The Museum, The Mosque, and The Market

On Saturday the 13th, our tour guide Mohammed took us to the Egyptian Museum, followed up by a trip to Sultan Hassan Mosque and Khan al-Khalili Market Bazaar.

We arrived at the Egyptian Museum around 9:30 am, just after it opened, and there were already hundreds of people waiting outside. It was a great idea to go with our tour guide as we soon found out inside that most items are not well marked in English and there isn't a map to guide you through. The museum holds over 120,000 items on display, most notably Tutankhamen's tomb. We zig zagged through the tour groups and made our way quickly through the ground floor and upstairs to the really interesting stuff. While there are kings who are known for accomplishing more during their reign than Tutankhamen, finding his tomb intact has made him the most famous Egyptian Pharaoh. There are more than 1700 artifacts of his in the museum; his tomb, couches, throne, coffins, and of course, the fabulous golden death mask.

We stayed at the museum for close to 2 hours and after seeing many mummies (both people AND animal), sarcophagi, pottery, pictures, columns, and knick knacks, it was time to go. We then went to visit one of the oldest mosques in Egypt, the mosque of Sultan Hassan. I was expecting to see something similar to the Great Mosque in Oman, but I was sadly disappointed. While the dimensions of this massive structure are truly grandiose, that's about it. The carpets inside are disgusting and it's in need of a major renovation AND cleaning! It probably hasn't had much work done to it since it was built in the late 1300's. I was also surprised that neither men or women were required to dress modestly while entering the mosque. While we were all conservatively dressed we saw many people walking around in shorts and t-shirts.

We finished our tour with a quick trip to Khan al-Khalili, the outside market bazaar. We went during the first day of Eid, so unfortunately many of the vendors weren't there. However, I think that's probably a blessing as I don't know if I could have handled any more nagging, begging, and haggling with the shop keepers. I was prepared to buy something interesting if it caught my eye, but nothing jumped out. Instead we bought a just a few t-shirts.

The Sphinx and the Solar Boat Museum

To the south of Khafre's Pyramid sits a huge creature with the head of a human and a lion's body. The Great Sphinx is believed to be the most immense stone sculpture in the round ever made by man. The Sphinx is made out of limestone and was under renovations while we were there. It was surprisingly much smaller than I had imagined, but awe inspiring nonetheless.

Our final destination was to the Solar Boat Museum. It was fascinating! In 1954, a boat, over 120 feet long and made entirely of cedar wood, was discovered at the base of Khufu's Pyramid when the ground was cleared for a tourist road to be put in. Forty slabs of limestone were discovered set in the ground with the pieces of a complete boat arranged in 13 layers. The boat was laboriously removed from its pit, piece by piece, and in 1958 reassembling of the 1224 pieces began. It took 10 years to complete. No nails were used in the construction and the planking was assembled through an ingenious system of stitching through holes with ropes of vegetable fibers. When the wood was swollen by water the ropes would tighten and make the boat watertight. Spectacular. The museum was built at the same spot where they found the boat.

After our half-day tour, Mohammed dropped us back off at the hotel where we had lunch and napped. We spent the evening exploring the area around the hotel, dodging traffic and playing "chicken" in the road with our lives, and letting the girls eat dinner at none other than KFC.

The Pyramids of Giza

Our first full day in Egypt was spent touring the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and the Solar Boat Museum. Our tour guide Mohammed picked us up at our hotel at 9 am, and once in the van began giving us background information on our day's events. He went into great detail about Egypt, and more specifically Cairo and the 24 million inhabitants living in the small city. He told us all about the Pyramids of Giza, and how it took close to 20 years to complete each pyramid due to 1.5 ton stones being quarried and transported distances of up to 500 miles. He also told us that each large pyramid housed only 1 king after he died.

There are 3 pyramids in Giza. The Great Pyramid, which at its highest peak is 138 meters, was built for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu. Next to it lies a slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre, Khufu's successor, who is also commonly considered the builder of the Great Sphinx. A few hundred metres further south-west is the Pyramid of Menkaure, Khafre's successor, which is about half as tall. The entire Giza Plateau is believed to have been constructed over the reign of five pharaohs in less than a hundred years.

As the Pyramids have been around for over 4000 years, the city of Cairo is clearly built around them. It was rather odd to be driving through a relatively residential part of town only to turn left and have them staring right at you. The Pyramids are the best known man made structure in the world and truly are a modern marvel. It's amazing to look at them and see the amount of work it took to build them without the use of our every day machinery.

