Life beyond the Sand....Disney

Well ….we are back!   It was our first trip away from this place since we arrived in Aug . Everyone here says you have to leave every 3 months to stay sane and you know what??  they are right!!   

So we packed up our  Disney gear and we were off.  Now at home we would pack our suit cases and get a ride or park our own car at the airport for our flight . But not here.  All of the flights seem to leave in the middle of the night , so having friends drive u is a little cruel.  Also the airport charges by the hour for parking no matter how long you are gone for, so leaving your car there for a couple weeks can prove to be a little more difficult.  SO we do things different, you book a driver (aka call try and speak broken english then text  just in case all they knew to say was “yes sir”, and text again the day off just in case, then at the last minute just do the Saudi way and cross your fingers and try and have faith that it will work out).  It is strange and everytime it amazes me ...but it works out . So we load up a small suv with 4 suit cases, stroller, 5 carry ons plus the back seat has a car seat with a child in it but not strapped down , then me in the middle with a child on my lap with the seat belt strapped around both of us , with another child beside me , and Brandt and the driver in the front.  Totally normal! Off to the airport we go, which is about an 45 min drive and as i have said before it’s the middle of the night , like about 10/12pm and so the road are of course Crazy busy! becauae everyone comes out at night?!

Get to the airport, and there is a porter there to pack our suitcases around for us , thank goodness . After we have checked in (which by the way took about 1 1/2 hours as something just take longer here) go to security for the first time leaving this way  , into my women only closed off section i go with 2 of the kids.  All im going to say is ..that was different.  And before you get on the plane you go through a women’t only area security again . Random!   

But off we went 3 kids 8 hour flight to Germany in the middle of the night …what could go wrong! but it was all good most of the little people slept then we got to germany and were so excited as we had a 7 hour lay-over ( which is also our new normal for coming back to our side of the world) and we are new members of the maple leaf lounge in Frankfurt airport! living the high live now!!!   As we serched  , and searched for the lounge we decided that as people are not all that friendly here they are a heck of a lot more helpfull than the people we encountered in the germany airport! 2 hours of taking the train and dragging the kids through the airport , being scanned and checked 3 times through 3 different security points we finally found the lounge! So happy  we were hungry tiered and dirty! Now as all of you have probably been in a airport lounge at some point in your life time think back long and hard  , how many children have you seen in there? yup probably not many  and the old me would have been very self concise to roll in there with my 3 little quite angels  , but the new me…meh why should they not get to enjoy that life to! So the lounge was packed! must have been good breakfast that day . But it emptied out and we were able to get 4 chairs together and it was a nice little morning , breakfast and skylar had a nap  . We even enjoyed a shower , another thing i never thought i would say. Who takes a shower at an airport , well the tracey’s do now , it was so wonderfull! Off we went for the last flight before orlando , a small 10 1/2 hour jaunght across the ocean  , well all can be said is ….that’s A LONG FLIGHT! but made it and after many random questions at customs  , like where are you from ,? why do you live there “ do you like it? we were at the hotel in the land of the Free! And after being in the land not so free you can really notice the things that you are missing out on ……The air was crisp and Clean and the people were talkative and kind and no one batted and eye at our screaming and playing children , it was Wonderfull!!

We did 7 Days in Disney world and we went hard! we left the hotel every morning before 7:30am to get to the parks for rope drop and did not return until the parks were closed around 8/10pm  it was good . The theme of the first week how ever was Cold and tired! I have never been so cold in Florida in my life!!! Now being Canadian you would think we would have a bit of a tougher skin for a cool brisk morning in the 40’s but man! it was so COLD! i had to purchase a real jacket while we were there for us to survive! and being as my kids refuse to where pants they do not have any so their little knees were COLd.  During the week we partook in  a lot of FUN! . we did a lot of shopping ! The kids had so much fun ! then we were off to the Cruise boat! This was our first time on a cruise and being as it was a Disney cruise we were pretty sure it was going to be good but we had no idea how amazing it was going to be! 

The Boat was amazing  , the kids club was wonderfull every day The older 2 would spend on average about 4/5 hours there! and even The youngest partook in some kids club action! it was a wonderfull week of enjoying and relaxing! Not once did i wake in the middle of the night because i though my world was ending , nor did i worry about what i was wering or who i was going to offend or bother  , i didn’t have to use a converter and adptter to get my curling iron to work  .  No laundry  , no food prep  no stress! our biggest concern was what should we wear to dinner:)  So wonderfull , but with all the joy it was hard to know that we were going to have to come back  , I over herd other people that were sad that they were going to have to go back to work and in my mind i was sad because i was truly going to leave freedom  . Something i have learned i Definitely have taken for granted in my life , but  reality is what it is. We got on the plane and returned to the Country we reside in,  The kids were so confused they don’t know what/where to call home and they act like gypsy kids living out of suitcases ad cars most of the time . Skylar asked many times if we were going to come back to the tower and if we were going to have the same car and where did all of her toys go.  Poor girl she will have a home some day….#adventure 

