Robin Chartier – Page 137

Mommy

The internet is super slow tonight. I’m never sure if it’s an end of the month problem (there are some weird “fair usage” limits here which mean if you use up your allotted data for the month, they don’t cut you off, they just slow you down so everyone else has a fair chance at getting fast internet), if the government is intentionally throttling the speed (it is always slower during heavy protest weekends), or if sand has gotten in the system and is mucking things up. So just two quick photos tonight because if I add any more I’ll be waiting until morning for them to finish uploading.

My favorite Mother’s Day card from Caleb. I love how he captured my essence. Especially the tired part. It might be my favorite card ever. (Which is the real reason why I put it on my blog — though I appreciate all of you reading, I know someday I am going to want to be reminded of this beautiful scrap of paper that was hanging on my fridge in 3 different houses, but then got lost in one of our 41 bazillion moves. By putting it here, I can keep it forever.)

And a progress photo. Since Easter I’ve been going to big church and Camille has been going to her Friday School class. Not only is she excited about going (and talks about wanting to see her friends in the car on the way to church), but she wants her brothers to drop her off so she says “Goodbye!” to me at the church doorway. There is nothing half-way about her: hot or cold, fused to my hip or running in the opposite direction, and giggles or tantrums. It’s like flipping a switch.

Miler

As part of the swim team, Carter participated in the Mile Challenge yesterday.

Yes, he actually swam a mile. 32 laps/64 lengths.

His faithful cheerleaders

He swam a mix of breaststroke (his favorite)

and freestyle

He does a pretty great kickturn too.

41 minutes later, challenge completed!

That was good enough for me, but of course all the boys wanted to know (including the biggest boy) what place he finished, how many other people he beat and all sorts of other competitive details. Supposedly he finished 3rd overall, but since it wasn’t a race, I wasn’t keeping track.

We should have gotten him some goggles. I forget that just because we didn’t wear goggles back in the dark ages (something about our parents wanting us to learn to swim with our eyes open without using a crutch), that goggles are actually really useful for swim team to keep your eyes from all that extra chlorine exposure.

Otherwise your eyes might be so sensitive on the way home that you have to resort to wearing your mom’s sunglasses.

She knows she’s cute: “Take a picture of me!”

Um, super excited about seeing the Bahraini flag flying outside of school. Not sure what that’s about.

Later that evening at Calvin’s band concert. I love trying to watch a concert through a sea of screens. Please sit in the front row and hold your big old phone up above your head the entire time. (She did. For over an hour. Good thing Calvin was playing saxophone in the back and I couldn’t see him anyway.)

Same family, two screens. Seriously? And are you really going to go back and watch your shaky, dimly lit video of mediocre middle school/high school band music at a later date? People puzzle me. Often.

I couldn’t get any photos of him during the concert, but afterwards he was showing off his new earrings. No worries, they’re just magnets (and they aren’t even his). There must be something wrong with me, because I think they actually look good on him.

So long, farewell . . .

ma’a salama, goodnight!
We hate to go, and leave this pretty sight!

Last day at Atlantis. Hopefully not for forever.

New game: throw the shoes in the pool and retrieve them.

I really admire the women who are required to be covered but find a way to swim anyway. In all my times at the pool all over the Middle East, I’ve never seen a woman in a burkini and a swimming niquab (the face veil). That is serious dedication (either to her religion or to her love of water sports!).

Fun with our dear friends

Even cuter is that Camille is wearing Meredith’s old swimsuit

She had no fear of going down all the slides. It was kind of crazy. She did everything she was tall enough to do and rode the rapids on the lazy river countless times. We had so much more fun with her this time than on our previous visits. It was also a lot more work keeping up with her — not like last time when I could sit back and post on Facebook while reading “Hello!” magazine.

Photo Credit: Macfadyen

OK, so I guess I got to do a little of that.

Photo Credit: Macfadyen

Best friends

Photo Credit: Macfadyen

Fun on the lazy river — don’t miss Carter on the far left.

Photo Credit: Macfadyen

The joys of having teenager who babysat Camille while we rode a few rides together. (Again, Carter poking his head in between us.)

Photo Credit: Macfadyen

Carter FINALLY went down the Leap of Faith. It only took 3 years of talking about it. He said he didn’t like it that much.

The Shark Tank ride goes right through this aquarium filled with sharks and rays. Camille yelled out, “He’s smiling!” and now I can’t see a ray without noticing their “smile.”

This one looks a little frowny

After finishing our day at the waterpark, we hopped in a cab and headed to downtown Dubai for the second half of our vacation.

Goodbye . . . Goodbye . . . Goodbye . . . (To be continued)

good times in Dubai

After 4 times at Atlantis, there isn’t much left to say that I haven’t said in previous posts except now that baby girl is older, I spent 3 solid days in the pool and a week later my skin is still dry and itchy from all the chlorine exposure. It was totally worth it though.

Running to get to the slides.

We thought this was a big deal

And then she insisted on going by herself

At dinner

The 10 meter tall glass sculpture in the lobby doesn’t get old

Neither does the huge aquarium

I loved this poster. So Middle East.

I have a few more days of photos to go through, but time keeps slipping away from me. I’m not sure if it’s the end of year rush, the new knitting project I’ve been working on, or the release of the newest Arrested Development on Netflix that has been eating up all of my time, but every time I blink, another day is over. That’s good news though when it comes to counting down the days until we head to the US! (Family members who are wondering: still don’t have tickets, so no confirmed dates.)

The Father of our Nation

The day before we left for vacation, Carter took part in the 5th grade “wax museum.” A few months ago everyone had to pick a famous person in history to research and write a report about. (Remember, Carter switched to George Washington because he “couldn’t find any information on Albert Einstein.”)

Fifty million steps later (the written report, timeline, hand drawn illustrations, compose 10 questions about, etc) the final piece of the project was to create a 5 minute first-person oral presentation/speech about your person. The wax museum format had each of the kids stationed in front of their table with visual displays and props, including a red “push me” button. Over a two hour period, every time someone came by their display and pushed their start button, they were to give their prepared speech.

(The yarn braid and baby powder was my doing. The suit is from Wendy’s wedding — all 3 have been used as costumes over and over again these past two years.)

Teachers took turns taking their elementary school classes to visit the wax museum. Carter gave his speech 15 to 20 times.

I never knew that when George Washington married Martha she brought two kids into the marriage (and was the wealthiest woman in Virginia at the time), but he never had any kids of his own. I also learned (from another kid) that Henry Ford was an anti-Semite, which sounded especially funny in the first person format when the kid said “I hated Jews.”