Fun Weekend Stuff

The best parts of the weekend were on Thursday night and Saturday (all day).

On Thursday, our family hit one of our favorites spots for dinner: Ruth's Chris. I only have a few photos of the girls from this evening as we were so busy chatting, eating, enjoying the evening that I didn't take any other snaps. I had to take the first one of them, on the escalator after dinner, as I looked up and suddenly saw two young ladies. Where are my little girlies? At the top of the escalator, I took the 2nd photo of our gorgeous girls.

 

On Saturday, I surprised our family with a trip to the Wild Wadi water park. It was a fantastic day and a great way to stay cool in the 40+ degree Celsius desert heat.

Chilling in the shade in between water slides.

Our little cabana tucked away.  It was perfect. 

Terence napping after about 5 or 6 hours of water slide fun.

 

 And a few more of the girls. The first is of them watching the surfing which they later took turns on (photos coming) and temporary tattoo time! The fun was non-stop. We spent our entire day from 10:30 until about 7:30 enjoy the water park and our family time.

Fulfilling Weekend

Today is Saturday, 9:03pm and tomorrow is the start of a new week. Our work / school week here is Sunday - Thursday. 1 of 2 of the children are asleep. That would be Ali who a. needs the most sleep (probably because she is the youngest), and b. gets collected by her bus an hour earlier than the other two. Her bus actually comes at 6:40am so if she is not asleep by 8pm then she is a wreck in the morning.

Mia has just finished her homework, via Face Chat and Skype with a friend and T is chilling (on his laptop so probably watching Netflix) as his homework was done earlier today while we were out and about running errands.

Here are a few photos that encompass our weekend. 

Thursday I surprised little Ali by picking her up from school. I received a call earlier in the day that her 2 school books were in stock and ready for pick up. I had to order 2 out of the 5 from the book store. The other 3 were found amongst Mia's (or T's) stack of old school books from the French school. Sadly, I always leave this annual task to the last minute and she always has to start the new year with some or none of her school books as these French school books take about 4 weeks to ship into Dubai. Terence and Mia used to go through the same fun, challenge every start to each new school year but now they are at a school where the books are provided.

Anyhow, she was so excited for my surprise pick up and then our surprise book collection. She didn't like starting the school year not being 100% prepared even though it is an understanding situation.

My happy book worm gets all her books at last! PS Notice her new school uniform.

Then, we paid a visit to ACE Hardware to start our hunt for paints for the new house. This was the first, but not last over the weekend.

We visited again today. Ali is asking her dada which color paint sample he likes the best. 

Our helpful girls at our new house.

  

   

Lots of measuring, paint samples and my new electric measuring unit! 

We Have a New Soccer Player in the House

Guess who has joined a soccer (a.k.a. 'football' as it's known outside of America) league in Dubai? Our little Alexandra.

After a week at a summer 'soccer' camp before the new school year started (along with her brother and sister), Ali developed a passion for the sport. So much that she begged for me to enroll her into the league regularly. Last night was her first hour lesson at the indoor facility in Al Quoz. I took her (early) and upon arriving discovered she was the only GIRL in the group. I didn't mention it as I didn't want to draw extra attention to this fact and decided to let Ali form her own opinion about the group dynamics. Fortunately, she never mentioned it so it apparently didn't seem to faze her at all. Phew!

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay to watch her for more than 15 mins as I had child #2 (Mia) to collect from her swim squad try outs. However, I did manage to capture a few (not so clear) snaps and a very short video clip. 

Dad collected her at 6pm and she arrived home so excited and so pumped about her new beloved sport. She kicked the ball around the house and practiced tricks and drills with Curt until bedtime. Then, she took her new (part of her new kit from the league) mini-soccer ball to bed and introduced it to her bed full of cuddly animals (photos of this scene coming soon) where it remained all night. Now that is what I call DEDICATION!

PS Dad is so happy to finally have a passionate soccer player in our home!