To add to the cofustion We decided that me and the kids are going to be going back to Calgary for spring break! HURRAY!  originally i was going to have my mom and dad come and check our Saudi but after desideding there is not much here to do or see …..i would fly home with the kids …alone! Crazy right i think  this is the perfect example of what you can do when you really want it! Fingers crossed it goes well:)what’s the worst that can happen right??:)

here are the pictures:) 

So all you who wonder who flys across the world to go back to some place they have been countless times??  Travel see the world right...wronge GO TO DISNEYwe are like  2 big kids! Living the dream in Disney! 2015 

I have to say we did appreciate it a lot  more this time than we did before , we appreciated the people speaking the same language all the time , food with english writing on it  , Driving a normal speed on the roads , Fresh clean air , Clean streets and sidewalks  , And greek yogurt and PORK products!!

First day  , this is the day I learned Jet lag is real! kids up @4:30am  , at ihop by 6 , parks by 7:30......wowzers~I used to think this whole jet lag was like the elusive retails therapy , proven wronge again!

So our goal every day was to have a pork product , AKA bacon! the kids took this challenge to heart! even colby got in on the action.... you don't realize how much you miss these things until someone says you can not have it , it's like a child being told no....food for thought

So this is slightly ironic  , i have not driven a car since Aug which is roughly6-7 months and you would think "great i can drive i'm going to drive everywhere" I actually drove NO WHERE!! not even did I get to drive the race cars at Magic Kingdom . I ironic is that one. i can't wait to go to Calgary and drive my mom's car , i'm sure she's going to love that one ....sure here are my keys daughter of mine  , i know you have not driven in 6 months and are probably going to drive like a wild women  ... have fun!      (Right mom)

Yup  , this is what you think I pork Shank.....I hate to admit it but my family were like cave men at times...."pork ...give...me ....must ..have...more"

This was epic!  all i can say

So here in Saudi everything delivers , probably because women can not drive to pick these things up , but we finally got mc donalds delivered , very high tech to . online ordering and it comes straight to your door!   

Just another day shopping at the Souks , trying to blend . Or playing dress up one of the two , either way it was great !!! Can't wait to show the Family all the Awesomeness we brought home for them. just picture Banff Gift store meets middle east Bazaar(like in Indiana Jones)   oh the treasure we found~  just to name a few , bobble head Saudi man , pen's with local dresser characters....oh and did I mention gold and silver are fairly inexpensive here!  so we have acquired a few cool pieces of jewelry

some of our finds , the kids check our genie lamp everyday...no such luck yet , 

This is "michelle" written in aribic made from 18krt gold  with two dimonds on the bottom, Custom made for me:) happy wife...happy life

So ....can you spot the problem here  , we are sitting at the light waiting to go straight.  Apparently he needed to turn so he just picked the lane closets to where he needed to go , makes perfect sense right??   This is after we got all packed up we had a big day today going to the Food store(aka Safeway) I had seen on one of my Facebook groups  they had some good imports this week and wanted to check out. So go all "dressed up"  , checked the prayer times to make sure we didn't get locked in the store  , got there only to find they are closed! because friday has a long morning prayer ......now you think no big deal but lets remember i leave the tower about once a week so when i go out it's a big deal!!! so i was so frustrated all i want to do was shop:( one more Saudi opsticale , so off to camp we went to do our shopping  ,  where apparently there is a major shortage of chocolate chips , frozen strawberries and pop corn........yet again totaly normal......

On a positive , someone started pre school!!! I know your all doing the math yes he is only 2 and a half , but living in the tower , there is not a  lot for a kid this age to do and he is bored out of his mind .Not anymore!! he is living the dream!  and so am I . And you can not beat the commute....down the elevator. And his cute little uniform shirt!

Well that sums up the last couple months , things are going good , the countdown is on until me and the kids come home for spring break then it's only 11 week after that till we are back in Canada for the summer !!!We are true embracing the Expat  life , which i have decide means traveling as much as you are home , and home is a lose term. home is the place that you have most of your belongings which is  located in the Country you currently reside in. So basically Expat means homeless but employed...lol  

    The adventure continues!

Taxi Adventure ......Brandt addition

Taxi Adventure

Yet another driving related post via Brandt (Disclosure...this was written and experienced by Brandt I take no responsibility for the mental picture you will have in your mind after reading this gem)

Well yet again my cheapness has caught up to me.  I was asked by my supervisor to take trip to visit my drilling rig which is offshore in the Arabian Gulf (NOT the Persian Gulf, apparently).  I had two options: drive myself two-and-a-half hours or take a company-paid taxi to the airstrip in Tanajib.  Why would I spend my own money on fuel ($0.16/L) and put 500 unnecessary kilometers on my ride?  Why you ask?  Hindsight being 20/20 at this point: I could have quite simply taken my life into my own hands rather than placing it in a 75 year old local who’s glasses lenses resembled the bottoms of Coke bottles.

