The Ras Tanura Giants

This was the year that Jack went from coach pitch to kid pitch baseball. We were lucky to have gotten the field that sits on the beach. Practice twice a week can be tough but when you get to stand there and listen to the waves it makes it pretty darn easy. I was the coach of the team and we had a rough season. We lost all our games but with three games to go we beat our arch rivals the Ras Tanura Dodgers and then two weeks later, took down the best team in the league to cap off our season. We peaked at the right time I guess. Jack played second base and was pitcher. He did a good job.

You might notice that he is wearing blue in one shot and black in another. He switched teams mid season as they needed me to go over and coach the other team. They knew how good I was at baseball...not!

Sarah's 11th Diva/Rocker Birthday Party

For Sarah's birthday last year she had a Diva/Rocker party. It was a really good party. Singing, dancing and a scavenger hunt around camp. I think she had a good time.

First the girls had a pizza party in the back yard.

Then Marie organized a scavenger hunt around camp. We borrowed a couple golf carts, broke the girls into teams and sent them on their way. They had to sing and dance at each house they went to in order to get the next clue.

We finished the night off with a dance party. I think I was the most Diva looking dancer out there. Aunt Ceci would do a dance move and the girls had to copy her move - they had a blast!

The Tallest Building in the World - Almost

On the way back from Bali we had to connect through Malaysia. We stayed overnight in Kuala Lumpur and decided to make the best of it. We headed out to hunt down a great Indian restaurant that was recommended by friends (the beauty of expat living) and then decided on a very limited time frame to try and take the train downtown and see the tallest buildings in the world - The Petronas Towers.

Getting on the elevated trains in KL turned out to be quite an experience in itself. I had seen video of Tokyo where they have guys shoving people into the trains and that is basically the way this was. We were crammed into the train so tight you could not move. Did I mention KL is hot. We were very freaked out. Marie was convinced we were going to get shoved off the train without one of the kids and I was conviced someone was going to pic pocket me. In the end the train was so full we were not able to get off at our stop and had to go to the next stop and get on coming back again. We finally made it to the towers and it was worth it. I had not had a chance to recharge my camera batteries from when we left Bali so I knew they were close to dead. I did not realize how low they were. I snapped the picture ( reason we made the effort) and the camera clicked and then turned off. I wasn't even sure I got the picture until we got home. But I did. It turned out pretty cool. The kids were standing on the steps above me and I was looking up at the towers. A great shot.

P.S. - We found out the very next day that the Burj al Kalifa opened in Dubai and took over as the tallest building...about two hours before we got to the Petronas Towers. Rats!