Matt and his dad went down into one of the smaller surrounding pyramids, built for one of the queens. While they weren't supposed to take any photos, the guide took one of the two of them at the bottom.

Panoramic View of the Pyramids

Perlmans at the Pyramids

Matt and Neil down in the bottom of the Pyramid

Cairo

On Thursday, October 11, we left on a 4 1/2 day trip to Cairo, Egypt. We flew out on Air Sinai airlines (which was really Egypt Air) for the hour-long flight. We originally wanted to only go for 3 days, but since there are only 3 flights to Egypt a week, we didn't have a choice in our return date. We made the plans in advance, hired a guide for 2 half-day tours, and left our last day to sight see on our own... or just relax at the hotel.

We had an uneventful flight to Cairo and arrived just before lunchtime. Our expediter met us at the airport and helped whisk us through customs and as well as take our bags to the awaiting van. With traffic, some of the worst I've ever seen, it took us about 40 minutes to get to the hotel. But as soon as we pulled up we were in heaven. We booked our stay at the Four Seasons Hotel... for $165 / night including taxes and breakfast. What a score!

By the time we checked into our rooms, unpacked our bags, and vegged out it was about 5pm. We got dressed, walked around the hotel, and went to dinner across the street at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Here are some photos of our first day in Cairo. As I don't have all my photos loaded, and I'm still waiting for my father-in-law's, I'll be writing these blogs of our trip over the next few days.

What a week!

Sorry for the delay in our blog updates ~ we've been a smidge busy since my last note. Matt's parents arrived for a 10-day trip last weekend, but before they arrived, we had a lot to do. From parent board meetings to school activities, preparations for another visit from the Secretary of State, to a visit from the flu bug, we've been running in high gear.

Matt's folks made it here on a great Delta flight last Saturday, October 6th. Unfortunately, Sheridan and I were both under the weather with a nasty little bug. But we were troopers and managed to make it to the airport with Riley to pick them up as their flight came in earlier than expected and Matt was in the shower. :)

We hung out for their first few days here, resting and relaxing as best we could before the chaos ensued. Matt had Monday off for Columbus Day and we took a quick tour of the Embassy and went shopping on my favorite street in Tel Aviv. We picked the girls up from school at 12:30 and began our hectic week of activities. Here's what we've done:

• Last Monday, Riley had her first gymnastics class and we all went to watch. She loved it and grinned from ear to ear the entire hour.
  
• Last Tuesday, after Riley's afternoon program at school, I took her to her first ballet class. We're going to a different place this year as the classes are a lot more structured and she's learning more technique and grace. This is some SERIOUS ballet. Parents aren't allowed to watch except for the last 2 minutes of class ~ Riley was again grinning when we left.
  
• Wednesday we all went to the girls swimming lessons and finished the day with Sheridan's ballet class.
  
• In between this we had to run errands, take care of meals, and plan and pack for our trip to Cairo, Egypt.
  

We left early Thursday morning for our 5 day trip to Cairo, Egypt and just got back a few hours ago. So much to tell, so many pictures to download. I promise to update y'all with our amazing trip and details of traveling with the girls when I pick my head up off the pillow tomorrow.

In the meantime, we're preparing for yet another visitor. Matt's close friend Richard and his family are arriving in less than an hour for a 2 week trip to Israel. We'll be busy...

Just Go To Sleep!!

For those of you with children, here's a little ditty from YouTube that me laugh out loud. I think the artist sat in my house and then wrote his song.

Enjoy!

Cousin Katie

We had another visitor last week. Cousin Katie Feller stayed with us for 2.5 days over the Sukkot holiday. Katie is on a semester-long high school exchange program just outside of Jerusalem.

We didn't do much over the few days she was here... a few errands, a little relaxing, and an opportunity for Katie to veg out, take a break from schoolwork, and eat as much as she wanted out of our pantry (the little luxuries that she misses from back home). Katie was a great guest ~ she made herself at home, helped me with the girls, and even cleaned up after herself. So polite!!

We had a great time seeing Katie and look forward to having her back over Thanksgiving.

