We celebrated Monster's 5th birthday on the 12th! If you know Weston, you know this nickname fits him. This has been attached to him, since he was in the womb. If you have been part of our friend circle that long, you can easily recall the challenges we overcame to get him into this world! Whew....and I thought that was the difficult part!!! I journaled to him throughout that pregnancy, and it is so funny to go back and read how I perceived things. His character must have been already taking shape; wild, sometimes aggravating, wonderful, awesome, and too darn smart!
We really went all out for his party at school. There are over 30 kids in the class, so I was not looking forward to making treats for this many kiddos. I asked him what he would like, and he said "a pinata". DONE!!! I just so happened to bring one with me from Texas. I was planning to have a bug themed party for him, so this was a spider. Hey, it was gonna have to do! Mom and I stuffed it full with glitter glue, lollipops, candy bars, fruity candy canes (a rarity here), and Mambas. Then, I was on Pinterest looking for a monster cake. I found one and adapted it to something original. We took this all to school, and everyone was in awe. The cake was white chocolate with buttercream (green buttercream, per his request), and it was DEVOURED by those kids! I never imagined they would eat all of it! The teachers said they usually throw the cakes away, so this made me very happy. Not for me, but that my Monster's party was a hit with his friends. The pinata went over extremely well too. All of the kids took a swing at it with a rubber baseball bat, and it was still perfectly intact. I was worried we might be there A.LONG.TIME! Adam finally helped 'em a bit, with a tear at the top. Then......the scatter of treats and squeals of delight. I was so happy, and so was Weston. Adam was off work, Mom was here, and Hinley was with us. Poor Jordan was a few steps away in his own classroom.
The kids raked up the loot, filled their backpacks and headed to the buses. Weston rode the bus home with Nana, grinning ear to ear!
The morning of his actual birthday, we headed to Bahrain, or as I call it, Btown. Mom was flying back in a couple of days, and we wanted to show her some things there without having to wear abayas (yes, that does become a privilege). We arrived at the Crowne Plaza that afternoon to realize that our room key came with free cookies, coffee and tea all day! This made the kids' day. Also, there was happy hour from 6-8 in the pub, which was included. Now, we are not heavy drinkers, but you take some Americans who live in a dry country and tell them there is free happy hour, they just might do cartwheels in the lobby. We refrained, of course, but we sure did have some proper champagne one night! We even had PORK with breakfast. Goodness, we felt spoiled!!!
Okay, so the little guy got to choose what he wanted for his BIG SPECIAL DINNER. What did he choose...MAC and CHEESE!!! After walking into a steakhouse where our waitress was wearing a sad excuse of a cowboy hat, bolo tie, and boots; and we were the only patrons, we went to Carino's. It was delicious! When we arrived back at the hotel, there was a cake waiting in the room. That is customer service!!
The entire weekend was one long festivity, really. We all had a blast! The only thing nobody really enjoyed was dropping Nana off at the airport. She had to get back to her J.O.B. though. She arrived home safely, and we made wonderful memories.
List for today,might make you blush:
1. Bahrain bars are full of Saudi men who drive over to drink.
2. I heard someone say, "The best way to smuggle alcohol is in your belly." Crazy but true.
3. There are actual hookers in the nicest of hotels in Bahrain bars, and EVERY hotel has a bar. You wouldn't know they were hookers if nobody had ever warned you.
4. It is weird to know we spend many weekends in a Kingdom where protests occur daily and are on Yahoo news. Bahrain is safe if you know where you are going.
5. Bahrain is so much prettier than Saudi, because it caters to the tourists.
6. I am itching to get to Texas, and I am praying that passes.
7. The restaurants all play loud hip hop music in the background. Even Carino's, where it should be casual Italian music, there was Rihanna and Usher. It is so funny.
8. All of the service staff in Saudi (anyone not a citizen, for that matter), are here on Visas.
9. Roll that around in your mind! This is a HUGE KINGDOM, but the people raised here are so lazy that they have to depend on migrant workers just to wait tables. That, and the fact that they will not let women work.
10. Thank you for sharing in this adventure with me!!!
Arabic for the day:
bito=by
Blessed be your day!
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