Monday, November 12, 2012

Lost Paradise

We had heard about the awesome water park in Bahrain called "Lost Paradise" and decided to go with several families from our compound.  We didn't have very high expectations because water and swimming activities don't seem to be a popular thing here.  We left around 8:30 in the morning thinking we wouldn't stay long but changed our minds very quickly.  This water park was more like a resort.  It was awesome.  We ended up staying the entire day.
Gavin and Shane kicking it in the lazy river.  For the first few hours we were the only ones there.  It was like having a private party.



They had a show with these African Acrobats.  Again I wasn't expecting much but it was very cool.  I don't see how they did half the stuff they did.

I'm surprised they didn't burn themselves on the metal pole.  The temp was over 100 degrees.  Can't imagine how hot the pole must have been but it didn't phase them one bit.





They chose members of the audience to come jump rope with them and chose Vika and Ella.
Of course Nicole and Kayla had to join them.


Not everyone were there to swim.  Don't think this is really swimming attire.
The only irritating thing about the day were the flies.  They wouldn't bother you until you sat down in the chair.  Gavin had fun swatting them with his towel.


They had three different performances with the African Acrobatic team and we watched all three of them.




Of course the girls all wanted pictures with them.  They were pretty buff dudes.



The bathrooms were even decked out.  They had an open atrium.











It was a pretty fun day and worth every bit of our time and money.  I didn't get pictures of all the rides but they had all the same things that the big water parks at home have but without the lines.  We were able to go over and over again all day long.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Live, Love, Laugh

 Last summer I brought back many vinyl sayings to put on our walls.  One that Nicole chose was Live, Love, Laugh.  Three things we should all do.

 Nicole has grown up so much over the past year.  Sometimes too much.  She is a beautiful young woman with so many talents.  Can't believe she is only 12.  Occasionally she likes to dress up with makeup and all to take pictures.  She doesn't look like a little girl here.

 Jonny turned 16 on September 4th.  His BFF Franco turned 16 a few days prior so they celebrated together.  I attempted to decorate a cake but my skills have diminished very rapidly over the past years. It may also have to do with that I just didn't have time to make homemade frosting and tried to decorate with the store bought kind.  Didn't quite work.  Oh well.  It still tasted good.
 For Jonny's birthday he took his friends to Bahrain to an amazing go kart track.  It's like a mini race car track.  They even had these cool jump suits for them to wear.


 Jonny, Alex, Matthew, and Franco.  The gang from An Nassim.


 They drove over around 4:00 to get to the track by 6:00 but it took a while to cross the causeway so they had to go back after 9:00.  So they went to dinner and then spent an hour being race car drivers.  They had an awesome time.



 Vika finally lost her first tooth back a few months ago.

 We've been here for a year now and finally feel like this is a home.  We've painted and decorated quite a bit.  I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with the results.  Always feels good to have a nice place to call home with things that are yours.








 These are two of my favorite walls.