A day in the life . . .

I thought I would give you a little glimpse of what everyday life is like here for me and the kids while Kevin teaching. In the morning we look out our 3rd story window and wave goodbye to daddy as he leaves for work.

Then it is the usual things like breakfast, changing out of pajamas and just playing for a while. We did take along a few toys and books. The library here had a good supply of kids books so we have borrowed quite a few of those! However, I think the kids will be quite happy to see some new toys when they return home again!!

Then it is usually time for a morning outing. Sometimes we head to LCC to use the computers or to meet Kevin for lunch. Another favourite place to go is to the playground. These are few and far between in Lithuania and most of them are so old and rusty that I would't go one them myself, much less put my kids on them. However, we did find one not too far away and besides a few holes in the slides, the kids like this one! I have to watch Owen quite carefully so he doesn't lose a foot in the holes!

The other option that we do is to go to the IKI grocery story. Kendra absolutely loves to spot the IKI sign! As that we do not have a car or a very big fridge, we make quite a few trips to the store in a week. That seems to be the way to shop here!

After lunch it is time for naps in the afternoon. (Owen is back to his usually sleeping habits again so I often sneak in a nap too!)

Kevin usually manages to make it home for supper and after supper we usually head out again for a walk somewhere around town or through the park.

Before we know it, the day is done and it is time for milk bottles and a little T.V. time before bed. We don't have a T.V. hookup but we did take a little DVD player along that has come in quite handy!

So, that is a little shot of life here!

Well I figured if my older brother could do a blog, I could probably do it too. Hilda usually does this but I thought I would give it a go this time. Seems like all our posts so far have been about our spare time, rest assured not is all idle time! I am teaching Monday - Thursday and on my teaching days I head off to school around 8:15. It is about a 20 minute walk to the university from where we are staying.

Class is from 9:00 - 12:15 with a break in there. When we first signed up for this, I imagined going home for lunch with the family then heading back to school for a couple of hours in the afternoon to prepare for the next day. In reality, I stay at school for a quick lunch and usually don't get home until around 6:00pm. I have been giving a lecture for the first three days and then an exam on Thursday, which means marking on Fridays. But we have been successful (other than the first weekend - that was busy) in keeping our weekends free - Hilda has posted the results of those free days!

This past weekend was an uber long weekend. Tuesday was a national holiday and in Lithuanian fashion they shut down the country on Monday too (logic is there is not much use in working Monday if Tuesday is a holiday). So we went to the capital Vilnius for a few days, more on that later. But it also meant I need to make up that time and thus added extra class time this Friday.

The beginning was especially busy as I had to adjust to a new school, new computer systems, new building (it's a maze), new way of doing things,... but now it is getting better. I should be home by 5:30 tonight!

Hilda is helping the library catalogue their books into an online system. Since most of the LCC students cannot afford to purchase books, LCC keeps a stock of textbooks that the students sign out and return at the end of the semester. These textbooks are what she is helping to get online. We found a babysitter through the university who looks after Kendra and Owen two mornings a week so Hilda can come in and do this. Friday afternoons I stay home and mark, so she heads into the university then as well. She enjoys helping out.

It has been busy but good. I can't believe that we have surpassed the halfway point in the course. Actually, my last class and exam is in one week from today. On the other hand, this week means covering three more chapters and grading two more exams. Well, that's a picture of daily life over here. Time to head back to my office and finish preparing for tomorrow's lecture.

We appreciate all the support from back home!

The "professor" at work...
Hard-working students trying to solve a problem

Administration and classroom building to the left and
Gymnasium and cafeteria to the right
Gym and cafeteria to the right with dorm building in the background

The pizza dance

On Sunday afternoon, we went to a pizza place for lunch. I went to change Owen and when I came back, Kevin was laughing. This is the video he took while they were waiting for me. There is no sound but you have to imagine some dance/80's type music!

Day trip to Palanga

On Sunday we took a day trip to the nearby town of Palanga. We hopped on a bus for the 20 minute ride there. Palanga is a little resort town with a great beach. We spent the morning walking through the Botanical Garden park. There were beautiful paths to walk on and lots of ducks and swans for the kids to look at. I am amazed we managed to keep Owen out of the water! It was a very peaceful place. In the middle of the park was the Amber museum. Kevin took a little look in there while I kept walking with the kids.

We then headed for the beach. The kids both were quite excited to be playing in the sand. We put our toes in the Baltic Sea but the water was way too cold to swim in (although we did see a few crazy people attempt it!)

