The Stecherbush Abroad

Alena was able to try out Prom this year. She picked out a dress and I had it made here. She and her sweet friend Jacob bravely stepped into a world that wasn't their cup of tea and jumped out again almost as quickly but now they know what to expect. They looked spectacular. She threatened to wear boots among her many protests during this whole process. She ended up with some flats but she did have leggings with pockets under her dress.   While the hair and make-up almost ended in a broken deal, I thought she looked perfectly lovely and au-natural.

My terrible phone camera trying to capture beautiful people at the opera house is a bit of a fail but at least we can be reminded of a perfectly lovely night. The attraction was the Organ but the stars of the show were the boys in the German Boys choir that was visiting. They were positively incredible! This photo is of the Oman National Orchestra that also played. I wish it showed the women in their traditional dress. We were all mesmerized.  

Matt had to go to Salalah for work and we decided to send Samuel along. He's constantly begging to go and he currently had nothing going on.   One of their favorite parts was finding this wild hedgehog. They both went crazy running after it in the dark with not shoes. The Baobabs were blooming! This was one of his most successful finding trips ever and he was so happy. Honestly I can't get enough of these waterfall pictures. I think this is part of Wadi Darbat. This is just the very beginning, Before the khariff.  Matt was there touring the port and meeting people. I feel like this will be a memory forever for them!

Elise had to stay home from school because she had a cough. She slept in one day as she was starting to feel better and she thought she would be able to go to school. She was pretty much devastated when she woke up and she had missed it. She begged to send emojis to Mr. Mo. She also picked flowers for Alena's ceramic vase. She's been going to the art room after school with her friends and making pots and things. She also created this lovely watercolor card for me for an almost forgotten Mother's Day. Matt forgot. Everyone forgot. Except Alena. I had to do a little experiment. Are American marshmallows superior to the best marshmallows in the Middle East. Yes. The answer is yes although they do melt, get brown and would work in a pinch. Luke has had some good things going on.   

We didn't have to wait long for our next adventure. We had our first wadi tour. It was nice to have leaders set up ropes and do some of the guiding. Lauren had her sister and friends in town and set up this guided adventure. We got to tag along on. Actually I got to invite lots of my own friends plus Lauren and her friends. Safety briefing.  First Abseil which is actually what we call repelling in the states. He was soooooo happy that he was able to go. He wants all the adventures. While it was great to have the guides do so much of the work, there was something about the other fork of snake canyon when we had to work as a team and figure it out ourselves that really made the experience that much better. This was much less stressful though. We weren't in charge of anyone success, the guides took that on and did a great job.