first. She was toasted when she got home.

Shortly after 4th of July, Kimber and Sidney departed for Germany to go visit Kimber's family. It was an uneventful over night direct flight into Frankfurt. With only carry on bags, immigration and customs were very quick. Sidney slept pretty well on the plane but Kimber didn't and she felt pretty ragged arriving in Germany. Mark and Jas met Kimber and Sidney at the airport and drove them the hour to the house. Jas is Kimber's sister, Dorina's, daughter. Mark is Jas's husband and is British. Kimber likes to stay at their house because they are fun, relaxed, and everyone speaks English. They also have 14 year old Mathew and 16 year old Katharina who are fun kids. Mark and Jas also have the biggest dog ever, Bella who is a Irish Wolfhound. She has to be 150 or more pounds. She is beautiful and looks like a hornless yak. She is of course sweet as can be. Mark and Jas also have 5 cats and a rabbit. Each animal has its own personality. Kimber loved Peach the cat who always tried to escape through the front door. She would dart out the door and down the steps, then wait at the bottom step to be carried back in. She is named Peach for her peach colored nose. Sidney loved Mumpf who would basically do nothing all day and let Sidney love all over him.

Saturday was spent going to the shop, eating and resting. Sidney found the playground and hammock. Sunday was a day of recovery. We ate and rested. I think that was the first trip Sidney made to the stream where she would strip down to her underwear and get wet. This bit of stream has seen Mathew, Katharina, and now Sidney in their underwear taking a splash. It was also our first encounter with the unpleasant stinging nettle. It puts little tiny barbs in your skin with some sort of irritant. And it does sting. If you get it on a soft bit of skin like the inside of the wrist, it can sting for hours. It easy to spot and can be avoided.

Monday was the first great adventure. The household went to a new park, the Wald-Michelbach Odenwaldbob. The two main attractions at the park were an alpine sled of sorts and a climbing forest. The alpine sled had small wheel bobs which would hold two people or one. They even had fancy stream-lined covers in case of rain or snow. You could get some super speed up to 40 km/hr on a 1000 meter course, too much for Kimber's taste or Sidney's.  Sidney only went once. Kimber went twice. Once under her own power which was conservative speed and once with Mark at no brakes speed. That actually hurt because Kimber was so tense. Here is a picture of Jas passing by on the sled. 

The ropes course was awesome. There were at least eight course options ranging from the very easy kids courses to the ultimate in height and speed. All of the courses were built into and around the trees in the forest.  Sidney did the kids course several times and then took a break.  Kimber did maybe a third of the courses while watching out for Sidney. Sidney then tried a more difficult course but had to back out. She took a little break and then was willing to do the most difficult course which really wasn't difficult from a balance or coordination perspective but was high and fast. You started by swinging maybe 20 feet on a bar across the first bit. Then you fast lined maybe 300 feet about 25 feet in the air to a platform. After that you climbed a fixed ladder while weaving between ropes, then fast lined the return. Sidney was so light that she didn't quite make it to the last platform before she started to slide back. But she did an awesome job not panicking and used the pull rope to tow herself in. Kimber was so proud of her, and Sidney came off the course on a complete high.  Sidney was the only person who came off the course without a bruise, blood or rope burn.  The rest of us inevitably crashed into something.  After that Kimber and Sidney visited a castle.

Tuesday took us to a favorite kids and immature adults climbing spot called Felsenmeer. Kimber has been there every time she has been to Germany. Felsenmeer in English means "sea of rocks".  The Romans quarried granite at Felsenmeer trying to make large stone columns. All of the reject stones, which are large refrigerator to car size boulders were left and piled along the hillside making a great rocky playground. Many are half finished or abandoned columns and other architectural bits. It is a good mile or more up over these large stones and kids and adults love the challenge of climbing your way to the top. Mark followed closely behind Sidney helping her choose a path and occasionally rescuing her. Kimber just followed behind, enjoying the interaction between Mark and Sidney. After reaching the top, we all enjoyed a cool drink before walking back down the easy way.  Here is a picture Mark managed to catch of Kimber, Dorina, and Jas. No one has any idea what the conversation was about but the picture is funny.

