Kuwait!

Hi everyone.  I want to catch you up on our trip to Kuwait a few weeks ago.

First, it was a process trying to get to Kuwait.  We planned on renting a Tahoe and driving up with our friends who don't have a car.  That didn't work out.  Avis didn't get the border paperwork done in time. We postponed for a couple of weeks and didn't get the paperwork again, so we went solo.  A 4am departure and a 4 hour drive to Kuwait City.  It was pretty cool driving through mostly open desert with the sun coming up.

Once we arrived we went to the Science Center!  Aden explored the aquarium, saw some cool boats, and played in the Discovery Center.  Now that he is old enough to know what is going on, he really likes aquariums.  I think his favorite part was watching the diver hand feed the sharks.

After the aquarium, we took a good nap in our hotel and headed out to see the Kuwait Towers.  they were impressive to look at, but are being renovated.  Later in the afternoon we found a huge mall to do some shopping.  The Avenues mall was very impressive.  It seems to be part of the modern Arab oil country culture to build huge malls.  We have seen this in Saudi, Bahrain, UAE, and now Kuwait.  Besides the mall, Kuwait City was a bit more traditional than a city like Dubai.  The invasion from Iraq in the First Gulf War is also still a fresh memory for Kuwaitis.  One guy told us about this great Dhow (boat) that had sailed around the world that the Iraqis burned when they invaded and how the Kuwaitis built another one in the same spot.  We didn't go into the museums since we were only there for a night and with Aden, but there is some rich history in the country.

The next morning we spent some time walking along the beach front.  Aden enjoyed watching the boats, birds, and people.  Then we grabbed a quick lunch and headed home.  One the way home there were camel, sheep, and goat herds all over!  A lot of the herds were accompanied by a Shepard.  Tara said it reminded her of what Bible times might have been like.  It was cool to see the very modern and very traditional Arab world so close together.  A lot of driving for a short trip, but we are glad we did it before leaving Saudi.

Enjoy the pics.  Hopefully some of a new baby are coming soon!

Daddy and Aden in front of a dhow

Checking out the huge snake!

Someone was a bit afraid to touch the turtle

Watching the penguins dive for food

Diver feeding the sharks and rays.

Kuwait Towers

Hanging out on the corniche

 

37 weeks pregnant (p.s. as of today we are 39 weeks +2 days)

Playing with baby sisters headbands and bows

Bahrain fun

Jamie has taken on a leadership class called Adaptive Schools.  It involves going to Bahrain 4 times this winter/spring for a day long training session.  Adaptive Schools is a huge buzz word in the international circuit and we are very excited for this opportunity.  The second session was in February and we decided to all go as a family and spend the weekend in Bahrain since it had been awhile since we'd visited (plus we had a hankering for some bacon!).  Jamie had to be in training all-day Thursday, which meant some serious mommy-Aden time.  I did some research into what would be fun to do with Aden in Bahrain and found out that there is a wildlife refuge center there.  It really is like a mini zoo with mostly local animals, but it was a blast.  I successfully drove Aden and I there all by myself.  I'll be honest, the last time I drove myself anywhere was probably this past summer and I've never driven while obviously pregnant.  I was quite proud of myself!  The refuge center was a big hit with Aden.  We walked around for about an hour looking at all the different animals, went into a petting area where he was so gentle with the animals, and took a bus ride to see the bigger animals.

 Checking out the flamingos and the huge pelican

 Loving the bus ride!

 The leopard went right up to the glass

 One of Aden's favorite exhibits, but he wouldn't take a picture by it.

 Being so sweet with the bunnies

 Camels, of course!

Look at all those eggs!

We ended our fun morning out with a fantastic Fuddruckers hotdog.  Aden was so wiped out that I had to wake him up after 2.25 hour nap!  Jamie finished up his training day and we were able to spend some quality time together, just the 3 of us.  

For those of you keeping an eye on the happenings in Bahrain, there are still protests, but mostly in certain areas that we just stay away from.  We did see some serious smoke from one area where we were told tires were being burned.  Burning tires and dumpsters is one of the protestors ways of expressing themselves.  We do hope that things can be resolved in this part of the world soon.

Tara