The last couple days have had many excitements for us. On Thursday the girls and I had a big day. Jennifer, the woman we met from Calgary last weekend, called us in the morning to see if we would like to go out for lunch. We were very excited to get out into the city and see some different areas. Jen was great and drove us around to show us the French store where we can buy bacon and ham and pointed out the import stores where we can buy 15 dinar peanut butter if we really get a craving. She also took us to the best chocolate shop in the city. It's a tiny little store on some hidden street (at least it seemed hidden to me as I don't know any streets) and it is owned by a French woman I believe. We walked in the smell of chocolate was heavenly. There was quite a selection, most of it some sort of chocolate covered nuts. And I lot of pretty candy covered almonds. Hunter decided on a bag of chocolate and candy covered almonds and hazelnuts. Yum... good choice! The owner was also able to communicate to us that they get in a large assortment of Easter chocolates closer to Easter. I think that might be the only place to get Easter candy in the city. I did bring some mini eggs but I'm sure we will be back to that store anyway!

For lunch we went to a Salon du The called Dakota. It was perfect as we were able to sit out in the courtyard and we were the only ones there! The girls were able to run around and have fun. Elliot found a small plant pot that she enjoyed carrying around and placing in different places. Then she ripped off a geranium plant and carried that around in the pot. It was very pretty. Things went down hill when Elli wanted to follow a cat out of the courtyard and started running away from me down the street. I caught her after a bit and brought her back. That's when she got mad and threw down the pot. Smash. Nice. Thank goodness they like kids here!!

We were able to get home for a bit of down time before our friends Samia, Amira and Rym came over and took us to a park in Sidi Bou Said. The girls were SO excited to see other kids and to play on all the jungle gyms!

They ran and ran and were up and down and had so much fun. We stopped at the Salon du The in the park for some drinks and pizza and crepes. The girls enjoyed the fresh banana juice and each had two big glasses! It was a fun day but the girls were so exhausted.

Friday was such a beautiful sunny day. The girls and I just stayed home but we played our in the garden and had a picnic. The girls loved it!

In the evening we went to Jen and Chris' home in Gammarth for a late St. Paddy's Day get together. It was so nice to meet other ex-pats who have been here for a while. I got a couple phone numbers and I'm excited to make some play dates! And the girls had a wonderful time playing with English speaking kids their age. I'm hoping to join some ex-pat groups to meet other moms for coffee and play dates. It is so nice there are other people in our position of being away from home who can help us along the way.

Today was another lovely day, warm but overcast. We stopped at a few furniture shops to see what kind of furniture is out there. There are probably 300 furniture shops in this city so this could be a tough job! We get the keys to our house in Carthage on Monday but aren't planning on moving in until mid-April so we have a little time to shop around and outfit our house!

For lunch Travis took us to a restaurant he's been to for work lunches, Biwa (bee-wah). The girls were excited because they thought it was called Bee Wash. It was a perfect place to go as we sat on the patio over looking Berges du Lac and there were kids running all over the grass. Our girls had a great time! Kids brought balls and bikes to play with! Hunter met a few friends and Elli was able to play with them. Elli didn't make friends as easily as she is still a bit pushy and was more into knocking children over. :( But it was a fun place and we will definitely be back.

On a fun note, Elli has been telling me she has to go to the bathroom and actually sitting on the toilet. Although she hasn't actually done anything yet, she is getting the hang of it. She demands a book to read while on the potty just like her daddy!!!! lol

Good night from Tunis.