February 2016 Jordan

Hi all

So I have been busy working full time so we have not done anything out of Amman this past month. We did have a night at the Dead Sea which was extremely relaxing. Jacob has played two proper basketball games and Abi is now on the swim team. She's started practising for her grade two violin, the teacher has said she can skip grade 1. I am still impressed that it doesn't sound like a dying cat when she plays.

Allen is busy with rugby, he bent his finger back and I was worried he'd have to have his wedding ring cut off, he didn't, but his finger is still swollen two weeks on.

We're off to Denver in two weeks, can't wait to see friends, visit a few National Parks and go skiing in Breckenridge. We're there for nearly three weeks so hoping for a bit of a relax too.

School is going well, full on but I am enjoying it. The kids have been having photos done so one of the teachers took sibling ones, that wasn't offered by the photographer. I have included that one here. We also did a fun run at school last week, that's the other photo. The weather is mixed but generally blue skies and sun - very nice.

Cyprus, Allen's Birthday and a Happy New Year!

Hi All
We flew to Cyprus on the 27th December so that we could celebrate Allen's 45th Birthday there, show Jacob and Abi Nicosia - the last divided capital in Europe and to see our friends the Vara's.
We spent three nights and days in Nicosia, we had fun on segways - much better than in Prague and ate  loads of pork!

Abi went to the Vara's house at Akrotiri a day early which was great for everyone! Allen, Jacob and I went over to the Northern part, very different from when we lived in Cyprus 16 years ago as you could not just walk across the green line. There were lots of passport checks but we still could easily go through. Next time we would like to go to Kyrenia, we still loved it on the other side.

On Allen's actual birthday we went to Akrotiri to stay with Jay, Amber and Devina for 2 nights. We went out in Limossol for a great meze dinner and then celebrated Amber's birthday the next night! So Jay cooked us a lovely variety of curries for New Year's Eve/Amber's birthday. We had a snickers cake for the birthday people and played games.

We had a brilliant stay in Cyprus and, as it is only a 50 min flight, we will be going back again this year!

December 2015 - Jordan

Hi All

Had a busy December. Abi was in a Mid Summer Nights Dream, she played Mustard Seed - a fairy. She did a great job, really clear and good stage presence. I have a feeling she will want to tread the boards again! She also joined the school choir so took part in quite a few Christmas singing performances at various locations around Amman. Jacob has continued with his basketball and should play even better now having received new basketball boots for Christmas and also a book on how to play better! Jacob and I went and saw the Harlem Wizards play basketball. I have included a photo of him and me with a photo of the King in the background!

I have been volunteering at Jacob and Abi's school for the past term and was interviewed for the SENCO job. I got it and will start full time in January. Special Needs has alway been an area I have wanted to work in so I am very excited.

Christmas has been relaxing. Lovely and sunny here and we managed to have a drink on the roof terrace. We are off to celebrate New Year in sunny Cyprus. Going to Nicosia for a few days and then a couple of days with friends. Can't wait.

Happy Christmas and have a fun filled 2016 - we plan to!

Grandma Melrose Visits Jordan

Marion came to visit for 10 days. We did loads of trips out and about but the best thing was our trip to Petra. I took photos of everything. The most relaxing thing was our spa day at the Dead Sea. Marion went in, I was towel holder and photographer! While Marion was here Allen and I went to the Poppy Ball. Allen had been very busy helping with the organising of the Ball so it was great to see it all come together. We had a brilliant night and got to stay at the hotel so had a long lay in the next morning! We then took Marion to Jerash for her last day out. It was a gorgeous day. We didn't get to see everything with Marion but luckily she is already planning her next trip out.

Jacob's 13th Birthday

Hi All

Well we now have a teenager in the house (although with Abi it has felt we have had a teenager for years!). Grandma was here to help us celebrate but she didn't manage to get up for the early morning present opening. Jacob appeared in bed with us at about 5.45am so we did open most of his presents before school.

When he got back from school we opened the rest and also had cake. He chose to go to PJ Changs for dinner, a posh Chinese restaurant. It was really good. The other thing he chose was to take a friend to see Spectre at the cinema. So at the weekend we took his friend Arnold plus us, Grandma and a friend for Abi. The girls were going to see I am Malaya however there was only one showing and we'd missed it! So the boys went into Spectre and we went home and watched a DVD. Arnold stayed over and Jacob has a fun birthday week.

Halloween weekend

Hi
We have had a busy last weekend of October. On Friday we got the chance to have a go at driving an Arctic Cat. It's an All Terrain Vehicle, not a quad bike but similar. There were 6 for us, 3 adults and 3 kids. It was great fun and we got to see an area North of Amman that I had not been to yet. After an hour and a half we went to the owners house for a BBQ. It was based on a Mediterranean Villa and was gorgeous with a swimming pool, outside seating areas and extra villas for extended family all within a gated area. Apparently they are one of the wealthiest families in Amman. I am hoping to get the grandchildren interested in Girl Scouts! We also did trunk and treat with the girl scouts. Our trunk was in a British theme! Very easy and a great way to do Halloween in an hour. We spent about 2 hours making our treats, Abi loved it all. The other photo is one from the Dead Sea, we had a 2 night stay a couple of weeks ago. It was very busy as it was a holiday weekend. Had a relaxing time in the spa.

Allen flew to London today and returns on Thursday with his Mum. Looking forward to showing Marion the sites and we will also get to see Petra for the first time, can't wait.

Ruth's visit

Ruth came to stay for a week so we went out and about locally. She was going further afield with her tour group but doing nothing local to Amman.

So we went to the Panorama above the Dead Sea, there's a museum up there and a restaurant. The views were amazing:

After this we went to a hot springs, a mixed visit - the 'cafe' was basic, the toilets were hole in the ground, poo everywhere and they stank, we then went to the ladies only waterfall - it reminded me of a penguin's pool at a zoo with a little trickle for the waterfall. So not a good start. We then went to the family waterfall that was 60 degrees so there was no way we could go in! Last but not least was the general area. Here the security person told us what order to do things in, the steam cave, the water fall then the bottom pool. It was great fun and we went around twice and then had a bit of a sun bathe.

We also went to Ajloun Castle and had a picnic in the forest. The castle was very impressive, we had a cup of mint tea as we went in and then had a good hour wandering around.

We also visited the Roman Amphitheatre, downtown Amman. It is huge, my thighs were very sore the next day!

Ruth and I visited the Citadel, or as the taxi man said it's actually called Amman castle. It's the Roman remains that are also downtown. It is a vast area but it was a bit hot when we were there!

We then did a Wadi walk with Ruth. This time we went with some seasoned Wadi walkers and they took us to Wadi split. This one had water in it and a couple of waterfalls, very impressive. It was a two hour hike, all of us enjoyed it but it was hard work and I have never sweated so much in my life!

We ate out quite a bit with the most interesting drink being a lettuce smoothie, it was like drinking a cold lettuce soup - disgusting but I was determined to finish it - I did!

Finally Ruth and I went to a 80's night, it was excellent. Loads of neon and brilliant music, we danced loads.