After our time at the beach, both kids crashed in the stroller. This stroller is not the greatest for sleeping in but they don't seem to mind. (The stroller has been working great for us though - thanks Tara!!)

We then walked out the pier for a while. There were lots of fishermen fishing and we did see one man catch a small fish. Kendra thought that was pretty cool!

Finally, we ended our day walking along the market / pedestrian street and Kendra finally got her ride on the 'playground'. She had been waiting all day for that ride!!

Old Town

I know I wrote about our walk through the old part of town a few posts back but I thought I would post a few pictures. It is pretty dry here but they have little squares of flowers throughout the city. Kendra's favourite thing to do is find ants!! She gets quite excited when she finds one and we all have to stop and have a look!


There are lots of statues and monuments throughout the city. Here we let Owen our of the stroller for while and he was quite happy to run around, although the cobblestones proved to be a little tricky for his little feet!



Of course, we had to end the morning with a stop at a local cafe on the street. Kevin ordered his usual beverage along with a platter of food, which included deep fried pig's ears!! And yes, he ate every one for them. I stuck to my plate of pancakes and jam!!

The Bridge

Pretty much everyday, we make a walk to the University. Sometimes we are meeting Kevin for lunch, sometimes checking e-mail or just for a walk. It is only about a 15-20 walk. However, it does involve trekking over "the train bridge". I have to pack up the double stroller and carry it up and over the bridge, somehow managing to get my 2 children across as well!! I think I might be sick of the bridge in a few weeks!!

Pictures uploaded!

We finally found a computer with a card reader in it so now we can upload some pictures! I'll just start with a few general ones and do some more later. The attention span of the kids in the computer lab is quite limited before they start climbing all over the computers and disrupting all the other students!

Obviously, this is us on the plane. We had a spare seat for Owen which was great!


This is a pretty typical street in Klaipeda. There are lots of trees and nice wide sidewalks.



Our two little kiddies, posing for a picture. Kendra is realizing that we have the camera out a little more often now and is always asking, "Can you take a picture of me?" and after it is done she asks, "Is that a good one, mom?"


Usually it is Kevin who is taking the pictures so I thought I better get one of him. This is sitting on one of the 117 sculptures in "Sculpture Park".

That's all for now. I'll put up some more pictures later of the school, our apartment, etc. I gotta save something to do for tomorrow!!

School begins today

It is Monday morning and Kevin is teaching his first class. He has 31 students registered so the class is very full. He spent quite a bit of time this weekend getting ready for class. We interrupted his class this morning to get his office key and the students thought Kendra was pretty cute walking right in and giving her daddy a hug! I am still hoping to be able to do some work in the library here. We have some students who are interested in babysiting so once we get that figured out, I'll try to do some work too.

The weekend here was beautiful. We spent yesterday morning walking around the old part of Klaipeda. Lots of old buildings and rough cobblestone streets. Much of the city has a strong Soviet feel to it, with old rough looking buildings. However, slowly the city is building new, more modern buildings. We walked along quite a busy shopping street too. I may have to return there on my own and do a little exploring!!

The kids are both doing very well here. Yesterday they slept until 6:00am and this morning was 7:30 am!! Thats a better sleep than we get in Canada!!! We're hoping that continues. They are getting used to walking everywhere and Kendra doesn't ask where our van is as often anymore!! We live up on the third floor of our building so we are also getting used to packing up the kids and the double stroller and hiking it up and down the stairs! Maybe I'll develop some arm muscles before we go home again!

Arrival in Lithuania!

Well, after 24 hours we finally arrived at our apartment in Klaipeda, Lithuania! It was a long trip but the kids both did quite well. We are now adjusting to life in a different country where we can't read anything or understand what people are saying. This makes things like grocery shopping very interesting. The first day we ended up with a bag of buttermilk instead of regular milk - not a hit with the kids, or with us either!!

The weather here has been beautiful so far so we have been able to do some walking around town. We have spent some time at the college already, as Kevin gets ready for his course starting on Monday. It is only about a 15 minute walk to school.

We are quite happy with the apartment that they found for us. It is quite spacious with lots of room for the kids to run around in. They are learning to find different things to do to keep themselves busy. We are also still adjusting to the time differences. Right now, the kids seem to think that 4:00am is a good time to be up for the day! Hopefully we can get that adjusted very soon as it makes for a very long day!!

Sorry there are no pictures with this post. We have to figure out yet how to get them off our camera using the computers here.

Thanks for your prayers - we appreciate them!!