It all started on Saturday afternoon when my wonderful cabbie called me confirm my pick up the next morning.  By the way, I still don’t have a clue what this guys name was.  On the phone, his English was alright and we agreed to a plan after I dropped every adjective and every other word.  The next morning: no English whatsoever.  We started our journey bright and early just as the sun was rising over the Gulf and headed from Al Khobar to Tanajib.  Just outside of Dammam we pull into the gas station.  I quickly look at the clock; nope not prayer time for another four hours.  Look over at the fuel gauge in the 2002 Ford Crown Victoria; 3/4 full.  What the heck is going on here?  Pretty sure at this point that this is the end of the line for me.  Somewhere between my primal fear and deep set paranoia we get our fuel topped up and carry on.  The cabbie mumbles something incoherent at me, chuckles and then grabs a sip of his strange looking coffee.  Back on to the highway we go and the cabbie confidently lines up the Ford emblem on his hood with the dashed white line on the road.  You got ‘er folks; one car in two lanes.  Pretty common sight around here.  Thankfully there aren’t many other vehicles on the road other than the heavy-haul transports.  As we approach each one he honks twice and mutters “ooooh Ali Baba”.  “Ali Baba” I think, hmmm must be the trucking company.  After this happens about a half dozen times I attempt to ask “Him, Ali Baba?” as we approach another transport.  He says to me “oooooh Ali Baba.  Ali Baba Pakistani”.  Then it clicks with me and I think “come on, really? He can’t really mean that”.  So I ask the guys at the rig; yep he meant it.  Brutal.  Just brutal the amount of prejudice out here.  Anyways, we carry on and the fog starts to roll in.  Cabbie hits the hazards and turns on his headlights. I’m thinking “alright, he may not be able to stay in his own lane but he knows his proper safety measures.  Good man.  Hey wait a minute, now your hood ornament is lined up with the yellow line on the shoulder.  What’s going on here?!?  I then look over and the speedometer needle is pointing straight at me in the passenger seat at which point I notice that it’s just past the 140 km/h mark.  I’m thinking “whoa whoa whoa” and the primal fear starts to set in again.  We are now passing everything on the highway doing 150 km/hr in the fog.  So I say “schwaya schwaya” which apparently means slow down.  He mumbles something again and takes it down to a reasonable 120 km/hr.  Good thing too because some other bright person decided that they would pull over onto the shoulder and wait out the fog.  We didn’t miss him by much but I’m thinking the difference of 20 km/hr made a bit of a difference.  The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful relatively speaking.

Fast forward after making a quick trip to the rig and guess who’s waiting for me at the airstrip?  Ding ding ding ding…you’re a winner if you guessed the 75 year old local with Coke bottle lenses.  In we hop back into the Crown Vic and I notice that buddy’s seat belt is still bucked in when he hops in.  Interesting, I think.  The he puts the shoulder strap across his chest while leaving the lap belt secured.  This guy is no dummy.  Without a word we take off because we both know that neither of us understands the other person.  Not long after we leave the airstrip we encounter camels on the highway.  I classified this as a third world problem.  You’d think that they might pick up speed as the mighty Crown Vic approaches.  Nope.  We stop and let close to a dozen cross the road.  I’m guessing that they wouldn’t have stopped if we didn’t stop.  About a mile down the road we see their farmer riding on the back of another one.  I’m guessing that farmer Ahmed let his herd get away from him.  Pretty impressed how he could stay on the back of a camel going mach-chicken…er…more like mach-camel.  

