I’m not going to lie… We’ve been here in Kuwait for less than two weeks and I’m already going a little crazy. The trouble is, as of now, we don’t have a vehicle. Not because we don’t want one – we’ll be purchasing something as soon as possible – but because we need things like bank accounts and civil identifications before buying, and those things take time to acquire {lots and lots of time}. In a place like Vancouver, you can easily do without. Public transit is easy, as is walking or biking. Sidewalks are plentiful and things like parks and community centres and playgrounds and coffee shops are most often a short distance away. Here, not so much. It’s amazing how much you miss having sidewalks when they’re no longer around… In all fairness, we do have a Starbucks and a small playground within walking distance, but with the current state of our budding neighbourhood, they’re a {very hot} 30 minute walk through deep sand, trash, and construction sites away. Taxiing would be our other option. They’re inexpensive and plentiful, but in a country that doesn’t really do car seats, me lugging our 26 pound seat downstairs, installing it while attempting to supervise Miss G nearby, then lugging it around at our destination isn’t really feasible. And so, we stay at the apartments, making the most of our days inside or down in the courtyard and common play areas for now. It’s a great practice in patience for an always-on-the-go gal like me and it’s definitely pushing me to be creative in coming up with fun and engaging activities using minimal supplies.
Today as we rooted through a box of craft supplies we brought from Canada, Gracen enthusiastically retrieved a 6-pack of glitter pouches and asked if we could use them to make something. Though I’m normally up for a mess in the name of good fun, I didn’t particularly feel like having an apartment full of glitter today (the fact that we don’t yet own a dustpan may have something to do with it), so I quickly thought of something we could do with it outdoors – add it to our go-to homemade sidewalk chalk paint! The recipe is one of our very favourites because of its simplicity and the fact that you really only need two kitchen ingredients and some water to make it, and adding glitter could only make it better, right?
To create our gorgeously glittery paints, we whipped up a batch of sidewalk chalk paint using our usual blender method, coloured small batches to coordinate with our glitter, and sprinkled some sparkles into each bowl.
The results were beautiful and Gracen oohed and ahhed as they glittered in the desert sun.
No stranger to sidewalk painting, Miss G jumped right in. What was cool about this time around was that our cement courtyard was so hot that the paints literally dried in an instant.
We painted our usual favourites – happy faces, shapes, and people – and then Grae asked if we could make a ‘big giant sparkly walking ladder’. I wasn’t 100% certain on what that meant, but I envisioned it being train tracking looking and once Miss G gave it her stamp of approval, we ran with the idea.
Next up, Gracen wanted to draw letters. We played a little game of copycat and then Grae wanted to practice writing her name {upside down apparently!}
Though the photos don’t do them much justice, the paints dried with the most beautiful gleam – subtle, but sparkly.
After lasting a total of 30 minutes or so, we packed our things up and dragged our hot and sweaty selves upstairs to enjoy some lunch and A/C.
For more fun not found on the blog, join us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram.