Here's the list all you complainers!

Person------ Buys for------>> Person

Josh ------> Jacob
Deborah--->Michelle
Jenna------>Jonny
Jason------>Natalie
Jonny------>Sam
Jenny------>Zack
Will-------->Jason
Michelle---->Josh
Jacob------->Jenna
Mindi------->Will
Sam-------->Deborah
Zack------->Mindi
Natalie----->Jenny


Kids exchange
Jeffrey---> Eliza
Jessa----->Wyatt
Jack------>Jonas
Destiny--->Maddie
Elijah----->Jeffrey
Jonas----->Destiny
Maddie--->Jack
Eliza------>Elijah
Wyatt----->Jessa

Last Full Week in Sofia

We head back home on Thursday this week.  Everyone has had a great time and is looking forward to being back home with all f our own things again.  In the past have taken advantage of a few more entertainments here in Sofia.  Here are some highlights:

This is a video of the hamster balls.  Deborah posted this one on facebook, eliciting plenty of comments.

One one rainy day this week we went to see Ice Age 4 in 3D.  Movies are only slightly cheaper here than at home.  The movie was in Bulgarian, but kids movies are understandable in any language.  There were only a couple of times that I had to whisper what was going on to the others.

This was a giant slide in Yuzen Park (South Park in English) where the kids played for a few minutes.  This is Maddie sliding down the slide and off the edge.  All the larger parks have amusement park like attractions like this for the kids. 

This is Wyatt with his Baby Pancakes.  Last evening we went to the "Happy" restaurant a couple blocks from the house.  It is like a Bulgarian version of TGI Fridays.  Everyone gave it a thumb's up.

Maddie hanging upside-down on the swing in one of the nearby parks.  As mentioned previously, we have been going to the one park or another almost every day. 

Pictures of Rocks

So this week we hit a couple more museums, one of which actually earned a seal of approval from the kids as "the best museum ever!"  This was the Earth and Man museum, which is a geology museum here in Sofia.  Eliza took 446 pictures of various rocks during the hour we spent at the museum.  Her i-pod was definitely working overtime.  It was a pleasant week, although the kids think we are starting to fun out of "fun" things to do in Sofia.  Here are some shots from the week.

These were some of the giant geodes on display at the museum.  These ones were about 3-5 feet tall- the largest I had ever seen.  The picture didn't capture it very well, but these were a brilliant purple color. 

This is the monument to Bulgarian Culture, located in one of the parks downtown.  Not sure if all the graffiti is part of the design, or the addition of culturally minded youths.

This was a nice fountain in South Park.  Mt. Vitosha, which overlooks the city to the south, is visible in the background. 

This is Maddie and Eliza in the go-karts in South Park.  Maddie and Jonas were the chauffeurs,  and did a fairly good job driving - meaning the attendant only have to get them going the right direction about 3 times each.

This is the view of Sofia from Mt. Vitosha.  Saturday we took the ski lift up almost to the peak and hiked for about 3 hours along the ridge.  The views of the valley were wonderful, and although it was a little hazy, the mountains on the north side of the valley, some 50 or so miles away, were also visible. 

Maddie, Jonas, and Deborah on the ski life as we ascended the mountain.  The cars were enclosed and very fast.  The lift was about 4 miles long from top to bottom, but it only took us about 10-15 minutes to get to the top.  

Firewalking, Tarzan climbing, and other things Liability lawyers would never allow at home....

This week was another fun one for our family.  We are discovering that Bulgaria does not have the same hang-ups about product safety and firms dow not have much fear of being sued if someone dies while patronizing their business.  This means that the amusement parks and entertainment activities have few rules and are consequently more fun.

This is our six year old daughter Eliza using a zip line from a twenty foot high platform in a tree after finishing an obstacle course at a place called Kokolandia.  We Hensleys have lots of experience with zip lines, and apparently in Bulgaria they aren't real worried about whether or not you fall, because not only do they let 6 year olds do it, they also let them do it unsupervised.  Deborah and I were the only ones watching them most of the time they climbed about the trees like little monkeys. 

This is Maddie on one of the obstacles.  Eliza is waiting on the platform at the left.  The course cost about $2.50 and was made up of a series of about 10 rope bridges of various types strung between the tall trees of the forest in the public park near our home.  The girls are about 20 feet in the air in this picture.  But they do have a safety line, as you can see- so that makes everything fine.

This is the Alexader Nevski Cathedral, the largest church on the Balkan Penninsula.  While Deborah and I were impressed by the workmanship and the beautifully painted walls, this was largely lost on the kids, who only wanted to go back to the Tarzan trees.

This is the monument to the Soviet Army, also in the park by our house.  The guy holding the machine gun aloft is a soviet soldier flanked by a grateful Bulgarian mother and child, and a Bulgarian fighter.  It is about 160 feet tall, and has been somewhat controversial here in recent years.  Built by the communists in 1956, it was meant to thank the Soviets for liberating Bulgaria from the Germans in 1944.  Nowadays lots of people think it should be torn down since aside from old pensioners, not many people pine for the bad old days.  But so far they have kept it as a reminder of those days- but it good Western fashion they have built a skate park around it.