The Pay Off

My car registration was up for renewal last week, and along with it, the yearly car inspection. While Matt was busy with the Secretary of State visit, I got up early, got the kids off to school, and took the car to the station for it's inspection. Everything went quite quickly, until they made me open up the hood to check the car's pollution output. After almost 10 minutes of "inspecting", they told me that my CO2 and my Lambda were off, and that my car failed the inspection.

"Are you serious?" I asked them in an accusatory tone. "You're honestly telling me that my car didn't pass inspection, yet when I look around half the cars here are being held together by duct tape and bungee cords, and they're passing?" What's wrong with this picture? I was directed to the post office inside where I could get a 1 week extension. Then I called Matt. He told me to take my car to "his guy" who helped get it passed last year.

I drove straight to the mechanic and asked for Aaron, who apparently handles all the Embassy vehicles repairs. Aaron and I talked for a few minutes, he looked at the inspection report, and then he delivered the news that it would about 5000 Shekels to fix it and get the car passed. "WHAT????", I yelled. "That's insane!! You need to talk to my husband". I called Matt on the phone and then handed it to Aaron to come up with a better solution than spending $1200 to "fix" my car. They agreed to have Matt drop the car off on Sunday morning and let them take care of it themselves.

Late Sunday morning Matt drove the car to the mechanic after taking Libby to the vet. A few hours passed and by 3 pm we got the phone call from Aaron letting us know that every thing's been handled and the car is now registered for our final year in Israel.

"Was it fixed", you asked? Of course not. There was nothing wrong with the car - it just needed a little pay off. $90 and some schmoozing took care of everything. Oye, what a day!

It's Not a TOO-MAH.....

Thank Goodness!

Last week we reported that Libby had an infection on her back paw, and we needed to put on her Elizabethan collar so that she wouldn't lick her bandage. We treated her paw with a topical antibiotic for a week with little positive result. So last Friday we decided to take her to the vet so he could give us some new medicine.

Dr. David Cohen has been Libby's vet since we arrived in Israel. He's Canadian, and is probably the most loving vet we've ever met. When I walked in on Friday, he took one look at Libby and shook his head. He told me that her paw didn't look good at all. However, before we even got to his examination of her paw, he told me that her ears smelled and that she probably had a double ear infection. When we took off the collar, he looked inside and confirmed his assessment. He then looked down at her paw and told me that she had a mass on her paw. The mass was soft and mushy - either a cyst or a tumor. He did a fine needle aspiration of the mass and unfortunately no liquid came out. He said that it was probably a tumor, but we won't know until he removes it and sends the mass to the histology lab.

He cleaned Libby's ears, gave her a once-over, and scheduled her surgery for Sunday morning. At that time, he would also clean her teeth, flush her ears, clean her anals, remove the mass and send to histology, clip her nails, and basically give her a tune-up. We also decided to discuss allergy options for her as her paw licking is out of control.

Today we dropped Libby off at the vet around 9 am and waited to discuss her allergies after the sedative for her surgery kicked in. The doctor said that Libby's allergies are chronic, are making her miserable, and affecting her quality of life. He also mentioned that she has the potential to lick her paws until they bleed (which she already does), thus causing her a cycle of skin infections (which she has)... and damaging her system in the future. He suggested putting her on prednisone, a steroid, that would help counteract the histamines and decrease her allergy symptoms. We'd start her on a combination therapy of prednisone and an antihistamine every other day and monitor her until we have the correct dosage. More on this in a few weeks...

We finally left so that Libby could have her surgery and tune-up, and returned back around 4:30 pm to pick her up. The end result is that she probably doesn't have a tumor as previously thought. She had a large scab on the bottom of her paw, which was covering a decent size hole in her foot, which was housing a lot of hair, debris, and a 1/2 inch quill (or similar object) that was irritating her foot and causing the infection on the top of her paw. No kidding! The hole ran diagonally through her foot, and when the doctor removed the mass, he was able to do a cross section of the mass and found more of the same debris there. He cleaned and irrigated her foot, ensuring everything that wasn't supposed to be there was gone, stitched up the top, and sent off the mass to pathology. Even though he's 75% sure that the mass was due to the foreign object, he wanted to cover his bases. We're thrilled.

Libby was mighty drowsy and slept most of the evening on the couch next to me. We had to put the collar back on her since we know how much she enjoys eating bandages off her legs. We have a ton of antibiotics to give her over the next 10 days, and a few follow up visits with the vet. But in the end we have one healthy, expensive pooch back at home. The girls couldn't be happier. Neither can we.

