Summer Challenge

This summer we decided to not overextend ourselves.  We did not want to plan too many activities and then feel disappointed if we did not accomplish all of our "To do" list.  However, prior to leaving Kuwait we did establish 3 goals that were non-negotiable:

1)  Spend as much time outdoors as possible
2)  Consume as much fresh produce from the Soper garden as possible
3)  Eat as much local salmon as was humanly and ethically possible

We are proud to report that we have made good on all of our goals.  How do we know?  Well, we have rockin' tans, the garden is near empty (thanks to us and the darn deer), and our mercury levels are off the charts.  All in all we are proud of our accomplishments and look forward to finishing our last week in the states making our dreams come to fruition.

This is how salmon should look, Kuwait.  Lots of pink fish at an affordable price.

A salmon cheat-sheet in case you need to decide what salmon to eat.  No matter what, if they are fresh they taste GOOD.

These guys are trying to keep our veggie eating at bay.  No bueno.

Adam rarely gets mad but when these guys eat the berries, that means war.

Crusin'

We like new adventures.  We like to try new things.  We appreciate free fun.  Therefore we jumped at the opportunity to step aboard a Holland America Alaskan Cruise ship one day this summer for a tour and free lunch.  Thanks to our awesome brother-in-law, we were invited aboard a ship to check out all that the cruising lifestyle has to offer.  As we walked around the ship and looked at staterooms, libraries, and dining options, we realized that the cruising life might be just our style -- a walking track outside the boat, morning coffee delivery, a library on-board to check out books from, a five o'clock dinner option so that we could keep our 9:00 pm bedtime .... 

Yes, we were settling into the cruising lifestyle without much trouble and then ... the horn sounded, the real "paid" cruisers boarded, and we were unceremoniously escorted off the boat via the worker's ramp.  Cruising dreams crushed!

Touring the boat on a beautiful Seattle summer day.  Great marketing technique, Holland America.

"We're on a boat!"  If we actually signed up for a cruise we might help drop the average age by a few years.

Other family members taking advantage of the free cruise tour.  This group will do ANYTHING for a free lunch and glass of wine.

The Panorama 360 from the boat.  Not bad, Seattle.  Not bad.

This photo almost got me kicked off the boat.  Something about public safety concerns ...

Traditions

Less than 8 hours after we touched down at SeaTac from Cancun, we were heading back to the airport to start the next leg of our June travels.  This time our destination was sunny Atlanta, Georgia to visit more family and continue some very important ATL traditions.  We are proud to report that during the 7 days we were in Atlanta we managed to put another check mark by the following rituals:

1. Sweating ourselves silly on our daily run through Piedmont Park
2. Gaining about 6 pounds as we ate at every possible "burrito spot" around Atlanta
3. Enjoying Zesto's soft serve on more than one occasion (Brown Crown anyone?!?)
4. "Tasting" many delicious SweetWater beers on the brewery tour (Important to note that we have yet to actually make it on the tour part)
5. Cheering on the Atlanta Braves as they take on their opponent (It doesn't matter who they are playing as long as the Silver Bullet Coors Light cans are flowing)
6. Swimming in an awesome public pool while once again not having to pay the admission fee
7. Watching Adam make our littlest niece feel very awkward and uncomfortable (at least this year there were no tears)
8. Running the PeachTree 10k on the 4th of July followed by an amazing grilled meal and fireworks on TV
9. Leaving Atlanta thinking "How did time go so quickly?" and "We can't wait to continue all the traditions again in 2014."

A new tradition ... taking a picture in front of the Sweet Water sign.

Old tradition:  Jake and Adam happy when drinking beer.

New tradition:  Maria finishing all 6 "tastings" at said tour.

Old tradition:  sweating through all our clothes before the game even started.

Old tradition:  Sitting in amazing seats right on the first base line.

New tradition:  Eating one of the best burgers Atlanta has to offer now being served right at Turner field.

Old tradition:  Asking our "neighbor" to take the obligatory group shot during the 7th inning stretch.

New tradition:  Patriot Pretzles for a 4th of July grilling party.  Only in the south.

New tradition:  Going to the Atlanta Zoo and seeing this amazing creature.

Old tradition:  Penny wanting to stay as far away from Adam as possible.

New tradition:  This is a BABY gorilla ... how could it be anything but new?

Old tradition:  This is an OLD gorilla ... obviously.

Not sure weather this cool thing is new or old.  So we will just call him amazing.

Next Stop ... Mexico

Upon our completion of 48 hours in Whatcom County, we got to hop on a plane (hadn't been on one of those for awhile) and head to sunny Mexico.  Adam's family was taking a trip to Cancun to celebrate summer and spend time reconnecting as a family.  Our time in Mexico as a family has always provided many highlights.  This year was no different.  Some of our highlights include:

• Spending 8 days with non-stop family time
• Watching Adam's dad demonstrate his hip hop dance moves
• Spending every possible minute in the pool with our new friend, Alfredo
• Playing Shot-zee 
• Snorkeling trips that started out as a "one hour tour" and ended up MUCH longer
• Jumping the olas (that's waves for you non spanish speakers)
• Consuming too much food on a daily basis while promising that the next meal we would have more self control
• Drinks, drinks, and more drinks
• Putt-Putt golf competitions
• Roof top cocktail hours
• Family photo shoots 
• Recreating Adam and Heidi's wedding with tree-leaning poses included

We could not have asked for a better time in Mexico .. even if we are still running off the extra 10 pounds we gained there!!

