Holy Cow He's Almost One!

I can't believe my baby will be one in four days! It feels like he was just in my belly and now he shows me on a daily basis how independent he truly thinks he is. His precious little life is flying by, I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with him and capture and share the many beautiful faces of Gavin John! Happy Birthday my sweet little boy, I love you!

They're A Lot Bigger Than You Think!

On January 12, 2010 The Fabulous Flusche Family visited a Camel Farm. No, really. I can't make this stuff up! The camel farm had over 200 camels just "hanging out" ready for their photo op. (Darn tourists - laugh!) The Arabs once called the camel the ship of the desert, now they are just a sentimental mainstay. Camels can go 5-7 days with little or no food and water, sounds like my kind of pet!Dear Santa... :)

Some brave souls were nutty enough to ride them that afternoon, we however plan on returning on a cooler morning for our rides. Tanner seemed a little unsure and we didn't want to push it - maybe when we visit next time he'll be interested in "a ride of a lifetime"!


AAAHHHH! Too bright! The sun is melting my retinas!


Tanner and his new buddy!


Unlike myself, they are very tall!


This is how the camels get together with their Girlfriends for coffee! Starbucks?


I like to think they are gossiping about the obnoxious tourists taking their pictures (Hey? No! They can't be talking about me! Or can they?) ;)

An Ancient Must-See!

Don't leave Bahrain without a trip back in time! The Bahrain Fort is a Must-See! I believe the fort is Tanner's favorite place on the whole island... I had trouble keeping up with him! There are parts of the fort that date back to pre-historic times and the "youngest" parts of the fort date back to the 11th-13th century.


Tanner called this his "Dome Room".


Tanner's favorite spot was one we "accidentally" wandered into, this is the staircase to the room pictured above.


Tanner cheesing it up in one of the oldest archways in the fort.


We found it amazing that these archways are still standing!


Paul and Tanner near the entrance of the Bahrain Fort.

Having a GRAND time at the GRAND MOSQUE

The Far-Far Away Flusches recently visited the Ahmad Al Fateh Mosque (The Grand Mosque)in Juffair, Bahrain. The Grand Mosque is the largest mosque in the Kingdom of Bahrain, accommodating 7000 worshipers weekly. The Grand Mosque opened it's doors June 2nd in 1988. The total cost of the building was close to $20 Million dollars.


Jann is dressed in Abaya (robe) and Hejab (head scarf) all women must wear these traditional items upon entering a mosque. Women who practice Islam wear them every day when they leave their homes.


Inside the Grand Mosque you will find two floors for worship. The bottom (Main Level) is reserved for men and the top level (balcony) is for female worshipers. The separate worship space is designed so the sexes don't distract each other from their worship.


The main building has an amazingly beautiful chandelier that was imported from France.


The main building of the Grand Mosque has two 230 feet minarets (towers) that call worshipers to prayer 5 times daily.


This is Tanner and Jann with our wonderful tour guide.

Cry Baby

Well, I guess we have begun the settling in process. We have lived in Bahrain now for 28 days and our little world has consisted, for the most part, of the hotel and base.



Today, Tanner began taking classes at a British school in the area. He has been out of formal school since mid-October and has missed the routine of a school schedule, as have I. When touring the school he acted aloof and non interested... but today was a different story.


Tanner walked through the parking lot like he had cement in his shoes. As we climbed the staircase to his classroom he held my hand (tightly). As we walked through the door my "tough guy" hid behind me when 18 sets of five year old eyes gawked at him. His teacher is an adorable British woman with bobbed red hair. She welcomed Tanner and asked the class to greet Tanner and help him find his cubby. Tanner acted very shy, which is so foreign to me, in fact my heart swelled and panic struck in.




But don't you worry my dear friends I held it together (until I made it to the staircase). AND THEN IT HAPPENED.... the flood gates opened and I boo-hooed like a big ol' baby! I tried to hide the tears from the school's assistant but Shanee saw right through me trying to hide my drenched eyes behind Gavin in the baby front carrier. She got worried and asked me if I wanted to go back and check on him or if she could check on him for me. "No, no, not necessary" I insisted I was fine (LIAR) and tried to dry up the water works before I drew any more attention to myself. She said she would check on him in an hour's time and call my cell to give me an update. Again, "not necessary" are the words that came from my mouth but "Oh good, thank God!" is what danced in my head.

