Swim meet and Raingutter Regatta

Today was a very busy day.  We started out by attending a practice swim meet for Audrey at the Australian International School.  It was an opportunity for the participants to try out competing in a swim meet.  Audrey did well placing 1st in two events and 2nd in a third event.  After it was over, she said that she had fun but wasn't keen to do more competition.  At least she enjoyed it and is a proficient swimmer.

After that, we made our way to the main Jakarta International School campus for Joseph's pack meeting.  The main event was the raingutter regatta which is a sail boat race where the boys build a boat from a kit and race them by blowing in the sail.  The boys had a blast and it was well attended.

As if that was not enough, we then made our way to attend the ward Christmas party.  We didn't have time to run home to make the mashed potatoes we were signed up for (due to traffic, of course), so we bought some potatoes and invaded the kitchen of a friend from the ward who lives in the same compound as the party.  We made it to the party with steaming hot mashed potatoes and had a great time doing skits and singing Christman carols after eating a Thanksgiving sized feast.

What a day!  We left the house at 8:00 am and didn't return until 9:30 pm.  Most people only do one activity a day due to the traffic, but we are gluttons for punishment, so we made three things happen.  Needless to say the kids were asleep as soon as they hit their pillows.

Air purifier - Round 2

It has been a few months since the previous air purifier died.  We recently noticed that Julia and I have developed a cough, and we suspect it is due to the declining air quality in our apartment.  So we bit the bullet again today and bought a new air purifier at Ace Hardware.  It is a significant upgrade from the other one as it made by Honeywell and is the most powerful one they had. 

After we unpackaged it, everyone wants to get their room's air cleaned!  We even felt extra ambitious and cleaned out the filters in our A/C units in each room in the apartment.  Not sure the last time that was done...  I certainly hope all this effort and expense helps out our lungs, won't be too difficult to get air purifier filters, and that the new machine lasts for more than a year...