After Felsenmeer we went to Schloss Auerbach.  It is a lovely little triangular shaped castle with a large pine tree growing on one of the walls.  You can climb over 100 steps to the tops of two towers.  By the end of that after Felsenmeer we were all wiped out and ready to hang out at home.
Mark and Kimber started Wednesday with a 30 kilometer mountain bike ride over to Weinheim. The ride was some streets, some dirt paths and cycle paths. Maybe two thirds dirt roads, none too difficult. Kimber was riding Mathew's mountain bike which was a bit big but much heavier than any of her bikes. So Kimber was pretty ready for an iced coffee before the return trip. On the way back, Kimber tried to get up on the curb to get off the road and onto the bike path. But she didn't hit the curb straight enough and came off the bike onto the asphalt path. Kimber ended up with road rash, a black eye and a broken hand. She did ride home very carefully, one handed, after getting a lot of attention from concerned motorists, and group of kindergartners, and their teachers, who fortunately had lots of band aids.  Mark took Kimber home a more gentle route as her left hand, the broken one, wasn't all that useful. They made it home otherwise unscathed. And there was no more bike riding on this trip.  Here is Sidney with Katharina, the apple of Sidney's eye.


After resting and recovering Wednesday after the crash, we made a trip to the animal park.  The park is a cross between a petting zoo and regular zoo.  All of the enclosures are quite open and frequently have mixed groups of animals.  But the best part is you can feed all of them.  There are monkeys, deer, yaks, llamas, emus, etc.  Maybe 100 different animals.  Mathew has had a bit of skin removed by a donkey before.  Katharina loves the emus.  Jas loves the yaks because they resemble Bella and are huge docile black creatures.  After all of this the family went to a nice country restaurant for Jeagerschnitzel. Kimber doesn't care to eat heavy foods often but loves Jaegerschnitzel with speatzel.  And a picture of Mathew who would do almost anything Sidney asked.  Bless his heart, even if he was not interested.

Mark and Jas took Kimber and Sidney on a tour of the Odenwald on Thursday. The tour started with a beautiful castle. Then went on to the highest mountain in the Odenwald, the cat's back, Katzenbuckel. This is an extinct volcano.  The nice afternoon was spent walking, looking at some landmarks, like the volcanic quarry and an unused ski jump that is very remote, and looking for fossils. Kimber and Sidney came home with two fossils to keep and two fossils for Sidney to trade at the Houston Zoo Swap Shop.  The kids can bring various things like rocks, fossils, bugs, etc. to swap for other things. Sidney loves it.  We also visited a castle and took in many lovely views.  And a picture of Kimber just to prove she went.

Thursday evening was spent at home grilling and relaxing as Friday meant Kimber had to leave. Kimber and Sidney got to see Dorina and her husband Ralf again as well as Carsten briefly.
Friday came all too soon for Kimber. Mark took Kimber to the airport a little before noon for her early afternoon flight. The flight started uneventfully until just crossing into the US. The pilot came on the speaker and calmly asked the cabin to prepare to land in ten minutes in Newark. They had to make an emergency landing because there was smoke in the cockpit. The plane was on the ground a few minutes later met by fire trucks. It was a fast drop to the landing. The problem ended up being a printer causing the smoke. It took nearly four hours to find and fix the problem, file a new flight plan, restock the plane, and refuel. Because it was an international flight, the passengers could not disembark. Fortunately the plane was cool and the bathrooms were in good shape. So Kimber eventually got home at close to 10 pm, about 4 hours later than she should have.

Kimber left for Reno the next Monday. Sidney stayed over in Germany for another week.  Sidney went to another animal park, more like a zoo, The German Dragon Museum, and to see some giant ant hills with equally giant ants.  She also swam on several occasions and I think had a really nice time with her German family by herself.  Her trip home was un-eventful.

Kirk's parents came to visit for a week in early August and the next great event was Sidney's Birthday.  She had her party at the Main Event in Katy which involved eating pizza and cake, a small ropes course and bowling.  9 and 10 year old girls bowling is pretty funny but they had a great time.  Kimber made goody bags for all the girls which had all sorts of owl things in them.  She also made owl cake pops and a large owl cake.  Sidney loved it all but it was a lot of work in a short weekend. So glad we are off the hook until next year. 

Now Sidney is back in school, in fourth grade.  The first week was a little tough as Kimber was in Reno again.  But it will steady out and we will get into the routine again.  For now we are enjoying the three day weekend.  We have also included a picture from when Kimber went sky diving that we had forgotten.

Kirk continues to work at his new position as a clinical research nurse on the Stroke Team at UT Health.  It is a great learning opportunity, and he is involved in several really interesting projects that will hopefully lead to new and better treatments for stroke.  Unfortunately, UT has a really long probationary period before vacation is allowed, so other than regular holidays here and there, he hasn't had much time off.

