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Happy Danbury!

When we first bought the place we referred to is as “Danbury” in that Danbury is the closest tiny town at about 4 miles away.   As in “can’t wait to go to Danbury”.   The kids thought the name of the house itself was “Danbury”.   Now, on vacation, our morning greeting when someone wake up is “Happy Danbury!”

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First Days of Vacation

Here are a few pictures from the first days of vacation.  The day after we arrived we had the treat of celebrating Kai’s first birthday in the USA.  Usually we don’t arrive back here until the next week.   Grandma Ellen made a cake and the Posts, Jacobs, Lacoutures and Millers stopped by to help celebrate.  Enjoy the pics!

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Kai Turns 10

It is hard to believe that Kai has been with us now for just about a decade.   I can still recall the morning we brought him home to Tarut Street in Udhailyah.

We recently celebrated his birthday here a little early so that he could enjoy a sleepover with friends before we (and his friends) scatter for the summer.   For the first time we’ll be in a position to celebrate his actual birthday back in the USA with family!

The party was a sleepover with 5 friends where we did a trip to the bowling alley, pizza and cake and running around in the park after dark with glow sticks.   That last bit only resulted in 2 injuries and thankfully they weren’t enough to keep anyone out of the rest of the party.   The main event was a Minecraft LAN party that went well into the night and started back up before dawn the next day.   All 6 boys joined the same world and set about to complete a series of Minecraft challenges.   It was the first time we’ve tried something like that and it was a hit!

Enjoy the pics!

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Fourth of July

Fourth of July started for us on July 3rd this year.   It was a special treat for us – it is the first July 4 that Kai and Nora have really been able to celebrate in the USA.   In the past we’ve arrived on July 4 but were too jet-lagged to enjoy it.

Our big fireworks were on July 3rd when Shell Lake had their display.   Color us impressed – not only were there big crowds but the fireworks far exceeded expectations.   Each time we thought they hit the finally it turned out there was still more.

The big event on the 4th of July was a Duluth Huskies game (they won 2-1).   Hard to imagine being more American than eating a hot dog at a baseball game on the 4th of July.

We capped off the 4th with an unexpected fireworks display over Bass lake that had to have Smokey the Bear needing a change of pants had it been any drier out there!

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End of the School Year

As we wind down the last few days of this school year we said goodbye to our long time house-helper Jaffar who retired this month.   Jaffar has worked for us since we moved to Dhahran and worked for Ben’s family when he was growing up in Dhahran.

In other news we said goodbye to Kai’s long hair.   He had been growing it out for quite sometime and was really enjoying the mop-head but it finally got too much and he decided to get it cut short for summer.  Enjoy the pics!

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End of Year Scouting Activities

Both Cub Scouts and Daisy Scouts closed out their year.  During the Cub Scout crossover Kai became a Webelo II.   All of the Webelo II’s welcomed the other advancing scouts by putting on their new kerchiefs for them.

Nora also said goodbye to her days as a Daisy Scout and had the crossover to Brownies with the rest of her troop.

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Dance Recital and Art Show

We are coming into the home stretch before vacation!   There is a busy round of birthday parties as those with summer birthdays (inlcuding Kai) squeeze them in before the school year ends.   Both Kai and Nora are ending the school year on a high note having had great teachers across the board!

Here are some pictures from Nora’s dance recital last weekend as well as the end-of-year Art Show at the Hills School.   Enjoy!

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More Jacobs Family Pictures

Still clearing out the picture backlog.  This set has the vacation countdown chains, Robin’s Run, Cub Scout building activities and some other end-of-school-year activities.  Enjoy!

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Pinewood Derby and Bahrain

The very last Pinewood Derby came and went last month and both Kai and Nora had a good showing.   Kai’s car was competitive but didn’t make the finals.  It did, however, win the “Best Carved” award.    Nora’s took first place in the Sibling race and won the “Shark Attack” award.    Also included are picture from a recent mini-vacation where we went to Bahrain for a weekend of water parks and good food before the sprint through the last month of school starts.