Yom Kippur

Israel came to a standstill today for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. As with every Yom Kippur here in Israel, the country literally shuts down. The holiday is the only day of the year when all Israeli radio and TV broadcasts go off the air. With rare exceptions, cars disappear and the country's roads and highways become eerily empty, used mainly by children on bicycles taking advantage of a rare opportunity to ride in the middle of the street. In fact, the holiday is referred to as the Day of Bikes.

While fasting, Matt and I managed to take the girls on a 3 mile bike ride. We met up with our friends the Steinbach's and the Fleming's, and walked/rode our annual route.

Sheridan, Kit, Riley, and Emily

Gang on the freeway (I took the photo)

A horrible photo of the tired Perlman Family

Charlie Soap

I recently discovered an amazing laundry powder and all purpose cleaner that I had to share. It's called Charlie Soap, and for those of you who have gone "green", this is for you! I have used my Charlie Soap for the past 2 months and have been amazed. The all purpose cleaner works great as a stain remover ~ it's done wonders with stains both new and old. For all you moms out there - this product's for you - it's environmentally safe, has no smell, and is perfect for anyone who has sensitive skin.

Check it out at www.charliesoap.com

It's Lampshade Head

Due to a minor infection on her back paw, we had to re-introduce Libby to the conical collar. Doesn't she look happy?

Time Change Tonight

Fall Back.... One Hour!

Just a reminder that our time changes tonight. Until late October when the clocks change in the States, our time difference will now be...

9 hours ahead of California ~ Pacific Time
8 hours ahead of Arizona ~ Mountain Time
7 hours ahead of Chicago ~ Central Time
6 hours ahead of New York ~ Eastern Time

L'Shana Tova!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year, a wonderful Rosh Hashanah, and an easy fast at next week's Yom Kippur.

We're just laying around and enjoying the few days that Matt has off before he heads to Jerusalem for the Secretary of State's visit next week.

We'll be in touch with more of the latest in the next few days.

Cynabubs Comes For a Visit

Over the Labor Day weekend, cousin Cynthia came for a 2 day visit. I picked her up late Sunday night from the airport and brought her back to our house. Her first day here we went to the girls preschool, where Cynthia enjoyed the morning in each of their classrooms. Matt had the day off work, so we took her to breakfast at a restaurant that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea, and to a wonderful Judaica store to look for future gifts. In the afternoon the girls played, Sheridan took a nap, and we finished off the night by eating at the girls favorite restaurant... Zozobra (an Asian noodle house).

The next morning Cynthia and I went to breakfast around the corner from our house before I dropped her off with her friends to head up north to the Galilee. We didn't get to see Cynabubs again before she left Israel, but she called several times to tell us about the amazing time she was having touring around. Lucky for us, we'll see her again in December when we come for our final R&R in California.

Here's a photo of Cyn with the girls.

We Have/Had Lice..... We Think

It's day #2 at school and we've already had a lice scare. A little boy in Riley's class came to school yesterday complaining of an itchy scalp and "gnats" in his hair. The teacher looked at his head and immediately called his parents and sent him home (with a few choice words to boot). We all received notices that the boy was only in school for about an hour and we should all be fine. Should that is.

Tonight after bath time Riley's hair still looked a tad grainy. I wasn't sure if it was the mounds of sand that she came in contact with throughout her day at school - or if it was the all-to-familiar nits. I called a girlfriend who in turn sent her husband (who's had lice more times than he can remember as a child) over to pick and probe Riley's scalp. Within minutes I got the bad news. It's probably nits. While I wasn't about to take any chances that it may be sand, off I went to the pharmacy to pick up the super fun shampoo and nit remover brush.

I shampooed both girls hair. I had them play in the bath for about 15 minutes while the "stuff" did its magic on their hair. While they were in the tub, I changed both their sheets and towels. Then I rinsed their hair and brushed it out with the fine tooth comb. The girls sat still and were amazing. They didn't cry or complain that I was hurting them. What troopers. In the end the entire process took about an hour after diagnosis. While I could have used that hour to sit on my ass in front of the TV and veg with my husband, I feel good knowing that they have clean scalps and no possibility of head lice.

Until next time...