Kimber has also been very creative of late.  After her "Button Bunny" creation, a friend introduced her to Pinterest, where she found all sorts of ideas for button creations.  She found multiple pounds of buttons on Ebay, and after much sorting and cleaning, created her first new button creation - the Owl.  Unlike the button bunny which was sewn onto cloth, this one is glued onto canvas.  All the different types of buttons really add a lot of interest and character.

As school starts back, along with Girl Scouts, Kimber traveling and working, Kirk working, etc., we will be very busy this fall.  Kimber travels overseas with the church in October, and we have a trip planned to Peru for Christmas.

Catch Up

Kimber has enjoyed much more time at home in the early part of this year versus last year.  This has allowed us to enjoy much more time together and to do a few more activities together. The biggest event in the early part of the year is the BP MS150 bike ride over two days from Houston to Austin. This is the second year Kirk and Kimber have done the ride together. The difference this year is that we were able to train much more. Kimber rode some 1600 miles on the road or in the gym. Kirk rode less but still had plenty of training. And Sidney helped us pedal at least 300 miles with her participation in several preparatory rides of 50 miles each.  What a trooper! And what a trio we make with the tandem and trail a bike.

This year's MS150 will be hard to top. The ride was April 20 and 21. The weather was beautiful. The temperatures were not too hot and the wind was at our back. We averaged a little over 18 miles per hour for the two days on our tandem. And it was Kimber's birthday on the Saturday of the ride. What a great way to celebrate. Doing an activity that promotes physical fitness, raises money for a great cause and allowed Kirk and Kimber to spend all day together.  We could really tell the difference this year that training made. We were finished on day 1 by 1:30 pm and felt great. We were able to enjoy the rest of the day and felt good getting in the bike the next day.

Being home has also allowed Kimber to finish a couple of projects.  The first was a t-shirt quilt she has been working on for quite some time. The sewing is now done and eventually she will get around to tying the quilt. And then she will have enough shirts for another quilt.  She also made this button bunny.  She saw an example while visiting a friend with Sidney over spring break.  Kimber used all the buttons she has been collecting for a while from new clothes, etc. It was a fun project and Sidney really likes it.  Because Kimber didn't buy any buttons, it is truly a calico rabbit with lots of color.

We have also had a new family member.  Kirk brought home a bird.  It is a green-cheeked conure that flew into a neighbors house. The neighbor had previously had birds and recognized that it was tame and needed a home. They couldn't find the owner so they posted to our neighborhood Facebook page that it needed a home. And Kirk was sold.  The bird was named Kiwi by Sidney in about 30 seconds.  The bird loves Kirk, tolerates Sidney, tolerates the cat, and bites Kimber every chance he gets.  We are going to work on the biting thing but need to get some help from a bird expert.

Kirk's position at St. Joseph's hospital was eliminated in mid February.  Although the loss of a job is never welcome, it was nice to have him at home for a while. It made life a little easier. With the busy Houston market, it didn't take long to find a new job. He now works for UT Health in the medical center. He is a research nurse coordinator working with stem cell treatments for stroke, among other stroke-related studies.  The commute is a little less stressful and the job much less stressful.

Kirk also was able to attend the men's retreats with members of our church at Mo Ranch in the Texas Hill Country in early May. It is an activity he enjoys and it gives him a much deserved break from the ladies in his life. He went rappelling on this trip along with the other activities available at the ranch. Now he is impressed with the height of his rappel but Kimber used to rappel much further as part of her training for high angle rescue years ago Big Spring and Texas City. But he had fun and that is the best part. And Kimber and Sidney had a nice girls weekend.

The weekend before his get away, Kirk and the other Girl Scout troop leader took eight of the girls in Sidney's troop camping out a Stephen F. Austin State Park. The girls had a blast and so did he even though it rained a good 6 inches on them.  They all stayed mostly dry but all their stuff came home dripping and required a few extra loads of laundry by Kimber.

Kimber hasn't been travel-free. She goes to Reno to support Marathon's oil sands research facility at least once each month. She also has been to Death Valley supporting a geology field trip with the group she supports.  It was a great experience, helping her learn about the risks associated with the trips but also she learned a lot of geology which she wants to share with Sidney on a trip to the same area some time.  It was a really great experience.

Kimber also had the chance to make a quick trip back to Stavanger to help with preparations for some seismic acquisition work to be done this summer.  She didn't think she would be back in Stavanger for a long time after leaving the international support group. So it was a treat to be able to go back. She was able to get into Stavanger in time to make the end of church and say hello to everyone there.  She was also able to see our dear friend Gwynne who was Sidney's reception year teacher while we lived in Norway.  Gwynne and Jorgen and their sweet son Gus are dear to our heart. Kimber brought home a few of Sidney's favorite Norwegian delicacies. The first was dried cod. This made Kimber's suitcase stink like fish and attracted the cat. Sidney then took these to school as her snack. The teacher may not forgive Kimber. Kimber also brought back brown cheese, various "osts" which are soft cheese in a tube, and bacon flavored snacks. There have nearly been brawls over the bacon snacks and "osts" in the house. However, Sidney has exclusive rights to the brown cheese and dried fish.

