And More Pictures!

Silas enjoying a treat!
Silas and I on board the Battleship North Carolina.
Elayna in one of the rare moments a camera captures her real smile instead of her cheesy grin.
While in North Carolina we were able to go to Hanging Rock State Park for an afternoon. It's been the family camping spot for years and years. Grandma was able to go along and enjoy the beautiful drive, as well as watch the kids swimming.

Here is the lake at Hanging Rock, with the beach on the left. We have so many family memories there at the campground and the lake!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

Moving back to August pictures... I share a birthday with my grandmother, and we for the first time in a few years we were able to have our traditional birthday lunch together. It was very special to be together! We finished my birthday celebration at my sister Amanda's house. She cooked us a wonderful steak dinner, and then served my requested "cake," a Krispy Kreme doughnut!


Two days later it was Elayna's turn to have a birthday- her third! Aunt Amanda was off work and took the girls to the Children's museum. Those were some delighted little girls! Among many activities, this hands on room full of pioneer stuff was a hit for these "Little House on the Prairie" fans.
Another fun activity was a kid sized grocery store. Here is Brynn checking out.

And Elayna loading up a cart!
If you don't think the trip to the Children's museum was enough fun for a day, don't worry! We continued by meeting Aunts, Uncles, and Grandma at Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and fun!

Our recent (and not so recent) adventures!

After many adventures in the last few months, I feel so far behind in updating everyone. The farther behind I get, the less motivated I am to try to catch up. So I'll just start with today for now, and see where we get!

Today we took the train into Boston. We rode the swan boats, and visited the statues of the Mallard Family from "Make Way for Ducklings" by Robert McCloskey. Here is our family with the Mallard family.

Grandpa and the girls posing for a shot with Mrs. Mallard.


Riding the swan boat was a hit with the kids! Silas was sure he needed to swim with the ducks!
Here's the little man just being cute! I think he's pretty good at it.

Last Saturday we went apple picking. With the nice small trees the girls could pick their own- and eat their own!

Even Silas got in on the action!
The orchard had some activities for the kids as well. Here is Brynn enjoying one of the tractors they rode. There was a hay maze, a moon bounce, and some farm animals to visit.

This is a picture of Silas I just had to include for Nana, Papa, and the aunts and uncles. =) I'll try to add some more pictures of our summer activities soon, but here's a start!

The whole gang!

In the last two posts I neglected to share our newest Rideout clan photo. So here we are- all 26 of us!

Half-Birthday girl

Kira gets to celebrate her half birthday each year, since she was a Christmas baby, and misses out on some of the fun on her real birthday. Her half birthday was last week. So while Heidi, Kay and Tom are still here, we went to a local lake for a cookout and to play in the water. They had a great time!

Cousins galore!

We have been having a great time with Kevin's family! We were all together for a week, and the rest of the time has been spent with Kevin's dad, grandma, and Ian and Beka's family. Rather than tell you about it, I'll just show you!

Our arrival in Boston, and some really tired kids!

Elayna and same-age cousin Rayna



These four year olds were all born between January and March. So lots of cousin fun for them!
Here's a shot of all 16 cousins together. They range from 13 years, down to 1 year.
One fun thing we did was go to Clark's trading post in New Hampshire. We got to see trained black bears do a show, ride on a train and blaster boats. (bumper boats with sprayers- lots of fun!) In case you wondered, this is NOT a real bear. =)

We're back!

After over 24 hours of traveling, we arrived safely back in the US. We have been enjoying the last couple of days eating ice cream and lots of cheese, and visiting with Kevin's dad and grandma, as well as Ian and Beka and family. The cousins are having a blast together! Last night we enjoyed a "circus" they prepared.
There have been lots of things that we have had to introduce or reintroduce to the kids. I thought I'd just mention a few things that stood out to us over our first couple of days back.
The kids:
-water fountains
-learning how to flush the toilets here- the handle is in a different place!
-playing in the grass
-hot air hand dryers
-milk that doesn't have to be mixed

For me:
-driving for 15 minutes without seeing a single motorcyle (not to mention goats, cows or camels!)
-retail overload- there are WAY too many choices in the grocery store
-internet that is FAST!