The guy I will be replacing at the embassy took us out to dinner this week at a traditional Bulgarian restaurant named the Watermill.  After dinner they had music and dancing.  This is Wyatt, who when they asked for volunteers, immediately jumped into the dancing line between the two pretty girls.  Later in the evening they had firewalkers, who showed off their craft in a show that included carrying people over the coals.  All four of our children went over the coals with the firewalker (he didn't drop them, thankfully!) and had a great time.  Going out to dinner here is an all evening affair.  We were there about 4 hours altogether and they just keep bringing you more courses.

There are the ruins of a 4th century Roman palace built by the emperor Constantine, located directly in the center of Sofia.  You might think they would be roped off and completely inaccessible, but actually you can walk through them and climb over them all you like.  Our kids treated them like a playground and no one seemed to mind.

We also paid a visit this week to the kid's future school.  The tuition is $25,000 per student per year, which is paid for by you, the American taxpayer.  (Thank you in advance.)  The kids immediately loved the school, which has virtually every extra curricular activity imaginable, including theater, dancing, karate, and of course, soccer.  They also shut down the whole school for a week in February so that everyone can take a big field trip to go snow skiing.  This will definitely be a new experience for us.

Adventures in Bulgaria

So it has been a while since anyone has used this blog, but I figured it might be an ok spot to share a few pictures.  Deborah has put plenty on Facebook I imagine, but surely the internet is big enough for a couple more.  

In the big park near our house they have all kinds of small attractions for children.  This bungie contraption basically suspends the kids over a trampoline on rubber bands.  Then a guy pulls on their legs then lets go, shooting them up into the air like a slingshot.  This is Eliza flipping upside down as she hurls toward the branches above.  Photo credit to Maddie, who got this with her I pod.

In the same park they have these four-wheel pedal cars.  For about $8.00 we rented these for the whole family and formed our own bike gang.  Eliza was definitely the fastest, a fact that she was keen to point out for the rest of us who were often eating her dust.  The dollar is fairly strong here in Europe right now, so a lot of these type of activities are relatively cheap, especially compared to what they might cost at home.  

There is a small pond at the same park - Borisova Garden.  One day this week we rented a couple paddle boats.  Jonas quickly made it into a bumper car competition.  Fortunately no one fell overboard, although since the pond is only about 2 feet deep I don't think it would have been a catastrophe of titanic proportions in any case.  

We go to the Borisova Gardens nearly every evening.  Here in Bulgaria many, many people spend their evenings relaxing in public places.  We like that custom.  The park is super busy with hundreds of families relaxing on blankets, strolling the grounds, and snacking from the wonderful cafes.  Parks here have plenty of small restaurants and food stands offering all kinds of goodies.  This is one of our favorites so far- a chocolate banana crepe hot off the grill.  Delicious!

We have had lots of time to visit cultural sites here in Sofia.  That is actually the biggest reason why I am here- to practice my language and become more familiar with the culture and history of the country.  This picture is us standing in from of an 11th century church near Sofia.  Called the Boyana Church, it is famous for having some of the earliest frescos painted in a renassiance style.  The artist painted images from the life of the Savior that are some of the earliest to use vanishing perspective to create the illusion of depth in the way that DiVinci did some two centuries late in his Last Supper.  There are also portraits of the patrons who paid for the church's construction, which are considered to be some of the first realistic portraits to be painted in the renaissance style. 

We visited the Bulgarian Military History Museum on the grounds of the Bulgarian Military Academy this week.  Jonas loved getting to see this Soviet-built T-72 tank up close.  The museum was absolutely outstanding, depicting that last 2000 years of Bulgarian wars with genuine artifacts and very nice displays.  Some of this was lost on the kids, particularly the girls, but Deborah, Jonas, and I loved it.  

Bulgaria is a mountainous country with many natural beauties.    Right next to Sofia is Mt. Vitosha, a 6000+ foot mountain.  We went on a picnic on the mountain is weekend at a place called the Golden Bridges.  These are the kids as we did some boulder climbing in the area.  We found a small pool the kids could wade in, although the water (which comes from snowmelt above) was so cold we couldn't even stand in it for more than about 30 seconds.  We entertained ourselves for a couple of hours constructing a dam from rocks, stick, and moss that increased the depth of the pool by a several inches.   When we broke the dam before going, it created a mini flood that washed away some two liters of coke that some other picnickers had put in the water to stay cool.  Oops. 

This is Jonas and Eliza on one of the Golden Bridges.  Maddie and I took this picture as we were standing on top of a mountain stream.  In this area the stream bed is strewn with huge boulders.  In the summertime when the water flow is low, the river is actually obscured by the boulders, and it flows underneath them.  It is an impressive site to see so many boulders 15-20 feet tall lined up.

Almost every park has bouncy houses set up in them.  They usually cost about $0.75 for 20 minutes  of bouncing.  A cheap way to tired Wyatt out in the evening before going home for bedtime. 

This is Jonas with his favorite park activity.   A local inventor has built this laser tag system that works outside even in the daytime.  It really is good- a lot better than any of the laser tag games I have ever played at home.  For about a $1.25 you can have a war with teams in the woods.  Jonas has some pretty mad skills- I think he has won every single time we have played. 

