Month: August 2011

After being in Monterey for 2 1/2 years and going to the aquarium many, many times, the incredible thing about the Atlantis is that it doesn’t look cheap and dinky in comparison. Not much can compare to the amazing displays they have in Monterey, but the Atlantis has a really impressive main tank and some great smaller exhibits.

The boys and Josh toured it back in May while the baby was napping so I was looking forward to visiting it this time. And from the way Camille was oohing and shrieking each time we walked past the main tank, I really wanted to see her reaction to all the different fish.

The name of the aquarium was The Lost Chamber, so in addition to all the fish, there were all sorts of Atlantis themed metal sculptures/décor that the kids had fun exploring.

 

I have no idea what these sculptures are supposed to be, but they looked like something from the Roswell set or a steampunk version of LOST.

Judging by the happy squeals, I’d say she was pretty impressed by all the swimming creatures. (the original video isn’t this dark, but it uploaded this way. I’m re-uploading it to see if it makes a difference).

One of the best tanks had these HUGE fish and the kids kept pretending they were holding them up with their bare hands.

We arrived at Atlantis yesterday for an end of summer-back to school-burn up the last few days of Ramadan vacation. We’re only here for 2 nights and it’s passing too quickly. This time we upgraded to the Imperial Club level which is more expensive (obviously), but one of the perks is FOOD. We get breakfast included, plus there is a lounge that is open from 7am until 11pm and food and drinks are always free for the taking. Last time we were here I had stories of $100 lunches at the waterpark and $9 coffees, this time we can snack and drink whenever we want.

In addition to basic snacks like fresh fruit, chips, cookies, pastries, nuts, etc. that are available all the time, in the late afternoon and evening they serve heavy (gourmet quality) appetizers that were plenty for dinner. Last night we had sushi rolls, Thai noodle salad, Greek salad, finger sandwiches, spring rolls, smoked chicken, brie with fresh bread, stuffed mushrooms, and more . . . there was plenty of food, good variety and everyone was happy. Even with the increased cost, we have certainly come out ahead, especially because it includes breakfast at any of the hotel restaurants, including the buffet with the chocolate fountain. Guess who was dipping marshmallows in chocolate at 9 am?

At the moment I’m sitting in the club lounge with my non-napping baby. She woke up early and ate breakfast and then she fell asleep on my back on the way to the pool. I took her up to sleep, but that lasted less than an hour. We went down to the water park, played in the kid’s area, went down a few slides and even rode the rapids with daddy, but then she started rubbing her eyes and yawning. Time to head upstairs to our room. When we walked into the hotel the Arctic blast of the a/c perked her up — the difference in temperature between the outside and inside is crazy. Instant teeth chattering when you come in and are wet from the pool. So as much as I tried to pat her and get her to relax . . . no luck. Instead of getting her suit back on and taking her down only to have her be crabby we headed to the lounge for snacks, drinks, and play. They have a glassed in kid’s playroom with toys so I’m sitting here with a Pepsi and a plate of watermelon and pineapple, watching Camille strut around among the toys.

The boys have been having a great time at the water park with all of their friends. Three Marine families — 11 kids altogether. And you wonder why I joke about us being “breeders.” After we leave Atlantis tomorrow afternoon we will be staying at a Holiday Inn closer to downtown (instead of out at the end of the Palm) and we will celebrate Eid (the end of Ramadan) there. We aren’t doing anything to celebrate Eid (except I will joyfully be brandishing my bottle of water), but there should be some fun events and special things going on in the mall. I just hope I haven’t been permanently spoiled by our visit here. Like I say about so many of the places we visit: I could live here.

Pulling myself out of my 1960s Mad Men fog to continue our Turkey story. Who knew that there was all this bed hopping, smoking, and drinking back then? It makes life in this millennium look practically puritanical.

After the Spice Market we walked across the Galata bridge in search of dinner. There was a beautiful warm breeze, ships cruising up and down the Golden Horn, and tons of people out enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon.

There were hundreds of people fishing off the side of the bridge, mostly catching tiny anchovies. Carter wanted to stop and fish, but he settled for checking out this guy’s catch instead.

While they were admiring his haul, one of the fish jumped out of the container in a last ditch effort to gain freedom. Josh tried to catch it, but it was so slippery he couldn’t get a hold of it and it continued to flop around on the ground. The fisherman grabbed a terrycloth towel that he used for fish handling and was able to get a grip on him that way and plopped him back in the bucket.

 
It took about 10 minutes to walk across the bridge. On the other side there was a guy selling freshly caught grilled fish from a wooden cart. We ordered two sandwiches (4 TL each, $4.50 total) and the guy split open rolls, picked some fish off the grill, added lettuce and tomatoes and wrapped them in paper. We found a park bench on the water and sat back to enjoy the sunset (and the sandwiches).

After dinner we headed for the train station to head back to the hotel. The kids were happy to finally get their ride.

As we were exiting the train at our stop we saw this guy riding around on his motorcycle with his dog in sunglasses. He’s holding up his hand telling me he wants 1 TL for taking his picture. Sorry, sucker. If you don’t want to attract attention, don’t dress up your dog.

It’s very clear why people leave Oman for Ramadan . . . it’s sucking the life out of us. We end up staying home all day because everything is closed, but by the time stores open at 7 pm the baby is almost ready for bed and we’re sluggish and feeling like couch potatoes and don’t have the energy to go out and do anything because we sat around all day doing nothing. And since we’re home all day the house is in a constant state of disarray, but no one has the energy (mental or physical) to clean up either pre or post tornado.

The weather has been beautiful lately, but I refuse to go to the beach if we can’t take food or water. Plus I’m not much in the beach mood because lying around the house all day makes me sleepy. So I’m either tired because I napped or I’m tired because I didn’t nap. Either way, by midnight I’m wide awake and not able to fall asleep until 2:30 or 3am which means I’m tired in the morning and the afternoon which requires napping or fighting a nap. Repeat for the next 10 days.

Yesterday was our 14th anniversary. What romantic thing did we have planned? We took all 4 kids to the doctor to get their physicals for school. Baby had her shots and then was crabby for the rest of the day. We sat in our living room all afternoon and folded laundry, napped, and knit while watching Netflix until our eyeballs were ready to fall out of our heads. Then Josh made dinner and we told the kids to go to bed. Many times. The end. At least we could joke that it was better than our 7th anniversary when we had to drive to Loma Linda with our 3 kids under the age of 6 (including our 1 month old baby) so Josh could have back surgery while I, the “support person” was out of my mind crazy.

Only a week left of Ramadan and then we’ll be Back In the High Life Again (remember the Lakers v Celtics NBA championship series theme song — 1987? Best basketball series ever). Looking forward to the Return of Lucy, the Start of School, and Normal Life Where Humans Eat and Drink during Daylight Hours. I better hurry and dig out of this rut before it turns into a ditch.

Good times . . . remember watching this one Dad? I wanted to find the highlight reel set to the song that they played after the Lakers won, but it isn’t in the YouTube vault. And what’s up with a Laker win, but the top 10 best plays are split evenly between the Celtics and the Lakers? (insert rant about East Coast bias here.)

***The basketball tangent came about because I was grumbling about our dirty house and then off hand thought to myself “pretty soon Lucy will be home and we’ll be back in the high life again” which made me think of that song, which always makes me think of the Lakers. The End.

Yes, we bought them. We were feeling the love and the kids needed some new shoes anyway . . . now we’re a family of barefoot freaks.