  

PS She now needs new shoes for soccer. 

Terence and his Samsung Galaxy's Reunion in Dubai

Thanks Papa for sending Terence's smart phone that he left in Wichita in August. Silly boy. He is obviously far too confident that his mom and dad will look out for his things as he's still slightly forgetful about where he keeps / puts his personal possessions.

Regardless, the phone made it in the post to our office on Sunday and didn't get stolen in transit. He tore into it in the car park at (GWA) school when I collected him on Sunday afternoon.  As soon as he got home he charged it up and is now a very happy camper. He even called me 3 times from it yesterday and none of the calls were accidental (i.e he often butt-dials us while he is playing football or soccer at recess with his friends).

More Extra-Curricular Activities

Today from 4-5pm (after school) Emilia will be at the U14 (grades 6, 7 and 8) swim squad try outs. Last year she made the team for the Elementary (Primary) school and we were so excited for her. This year she is trying out again. Then, on Wednesday, she will try out for the U14 Girls Volleyball team. Keep your fingers crossed! 

Here is a short clip of her trying out last year. She is so strong!

More Ice Dumping

I forgot to include Ali's ice bucket challenge. She was the first to do it. Isn't she great? I think her leg itch was due to be nervous...

Activities Resume this week

Terence has resumed (American) Football Training. Four hours today! He plays on the Barracuda team with EAFL (Emirates American Football League) and loves every minute of it... 

The amazing field house

Lots of space for training

Moving slowly after a tough, long practice. Time now for homework.

And this is what the girls do as we wait for him to finish up.

Ice Bucket Challenge

For those of you who are on social media, you will recognize these ALS ice bucket challenges. To raise awareness (and, of course, donations) ALS started this ice bucket challenge which went viral on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. Once nominated, the nominee has 24 hours to take the ice bucket challenge (and hopefully donate to the organization as well). Every member in our family of five was nominated. Here are our videos.

We created this with a new software that has just come out called, Hyperlapse.

Loving the Office

Ali (and Mia) both love coming to our office any time they have the chance. Today, after Ali's first day at school, we brought her back to the office as we still had about 4 more hours of work to finish up. Love that she makes herself so comfortable.

In the CEO's office.

She made this sign and posted it on the wall of my office. It got a lot of attention from all the staff passing by. 

Back to School

It's been ages since I have posted anything and have made a commitment to resume blogging. Not only is it great for our family to have a collection of memories in one location and for me to make note of all the cool places we visit; amazing things we do; funny things that happen or just plain ordinary stuff about our family dynamics, but it's also a fantastic tool for keeping friends and family (far and near) up to date on our day to day activities.

So, instead of trying to play catch up from where we left off (over a year ago - yikes!), I am going to start with now / this week.

Excuse the fact that some of our upcoming posts maybe short and sweet but my free time is M.I.N.I.M.A.L. Honestly, I know I am older and I tire more frequently but at the end of each day, when we finally get meals, activities, homework, bedtime, work stuff, home stuff, etc all completed, I can barely stay awake for much else. It's embarrassing as I have been reading the same book since the beginning of summer! Ok, the book probably wasn't the best choice for summer reading as it's nearly 900 pages and more of a 'winter' read.  Still, I highly recommend the book I am reading which is titled Pillars of the Earth. They are even making a film (or TV mini-series) based on the story so I am more eager to complete it before watching it.

So, the subject of my post is BACK TO SCHOOL, which, the kids did this week. After an amazing summer in the US, all three children are back to school. The poor little (except Terence who is now taller than me) things are so exhausted trying to get back into the swing of things. Not only are the early morning alarms and starts to the day a challenge but getting into the rhythm of thinking again is tough for all three. I feel for little Ali the most who has to adjust to a full day in French which we know must be hard as she barely spoke / heard it this summer.