I know he'll be just fine. Actually, I know he'll be better than "just fine"... by 11:00AM he'll be lifelong friends with the whole class and know all the names of the children in the surrounding classes. I have no idea what came over me. I never cried taking him to Mother's Day Out or Yorktown Christian Academy. I think it's that our whole life feels so new. All of it, new country, new culture, new "looking" people and their dress, new foods, new sounds, we've been living out of suitcases in a hotel and using a rental car... it all seems so foreign, so different. The only thing that has remained consistent and comfortable is the 4 of us. This morning is the first time since we set foot on this island that Tanner has been out of my sight.



Again, I know he's fine, fabulous in fact. He's having a ball and playing with his new friends at this very moment. I just wish I could be as mature as my precious five year old! Breath in, breath out, have another cup of coffee and enjoy the quiet because when I pick him up in a few hours the chaos will start up and I'll miss the silence, right! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL

Family back home in Tulsa, OK received foot of snow yesterday and all we got was a foot of sand... somehow that's not the White Christmas I was dreaming of! (laugh)

Actually, I like our end of the bargain better, our Christmas day has been in the 70's with a light breeze and did I mention no snow shovel necessary to get the morning paper. ;)

We were so glad to see that Santa thought ahead and left Krispy Kremes and coffee for breakfast - WE'RE NOT WORTHY, WE'RE NOT WORTHY - THANK YOU SANTA!!!!

The kids loved their gifts and if we're going to be completely honest Gavin really, really loved the gift wrap. It could have been a VERY inexpensive Christmas all we should have purchased for the 23 pound "ball of energy" is a roll of wrapping paper. The "big hit" gift for Tanner was something called Bakugan, don't ask. They are magnetic playing cards and balls that pop open into animal-things. They are perfect "bite-size" items for Gavin to try to choke on, let the fun begin!

We enjoyed church service on base this morning and then crossed the main walk on base to share a great Christmas buffet for lunch. This evening we went to Brad and Katie's loft for snacks and holiday "cheer", their home is beautiful and it was so nice to get an opportunity to meet some of the guys in Paul's squadron. We hope to Skyp with friends and family back home before retiring for the night... it's been a long and wonderful day. God Bless and Merry Christmas!

We're Here!

Today is officially our one week anniversary of living overseas - and what a week it's been! Where to start? The traveling portion of the trip deserves it's own blog! Nearly 20 hours on an airplane with a ten month old and a five year old makes us qualified for some sort of an award, sainthood maybe?

We traveled from Dallas straight to Amsterdam where we endured a six hour layover while suffering some SERIOUS jet lag. Here's a travel tip if flying through Amsterdam with kids: look for the Infant's Lounge. It was there that we found a shining beacon that we called our "baby tent" which boasted a crib and two (tiny) bench seats enclosed with a mesh tent. The facility was very clean and offered sweet water for bottles, a microwave oven and two baby bath sinks (caution: the water for the bath is lukewarm). While there Paul purchased the most refreshing beverage of his thirty three years: the $5 can of Coka-Cola, it tastes better when you pay a small fortune for it, right?

From Amsterdam we flew the seven hour trek to Kuwait. In Kuwait we had an hour layover on the same plane than an hour or so flight to Bahrain. We flew KLM Airlines the entire way and received wonderful service. However, next time I make the flight, an upgrade to Business Class would be PRICELESS (think flying in Southwest seats for nearly 20 hours, OUCH!)

Upon arrival to Bahrain we went through customs which was a complete breeze, I don't recommend the restrooms before customs, trust me, WAIT UNTIL YOU GET TO YOUR HOTEL! (Hollie do you hear me?!?!?!) We found our luggage, all 8 pieces of it which was hauled away by some He-Man Porter on a cart with only two wheels. Geeez, talk about service! Two of Paul's buddies from our new squadron picked us up and somehow we got 8 pieces of luggage, 5 carry-ons, a stroller, a car-seat and the 6 of us in a Mazda and a Jeep! I'm sure we broke at least 17 US laws, shhhhh... don't tell!

We checked into our beautiful hotel apartment at 2:00AM local time and began the jet lag transformation process. The apartment is great and the staff here is out of this world with SERVICE (which I think is the true "Pearl of Bahrain"). Our Housekeeping staff hugs Tanner and kisses Gavin on a daily basis, which I have to admit weirded me out a little in the beginning but I quickly got over it and now it's one of the favorite parts of my day!

The view from our apartment living room is hands down the BEST view of Manama (the Capital City)on the whole island! The washer & dryer is actually one unit and it only took me a week to figure out how to do a load of laundry, the first load I did took about 36 hours. I couldn't get the drying cycle to dry the clothes, but this morning I finally saw the bottom of the hamper - Hallelujah!

Happy Christmas Eve, more stories to come later!