We carry on and it’s getting pretty close to prayer time so we pull into the next truck stop.  The cabbie grabs a tissue from his box on the dashboard zips out, heads into the toilet and is back two minutes later.  So I’m thinking “geez, that was pretty quick pal but, hey, this is your thing not mine”.  Back in the car we go zipping down the road but next thing I know we’re pulling into the next truck stop.  By now I think I’ve got this figured out.  I look over and we’ve got 1/2 a tank.  Guaranteed we’re getting fuel this time.  Nope.  We drive right past it.  Ok, next up is the mosque.  For sure, its gotta be.  He cleaned up at the last truck stop and is going to pray a this one.  Makes perfect sense.  Nope.  Grabs a tissue, hops out and heads to the toilet.  Bingo.  My cabbie had some bad shawarma and it’s making it’s way through.  Poor fella.  So we carry on and traffic is just getting more and more wild as we get closer to the main city.  He’s pretty intent on straddling the line between the middle lane and the fast lane.  Yes, it is the fast lane here.  It is not the passing lane.  The passing lane is the shoulder.  We race on down the road and I see a flat deck truck hauling what’s left of a Ford Expedition.  Might have been an Explorer or Edge now that I think about it.  All I could really make out was the Ford logo.  The thing was destroyed.  I couldn’t see any blood the seats but all of the air bags had definitely gone off and it was a disaster.  Always nice to see when you’re not in control of your own fate.  Anyways, we hit a construction zone and the lines disappear.  Next thing I know there is a lot of honking, a lot of shouting in Arabic and lots of hand gestures that I’m going to remember for my next morning commute.  My life flashes before my eyes and I literally close my eyes because I’m pretty certain that something terrible is going to happen.  Must’ve scared the cabbie something fierce because next thing I know he’s pulling over on the side of the freeway (in rush hour), grabs a tissue, hops out, and walks to my side of the car and in clear view of my side view mirror.  Next thing I know he’s pulled up his thob, pulled down his under pants and is squatting (good depth by the way) behind the car.  All dignity for this fellow is now gone and I’m stuck between shock, awe, being slightly impressed and complete/utter embarrassment.  Cars are honking as they go by and this guy just gives them a little wave.  If we were on speaking terms I would have asked which restaurant he ate at so I could avoid it in the future…but we’re not.  We’re only 20 minutes from my apartment and I’m thinking “geez, what if he needs to go again when we get there?  What’s he going to do? Poop on the ground in the visitor parking spot?  Maybe I should offer to let him use my toilet?”.  Who am I kidding, he didn’t even know what I was talking about when I said “camel” earlier.  There is no way he is going to understand “Excuse me sir, I have realized that you may be experiencing some loose bowel issues this afternoon.  Would you like to come and massacre my toilet?”.  Never mind.  I sign his piece of paper showing that he actually drove me somewhere today, say “shukran” (thank-you) and promptly head straight to my own bathroom.  To wash my hands.  With bleach.  Followed by the longest, hottest shower of my life.  With more bleach.

Two points to remember and live your life by.  First, there are three types of service: good, fast and cheap.  You can never have all three.  This service was extremely fast and cheap but it was far far far from good.  “Scarred” may actually be a better word.  Second, a cheap man pays twice.  I may not have paid with money but I certainly paid in other more in-tangible ways.  From now on I will be driving myself to Tanajib for all future rig visits.

Good times, good times.

Sunset from Brandt's Rig

 Camel crossing

Things can only get better from here

Sorry for the delay ,Its seems like it was just yesterday that i was on here chatting about shopping. Since then our last shopping excutrsiton we have cut down drastically . Things were trucking along and we were doing our best to find a silver lining in everything we were doing but like everything we hit that wall….like came to a screeching halt!  Things got really hard and it was a dark month or so…Kayden’s Asthma got really bad and our attitudes went down the drain and as much as we tried we just could not shake the blues , our world around us was getting to feel more like the danger zone and less like an adventure  , Our family joke is #adventureover! .  Over the past couple of weeks we have dusted our selfs off and gotten back in the swing of things . We are doing the best we can to move past ALL of the obsicaltes and let’s just say there are a lot. We have decided we are not willing to come back just yet:)   

      On a positive note we were lucky enough to have someone from our home town that Brandt knew who was willing to bring us an entire suitcase of goodys! i mean GOODIES!   I sent my mom list after list of random items and my sweet family searched hight and low and got everything!! including  10 pounds of candy  , 3 sets of lego , elsa  , 48 packages of Dino oatmeal and lululemon to name a few! When the suitcase arrived at 1 in the morning i was more than happy to open everything and check it out ! it was the best feeling we had in a long time!!   Hurray for candy and loved ones , just seeing a note hand written from my mom made me remember that we are still on the same planet as it does not seem like it sometimes.

So not much to report  , kids are good  , loving school!! and doing great with it , loving the weather!! it’s “Winter “ but it’s still around 22 which believe it or not can feel kinda chilli…who knew right!  Kayden has not worn pants since we have gotten here  . The other day I tried to get him to wear some to school and he freaked out saying his knees felt funny and he could not go to school with pants…kids. 

Brandt finally went to his rig , via helicopter as it’s off shore . It sounded really cool but slightly boring once he got there  , but this is all part of the experience .  

  We had a wonderful dec 25 stayed in saudi , unlike most other expats i swear 90 percent of them left , so things are empty ! it’s like a ghost town on camp , no people at the parks or playground or anything . Only the black ninja’s ……(pounder that one for a minute ) y  But being here for the holiday is a little tricky , to all my friends with kids imagine this , you live in an apartment in a high-rise in the middle of a city you can’t/don’t want to walk through  , nothing to do around you, No car ,  pool is closed  , no place to ride bikes , and they are off for 3 weeks!!!! holy moly days can be long.   They are long at the best of times , every weekend we spend on average about 4 hours in a playground on camp as there is not much else to do……ah well the sun is shinning :)    

It’s was a good winter holiday though and we are adjusting  , I made Grandma Leavitt’s chocolates and gave them to all my friends here in the tower! I was all alone and there was a tear or two shed , but i got it done!!! Brandt went to the hood of kobar and bought the chocolate from someone  we found online ,he actually texted me his exact location incase he never came home:) I cooked and mixed the fondant and the next day i dipped away.  Which this all sounds pretty straight forward but i’m used to doing this in calgary where it is cold and you can put things outside to chill and set and not here , my family had nothing in the fridge for a week except chocolates  , not that they minded:) then while i was dipping it was like 25 out side so i had to crank the ac , like i had to wear a sweater and fleece to survive but it worked! I was even lucky enough to have another Calgary friend from here that was going home for the holidays that was wonderful and willing enough to take a box of chocolates home to my family!  #blessings  I was truly great full that i could share that one with my Grandpa this year! 