Post breakfast cocktails?  For sure. 

Most days it felt like we had the resort to ourselves.  Just how we liked it.

This one's called "Boys on Chairs."  Tough life.

Kyle demonstrating how to take your tequila shot when a Yahtzee has been rolled.  Shot-Zee!

"I'm on a boat..."  ... heading out to snorkel and waiting to experience nature in it's element.

Waiting post snorkel to load back up on the commuter boat back to the pier.  Thank goodness for free beer during the wait.

That's one happy vacationer.

All in all, one happy family!!

48 Hours in Ferndale

After departing Kuwait via Barcelona, we got to head to our other home -- the great state of Washington.  We were both filled with excitement, anticipation, and bad airplane food when we stepped off the plane in Seattle.  There we were greeted by the Sopers and quickly shuttled to spend a restful and relaxing 48 hours at home.  Yes, we had only a couple of days in Washington before heading out again on travels.  So, with such a limited amount of time we did what we do best -- ate and spent as much time with our family as possible.

We are proud to report that in the 48 hours we were back in WA we managed to: celebrate father's day, celebrate Adam's birthday, eat at Boundary Bay Brewery, eat salmon (not once but twice), go to a 6th grade graduation, have a campfire, play Monkey Balls, go for a long country run, do laundry, repack for a family vacation, and explain to everyone we came in contact with just exactly why we live in Kuwait.  We call that success!

A surprise "Welcome home/Happy Father's Day/Happy Birthday" feast and party was waiting for us in Ferndale.

KK quickly used her new Spanish scarf to tie a head wrap, Kuwaiti style.

Thanks to time changes and LONG days of travel, Adam's 30th birthday lasted 30+ hours.

Reunited and it feels so good!

No, no, no.  We were as exhausted as we looked.  20+ hours of travel will do that to you.

We managed to make it home for our niece's grade 6 graduation.  Their class song was Macklemore.  Who knew the 'dale could be so hip.

Heading out to a "last day of school/6th grade graduation lunch" celebration.  Love this whole back-seat.

Year One ... Check

We are proud to report that we finished our first year of teaching/counseling in Kuwait.  The end of the year was a whirlwind of activity with every day being packed with marking final exams, transitioning grade 5 students into middle school, attending graduations/moving up ceremonies, and going to too many "goodbye" dinners to count.  As the last day of school rolled around, we gave each other a huge high-5 and felt proud with all the work we had done the past 10 months.  Then, we quickly packed up a suitcase and got the hell out of Kuwait!!

We chose to take the "Freedom Flight" out of the great land of heat and dust but instead of head straight back to Seattle, we chose to take a few days exploring the magical city of Barcelona.  Barcelona was magnificent.  We rented a small apartment in the heart of the city and then spent the next 5 days walking, eating, running, exploring, and drinking legally in this cool European hub.  We saw some old sites (cathedrals and markets) and some newer ones, as well (art galleries and yachts).  We ate some delicious Spanish food (muscles, tomatoes, and anchovies) and some not so Spanish food (pizza, croissants, and yogurt).  We drank wine, wine, and more wine.  All in all, we left feeling refreshed, relaxed, and ready to put a big check mark by our first year living in the "great" State of Kuwait.

Our amazing little apartment in the heart of Barce.  It was a steep set of steps but it was worth it.

Gorgeous Spanish cathedral.

Checking out the Barcelona waterfront.  Wishing we were on a boat.

Just another Spanish sangria tasting.  Wine + soda + additional flavors = delight on ice.

One of the best parts of this city was all the green space where you could purchase a little sandwich and a beer and eat with the old men playing chess and petting dogs.

We spent HOURS just walking through green parks trying to negate our Nature Deficit Disorder.  Thanks, Kuwait.

Checking out the Olympic Stadium and dreaming Olympic dreams.

The only proof that the Olympics were actually held in Barcelona was found on the storm drains.  Odd.

Checking out La Sagrada Familia.  Us and 300,000 other tourists.

First gin and tonic in a LONG time.  Thank goodness they were as big as our heads.

Imagine ... another city park!!

Adam checking out Gaudi's work.

A view back over the city of Barcelona from the park.  We could have viewed it all day.

Adam says "two thumbs up to Barcelona."  Now let me drink my beer in peace.

Off the Grid

We apologize for being MIA.  For the last 100+ days we have not blogged or posted to Life@Latitude10.  Since we have been back in the states for the summer, we have received a lot of scolding for this.  Perhaps we expected it from our parents, friends, and siblings but when you get a talking to from a Grandma -- well, that's a different story.  As we have tried to explain why blogging stopped (and have tried to save enough money for our therapy bill due to all the anger spewed our direction), we came to realize that the best way to appease people was to just start up again -- blogging that is.

So after a long hiatus we are officially back online.  We promise to be better about updating you on our lives in Kuwait.  We will entertain you and provide a chuckle every now and again.  We will do our utmost to try to inform you what it is like to be educators living abroad.  We will seek out interesting aspects of life and perhaps some not so interesting aspects to share with you.  With that said ... please stop the hating.  We never realized we were so popular and for that, we apologize.