Ponderosa Steak House

We haven't had a Ponderosa Steakhouse restaurant open since the 80's where I'm from, I was shocked to see one here in Bahrain. We used to go every almost every Sunday for dinner when I was growing up. I need to check this one out before we move.

Beach Birthday Party

Today we celebrated our friend, Jess's, birthday. We gathered together at the beach club marina where the kids had a blast playing in the water and sand. This was Tyler's first swim of the year. We've known Jess since we were stationed together in Sicily.

We have two miners in the family now. Dad and Tyler spent most of the day playing Minecraft together. I can watch them play it on TV. 

Jess's Cake

This is what I spent my afternoon doing.

Indian Sweets

Going through my photos the other day, I realized that I forgot to post the ones of the Indian sweets I bought for the family to try. They came in a nicely decorated box as shown below. There were two kinds I bought, one was a sticky yellow type made of sugar and flour and the other one was made of figs and almonds. Although Tyler did not like them, Steve and I thought they were OK. I'm not sure if we liked them enough to make another purchase, but I'm glad to have at least tried them.

Villa Upstairs

It's been awhile since I've posted photos of our villa. Previously you've seen photos of the main floor, now I'm taking you upstairs. Here is the upstairs hallway.In the first photo, Tyler's bedroom is to the right and Steve and mine is on the left. The second photo is from the opposite view, you can see the spare bedroom door on the right and across from it (though it's not shown in the photo, only a little bit in the first photo) is our storage room. Next up, bedrooms...stay tuned.

Shaikh Salman bin Ahmed Fort and Al Dar Island

We started out our day with a tour of the Shaikh Salman bin Ahmed Fort with some of our caching friends. Wow, it was quite the impressive fort, absolutely amazing! After we worked up an appetite, we enjoyed a delicious traditional breakfast with an incredible view of the island at the fort's café. We then took a boat over to Al Dar Island, explored the island, found a cache and let Tyler have fun at the playground. Then we finished up our day with a boat ride back to the main land and enjoyed a lovely dinner altogether. Here are a few photos:

Awali Horses and PONY

This afternoon we met our geocaching friends for a brunch at the Awali compound, the site where the British families of the oil company (BAPCO) used to work and live back in the day. We stuffed ourselves silly full of food and then went for a walk around the premises afterwards. We found 2 caches nearby. Along the way, we stopped in the horse barn to see the horses. There was an adorable Shetland pony that took a liking to Tyler. I think he probably wanted Tyler to go for a ride since he was the perfect size. LOL We fed some other horses as well and watched one horse in the ring being exercised. Being the horse lover that I am, I could have easily stayed there all day and have been totally content, but we had to keep moving. On the way home in the car, Tyler asked if he could get a pony! YES!! I've waited for this day forever!! I want a pony also!! LOL Now, just to convince Dad...

Pakistani Cuisine & Indian Sweets

Today my friends and I went to get some Indian Street Food for lunch. Our friend, Minoti, is from India and has been wanting us to give it a try. However, when we arrived at the restaurant we were sadly informed that it is only open for dinner rather than lunch, So instead we sampled some Indian sweets at the shop that was adjacent to the restaurant. They were all very delicious and we ended up buying some for our husbands and kids to try. After we were done with that, we still wanted to have lunch somewhere. Minoti knew of a great Pakistani restaurant nearby, so Gina and I were all for it.

We were warned that the Indian food may be a little spicy and so the Pakistani food was no different, though to my surprise I really didn't find it that spicy. We ordered porkchops, two types of chicken, rice, and butter naan. It was all very tasty. Minoti showed us how they eat in Indian using our fingers. At first, I really wasn't keen on getting them dirty and sticky, but once I dug in it was actually so much fun. It was also relaxing which I can't explain why, just that it was. LOL The method she taught us, I nicknamed "thumb pushing". LOL You use your three fingers and push the food in your mouth with your thumb. Then for dessert, Minoti ordered us an Indian ice cream to try. It wasn't sweet like our ice cream, but rather flavored with cardamon. It was a great time together filled with lots of laughter and good conversation.

We just found out that Steve is board eligible to be promoted to chief!!!