Christmas Exchange

Adults List

Person---> Buys for

Josh--> Zack

Deborah--> Mindy

Jen--> Jenny

Jason--> Will

Jonny--> Jason

Jenny--> Natalie

Will--> Jonny

Jake--> Josh

Sam--> Jacob

Zack--> Jen

Natalie--> Deborah

Mindy--> Sam

Kid's Exchange List

Jeffy--> Elijah

Jessa-->Maddie

Jack--> Jonas
Jonas--> Destiny

Maddie--> Jessa

Eliza--> Jack

Wyatt--> Jeffy

Destiny--> Eliza

Elijah--> Wyatt

Jonas's Baptism

I thought I'd share for those that couldn't make it, some pictures from Jonas's baptism. It was a wonderful meeting, and we're so proud of Jonas and his decision to get baptized! He is growing up so fast!

Blowin' in the wind

Hello there. This is Jake. Just wanted to update everyone on what's going on with me. I have one more week left of me staying in Tennessee with Jon, Jenny and Destiny. They have been great hosts to me this last year. I'll be headed down to Florida next week so if you're down there hit me up and we'll do something. Other than that nothing much going on. I did get a nice raise this year, so woohoo!

Mom Crushes All

Congrats to mom on her Championship win. She went Jimmy "Superfly" Sunka off the top rope on Jeffy this weekend, gaining Fantasy Football immortality in the process.

Great season all- can't wait for next year!

New Pet

We found this critter living under the floorboards of our tent today.

Tomfoolery on Halloween!

Jenny & Destiny stayed in Milton so Destiny could go Halloweening with her cousins, Jeffrey, Jessa, & Jack. We began the evening by meeting Zack & Natalie at CiCi's Pizza. Ha! We were tricked, cause we were told if we showed up in costume we ate for free. Aw... but we paid, and enjoyed being together. Natalie didn't wear a costume but she made an pretty cool turtle outfit for Zack! Some how we made it out of there without getting a picture of him, but he made a pretty awesome turtle (especially with his skinny kegs and all.) Jack had his costume messed up before we left there with Pizza, soda and all, but then sharks are probably not known for their tidy eating habits!

We decided to go over to base housing to trick or treat. Cute as can be... Destiny was a pink unicorn, Jessa was a princess, Jack was a shark, and Jeffy was a pirate. This was Destiny's 2nd Halloween, but it all was new to her. She seemed fascinated by the costumes and the decorations. She would stop and stare and just watch people walking by. At one house, Jeffy was a bit freaked out because they had several adults dressed up, one looking like a dummy was sitting in a chair then suddenly hops up when Jeffy was trying to figure out if he was real! He totally startled Jeffrey, but Destiny just stood there watching... like "what a silly cousin!" Jessa found out where a couple of her friends lived along the way too. The lighted pumpkins and decorations were fascinating to Jack and Destiny. At one house the porch light was on, but no one answered the door. The 3 older kids scampered on to the next house, but Destiny found a Bob the Builder chair sitting on the porch and went and sat down like it was the perfect place for a little break! Lol! Yes, they all collected plenty of candy and Grandma collected her share of bounty for taking them! Yummy!

Wielding an AK-47

This week I had the chance to fire an AK-47 for the first time. It was great fun. I fired about 600 rounds and my shoulder is black and blue today. It is a really impressive weapon. There are only 4 pieces to the whole thing, making it one of the simplest inventions in the history of warfare. By comparison the M-16 has 16 pieces. That simplicity makes it very forgiving. It rarely jams, even on full automatic, and tolerates the sand and dust very well. There was a sandstorm going on while we shot and mine did not fail at all. That's more than I can say for the M-16, which simply won't fire if it gets sand in it. It is amazing to think that Mikhail Kalishnikov's design is 62 years old and hasn't been changed at all. It is also the most widely proliferated weapon in the world with over 200 million having been produced. By comparison, 16 million M-16s have been produced. It is easy to see why it is the preferred firearm for dictators and terrorists around the world: it requires virtually no maintenance, can put a lot of rounds downrange quickly, and costs very little ($25-$130 apiece in 3rd world countries.) It was fairly accurate at the 25 meter distance we fired from.

Virginia Visit

I had a very enjoyable visit up to Virginia to visit with Josh, Deborah, and family. The kids and Deborah were all super excited about Joshua arriving home from Kuwait. Deborah was packed and ready to head off on their private anniversary vacation up to New York.

Jonas, Maddie and Eliza & Wyatt and I had our own special time (including a day of skipping school). Jonas decided we "needed to have a little extra time to sleep" and reset the alarm clock for 10:30 am or something! By the time we woke up we were late and it was an early release day.....so..., oh well!! We had a fun day instead.

The kids each had grown so much! Especially Wyatt, since I had seen them in February. Maddie had developed a special talent of climbing the door frame with her toes and fingers! What a little monkey!! She could climb up in no time flat. I should have recorded it!!

Eliza is in preschool and really loves it! The pumpkin picture is of their pumpkin patch. Jonas is an expert at video games! Watch out, all of you uncles!