Couch Potato

Caleb has been feeling a little under the weather the last couple of days. He caught the Kuwait crud that is going around preschool. A day at home lounging on the couch and watching movies helped him feel better. He should be back to his perky self tomorrow.

 

Ready, Set, Go!

We had a busy week at work, and a good weekend. On Thursday evening we went to the Embassy social hour. When we got home, we met some neighbors who were outside and they invited us over to say hello. Only one of the women spoke english, but everyone was very so friendly and welcoming, and we had a nice time talking with them. One of the ladies had a 3 year old girl who enjoyed running around with Caleb, and everyone loved on Ben. We ate lots of homemade arabic sweets, coffee, and tea, and they sent us home with a plate full of goodies. It was 9:30 before we got the boys home and to sleep! Now to decide what American treat I should make for them :). Any suggestions....

The next morning, our early riser Ben slept till 6, which was a treat. He is getting more adventurous. I was in the kitchen for a few minutes, and came out to him standing on the chair. Let more fun begin!

I am in love with his chunky little feet!

Later that day, we explored a new park that has a covered playground and a 10k running/walking trail. There were lots of people out enjoying the nice weather. Caleb recently learned to say ready, set, go! He kept on saying it as he ran down the path. He ran close to 1/2 mile...I think we have a little runner in training :).

On Saturday afternoon we met Abeer and Firas at a fall festival. The festival was busy and there was a lot of people there. They had homemade crafts, a large play area for the kids, and real pumpkin pie. I'd say the pumpkin pie was the highlight of my time there. We took a few pictures behind a scarecrow backdrop. Aside from the decorations in our home, this is the closest thing to fall that we have.

Thank you Abeer for taking this nice family picture of us!

 Afterwards, Abeer took us to a new park that had a big covered playground. Firas and Caleb had a fun time running around the playground and playing together.

 Ben enjoyed climbing and going down the slide.

 It was fun to spend the afternoon with Abeer and Firas.

 I love this picture of them.

Have a great weekend!

 

Having fun at home

We had most of the week off for the Eid holiday. We spent time together at home and we got out and about. A couple of mornings, we went down to the gulf to run and play outside. One foggy morning after a run, Caleb found some feathered friends to play with.

Caleb ran for a good 1/2 hour chasing the birds, and he got a few kids in trouble along the way for influencing them to run through the puddles, haha!

 These boys are developing a nice brotherly relationship.

 On Friday, Caleb helped me make blueberry muffins that I brought to a brunch on Saturday.

 Later that afternoon, we went to the park. Ben is becoming a very good stair climber.

 And he likes to go down the slide.

 Nathan showed me a new way the boys like to swing at the park.

 On Saturday after brunch, Tes watched the boys for us, so Nathan and I could get out. We were supposed to go to the National Museum, but it was closed for Eid. We will get back another time.

 Instead we went to the souk, which was fun to see. Nathan has been a few times, and it was my first.

Many of the shops were closed, but there was still a lot to see. 

 I love the colorful tea kettles on display.

 And the fresh produce looked delicious!!

 We settled on a kilo of fresh assorted dates.

 And ended the afternoon with Mexican for dinner.

We had a good week off, and now it's back to work!

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain - Post 3

We left Bahrain early Monday morning so we could spend the day in Saudi before heading home. We really enjoyed our time in Bahrain and hope to get back for another relaxing weekend in the next couple of years.  

Good bye Bahrain, hello Saudi Arabia!

First stop was breakfast at McDonald's! In Saudi, all restaurants have a family section. It was empty, so we had the entire place to ourselves.

 

The booths in the family section have curtains around the table, so you can have plenty of privacy. 

After eating pancakes, eggs, and sausage, we let the boys play inside for a while, then we went shopping.

Some friends told us about a unique shop called Desert Designs, that we should visit while in Dharan. The shop sold all kinds of art, pottery, rugs, furniture, and other unique items from around the Middle East. We got lost finding it on the way down to Bahrain, but we found it on the way back and we were glad we did! The shop owner was so friendly and he liked the boys a lot. He opened a back room so Caleb could watch cartoons while we looked around. Just look at the beautiful tile work on these fountains and at the traditional Saudi door. 

Then it was time to head back home. We saw a lot of goats and sheep in the back of pick-up trucks during this trip, which was probably for the Eid holiday sacrifice. This one was so close, so I had to take a picture.