HAPPY ST.PADDY'S DAY FROM BAHRAIN

It's A Little Hot in Here, Steve

Last night when we were going to bed, Steve was going to put the fan on but I suggested he put the A/C on instead. Wow, big mistake! LOL As soon as he put the A/C on, everything shut off. Only the kitchen and the rooms in the back of the villa are on. No biggie though. We've had this happen so many times. Steve tried flicking the fuses and still nothing, however still no worries because we've had it where everything just magically turns back on in the morning. Sooooo...morning came and the power is still off. Strange. On the precaution, Steve decides to send a text message to our property manager, Melvin. After a few hours, Melvin gets back to Steve and says he'll send his maintenance guy to come and fix it. It wasn't long before the maintenance guy and the guy that collects the rent come to have a look. They are here for only about 20 minutes before they tell me that they called the rental office to have the electrical company come and fix it. Oye! So we've lived overseas before, this generally means maybe they'll get around to coming out to look at it this week if we're lucky. To my complete surprise, the electrical company was here within the hour. Two guys look at the electrical box outside. However, after awhile they say they'll come back after they go to see the electrician down the street. One guy comes back after awhile and is on the phone with another. He is out there for at least 30 minutes and the other guy comes back. BINGO the lights come back on within 10 minutes! They said we have to turn off the pool pump tomorrow and leave it off for a day and then they leave. I'm like OK. Then 20 minutes pass and two other guys from the electric company show up. They look at the box outside and ask for Melvin's number which I do not have. They said they need to look at Melvin's other property next door because they believe it too has the same problem. I tried to get a hold of Steve, who has the number, but he was not available. So I told them to come back in about 30 minutes. They don't show up. Much later on after we finish our dinner, the doorbell rings. The electric company returns with about 10 guys and a jackhammer truck. They explain to Steve that they have to test the main service line connection and to do this they have to dig up our driveway. They also said it may take a few days.
All this just because I wanted the A/C on instead of the fan. Never again.

Cupcake Cake

Here's my first cupcake cake. One day Steve brought to the office some cupcakes I had left over from Tyler's party. One of his co-worker's daughter's asked if she could have one and as soon as she took a couple of bites, she asked if I would mind making her a cake for her birthday that was coming up. Of course, Steve said that I wouldn't mind. After getting the details of what she wanted, this is what I made for her. It was a lot of fun to make and she ended up loving it which made my day.

Protest Day

So, while you all, back home have Snow Days, here in Bahrain we get to have Protest Days. School was canceled today due to the protests going on. So what did we do during this fine Protest Day? LOL We stayed inside and worked on some school work, played Monopoly, Busy Town, and Minecraft. Oh and how could I forget, we also swept, swept and swept all kinds of sand throughout the villa because of the sandstorm we had last night. Fun, fun!

Sand Storm

What started out to be a beautiful day turned into to a bit of a sand storm here in Bahrain. My friend picked me up this morning and as we were heading to the mall, we noticed the sky was very hazy. We soon found out that the haze was actually sand. Later while on our way to the school to pick up the kids we noticed the sky had a tinge of yellow. It reminded me of the photos that Steve would send me while he was in Iraq. Turns out we were having a sand storm. Everything is covered in lots of dusty sand! Ick! Here is a photo from our roof top. The visibility was a bit better, but we still couldn't see the buildings in the distance that you normally could see.

Sleeping with her tongue hanging out. LOL

"Bumps" Cereal

Though you won't find it at any store, there is a brand new cereal! For a school project, Tyler had to come up with his own cereal. However, it had to be based on a book. His book of choice was a Goosebumps book by R.L. Stine. He also was required to design a cereal box outlining the novel, including details about the main characters, the setting, and the conflict and resolution. On the back of the cereal box, he also had to come up with a game, also based on the book. To present it to the class, each student has to do a commercial for their cereal.

A Door for Tiara

Tyler asked Dad if he could make some renovations to his villa. He wanted a special door for Tiara to use. Up to this point, she had been accessing the villa through the mail slot and sometimes she would get herself stuck. So, here is Tiara's new door. She seems to like it.

Desert Day Games 2014

Yesterday Tyler's school held their annual Desert Day Games. It took place on the school field. There was lots of games to fill the morning, but it was hot outside and so Tyler's favorite part was at the end where they got to cool down. I helped volunteer with some other moms. The kids definitely wore us out. Here's some photos of all the fun.