It’s t minus 23 days until we are leaving to Disney in florida !! thank goodness i need some normalcy in our world and that is our normal , can’t wait! Colby is completely brain washed he has watched to planning dvd since he was a baby so he is ready to go he has been practicing his Ride scream with arms in the air… I’m even excited for the flight  , weird right the old me used to think that was the worst part  , not anymore .This is what goes through my mind , this image of me stepping on the plane , ripping off my abya to show my o’so lovely elbows and knees!!! freedom here we come! get to the germany airport and order a straight Bacon sandwich with bacon on the side and for dessert!! I say it all the time but it’s the small things! This starts the list of things i miss -Bacon , Good Candy , greek yogurt , alberta beef , Good shampoo , Costco , fresh air , driving , netflix ..just to list a few

So being as the winter holiday is not allowed and i was not prepared enough to have an elf already we had to get crafty! popsicle stick , glue  , fabric and sticky instruction sfor the guy in red and we were ready for Dec. This is snowflake he was our resident spy and Drove Skylar crazy ! she needed the most motivation:) he was a big hit. Notice our decorations!! it was about 4 feet tall but it was green and had lights  so it was perfect

Well here they are!!! my Chocolates , just to prove that i did them!!I could not find fancy boxes or anything like Grandma did so we got creative! but not going to lie it was a proud moment in my world! all my Leavitt Cousins will get this one!  I made as many chocolates as grandma was doing , so roughly 20/30 pounds:) 

So this is waiting to go through one of the security points on the Bridge from Bahrain to Saudi....it was about 4:30pm on a saturday , which is like canada's sunday so not the best time to come back but we took the kids to their first movie theatre on this side of the world. which is a really big deal! there are no movie theatres around us as they are " not allowed" there is one on camp but it plays movies that are about a year old and have't made it there yet , so when we were in Bahrain doing some retail therapy , we went to see night at the museum 3 , super cute , almost normal outting. But the people in the theatre where not the kinds you would see at home , it was a kids movie and the average age was probably 30 and no body laughed.....me and the family were busting and limp with laughter and you could have herd crickets...it was weird but these days didn't matter felt normal in my mind:)  but traffic was CRAZY!!! as you can see 12 clusters (cause you can't call them lanes ) we trying to get in to 4 stalls , which one would think take turns ,nope not here! here it's who can push the hardest  the size and your car gets you places and you have to fold in your mirrors because you are literally that close to everyone!! the sensors on the car we beeping solids for about an hour cause that how long it took for that one gate , and there are 5/6

Have you you ever wondered what 10 pounds of candy look like?? Well this is it! Candy from Canada! i'm begining to realize the sugar problem i have as what i miss most is the sweets:)

Look there are snow men in Saud! 

Sand angels!!! 

This is an old picture from Nov , but look it rained! A Lot when it rains it pours! and being as there is no sewer for it to drain in to like home , everything just flood and BAD! Roads are wild it's like Calgary after the first snow fall!

Well i think that sums it up! we are still here and doing better everyday  . We even received our shipment of furniture from home! which we have not seen since aug . We were able to bring some of the item's in but some had to go to storage  , not sure if we will ever see it again but ohwell. I have never been so happy to sit on my couch  , its bright red and brings some sense of home to our appartment! i'll post picture soon :)  oh ya...we even located the yoga mat!  Guess it somehow ended up in our sea shipment.  Apologies to the customs folks here.  unti then here is to the new Year!!! hope its a little more calm than the last!!   #adventure...continues...for now