Back to School

Today was the girls first day back at preschool. They were so excited to go that they woke up early, ate a great breakfast, and got ready in a jiffy. Riley is now in the Star class and Sheridan is still a Duckling. Of course it wouldn't be the Perlman family without a little illness. The girls are on antibiotics for a few days as they've been heavily coughing for the last two weeks. I was a little afraid that they may not go to school today, but Matt promised me that if they were still coughing, we could just slap a surgical mask on them and send them to school. Thank goodness they were feeling much better! I had a great morning of dishes, laundry, more dishes, and organizing the closets. It was fun... and quiet!

Dresses courtesy of Aunt Sandy & Uncle Geoff

Online Shopping

I am an online shopping junkie. I love my favorite stores in the States, and with the benefit of having our APO address, I can order just about anything and have it sent to me here in Israel. I also LOVE to get a bargain. For those of you who do most of your shopping online, here are a few websites to help you save even more money.

Before you go to your favorite online store - ALWAYS go to www.ebates.com first. By starting your shopping here, you will save anywhere from 2 - 15% on your purchases. I've been signed up here for the past 2 years, and every quarter I receive a rebate check from them for anywhere from $35-$50. Not bad, right? If you don't already have an account - sign up and reference me. We'll both get $10 in our accounts. Ebates has almost every store you can think of... Zappos, Gap, Banana Republic, Landsend, JCPenney, Nordstrom, etc...

Other websites to check out for money saving coupons are www.naughtycodes.com and www.mycoupons.com. You can even use coupons from these websites for your purchases done through ebates. It's great - discounts and rebates for every purchase!

Hope this helps save you a few shekels.

Let's Go To The Movies

After two years of living in Israel, tonight we reached another milestone. We went with a bunch of friends to see our first movie in a movie theater, The Bourne Ultimatum. Wow, what a blast. Interestingly enough, you don't just buy a ticket for a movie and then go in... it's assigned seating. You look at the screen and choose your seats. Since there were 4 couples who went, one of the husband's went early and bought all the tickets for us.

We got there early to collect our tickets, buy popcorn and candy, and find our seats. As a side note, had he been here, my father could have eaten his fill of his favorite candy, Jew-Jew-Bees (pun intended). In keeping with true JST (Jewish Standard Time), the movie, which was supposed to start at 7:45 pm, didn't actually begin until about 8:15pm. The movie was action packed, filled with car chases and high body count, and lived up to Matt's expectations. It ended at 10 pm, and all of us were so pooped that we didn't even go out for a nightcap, we just went home.

"The" List...

The rumors turned out to be true... the infamous Bid List made its way out into the world of Diplomatic Security spouses. Matt returned home with the list in hand after a long day evacuating more Americans from Gaza. What a good husband - he made a special stop into the Embassy just to print out the list. Of course, I'm sure he was just as anxious to see what was available.

Are inquiring minds dying to know what's available next year? While we won't divulge what will be put on our list now (we don't want the parents freaking out that it could be an "icky-Stan" or another Middle Eastern tour...), we will say that we're definitely looking at some African posts, South and Central Asian posts, and even a few in Central/South American. For those of you who'd like to visit us in Europe... sorry, there won't be any European places on our list. But we're still here in Tel Aviv for another 9-11 months. Make your reservations now - our guest list is rather long!

Wish us luck - this process is nail biting and nerve wracking. We'll keep you posted.

Our recent outing

Last Sunday we went with some friends to the Soreq Cave, the stalactite and stalagmite cave north of Jerusalem. The cave was discovered in 1968 by accident after a blast in a near quarry. We watched an old movie of how the cave was discovered (which was all in Hebrew) and then had a guided tour of the cave (also in Hebrew). The girls had fun looking at the stalactite and stalagmite, but their real treat was their strawberry popsicle at the end of the tour.

Eating Ice Cream

L to R: Gabby, Kit, Riley, and Sheridan

Apparently this is the ONLY way to eat chocolate ice cream...

Blast From The Past

Last month I got a surprise e-mail from my college roommate and sorority sister, Gretchen, who was planning a 10-day whirlwind trip to Israel. We haven't talked or seen each other since October, 1997.

This past Monday we met up in Jerusalem and spent a few hours walking around and reconnecting. What a treat!

Sheridan Sleeping

The girls finished summer camp last week, which left a 4 week gap before preschool begins. We've been doing daily activities to keep busy, but we're definitely off our regular schedule. As such, Sheridan has been napping at different times... and in different places. The girls WERE playing together until Sheridan laid her head down.

