With Angeli gone, this week marked the first week the kids and I have gone through the paces of our new routine without her being with us, and it surprisingly went pretty well. The kids and I miss her terribly, but I think we will survive.

Definitely helping things run smoothly, we had our nanny Theresa move in with us on Angeli’s departure, and this has been a huge help for me in making sure the girls are fed and ready for school each morning, and also fed and ready for bed when I get home from work. She has been working for us since we moved to Mauritania, and has really been one of the highlights of our tour here. My girls love her, and saying goodbye will easily be the toughest goodbye of this tour.

It’s cliché, but it’s funny how different your kids can be from each other. My oldest daughter is very calm, self sufficient, and a great help around the house, but my youngest daughter is a 2 year old terrorist and master of finding items or getting into the worst possible thing she could find in the span of just 10 seconds. She must have a magnet in her brain that knows to zero in on the baking flour sitting on the kitchen counter, and dump it everywhere. To perform this feat, she will grab a chair or anything else she can stand on to climb up to the counter, and then go to town. All in the span of the 60 seconds I step away to pee. It’s frustrating, but also somehow pleasing to know this 2 year old kid is also great at problem solving. The issue is her “problems” are how to make a mess as quickly as possible. She is exceedingly good at it.

Otherwise, it’s business as usual as we count down to our PCS. Work, school, sleep, repeat. Padel and playdates on the weekend. It’s a simple life, but a good one. Here’s to more smooth sailing as we close out our tour. -Nick