Import=Important

 I was always one of those people who thought when people said “retail therapy” that it was just an excuse to go shopping.  who doesn’t like new things right?? however I was and still am very well ….Cheap! I hate to spend money on something that i know i can get cheaper by making it or not getting name brand or searching somewhere else to find it for a little less. Like a predator searching for its pray , how ever living over here is taking that drive for the hunt out of me.  At first when we were shopping and looking for new things i would see the imported section in the store and steer clear thinking “ I don’t need the name brand” , “ it’s all the same  , what person would pay that?!?   Times have changed ! and this is the new Tracey way of shopping  Imported=IMPORTANT     If there is an entire wall of food we look for the one that says Imported , cost who cares.  Also if its something you have been told is not allowed here and you find it you buy 2.  Such as more “Gingerbread Holiday” Items . We decided to go to the craft store   here which is like micheals meets a dollar store in forest lawn …we had to wait for Brandt to take us after work head down to the hood , Wait 25 mins for prayer to end  in the car with my always calm 3 kids.Go in side to the darkest farthest corner of the store(similar to the family section @ starbucks)  only to find Joy ! Colorfull lights hanging from the ceiling and more colourful balls  for greenery  then we spot it ….wrapping paper and  not just any wrapping paper it had a big ol sticker on it that was so familiar i may have shed a tear…..Kirkland…..as i wipe the look of shock and how the heck did this get here i see the price (120SR) which is $30 American  , look at brandt and say YUP we will take 2 . Finish our shopping trip with bags of Crafts , red and green items , Fabric that closely resemble elsa’s cape and sparkly lights . Rush out of the store to beat the next prayer time  , as they are so close together right now at night with the sun setting early .  We drive to one of Brandt’s local Schwarma joints which he loves. As we drive ,  there are people everywhere , open pit’s of road contraction  cars/cabs swerving and honking and all i can think is yup this is it…..He#*       It like a bad dream  just pure and utter craziness and then we turned in to what seemed like a parking lot to a dump only to discover nope this is the road to our destination  , close my eye think what’s ment to be will be and open as brandt is parking  (which i use very lightly) as it’s on the corner of an intersection and he hoppes out of the car and goes in to what looks like a  post apocalyptic building filled with men (of course men only)  and emergeces with our dinner! Fun right ! we then enjoyed the best schwarma and the kids devoured it to! so they must be doing something right in there . 

      

  Another Trip to Bahrain  , we headed off for anther day of adventure and shopping ! Getting up at the crack of dawn to head across the cosway as it can get pretty wild and take up to 2 hours we lucked out and only took about 40 mins ! crossed the boarder and Stripped off my super sexy abya reveling  my elbows and wrists! the car almost swerved off the road..LOL ka maybe not that much but man it did feel good. We went to the mall for more retail therapy cause it had been about 8 hours since our last shopping trip……As it was early and the mall was still closed we went to the food store and found …..frozen blue berries!!! now as you know these are really hard to find and we love them!!!I don’t even know how much they cost but we bought all they had !!! about 12 (average price $5 per 340 g bag)     

Then we continued to tour that mall as we filled the kids with ice-cream to get them though we were ready to rock ! and we found Bath and body works!!!    seriously it smelled like heaven ! it was the first place in a long time that smelled good! everything here smells like dust and spices and gross perfume! aka the middle east! it’s an official smell and well i’m not a fan!   So bath and body works smelled like HOME and they had Ginergerbread holiday scents! with snowmen and snowflakes and Peppermint all over them!!  Now as excited as i was you have to remember when you cross the boarder to come back to Saudi your  car will be searched and you never know what they are going to take aways so you have to be car full what you bring back with you…..So this is what we brought and the what’s ment to be….   

after calming from our smell over load we went to the baking store which we have here but this one was better! that’s the things with Bahrain everything is the same there except better!!!The people are happy  , the women are not completely covered and the people in the store are able to talk to you! but the store was full of more gingerbread holiday stuff!!   I got this awesome mood to make gingerbread houses! so excited!!! When ever i find something i have been looking for it's pure joy. I have been searching for all the items i need to make Grandma's Chocolates for the Winter holidays to share with my new family here.  And it's tough! i have been searching for weeks , still unable to find Maple flavouring and people think i'm crazy to look for something like that , Finding chocolate for dipping .Which Brandt finally had to meet a local women at a public location to pay her in advance to order chocolate form her Friend.So in pure saudi style you give a stranger money and hope that something good comes out of it down the road .Fingers crossed . But I am slowly getting there and hopefully will find everything i need:)

#adventure  , driving to Bahrain always Fun

Brunch!with Friend Lots of sugar!

Here it is!!! $60 worth of wrapping paper

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Not sure if you can see the writing but it just sums up this wild world we live in

More Retail therapy! pottery barn kids ,but it's for Brandt ! we think it looks like a drilling rig and could no resist

Here it is my Contraband scents! that made it across! My appartment will no longer smell like the middle east!!

We also managed to get a Lego star wars Advent calendar which some i know will be pretty surpassed as we already said the The guy in red is running low on lego this year  , just to cover our bases.Bad parents I know but we had to be ready:)

Summ it up  , I formally apologize to anyone that i brushed off when they said retail therapy helped because after my past 48 hours of shopping I have to say it's true it's a real thing and it does help!!! Look out Brandt !

First world Problems are still Problems....