Off to bed for now! Thanks for praying for us as we made the journey. The kids were great, and we couldn't have asked for a better trip. It still feels a little unreal that we are here, but we are enjoying it nonetheless.
We look forward to seeing Kevin's family this week. 10 adults + 16 kids + 1 week in New Hampshire= lots of fun!

Adventures in Moving?

I remember as a kid my mom rolling her eyes at the U-haul slogan pasted on the side of their trucks. If I remember correctly it said "Adventures in Moving." Like it's a fun thing. Guess they haven't moved as much as we have.

While we aren't using a U-haul, we are having many moving adventures. Perhaps a few too many! Let me entertain you with the recent happenings in our packing process. The week has been a typical one, with things breaking, power outages, car trouble etc. These things happen all the time out here. But trying to move in the midst of it makes it stand out! Our date to be out of the house is May 31. We lost a couple of weeks of packing time, as Ed, the other pilot had to head back to Canada unexpectedly for a couple of weeks for his dad's funeral. That's when the flight requests starting coming in, of course. =)

Day 1: This week started out Monday with preparing to move out of our house, and into Kevin's brother Ian's house until our departure June 9. (they are in the US right now) A lot of our belongings were already packed, and the first loads were taken over for storage in a bedroom of the house we'll move into when we return.

Amanda invited us over for supper, so after a day of packing we headed over there. I got out of the car, and went to greet the dog they are keeping this month. Knowing he is not the friendliest of dogs, she had put him on a chain before we arrived. I went towards him. He was not overly friendly, so after petting him for a moment, I turned to walk away. I thought I was out of reach of his chain. I was wrong. Apparently he lunged to the end of his chain and tried to take a chunk out of my arm, but I was just about out of reach when his jaws closed down on me. He didn't break the skin, but left a giant purple bruise, with toothmark scrapes from my elbow halfway up to my armpit. Not helpful with packing when it hurts to move your arm, not to mention pick up kids... Thankfully the swelling went down the next day, and though it still looks bad, it feels fine.

After a yummy supper, we headed to Ian and Beka's to put the kids to bed. Due to the air conditioners, we decided to put all the kids in one room. They had a great party every time I walked out of the room until 11:30pm.

Meanwhile, Kevin was back at the house packing until after midnight.

Day 2 begins with Kevin getting up to go pack, while I headed out with the kids for Kira and Brynn's final swimming lesson. We went to join the chaos at the house after swimming lessons. It became clear that a half packed house is not a good place for a fully energized toddler. He could not be let loose in what was already chaos! He played in the crib in the living room for an hour or so while I packed. In order to "help" mommy be able to pack the popsicle molds, the kids agreed to eat some for me. Silas got to try one for the first time and was greatly impressed. So much so that he decided to share it with his best friend, our dog Oreo. ( pics to follow when I can figure out why our card reader won't fit the cards now)
The kids and I returned home for naptime. Meanwhile back at the house...
The front door, which has had attitude problems for awhile, finally gave up the ghost, requiring Kevin to fix it before we move.
It's my turn to take the night shift, so after feeding the kids I headed back to the house while Kevin tended the bedtime routine for the kids.
I spend over five hours sorting and packing, returning home at nearly 1am.