 

We have had a pleasant and long spring this year. Even through the last week it has been nice to be outside all day. We even had a cloud snap in early May that nearly had us turning on the heater again. That being said, Sidney has already eaten several handfuls of tomatoes from the garden and Kimber will pick the first bean harvest over the next weekend. We have been eating lettuce and herbs nearly all winter and spring. Sorry all you northerners! And the monarch butterflies like us too. They have eaten all of the butterfly weed and we currently have 6 chrysalis, several on the fences and several on the porch. Now we need to go put in more weed to keep the next round of caterpillars fed.  We love to watch the evolution from egg, to caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly.

We have had a few awesome weekends together since the activities in April. The second weekend in May, the weekend of Mother's Day tops the cake though. Sidney spent Saturday afternoon with a girlfriend while Kirk and Kimber went to a wine education class where roughly the equivalent of a bottle of wine is served to each student. Neither of us drank all we were served but some of the wine was fantastic and Kimber definitely suffered the most. Kimber's notes regarding the characteristics of the white wines were quite detailed and thorough. By the reds, which Kimber doesn't like much anyway, the notes were something like "red", color "blood", and "good for a red" or "bad".  It took some hours to recover. We then watched Apollo 13 because Sidney had seen parts of it at the YMCA and showed interest.  Following the movie, her singing cat courtesy of Gwynne and Build A Bear, came downstairs in her space suit and Apollo 13 capsule. The capsule was made from a Styrofoam box that formerly held medicine. It had a blanket inside and said "Apallo 13" on the outside. It also carried a Norwegian flag. The child can re-purpose anything she finds. Watch your trash. She will take it.

 

Oh, we also drove up to Spring, north of Houston, to look at tandems. We weren't sure we would buy one but we did know that we would have a hard time training for another year on our old, heavy, clunker. And indeed we bought. Any of us can ride in any position on the bike. Kirk could ride Captain or Stoker and so can Kimber. And Sidney can ride Stoker. It has two sets of Stoker pedals, one for Kimber and one for Sidney. The crank arm is drilled so the pedals will allow Sidney to have smaller circles for her shorter legs. It should be a very versatile bike that we never need to replace. And it is so light. Kimber can probably get it on the car by herself. Sidney chose the wheels much to Kirk's chagrin. They are rainbow. Each pair of spokes is a different color.  Can't wait to ride it. It still had to be built so we picked it on Memorial Day weekend. It cost more than Kimber's and Kirk's first cars together and doesn't have an engine. Go figure. But we don't need another bike except for Sidney as she grows, forever.

The best part of the weekend was still to come. And that was Mother's Day. Kimber got up early and went for a nice 22 mile bike ride before breakfast. Kirk and Sidney cooked her a big fat breakfast of bacon and hash browns (and eggs for them). We then enjoyed a lovely church service. After that, we drove down south of Houston to Skydive Spaceland, for Kimber to redeem her Christmas present. Kimber went on a tandem skydive. It was crazy. The plane you go up in is basically a tin can with wings and an engine. There are bench seats on both sides and you cram in like sardines. Fortunately the ride is just over 10 minutes, and one-way.  The weather was great so we got to jump from 14,000 feet. The free fall is the first 8000 feet and you reach 120 mph. You pull the chute at 6000 feet and have a relaxing ride after that.  The first part, the free fall, is very intense. It is cold and loud and fast. The parachute part though is a lot of fun.  You can turn and weave and talk. So Kimber signed up to do another dive and this time she is taking Kirk along. Pictures can be found on Kimber's Facebook. We also have video which which is pretty cool. It isn't something we want to take up, but Kimber would like the chance to enjoy the free fall part more now that she knows what to expect and to learn to turn and help get out of the plane. Then we are done!

 

Well that catches us up for a while. As a parting gift for this post, we are sharing a picture of some of Sidney's artwork. The first part of summer will see Sidney off to Grandma Carolyn in Georgia. Later Sidney and Kimber will venture to Germany. Sidney will stay in Germany a week longer than Kimber and will fly home alone. Kimber will continue trips to Reno as well as a few other short trips. Kirk has a brief work trip to Phoenix (in July!) So until the next update, have a fun filled and safe spring and summer.