Well here is the next picture addition  : I looked back to realize that it has been almost a month since that last update and i could not believe it ! Time flew by , only 94 days until we go back to Disney and our cruise! but who is counting ...here we are , life is good but man  things sure add up , Things that you think will not bother you , like not being able to drive or use your computer of sit on you own couch , make a phone call  , celebrate a holiday that you have done for ever , or eat food that you have had at your access your entire life to find out that you are the only person in this country that wants it and you can not find it . First world problems yes but we are discovering they are still problems... Examaple A

This is from out most recent shopping trip( there are many shopping trips are they is not much else to do than shop , and it takes all day to do so between prayer time and not finding what you need)

We found "Local" corn on the cob , no idea where local is but it was corn on the cob and eating it made us feel so normal , but it was no taber corn that is for sure.  Name brand popcorn only one store we have found sells this and it's a big deal . Starbuck pumpkin spice steamer ...no words needed , I am becoming a little obsessed with these as it really makes me feel  like a normal person. Me and a Friend went to the mall last week and went to my first family section in starbucks  , usually i just crouch outside the men's section and have Brandt go in and get my drink but this time was family and it was not all that bad . Here is what you need to do :You look at the awesome looking starbucks  look for the dark corner go towards it realize it's the door for the family section starbucks and go through hoping you are going to come out of it alive , then realize that hey it's not that bad~ order your drink by pointing at a picture menu that they seem to have everywhere as no one speaks the same language so after a game of name that drink and sharides  you come up with something hot in a cup and think ....i'm getting good at this only to discover it has coffee in it (which i don't drink) and say screw it i'm good with it. Call the event a success and try again next time .

It is funny that the things you would not put up with at home are totally normal here . Such as sharing a seat belt with your 2 year old because well you have to get out of the tower and this is the only way out.#repunzel    Or when you go to sephora 4 times to try and buy something and it's never in stalk and all the answers you can get are "inshalla" 2 weeks , if you can understand them women we are cover from head to toe with literally only they eyes covered. However their make up looks smoking good! so that is encouraging while shopping for make-up 

Here is my beloved syrup i talked about last time ...love

So got these roasted chickens at the food store ...do they look different to you?   the cooked them upside down ..even the chicken are backwards:)

Here we are at another aramco compound that is on the beach. It's about a hours death race in the car to get there  , the roads are busy and scary but Brandt is enjoying the Saudi way of driving so we were off to the races.  This was our kids first time Ever at the ocean and it was epic! They loved it the waves the sun , sand . It was a really good day! It was beautiful and mostly clean  , so it was a good break from reality . We went with friend and bbq'd on the beach and the kids played.#Blessings  We have not had bbq since aug so that was amazing! we are still trying to figure out where we can bbq as we sure can not on the 36 floor but we will get there.

kayden realized that it was salt water in the ocean ...not impressed:)

Colby loved the waves! played in them the entire time

This is the view from out appt , most days are kinda hazy and you can see the coast but not much more. This day was so clear and so blue. You can see Bahrain across the water , this is about an 45 min drive and it's a different country so the Rules there are a little more relaxed so this is a big week end destination. 

So BLUE!

This is a quick shot of one of the jets that fly over camp  all day and night! the kids/brandt  love this. 

Kayden's school had a halloween parade at school so me and Colby man hopped on a buss to go and see .  Well I have done halloween my entire life and this was the first year that we did not have to take in effect a snow suit in to the costume! loved that  So as we waited outside for the parade to begin we sat in 34 degree heat and LOVED it! Once it started you would have though Colby was watching a parade at Disney he was screaming and cheering everyrtime he saw a character he knew . Then when he saw Kayden he ran in to the crowd going for the embrace it was really sweet! Another good day ended by a party on main camp  ,This was another first i have never been to a party in a baseball field in oct where they had Halloween candy and games , with more nannies than parents and served Shwarma!  On the 31 there was a party at the tower for all the kids and it was so fun they played games and hung out with there friends then off to trick or treat. How do you ask they do this in an appt , well easy! ...inshalla

We gathered 3 mom's with 8 kids total  and as i was telling my older two about the rules of the night my youngest hoped on the elevator...then the rest of the kids say "colby got in the elevator ...well this is a problem  , there are 4 elevators  and the number are on the out side so once you are in you can not change your destination  ..so i hopped in the next available one which happened to be the one next to where colby was ...Alone  and i could hear him screaming beside me as we were going down then i notice he has stopped an i am going to next i hopped out go up 3 flight only to find now it's silent then i get a text saying he in the lobby with the front desk , thank goodness so  wait for another elevator that was taking to long for my liking so i took 17 flights of stairs down to the lobby to find nope he has going back up to 5 with one of our friends , then go up to 5 to almost miss brandt get on with him to go back ....soo Colby decided not to go trick or treating he was scared enough from the events. So back to the rest of the kids and off we went to floor #44 start out going door to door then down a flight of stairs ,and repeat, with us and out 7 kids total ,it took us almost 2 hours but we did it! 40 Floors with the kids , average age was about 4 , but they were troopers!  #adventure

More shopping , now lets set the floor for this one , picture you live in a strange country where there are NO pork products...no bacon for almost 3 months and you find this at the food store. Angels sang when we found this one can not wait to eat these! Turkey bacon:)

more yummy food Brandt found at some bakery that looked like a hole in the wall i'm sure ! i have stopped asking where the food comes from cause most times it's better not to know! (refer to Brandt face book picture of where dinner comes from)

Halloween night! Off we go!