The border crossings were much less crowded on the way home and we made it home without stopping. The boys were great travelers both ways! We had a great time on this roadtrip, and were thankful for the relaxing time together and all the new places we had the opportunity to explore!

Bahrain - Post 2: Manama Souk and shopping, Tree of Life, and afternoons at the pool

In the mornings we would get out and explore the city, then come home for a family nap, and spend the afternoons swimming. The first morning we went to the Manama Souk. The souk is in the old part of the city. It was a very lively place. The streets were windy, shops were covered, and people were walking, driving, and biking around. In the states we have Walmart and Targets, in the Middle East, people buy everything they need from the souk. 

I love the color of all the spices.

This building was beautiful and completely tiled. My DSLR camera is not working right now, otherwise I would have had a lot of fun photographing the fine detail.

I think the architecture of the mosques are so pretty, especially against the perfectly blue sky.

Walking through a neighborhood downtown.

In the afternoons, we went swimming. The hotel had a private beach area and plenty of space to play. Caleb's last trip to the beach was in Ft. Lauderdale, FL when he was 4.5 months old, and this was Ben's first time.

Caleb liked to run around, dig in the sand, and get his feet wet. 

Ben liked touching the sand, but he didn't realize he was able to get off of the towel. It was funny to watch him reach really far for something. Unlike Caleb, Ben does not like to get very dirty.

How cute is this little burrito?

The next morning we drove into the desert and went to see the Tree of Life, which is a local tourist attraction about 45 minutes outside of Manama. According to wikipedia, the Tree of Life is a 400 year old, 32 ft. high tree, sitting on top of a 25 ft. sand mound that formed around a 500 year old fortress. It claims to be the only  major tree growing in the area, and it has  approximately 50,000 visitors a year. The drive through the desert was interesting. After reading about the tree, we saw a bit more vegetation than we were expecting, and a lot of pipeline.

If you know Nathan and  I well, you know we prefer using a map to a GPS. When we moved to Kuwait, we purchased the Middle Eastern maps, thinking we may need the GPS at times. Well, this trip reinforced why we do not like to use the GPS, on multiple occasions. That day, it drove us through an oil field and some military bases down unpaved roads, to get to this tree.

Here it is, the Tree of Life!

The reason we only got this close is because the direction we came in, there was a barricade blocking to unpaved road to get around the tree. When we got a closer look, it did not look like tourists hanging out under the tree, so we decided to take some pictures, and drive back through the oil field.

Our path to see the Tree of Life :). Thankfully, the GPS directed us back to the main road.

Afterwards, we stopped at a small rug district that Nathan found during a previous trip. The shop was filled with beautiful carpets from around the Middle East, and this man had a story behind every one we looked at. It may seem rude to have the boys running all over these carpets, but this nice man insisted.

When we got to the store, the boys were in strollers. Within 2 minutes, they were crawling and running around all over the place. The man said, I have 14 brothers, don't worry about it at all. And if you want to go out shopping or to eat, leave them here and I'll watch them! We didn't leave the boys, but we did let them explore while we shopped.

This man is from Yemen and has been living in Bahrain for almost 25 years, with his wife and son. He was very sweet with the boys, and genuinely enjoyed letting them run through the store. He, amongst many other people, said Ben looks like an Arab baby!

Afterwards, we went to a schwarma stand that Nathan ate at during his last visit.

It was delicious!

In the afternoon, we hit the pool again. These boys were ready to swim!

The pool was packed all day and until late at night. Kids stay up late in this part of the world, but our kids still crash early.

The pool had a waterfall that Caleb really liked.

The boys attracted a lot of attention from the hotel guests. We were one of only a few westerners at the hotel. Most of the people we met were from Saudi Arabia. These two sweet sisters loved playing with Ben, and they kept trying to take him out of the float. They spoke very little English, but we managed to keep Ben above water :).

We enjoyed the hot tub after going in the big pool. One little girl told us the hot tub was the toilet ...I'm not sure if something was lost in translation, or if she really thought it was a toilet. Maybe it was because this hot tub was packed day and night. Thankfully, so far we have steered clear of any weird ailments after sitting in the hot tub!

Some pictures of the hotel

We had two good days exploring Bahrain, swimming, and playing at the hotel.