Keepin Cool Part 2

Seek out air conditioning in the form of Red Robin and The Children's Museum

Mdina trip

While Rachel was living it up in the spa, me and the kids went to Mdina for site seeing today 7/29. Mdina is where the apostle Paul was taken after being shipwrecked. Mdina sits on top of a hill and overlooks much of the landscape and is enclosed with high walls. There is a Cathedral in the center of it, and amazing stone carvings. We finished the morning off with some favorite Gelato (ice cream) that the kids gobbled up. The last pic is from a fountain the kids splashed in last night while we were out to dinner in Valleto (a town on the water front in Malta).

The Severns Summer Adventure VI

Okay, sorry to leave you grandparents and other fans hanging! Here are a bunch of pics to show what we've been up to. We have gone for a walk to gelato, gone to the sandy beach, to the park, out for dinner and to the square with the fountain and more. We have been having so much fun despite the HOT weather.
Today, I went to the salon for a morning of treatments while the rest of the gang (Auntie Eva has now joined us) went sight-seeing. Andy will update you on that. I have to share with you what I did at the salon and how much it cost because you will not believe how much I DIDN'T pay! I got a bikini wax, pedicure, eyebrow wax and 1 Hour facial for 54 Euros!!! That is about $75! It was so great and I didn't have to go sight-seeing! :)
The sisters and I are about to go out for the evening so I will finish up and Andy will update you on the sights!

How to keep cool during a heat wave

#1 Spend the day at Alki Beach with Auntie Su-Su

The Severns Summer Adventure Part V

It has been really hot here and I thought this was normal but apparently it's not. I have no idea how to calculate Celsius to Fahrenheit so I looked online and the temps have been 110 degrees F and more in some cases! I knew it was hot but- WHOA!
Yesterday we took the ferry to Malta where my sister lives! It was cool, I got sea sick though. We paid a little more and got to ride in Club Class which is like first class and boy was it worth it! The only prob was we had to board at 7pm and the ride was 8pm-11pm. The kids were way too excited to sleep and yet they were rowdy and noisy so basically they had one long continuous three hour snack! I felt sorry for Andy because I was so sea sick that he handled the kids most of the time. I will say that our kids are champs! They had a pretty normal day yesterday as far as sleeping and napping but then they didn't go to bed until 2am! We all slept until 10:30am This morning!!! Crazy! Talk about being off kilter. Then we had smoothies for breakfast since lunch time was so close! :)
Abigail loves Brutus but then we already knew that. She was playing with him this morning pretending he was her baby. She put a pillow on the floor and he laid on it and stayed there while she covered him up, kissed him and tucked his baby in next to him! How fun!
I can't wait to get out and explore Malta! I am so excited to see where Alyssa lives and hangs out! From what I could see in the dark last night it is a beautiful place.
I have included a pic of the swim park on the navy base because I think it is so cool and we had so much fun there.

The Severns' Summer Adventure Part IV

CIAO!
Today we went to a rocky beach about 45 minutes up the coast of Sicily from Sigonella. The pics are beautiful and pretty much speak for themselves. It is very hot here, over 100 degrees yesterday and today. The water was refreshing and COLD! AJ kept putting his finger in it and then licking his finger and offering it to me because of the salt in the water!
Last night all four of us slept thru the night!!! Amazing! The second night and we seem to have recovered from jet lag and the time difference. Tomorrow we head to Malta!!! We are taking a ferry for three hours and will be there, I am very excited to see where my sister has been living all these years!
PS: The next time you feel insecure in your bathing suit, just come to Europe, most of the women are not stick skinny -- I felt right at home!

Summer Pool Fun

Is there really anything better then your own backyard pool?!

The Severns' Summer Adventure Part III

We landed at Sigonella and got to our hotel around 9 pm last night and were exhausted! The flight was better than I expected. AJ was full of wiggles but that didn't surprise anyone. We stopped over in The Azores, Portugal for about an hour and a half. The kids are so into buses right now and they shuttled us to and from the runway in a bus. When we got off the bus and were loading the aircraft again, AJ stared screaming and crying because he wanted to stay on the bus instead of the airplane! It was funny, the flight attendant especially got a kick out of it! When we got to Sigonella we had to wait for the shuttle for almost an hour but it was okay. Our room is nice.
The night went better than one may have expected. Abigail slept all through and AJ, Andy and I woke up (unrelated) around 2:30-3 am. Andy left and went to the lobby to read while I brought AJ to bed with me and he went back to sleep after about an hour. I dozed a bit from 5-6 am but not really much. I forgot my little book light at home and that is a MAJOR bummer!
This am we were all starving and we found a good place for breakfast that is right here on the base. Andy went and came back with a lot of food that was consumed very quickly. AJ was so hard asleep that when I rubbed his back and asked if he wanted breakfast he didn't move or wake at all but nodded his head yes! Abigail growled at me and then made her way (slowly) to the table and devoured her food! (She's so much like her dad in the am!)
This morning we went for a walk and found a park. It is HOT HOT here! That didn't last long before we found some real Italian pizza and had lunch. We all slept for about 3 hours this afternoon and then went swimming! The pool here on base is really cool! I forgot to take a picture... :(
Tonight we ventured out a bit and found a small town in the country to have dinner. It was so good, we all had homemade pasta. That is where the pic is taken. Abigail is still having some camera aversions which makes taking pics frustrating! I'll keep in touch and post more later!

