Khiran Beach

2 / 28 / 1410 / 17 / 14

Oh my word… We very possibly may have visited the most beautiful place in Kuwait today – Khiran Beach. We’d heard about it through several different friends, and today we finally made a point of going. After a family breakfast at The Early Bird and an early ‘rest time’ for Miss G, we packed up the vehicle and headed waaaay out towards Wafra. The drive itself was pretty interesting as there were literally hundreds of tents and bouncy castles set up in large pods along the highway, and as we got nearer, several different herds of camels, sheep, and goats.

We followed the directions we’d been given to a tee, but ended up at a point where we were 99% certain we were somewhere very wrong. We were in the middle of a new residential area, and the place was absolutely deserted. Several streets were lined with large sand embankments, fences, tractor tires, and ‘Construction Zone – KEEP OUT!’ signs. What we didn’t realize initially was that that was exactly where we needed to be. After Brad had been sent ahead to scope out what was on the other side of the embankments, we piled out of the vehicle, made our way through a mess of sand and tires, and found this. An absolutely gorgeous beach all to ourselves.

Despite the fact that it had been raining on the way out and we came dressed in hoodies and scarves, it wasn’t long until Grae was in the water. Lucky for us, the sun came out and completely made the day. We enjoyed a picnic, wrote ridiculous things in the sand upon the request of Miss G, and took her home salty, sandy, and exhausted. It was a good day.

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Sabah Al Salem Playground

2 / 13 / 143 / 14 / 14

Finding nice playgrounds to visit in Kuwait is no easy task. While there are a good number of them scattered around the country, most are fairly disastrous. From our experience, they’re often smeared with food, littered with fast food garbage, and on the dangerous side due to broken equipment that seems to take months to be repaired.

Jarir Bookstore {in Hawally Park}

2 / 2 / 143 / 2 / 14

Today Miss G and I ventured out to one of my favourite bookshops in Kuwait… Jarir Bookstore! It’s located right inside Hawally Park, which is sort of weird, but makes for an interesting visit.

Anjafa Beach

1 / 30 / 143 / 2 / 14

Today we ventured down to Anjafa Beach to check out the fun-looking playground we’d passed by a few days back, but were disappointed to find that while it looked cool from the road, it was basically a hot mess up close. Other than being filthy {something we’ve grown very used to when it comes to playgrounds in Kuwait}, many pieces of equipment were broken {and sharp} and the play area was surrounded by construction holes, wires sticking out of the ground, and stacks of bricks. Not quite what we were hoping for….

Luckily though, the beach area in the same park was quite lovely. Besides a few fishermen way down the way, we pretty much had the entire thing to ourselves and spent the morning finding treasures, dipping our toes in the cool waves, and making footprints and drawings in the untouched sand. It was a really lovely morning. Now if only the weather would stay just like this year round…

Al Kout Mall & Lookout Tower

10 / 7 / 1310 / 17 / 14

Al Kout Mall is one of my favourite nearby places to hang out in Kuwait… It has a beautiful water-lined walking path leading up to it, fountains that are choreographed to music, and tons of outdoor seating space. Plus, if you go in the mornings, it’s very quiet, which I love. Miss G and I visited this morning, enjoyed cool drinks outside, and then climbed to the top of the lookout tower. Here’s our morning in photos…

Bright Minds’ Creative Play Area

9 / 28 / 1310 / 4 / 13

One of the things I loved most about living in Vancouver with a toddler was how much there was to do. During our 2 years there, I never felt like I was grasping for things to do and see – not even during the dreary winters… On beautiful days we’d visit parks, hang out at the beach, and go for walks, and on rainy days we’d hang out at our favourite indoor spots (community centre play gyms, pools, libraries, and skating rinks, the conservatory, the airport observation area, 6 Pack Beach, Pottery Barn Kids, the Play Palace, UBC, Kokopeli, or Sweet Salt to name a few). On top of all of that, kids’ programs were plentiful and inexpensive, so we enjoyed many rounds of parent and tot swimming and ballet, and we were members at both the Vancouver Aquarium and Science World.

Having had it so good for so long, I was a teensy bit worried that our days in Kuwait would be dull in comparison. The truth is, parks and play areas and kids programs do exist here… it’s just that without talking to the right person, you may never find out about them {and once you do, they can be terribly expensive}. So, I decided to start my research early. We were actually still living in Vancouver when I first learned about Bright Minds Creative Learning Centre. It looked and sounded like the perfect place for us online, so I was excited for our first visit.

The Scientific Center Kuwait

9 / 24 / 1310 / 19 / 13

Ever since arriving in Kuwait, Miss G has talked about doing 2 special things when we visit Vancouver next summer… Going to the Kerrisdale Play Palace and visiting Science World. Well imagine her surprise when I told her that Kuwait has its own version of both of those things – so excited! She’s waited for weeks and weeks, and now that we finally have a car, we were able to cross one of the two off of our list this morning.