12th month

 HAPPY 12 MONTHS!! OMG! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! I am already here for 1 year!???This week (August 31st - Sep 6th) The girls started with school again! On Wednesday they had there first online school day! The girls both did a really great job even though it was hard sometimes to keep paying attention to a screen... Luckily they are able to go to a small 'school', called Kids On 12 (KO12) 3 times per week from 8 till 3. On Thursday they had the first day of KO12 and they really enjoyed this! When I picked them up at 3 they were sad because they didn't even want to go yet! For me it was great to have some time off and next week I'll have the same on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. But on Monday it is Larbor Day so then I am off. On Wednesday evening I celebrated my One year USA a little bit with my friend Maryam. We bought cookies at Insomnia cookies (Philly's best cookies) and we went out for a walk which was great! On Saturday I left to King of Prussia (Pennsylvania)n very early in the morning(5:30 AM!) to meet my friends and go to Ocean City (Maryland) for the weekend! I was soooo excited for this and I had such a great time! I never expected it to be this much fun! the boys rented jetski's and this was awesome! We had dinner together, went to the beach, had a lot of fun and threw a party at the beach on Sunday night to celebrate my one year USA! We made a bonfire and made s'mores! And on Monday i came back in the afternoon and my hostfamily had a very nice surprise dinner for my one year anniversary! I almost had to cry when I saw this! The girls made drawings for me, there was a big 1 balloon, and we had crowns! It was a very nice little party! I really appreciate it!

HAPPY ONE YEAR USA!!!

This week (Sep 7th - 13th) I was really busy with the kids again! Luckily they went to KO12 on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday again so I had some time off which  I used to go to the gym, do the groceries and call some friends and my family. On Wednesday and Friday I was the 'teacher' and it actually went pretty well this week! Even the youngest one did a really great job! I was so excited when my friend Linda asked me if I still wanted to go to the Niagara Falls with her and tow other girls because they decided last minute to still go there! Of course I said YES and I immediately confirmed with my hostfamily if this was ok for them. Luckily they were fine with it so I left on Friday night at 10:30 PM! The first plan was to leave on Saturday really early in the morning, but then we would not use this day to see the falls so we decided to leave on Friday. My friend Marilia (from Brazil) was the driver and I am still so impressed she drove all the way there without many stops! We only had a few 10 min stops for gas! I am so proud of her!! At 6:30 AM we arrived at the wonderful Niagara Falls with the sunrise! It was AMAZING! No words for this view! Even though it was so freezing outside and we didn't bring any warm clothes, it was definitely worth the whole drive! We did the boat tour (Maid of the Mist) and the walking tour (Cave of the Winds) and they were both so amazing!!! After we did these tours we dropped our stuff at the hotel (5 mins from the Falls!!) and then we drove to Buffalo to try the famous Buffalo Chicken at the Anchor bar. It was really yummy! After this we went back to the Niagara Falls to see them by night and this was so beautiful!! Then we went back to the hotel and went to sleep because we were awake for about 40 hours already! We all slept within one minute and on Sunday we went to Watkins Glen State Park (that was on our way back to Philly) and this was also really beautiful! Even though it was raining all day, we really enjoyed our hike!

Dreaming at the Niagara Falls!

This week (September 14th - 20th) I was home with the youngest one all day and I helped her with her zoom meetings. The oldest one went to KO12 and on Wednesday and Friday they were both home. These two days are the hardest days because then they need help at the same time and there's a lot of frustration because of that. Luckily I was able to meet with some friends during the week at night and this calmed me down a bit. On Friday I had a little goodbye party from my friend Bernelee from South-Africa which was really nice and on Saturday I had a picnic with my friend Myra and after that I went to the pool with Hendry. Then I had dinner at a restaurant with my hostmom and the kids which was nice and on Sunday I went to Marsh Creek park (a nice nature park in PA) with Franco. After that we watched the Eagles game at Cira Green which was nice, even though they lost... And then I went to Fashion District with Myra to buy some warmer clothes because it's getting colder here unfortunately...

Hello Pumpkin Season!

This week (Sep 21 - 27th) I was really busy again with the kids. It was really tough with the youngest one this week, because she really didn't pay attention at her teacher when she had her zoom meetings. The teacher even had to remove her 2 times because of her behavior... I sometimes really didn't know what to do, but it is good to learn how to deal with this. On Wednesday my hostmom went to Delaware to visit one of her friends for a couple of days and the kids were at their dad's, so when I was done working, I was home alone. So I asked my hostmom if it would be ok if some friends would come over to chill on the rooftop and luckily she was fine with that. I ended up only hanging out with my friend Hendry once, because the rest was working or couldn't join and some were traveling. But it was nice! On Friday I went to Penn's Landing (The river side with a fair) with my friends Jasmine, Hendry, Marilia, Alejandra and I met another girl (I forgot her name). It was really nice and when the fair closed at 11:00 PM  (because of Covid-19) we went to the river and danced on some music which was so fun! I came back home at 2:00 AM and when I woke up, my friend Franco texted me that he and his friend Jenny (a German Au Pair) could pick me up in 15 mins if I wanted to join them on a trip to Minnewaska State Park in NY and the beach this weekend. I was totally in shock because it was 8:45 and I just woke up, didn't pack anything and was so NOT prepared because I thought they didn't go there anymore. But I made it! In 15 mins I was totally ready to go! And it was AMAZING!! This park was soooo great! It was beautiful! We did an 8 mile hike and it was gorgeous. At night we stayed at Franco's uncle's house in Colonia (NY) because they weren't home, and on Sunday we went to the beach where we met with some other friends. I am so happy I met Jenny! She's so nice and I love her enthusiasm and the way she is! Hope to make more trips with her!

Amazing place with amazing people!