Day 3 Kevin heads back to the house. I stay at Ian and Beka's with the kids. Mid morning I hear from Kevin that the upper kitchen cabinet fell as they were removing it. (he and Ian built it, so we will take it with us to our new house) While the cabinet survived, the sink beneath was not so lucky. This required calling in help- armed with hammers to remove the surrounding tile and concrete- to get the sink out in hopes of banging it back into shape. The kitchen is now a small room with no cabinets, save for the one that was beneath the sink, and chunks of concrete and dust covering the floor. Just what Kevin wanted- another project as we move out.
Early in the afternoon the power went out. Now, this wouldn't really be that big of a deal if it hadn't been the hottest, most humid day we have had this year. (and believe me, we've had some doozies near 120 degrees!)The heat has been worse, but the humidity is what kills the ability to function in the heat. With no fans, and no wind, it's suffocating, and you drip sweat just sitting still. At our house where Kevin was working it came back on in a few minutes. At Ian and Beka's, where the kids tried to sleep, it was out all afternoon until supper time.
Linda, a SIMAir teammate brought us supper. As soon as we ate, I headed back over to the house for another marathon packing session. I thought I was packing alone. But I was very wrong. A little after midnight an uninvited guest scurried across the living room floor as I sat cross legged nearby. After finding the bug spray and flyswatter, and hunting down the little pest, I decided that I was ready to quit for the evening. That was not to be. After loading the car with the goods from the fridge, along with other various boxes and bags, and locking up the house, I went to start the car. And the battery was drained. It's had trouble recently, but I had left it running for quite awhile after driving over to the house. But it decided that 12:30 was a great time NOT to start again. Our guard, Oussmane, gathered some friends who were sitting around nearby, and helped push it out of the garage and down the street. We tried to pop the clutch and get it going. It was uncooperative. So Kevin, who had spent the evening with the kids and no power again for several hours, had to get out of bed, leave Ian and Beka's guard with our sleeping kids, and drive over to boost it. We got to bed by 1:30 or so.

Day 4 Today leaves only two days until the job has to be done. It is not nearly close enough to being finished! Despite the late night, Kevin heads over first thing in the morning to continue the job. Amanda (one of the only people who Silas will stay with voluntarily!) came to watch our kids for a while, freeing me up to head over and do some packing. After lunch I stayed with the napping kids, and Kevin continued working. We were SO thankful that the power stayed on all day.
The kids and I headed to the pool for a little while before it closed. We were about ready to leave when I looked up and saw a hazy red cloud of dust heading our way. As quickly as we could we grabbed our things and ran for the car, not wanting to be caught in the choking, stinging dust and sand that were coming! We made it, and then the storm blew by, mostly missing us. Kevin was glad, as there is an open hole in the living room wall of the other house from the removal of our swamp cooler. It would have filled the house with dust, and most of our open unfinished boxes are on the living room floor under this hole...
Another wall of dust followed this evening, but by then the kids were safely in bed, and we had all doors and windows closed! Usually it's followed by rain, cooling the air down. This time it didn't rain- just blew around a lot of dust. Even with everything closed up I can still taste it. Currently it's 1am. Kevin is not home yet. I guess technically this begins day 5.

We are hoping for few or no adventures in the last two days of moving out. ;) So, if U-haul thinks they provide adventures in moving in North America, they should see what moving is like in Africa!

We're back...

In reality, we didn't go anywhere, but I haven't had time to post. We are doing well, enjoying our last couple of months here before heading stateside for home assignment. Now the packing has begun, and chaos reigns at the Rideouts! Not that I've ever been known to be overly organized, but it is worse now. There is no one to live in our house while we are gone, and as it's a rental, we will be giving up the house. Out here that means a lot more that it does in the US! It takes months to find and fix a house to standards we can live with- screens on the windows, (we don't want malaria carrying mosquitos to have an easy time getting in!) and sinks and toilets that work are just a few things. Not to mention electric problems, roof leaks, etc. I know we're awfully picky aren't we? I think we finally got this house the way we like it. So now we'll tear it all out and do it again next time. I'm so thankful that Kevin is a very capable handyman! He is constantly fixing something that is broken, whether it be a light, a sink, a toilet, or killing giant cockroaches. (I think they're giant anyway...) Since we are giving up the house, all of our things need to be out by June 1. We will go to stay at Kevin's brother Ian and Beka's house for the last couple of weeks before we leave, since they are currently in the US. (thanks Ian and Beka!) So we have barrels and rubbermaid boxes all over the house half full and waiting for more. We would prefer termites and other creatures not munch on our things while we are gone, so we will pack it as well as possible, since we don't know where it will sit for the ten months we will be gone.

