Josh has been gone all week — he’s on the island but contained to a Bahraini base somewhere south of here so he might as well be in Saudi/Lebanon/Oman. Meanwhile a nasty crud has been making its way through our base/school community. Headache, body aches, fever (sometimes), sore throat and cough. And it’s long lasting. No 24 hour bug here.
I came down with it a week ago and I’m still coughing and out of breath like I’ve got the lungs of a life-long smoker. I finally ditched the headache after 5 days, but Camille came down with it 3 days ago, and Caleb and Calvin both were struck for shorter periods. Carter is the last man standing. We’ll see if he can hold out after a weekend at camp with little sleep surrounded by 300 other Middle/High School kids (coming from as far away as Kuwait, Qatar, etc). He was so exhausted this morning that he didn’t want to go to school (not that he wants to go when he’s well rested either, but whatever). I felt a bit guilty telling him he had to go from the comfort of my warm bed (that I had to stay in to keep Camille from waking up), but when the kid thinks bringing his grade up from an F to a C+ is “awesome,” he needs to be in class.
dropping the kids off at camp.
The base now has a youth group program that is run by Club Beyond, the military version of Young Life. We are so thankful that they are here in Bahrain. It is one of the reasons that made it an easy choice to stay. They have great youth leaders who go eat lunch with the kids at school on Tuesdays, they have Club (fun and games outreach-type program), and small groups each week too. Lots of opportunities to connect with other military kids who are Christians.
We’re also thankful for the excellent youth program at our church. It’s for ages 13 and up, so Calvin is the only one attending this year, but with this group he connects with expat kids from other countries who are Christians. The boys are getting the best of both experiences.
Camp games — Carter was red team, Calvin was Green team
Carter way on the left, cut off with plaid shorts on someone’s shoulders. Calvin is in the middle back, looking down at the ground.
studying? or sleeping?
Supposedly Carter had a great time at camp too, I just don’t have any photographic proof of it.
What we did while the big boys were at camp:
Camille played with the dog (yes, he is under there somewhere — what a good sport!)
She played with my makeup
Caleb went to a birthday party in this beautiful compound — I couldn’t help but stop and take pictures of the amazing flowers. I still don’t want to move, but beauty like this makes it tempting.
Camille played with (terrorized) the cat
Caleb’s first “mojito.” We went to KFC for lunch and it was a special on their menu. It was really good and would be simple to make: either Sprite or 7Up with lime juice and crushed mint.
Camille fluctuated between sick
and less sick.
And I coughed through it all . . .