The kids now are in the following grades:

Terence - age 13, grade 8 (middle school)
Emilia - age 11, grade 6 (middle school)
Alexandra - age 8, grade CE2g (equivalent to grade 3 in elementaire)

All of them went to school via the school bus but here are a few snaps I managed to capture of their mornings.

Ali's first day at AFLEC (French School) was today

This is what T often does if he has a few spare minutes before his (and Mia's) but arrives. 

Great Food in ME

Curt and I keep reminiscing over some of the amazing things we tasted while in ME. I don't have any photos as Curt thinks it is strange to take photos of food. It must have been something I have done before. When we were dating and getting together with any of my family members, he would always point out that we would pose for a photo just before digging into a meal. The photo would include all of us and the table covered with food. Maybe it's a symptom of being a child of refugees - we are always grateful for the food on our table and want to remember a special meal(s).

Anyhow, in my last blog post I mentioned some of the amazing eateries in Bar Harbor, Maine but here are a few others:

Fresh - AAAMMMAZING fresh oysters. We are huge fans of oysters and these were so local and so fresh that I could have eaten 100s. They were perfectly cleaned and delish! The part that really stuck out was the cucumber mignonette. Instead of shallots, they added the diced cucumbers to the vinegar mignonette and it gave it even a more summery fresh taste.

Then, when in Maine, one must try their famous lobster rolls. We, unfortunately drove by one of the best hot spots and only realized it later... We will return to the very famous Red's. Instead, we managed to have a delicious lobster roll in Kennebunkport at the incredibly popular roadside shack (taken from their name): The Clam Shack. Others have reviewed the Clam Shack as favorably as we had on that gorgeous, warm summer day in New England when we had the pleasure of experiencing our first lobster roll a la Clam Shack.

I also had some amazing lobster in Kennebunkport at the famous White Barn Inn's restaurant. We nearly stayed at the White Barn Inn but instead stayed in a cute cabin on the Kennebunkport river. This restaurant is quite old and famous. When we walked in they asked Curt his size in order to get him a jacket. It's quite old school even though their website doesn't indicate a dress code. Curt didn't mind as every other man went through the same exercise. Who takes a suit jacket on vacation to the beach (especially in casual America)?

Our meal was really nice but the highlight was their lobster. Described as follows:

Steamed Maine Lobster Nestled on a Bed of Homemade Fettuccine with Carrot, Ginger, Snow Peas and Cognac Coral Butter Sauce 

 When I asked our server if he recommended this dish, he responded, "Madam, it's only been on our menu for 40 years". I took that as a 'yes' and was happy that I did. It was divine and this is what it looked like.

Lasly, probably our most memorable meal was at our favorite Inn: the Camden Harbour Inn. Their restaurant Natalie's was amazing!! We had an incredible Tasting Menu paired with delicious wines and loved every minute / bite of it. I'll post a photo later (when Curt wakes up) as they are on his phone...

Bar Harbor - our stay and activites

 

Above was our sweet little suite in Bar Harbor at The West Street Hotel.

Below is from the outside.

These next shots I took as I loved the local maps on the wall...

 

 All in all, we enjoyed Bar Harbor. I think the special thing here is Acadia National Park and Whale Watching tours. Due to the poor weather we had on our 1 full day, we didn't get to go out on the sunset tour that I had booked. We also skipped the national park as it's someplace we'd prefer to visit with our kids. 

Instead we hit the gym, walked, shopped, ate and chilled. 

I loved this restaurant where we had dinner on our first night: Fathom.

 

Our 2nd night we enjoyed some oysters and a pizza at a restaurant called Blaze. Both nights we ate at the bar... because we could!

We also tried lobster ice cream - yuck. But followed it up with some crazy good local ice cream on Main Street! Yum! 

Then, I bought some of these awesome, locally made (out of wooden buoys) Santas. I collect Santas and loved these! So nice to buy locally made cool things... We found great things in ME which I'll blog about later as I have a big(ger) wish list.