The Seamons Family Oasis

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Rome

Rome - Day 1

What can I say? It was Rome!
It was amazing, delicious, fragrant, sunny, rainy, cozy, exhausting, exhilarating and more.
One of my top 5? 10? Well one of my top vacation get-a-ways with Q.
We began the trip with a late departure out of Abu Dhabi - 11:30 pm. Was nice, gave us time to get the kids ready for bed and dropped off to our good friend's house for a few days. The kids were excited for a few days of sleepovers with their buddies, they were pretty happy when we left.

Traveling with Q is a very different experience than the "family caravan" travel I am accustomed to. There are no diaper bags, no being saddled up with 5 bulging backpacks (one being my own), and loaded down with snacks, game boys, crayons, coloring books and all sorts of entertainment for the long road ahead. This trip was quite the opposite. We packed really light - taking only a backpack each. We spent the waiting hours in the airport lounge- which I have to say was very nice. Chicken curries, byrami rice, noddles and all sorts of breads and dips, green salads, oriental salads, Greek salads and decadent desserts to finish off. I flew with a very satisfied tummy.
We arrived in Rome in the early morning, hopped aboard a local train from the airport and hit the Vatican. Didn't know it was its own country.

Me outside the old entrance. It is now the exit. The Vatican, St. Peters Square, Sistine chapel and St. Peters Basilica are all inside the Vatican in the heart of Rome. We waited in line for about 1/2 hour then bagged waiting and met up with a tour guide. Totally worth the extra cash, at least it gave some understanding to what we were looking at.

In the Acorn Courtyard - main piazza. Me with our very informative guide. She is a fellow Canadian!!!

Main entrance in the Vatican Museum - a hall full of Busts. Overwhelming but very cool!

A view of Rome from a window in the Vatican.

Courtyard with mega tourists and Roman Statues. Did you know the Vatican has approx 60,000 visitors a day?

Roman statues carved from marble. So mind blowing that someone can create a very detailed, lifelike replica of human and gods.

I loved how real this foot looked.

A huge marble bath for parties - all female of course.

Statue of Artemis Ephesia

Room dedicated to Mary

Very ornate ceilings- art everywhere!

Just a glimpse of some of the Vatican Museum - a museum that sprawls over 7 km of amazing art masterpieces. This part took us a bit over an hour and a half - just inside. Be prepared to spend a good part of the day here. The Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica are more of this day's highlights. Did I say overwhelming? I will post more on this amazing day- I just need to get some posts out of the way...Rome, so far!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Art Week for Grace

What a day for the 3rd graders! What a day to WOW their parents with all their artistic talent!

Last week the 3rd graders had most of their art projects on display - and then parents were invited to an assembly where the kids explained what they had learned and created.

This is an example of Kinetic Art - art that moves, by Grace and Eva. It was displayed upstairs in the PYP building.

Grace's example of Impressions. She reproduced her own reflection from a mirror. She choose to express unhappiness. She concentrated on the frown and making her eyes look sad. Great job Grace!

This is an example of one point perspective- You have a vanishing point, everything goes towards this point and disappears. Grace drew this step by step.

The kids also played recorder - they've learned about 20 songs this year.

The students had to make a persuasive advertisement. The theme was chocolate bars.
Good work Grace and Amaya!

Grace was chosen to present her one point perspective piece to the audience. Way to go Grace!

Fellow students explaining their art work.

No assembly is complete in the Middle East without an Arabic presentation.

The kids learned an Arabic song about the cycle of water.

Very fun and very talented kids at Raha School. I think the art programme is unparalleled - the resources and teachers are super fantastic! Awesome job Grade 3's!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Hodgsons in the House!

Can you believe it? Roseanne and kiddos flew out here to visit us in Abu Dhabi! We didn't believe it until we got the phone call that they had actually landed. It was a long few flights- Anchorage - Salt Lake City - Vegas - Atlanta - Dubai. For me, it was totally worth it!
Their family arrived late Wednesday night, about 11pm. Quin, Audrey, Grace and Sul picked them up at the Dubai Airport. It was an all night party once they got here.

Of course we took them to The Grand Mosque- a highlight of their trip. First time in a mosque for the Hodgsons. They loved it!

My beautiful sister - Roseanne.

Cute shot of Sadie.

This is a pic of the washing room - where the women perform ablution before they go into the mosque. They must wash their ears, feet, arms up to the elbows, I think that's all...A similar one is in the men's bathroom.

We spent a day at the Corniche beach downtown in Abu Dhabi. A beautiful day - reading, swimming, paddle boarding. Was a blast!

Kiddos!

Crazy cousins! So fun for my kids to have Rosie's kids here for a few days! We miss them so much!

Another day we just spent at the clubhouse pool. Roseanne said if she lived here she would never leave. Just hang out here all day, every day! Sounds good to me!

Hailee and Hazel.

Another day we spent touring Heritage Village. I have blogged about that in the past. It is a living museum, what life would have been like 40 years ago in Abu Dhabi. They have camel rides, jewelry making, trinkets for sale, etc. This is Hailee trying on the cloak for one of the Sheiks. It is embroidered with gold thread. Pretty fancy!