Our Neighborhood

Getting ready to ride bikes:

 This is the entrance of the school that the boys will most-likely be attending this fall:

 The Rock Pile!  It has been fun to climb on:

 Bike riding...a great outdoor activity this summer:

Camp

We went for one day of a week-long camp to participate in some English-speaking sections.  Since the park was in a village near home, we took Mr. S with us for the day!

Here we are all just sitting around chatting and finishing off a watermelon:

Here is a friend learning the names of some of the kids:

 Teaching new games!

 Mr. S got a group going on the slides!

We had a great time!

Trip to the Black Sea

We were able to have a vacation and team meetings on the Black Sea.  The boy LOVED throwing rocks in the water when they weren't busy splashing each other and looking for shells!

On this afternoon, there was a storm brewing, so we took a family walk just to see the waves:

The boys were enjoying parts of the boardwalk that they used to create their own games.  This was an area to park bikes, but this game looks like more fun!:

An area with all the Disney characters!  The boys went wild -- these statues were just their size:

Svaneti

The guys were able to take a trip to a town about 8 hours away.  This was a great experience to see some of the breath-taking views in the Green Mountains.  Our favorite pictures are the watch-towers:

Seasonal Cooking

Before this chapter, I didn't really understand seasonal cooking.  Although I did watch which produce I bought at what time (because of the cost difference), I knew I could find some kind of berry or a pineapple most days at some American grocery store.  After a full year of living here (in an international setting), we understand this new reality.  Strawberry season just passed.  I went to the market yesterday to look for more of these delicious berries and they were gone...totally gone.  The new fruit that is available for this month is peaches.  They are practically giving them away (.50 for 2 pounds!)
Our favorite salad year-round, but especially found on every table in the summers:

This is pretty much it, lot's of cucumbers and tomatoes.  Many people chop fresh herbs like cilantro, parsley and dill to put on...as well as a few white onions.  Sprinkle with salt and it is very tasty with pretty much anything they serve!

New Pictures

A normal small grocery store at the bottom of most apartment buildings.  We would buy our staples here: bread, milk, eggs, pasta...:

 A view of a town about 30 minutes outside of where we live:

 Mountains and old churches everywhere.  It really is beautiful:

  A new church being built:

 A landscape on our drive back into the country after leaving for our 1-year visa trip:

 churchela for sale (churchela is a bunch of walnuts strung onto those white strings, then dipped over and over again into a grape and flour mix.  Kind of like dipping candles. This was a snack, that I believe was originally made for soldiers during times of war because it was healthy and stayed good for a long time) it is hanging everywhere in the markets:

Skiing in March

I have been meaning to post these pics of David's skiing adventure.  It was a "light" blizzard the entire day, so the view was a little hard to catch.  After taking a marshrutka several kilometers up a windy mountain, the guys were so glad to be safely at the ski resort. 

 We're hoping to get in some more regular skiing with some neighbor friends next winter.  It is very inexpensive, compared to our Colorado resorts and these gondola lifts are a nice upgrade!