The Cousins in Jerusalem

Here are a few photos of the girls with their cousins Zoe and Mo in Jerusalem. Thanks for the pictures cousin Melissa!

Swimming Videos

Here are a few videos of the girls swimming today at the Rec Center. I can now see that the money we spend on swim lessons is finally paying off!

Princess Sheridan

Last Friday the girls summer camp held a pirates & princess day. Of course both girls dressed up as none other than princesses. Riley absolutely refused to have her photo taken with her sister... so here's Princess Sheridan.

My Latest Sewing Creations

About 2 months ago I ordered several different sewing patterns of little girls skirts and dresses. This past weekend I finally found the time to make one for each of the girls. Riley wanted a full, flowing tiered dress, while Sheridan liked the halter style dress. It took triple the amount of time that I had allotted... but the end result was well worth it. The girls love their dresses.

Libby Turns 6

Libby celebrated her 6th birthday today. I can't believe she's growing up so fast. Where does the time go? It seems like it was just yesterday she was peeing in the house, eating all the pillows, and nibbling on the knobs on the stove.

We had the best intentions of baking dog shaped and bone shaped sugar cookies, but after making the dough it got too late to bake them. So we put them in the fridge to do tomorrow. Instead, we made party hats (since we couldn't find them in any store around our house), sang Happy Birthday, and gave Libby a few extra treats. The girls had fun and happily posed for a few photos.


p.s. It wasn't until I took the photos that I realized Sheridan wasn't wearing any pants. Sorry for the PG-13 rated photos.

Happy (Belated) 4th of July!

We took the girls to a 4th of July party at the Embassy's Rec Center. They had a fun time running around with their friends, eating lots of cotton candy, jumping in the bouncy castles, and taking silly photos.

Here they are posing with Uncle Sam

from left to right.. Lindsay, me, Michelle, and Heather

A Much Needed Update

Ok, it's been way too long since I've blogged. My apologies for the lag in photos and updates. Here's what's been happening since the end of June.

• We had more visitors! Matt's aunt Sandy, uncle Geoff, and cousins Melissa, Archie, Mo and Zoe came for a 10+ day guided tour of Israel. We had several opportunities to see them while they were here; in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and even at our home. The girls had an absolute ball hanging out with their cousins and were so thankful to make a solid connection. I didn't take any photos with my camera - so I'm patiently waiting for a few photos to be sent to me so I can post them here sometime soon.
  

• Another visitor stopped by last week. My sorority sister Sharon is in Israel with her husband and 3 kids. Except for a coincidental meeting at a Costco in Los Angeles a few years ago, I haven't seen Sharon since her wedding in 1998. Last Thursday we let the kids swim for an hour at the Red Center and then she came back to our house for a pizza dinner. What fun!
  

• The girls started summer camp! For the next 5 weeks they're attending daily from 9 am - 1 pm. They are enjoying spending every day with their friends doing art, playing outdoors, and swimming.
  

• I just found out that I have hypothyroidism - aka an under active thyroid. When I went in for my annual exam I also had my annual blood test (with a thyroid panel thrown in). I wasn't overly surprised when I received the results later that day (thyroid issues run in my family). I saw an endocrinologist a few days after I received my blood results, and after a thorough exam, he put me on thyroid medicine. Hopefully I'll be feeling my normal self in the next few months.

• I have bronchitis! I have been coughing... and coughing... and coughing.... and coughing some more for almost 3 weeks. After annoying everyone with my disgusting cough, I finally went to see a doctor who gave me much needed antibiotics. I've been on them for 3 days now and I'm just starting to feel better.
  

• The girls are now sharing a room! All of their girlfriends share rooms with their sisters - and they've been asking to share a room for a few months. We had to wait until Sheridan stopped crawling out of her bed at night before we could put them together. It's been 2 weeks now and aside from Sheridan talking a little too much once we turn off the lights, it's been an easy transition. Additionally, I turned Sheridan's old room into my craft room - though I haven't been able to enjoy it since I've been sick. Soon enough...

Here are a few photos. I'm still waiting for the 4th of July photos from a girlfriend. I'll hopefully post them in the next few days.

The girls room - view from the door. Riley's bed is against the window and Sheridan's is perpendicular to it.

View of Sheridan's bed and other side of room.

Sheridan and Riley seated with my girlfriend's children, Maya and Jacob.