Summer Art

We have an abundance of rocks in all shapes and sizes in our yard and the surrounding woods. They are treasures to be collected by the girls and once I set them up with painting masterpieces waiting to be made. So now our garden and walkways are littered with their "art". Love it!

The Severns' Summer Adventure Part II

Norfolk, Virginia
The first pic is a self taken photo of us on a pier getting ready to eat dinner Monday night. Today, since we weren't flying out until late at night we decided to go to the zoo! It was so fun!
Now we are waiting to load our flight to Italy! I'll check in later in the week! :)

S.S.A. Journal

Gals, I decided to try and keep a brief journal of this trip and forgot to bring anything to write so I think I'll use the blog... if you don't mind?

My main apprehension about this trip has been about the time zones difference for 1 and 3 year olds. Yesterdays situation was fortunate in that we woke the kids up at 5 am and they only took one nap for about 45 minutes. Normally, going to the East Coast, I'd be worried because bed time at 8 pm feels like 5 pm. Since we hadn't really slept it was good. Abigail was in a big bed and AJ was in a little crib. It was hard for them to settle down with us in the room also. Once they did settle down Abigail slept all night and AJ woke a couple of times before midnight and then slept all night. I was curious to see when they'd wake up in the am. I woke up at 7:30 am and took a shower that transformed me into a new woman! Andy got up and took a shower and still the little ones slept! Finally about 8:45 am Abigail woke up and thought AJ needed up too. :) This was all fine since the hotel breakfast was over at 10 am.
We will walk to catch a shuttle that will take us to the rental car. Then we will drive to Norfolk, VA this afternoon. Mapquest says it's a bit over three hours. :)

The Severns' Summer Adventure Part I

Well for those who don't know, we have embarked on a major adventure today! We left home today to fly 'Space A' (space available) to the East Coast on a military hop. This is a FREE benefit to active duty and retired military personnel. The catch is that you fly in military air craft and the conditions are military, not at all what you think of commercial aircraft. It was fun and yes, we did make the first flight. We are staying tonight at Andrews AFB, Maryland close to Washington DC. Tomorrow we will get a car and drive to Norfolk to compete for our flight to Sicily! Very exciting and I will be keeping you posted as time and internet access allows. :)
As you will see, the kids were able to lay down and watch the DVD player and nap on the floor of the air plane. In one of the pics you will see in the back ground a large palate covered with white mesh (sort of), that is all our luggage!

Ah, summer. . . (hiking pictures)

Visit with Tisha!

I'm so behind in uploading pictures but these just came up and were so cute and we had such a good time when Tisha was here. We took the kids and did the zoo then did a girls night and hopped around at places in Seattle. The pic of us in the window is this great little bar where we sat as the "window dressing". Lots of fun!

Missing you both

I really really really wish we could all go on a play date together today.......sigh.....

The idea of "unschooling"

Though the girls are just now 2 1/2 I've been more and more wanting to know what our future holds as far as schooling goes. I've wrestled so much with what I hope for the girls education and what I see available. In many ways I'm in love with all that a Waldorf education provides, but they miss the mark, at least for our family, on the most important subject of all. Relationship with Father God and Jesus. So as much as I wish it that option seems out. Public school feels ruled out for us for the same reason and addition to the fact that children often seem to become numbers instead of individuals. Christian private school would seem an option but even there I'm having a hard time finding a school that is gentle in their teaching and who focuses on the whole child and the whole of life, not just the 3 R's. So.....that leads to homeschooling!!! The thing I swore (at least quietly to myself) I would not do! Yet as I'm thinking about it and reading about the different homeschooling philosophies part of me feels excitement at the prospects, and of course another part is panicked and completely freaked out! :) Two books I've just finished reading are about the idea of Unschooling in your homeschooling. It essentially child led learning with the parent being the facilitator as opposed to the teacher. The child is trusted as the primary agent in learning. Big, incredible, yet scary concept to me. Anyway these are interesting books especially the Christian Unschooling books second half as it is essays telling of families experiences.