Swimming Like Little Fish

When we first moved to Riyadh, my two youngest kids were terrified to get in the pool. Really terrified. They would cling to me and sob when we got in the water. My littlest one would shake when the waves started at the wave pool. I honestly felt discouraged about their fear. Here we are, in Riyadh, living on a compound of about 1000 people, with not one, but 5 pools. FIVE pools! And the weather is warm and swim-friendly for 10 months of the year.

They barely agreed to let me step away from them to take this shot.

Eventually, I found some life jackets for both of them at a store. This helped a lot. Soon they were willing to let us get within arm's length of them.

And now, 6 months later, they are little fish. Really! It is amazing.

Bubba J paddles and kicks along with confidence throughout the whole pool. He puts his face in the water, blows bubbles, and jumps in the pool like a pro. My favorite part of his little swimming is how he puts his face and body in the water like a little turtle, paddles like mad, and then lifts his face up and breathes frantically. Really, it is adorable.

And my daughter has grown the most. For a long time, she has clung to her life jacket. But now, with  swimming lessons from her dad, she zips along in the shallow part of the pool, sans life jacket. And she floats! I'm so proud of her.








Now that A and Bubba J are more independent in the water, it makes playing in the pool so much more fun!

Celebrating Independence Day- Bahrain Style

First, we start off with a decadently, indulgent breakfast of a pound of real pork bacon. Yes, you read that right. You can buy bacon in Bahrain. I honestly wept at this sight. 

 Then we headed to Wahoo the Water Park where we swam, slid down waterslides, and played until we were exhausted.

 We enjoyed thick, juicy American-style hamburgers at Fuddruckers, and capped off our evening by watching the last Lord of the Rings movie.