Long and short  , having fun ,getting kinda tired of things being hard and long but still making the most of it.(aka lowering expectations) We are Finding the new normal  .We are now into the fun part of the year that you are not allowed to say or talk about here but we are going to call it our" Gingerbread party" on Dec 25.  It will be a new experience that is for sure! But we did manage to find a secret shop where there was a secret knock involved with a back room stashed of Winter inspired greenery  , and sparkly items which will make it feel like home.  It's a long story that i would love to tell you all in person one day:) That about sums up our world as we know it today! We love you all and are sure to have more adventures to tell you next time ...#saudiadventure

Here is the pictures addition of the update!

While driving around we pass some epic homes! Here are a couple of them  . There are some truly beautiful places 

Well , we are still living a little different , so we don't have a microwave and it's no big deal . It's just soo funny how much you can truly life with out . Here we are Roasting marshmallows on the range , making milk steamers , with my homemade syup.  At home i would have gone to starbucks about bought what i needed , then put it in the microwave and done! but here i had to search multiple store for pumpkin (hard to find!!) and then pay $7 a can to make the suryp store it in a popcornr container because we did not have tupper wear yet and use the stove  and try not to burn the milk , stockily enough all worked out and was  good! I finally got some flavour syrup and it was also no easy task .This is what you have to do if you want anything specific or hard to find .... Posted on the food blog to find out where to find it , wait 11 days till i can get a ride to the mall where they sell it , Find out they are closed! wait 2 more days for another ride then return to the mall with 3 always cheerful to shop children then wait in the mall 3 hours , (because nothing opens here until 5pm) Makes total sense right who doesn't want to shop form 5pm-12?? then pick out our flavour , ask with hand signal how much$$ not like it mattered at this point but we finally got Coconut , irish creme and amereto ....SO GOOD!! Imported from France sugar suyp .....$180SAR  but who cares

Found this gem at one of the malls , it's driving school for the kids! They have there orientation and got a licence and everything .Brandt mentioned in his "Brandt ways"  why are girls going to driving school if they are not "allowed" to drive , to which kayden replied"well dad girls might leave this place some day and they need to know how to drive. It was good to know that Kayden didn't agree with some of the ways of thinking 

My Birthday cake!! its was made by some awesome lady who lives on camp and let's just say it did not last more than 24 hours in our home. We are learning that you can find someone to do everything that you need , make cakes teach dance you name it.

This is on Sept 23 , this is the lobby in our building all dressed up for National Saudi day! It's like Canada day and they went all out , there were even green and white flags on the fence around our compound , which sounds like no big deal but the poor person that had to put those ones up had to put them up around the razor wire so i truly appreciated those flags:) its was really pretty it was nice to see there country Pride shine!

Look what finally arrived!! all of our stuff! Now i know that in the past i have mentioned that it's just stuff and that it does not make you a better person or even decide who you are ...But man it was so nice to have our things. And as things we unpacked it was so awesome , now when you move things into saudi they have to go through customs as any other country they have to make sure you are not briging in things that you should not be.  Which I Tottaly understand and we were very car full not to bring anything in that we were not supposed to but as we went through we noticed more and more things we missing which was a little hard to take :( But life goes on....it was still really nice to have some of our things! 

Do you see my Flames jersey!! I might mount it and put it on the wall! It's not bad that my theme song is Alberta bound by Paul Brandt right:) I listen to it everyday and belt it out like i'm on a mission  . But for the most part still doing good , everything is still and #adventure .It's funny how the small things are what really matter sometimes , like sending an email  , or the fact that it took us 3 days to book our holiday because the internet only works in the mornings for a couple hours ,Or when you find your favourite pop at the store.  And no matter where you live you still have the same challenges with sick kids , and life throwing you curve balls so after you deal with that , everything seems easier right!    "keep moving forward" WD That is was we are doing   

It has been the Eid holiday which from what I am learning is a 3 day holiday where they celebrate Abraham's sacrifice ??...and then i'm lost . But we have received many plates or sweets and treats which is so wonderful and makes us feel more and more greatfull for the people we are lucky enough to share the building with. I have never lived anywhere   where there was such a strong sense on community and unity ! #blessings  So we have been lucky enough to have 5 days off together which besides each child being sick every day it has still been great to have some time together! We are going to try and celebrate thanks giving but i may have to get creative as turkey's are hard to find and our freezer is about the size you would  have in your first apartment  but i WILL figure it out :)  

The Adventure continues ........

Thank you for all the love and support that i get from you comment's it means a lot!!