So you wonder why I've been too busy to write? I can't honestly say it was all packing! One of the blessings for us here in Niamey is an American School that has a rec center with a big pool. The girls and I have been spending a lot more time at the pool. It's hot season, and our house stays about 95 degrees F (35 C) most of the time. The kids and the mom get awfully sweaty and grouchy in that weather, so we opt to head to the pool when Kevin gets home from the hangar a couple of days a week. Kira and Brynn have also been taking swimming lessons one morning a week. So we are enjoying the refreshing 85 degree water. Hey, it feels a lot better than outside!
Here is Brynn enjoying the water.


Brynn was jumping off the diving board after her second lesson, and loving it!Kira is loving the diving board too. We try to see how far we can get her to swim to us. She is doing a great job.


One of their favorite things to do is go under at the ladder and try to touch the bottom of the deep end. Here is Kira coming up from a trip to the bottom.


This month has been full of other excitement as well. Last Sunday night I was in the kitchen, standing at a cupboard near the electrical box. I heard a little buzz, and looked in the corner there. On top of the breaker box there appeared to be a little flame, or a small light glowing. Not remembering there being a light in that particular spot, I went to find Kevin. Sure enough, a 220V wire coming into our house was melting a hole in the plastic of the breaker box, and a little fire was burning up there. This was at 10:30 pm, and he had to switch off the power. Now, I don't know about you, but I find it rather difficult to sleep in a room with still air, and no fan- not to mention air conditioner- when it's 95 degrees. But what do you do at that time of night? He called the electric company, and lo and behold there was an electrician there, and he was willing to come look at it! We were so grateful to him! I knew the kids would be waking up any time to tell us how hot they were. But in fact, he got the power back on shortly after 11:30. We slept well beneath the fan, and our air conditioner brought the room down to a comfortable 82 degrees by morning.

Kevin has been roasting along with the other SIMAir guys out at the hangar. We affectionately call it "the oven" this time of year, as it's in the 100's on a cool day. I don't know how they manage to function in that heat! I guess it makes the house seem a lot cooler when he gets home! It also makes the pool even more attractive.

Other family news- Elayna is currently loving the Cinderella story. Every night before bed she asks. "Mommy, tomorrow can we play Cinderella?" She and her creative sisters usually come up with quite the production. Cinderella has never had so many adventures as here in our house!

Silas is keeping us busy chasing him down. He's now walking. Make that running. And walking backwards, chasing his sisters, throwing balls, climbing the ladders to the girls loft beds, and much more. Wow, the world of boys is different! =) He's a lot of fun, but keeping us busy with much needed "training." He too loves the pool. One day last week he figured out how to splash his sisters, and how much fun that can be.

We look forward to seeing many of you soon!

Brynn's Marching Band Birthday Bash!

Yesterday we celebrated Brynn's fourth birthday. She chose her own theme for the party, and a very creative one at that! She said since her birthday is in March, she wanted a Marching Band party. So she had some friends over, we made drums out of milk cans, flags out of broomsticks and fabric, and partied away! The grande finale was a parade around the house to a CD of some band music. We also played musical chairs, and freeze dance with their flags.
Step by step Brynn had the party all planned out. She informed me the morning of the party that it needed to be outside. While I planned the parade part outside, I hadn't planned for the rest of it to be out there. But it was actually easier anyway. It was about 95 degrees out, but the kids didn't seem to mind. Besides, it was 91 in the living room, so how much better would it really have felt? =)

Here's Brynn playing her drum!

Laney mostly enjoyed waving a flag! That and playing on the swings. She seemed to stick pretty close by when the pizza and cake were being served, though!





Lest you think you are seeing double... there really is only one Elayna. (What would we do with TWO of her!!!) This is Elayna and her "twin" Eliza. They were born the same day, only about an hour apart. They look enough alike that even their parents get them mixed up running on the playground after church. They just happen to be in different families. =) Eliza's family are missionaries out here, and her sister Lydia is Brynn's age. Brynn is sunny little girl, and her delight in her presents was clear! Here she is opening a package of modeling clay from Grandpa and Grandma. (sent out a couple of years ago awaiting this birthday) Do you think she likes it?

Kira enjoyed drumming as well! Most of Brynn's friends are actually closer to Kira's age anyway, so she enjoyed the party as much as Brynn. She didn't like the no presents part though!


For a cake Brynn wanted a marching band ON the cake. I couldn't really come up with a way to do that with my limited cake decorating skills. But upon the suggestion of a drum she starting jumping up and down saying "A drum! A drum!" So I think she was ok with the change, and boy was it a lot easier. If you look carefully you can see you the lollipop drumsticks and the colored icing melted and bled onto the top of the cake. Oh well. Welcome to Niger! =)



In case anyone was scared after the wild hair pictures of Silas, here he is sporting his new "do."
Are kids really supposed to have three haircuts by a year old? Only if they are one of our kids, I guess. Isn't he cute?

Need a haircut? Elayna is available...

This morning the doorbell rang. It was our neighbor, Ibrahim, who cuts our grass, and keeps the yard trimmed for us. He had a lot to say, so Silas and I stood outside for nearly an hour with him. I know better than to leave Elayna unsupervised- EVER- but Ibrahim had a lot to say...

Returning to the house, I found little scraps of paper and markers spread all over the living room. The girls had been doing crafts. While cleaning up the scraps under the kids table I found a lock of long brown hair... then another... and another. I knew it wasn't mine, which left Kira.
I jumped up and asked the girls "WHAT HAPPENED!!!" They said Elayna did it. And they didn't come and get me WHY???? Kira now has a lovely short chunk on the side of her hair. Seeing as I'm scissors challenged I don't think I can improve on it much by trying to fix it. Maybe she'll just have to wear it in a ponytail for the next few months.

If Elayna was going to go scissor happy too bad I had Silas outside. He's the one that could use another haircut right now.




Here is what happened the last time I left Elayna unsupervised while painting to go change Silas' diaper. See I really should know better...

I realized that in Silas' birthday pictures I only showed him enjoying the ice cream. Lest you wonder, he was a big fan of the cake, too!

Silas is one!

Today is Silas' first birthday. Here's the little one year old enjoying all his birthday cards! This is his first taste of ice cream. He was very impressed!
This is one of Silas' favorite places to play. He crawls into to the kitchen, and goes to the screen door. Then he calls "O-yo!" (Oreo the dog) She usually comes running to sniff at his hands, in hopes that some delicious treat will be thrown out the door.




It's a happy/sad day. Happy for everyone else, (they get to eat ice cream!) a little sad for me. My baby is one! Kira keeps telling me "Now Silas is one, and he won't be a baby anymore!" Not helping, kid! =)
Really though, he's a fun baby. Never a dull moment with him around. Never. He's gotten quite proficient at pulling up to any and everything, reaching his little arms up and sweeping off whatever toys, books, papers, or treasures his sisters might have left on top. This of course brings screams from his sisters and cries of "Silas has my______." (fill in the blank with any number of things.)

Kevin just returned from a weekend in Burkina Faso playing softball. He left with a cold and plugged ears. He returned with a worse cold, plugged ears, a cough, and pinkeye. The latter was also shared by several of his kids while he was gone. They also passed around a lovely stomach bug that had me changing beds in the night. Kevin says he'll probably add that to the list next. He's not getting rid of any of them, he's just adding new illnesses to the repertoire.
Hopefully we'll all be done with all these bugs in a few days. Kira and I have escaped it all so far.

Brynn's turn!

After Kira flew with Daddy on Saturday, Brynn was thrilled that her turn came up so soon! When given the choice between going to playgroup or flying with Daddy there was no contest. Here they are after they arrived at Galmi.

The kiddos

Since the internet is behaving today, and not erasing my posts as I write them, I'll just keep on going! Here are some pics of the kids, especially for the enjoyment of grandparents, aunts and uncles who may be looking!

Here is the little man, being cute. As usual. He has just sprouted his first two teeth, and is just starting to cruise around the furniture. He's one of ours though- he likely won't be walking for another couple of months!




Laney just can't help herself- when she knows Daddy is in a teasing mood she comes us and says "Tickle me!" Here she was coming in for a kiss...


just hoping that Daddy would grab her and "get her!" You can tell she hates it...





This last one is of the girls last month when we went to a wildlife park two hours out of town.