Atlantis The Palm

Kaitlynn's birthday fell during the month of Ramadan this year, and we debated for weeks on how we should properly celebrate. After much consideration and a little prompting, she decided that she wanted to spend her birthday weekend at one of the most famous attractions in Dubai - Atlantis The Palm. We decided to stay for one night in the hotel, which allowed us to spend time at the hotel facilities, the Atlantis aquarium, and the Aquaventure water park. For the price of one night's stay, we were able to spend two full days at the resort.

It was a humid weekend so my iPhone camera didn't fare too well with resort photos. Suffice it to say that the Atlantis resort is huge and super fancy by Courtright standards. Here's a stock photo showing the resort in all its glory.

This may have been our first time staying at a 5-star resort. The kids always LOVE staying at hotels and this one certainly didn't disappoint. The grand lobby is beautiful and connects to the two separate wings of hotel rooms. Along the way are many acclaimed restaurants and shops, all of which are quite expensive I might add.

We checked into our room and took in the amenities and view. With the humidity and poor air quality that weekend, the view wasn't quite as advertised but it was still really neat.

We went to enjoy some pizza for dinner at one of the Atlantis restaurants. Afterwards, we walked the resort grounds and took it all in.

At one section of the resort, there is a HUGE glass wall displaying the aquarium creatures inside. It was mesmerizing. The sea life at the aquarium was amazing to behold. Jeff said he could've stood there all night. We later toured the aquarium and it was really neat, likely one of the best we've visited.




The kids were probably most excited about visiting the Aquaventure water park which is on the resort grounds. We rode most of the water rides and enjoyed them all. The biggest rides were fun but we were surprised that the water was really warm on the family tunnel slide. We also struggled walking throughout the park because the concrete was SO hot that it was scalding our feet! Probably our favorite part of the entire waterpark was the kids play area because the water was SO cool and refreshing.

Not pictured but likely one of the things the kids will remember the most about our Atlantis stay is the "breakfast" we had during our visit. The resort restaurants offer an incredible breakfast buffet for guests, but our kids just don't eat enough to justify the expense. Instead, we drove to a local Spinney's supermarket and raided their bakery. Back at our hotel room, we ate donuts, cookies, muffins, and bananas for our breakfast of champions. The kids couldn't believe they were allowed so much sugar and they still talk about how much they enjoyed that breakfast!

Our weekend at Atlantis was the perfect adventure in Dubai to celebrate Kaitlynn's upcoming birthday. And she still had another week to enjoy several more birthday surprises.

Adventure HQ

Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims, was held this year during mid-May to mid-June. We weren't sure what to expect for our first Ramadan experience in the UAE, but it ended up not feeling much different than usual for us. One thing that was quite different were the school hours for the kids, which were reduced everyday in order to accommodate those students that were fasting. The kids were released from school at 1:00 pm for the entire month, which meant that we were able to have some extra time for various activities and family time.

During one such afternoon, I took the kids to an indoor place with rock-climbing and a ropes course. It was called Adventure HQ, and we had seen it on a previous outing and thought it looked fun. The kids were given harnesses and helmets and then they were off on the ropes course.

The ropes course was suspended way up high in the building. I'm sure anyone with a fear of heights would've had trouble, but Connor and Kaitlynn did great. Each obstacle of the course was given a difficulty rating, and the tires ended up being the hardest and scariest for them. They went through the course twice and really enjoyed it. I was standing off to the side taking pictures and having heart palpitations. Ha!

After the ropes course, they decided to try the rock-climbing wall. After a few attempts, they both managed to make it all the way to the top of the wall. It turned out to be a perfect outing for our afternoon off from school.

Spring School Updates

As the school year was winding down, there was no shortage of fun activities for the kids. Here is a collection of updates and photos.

First up, I was excited to see the kids' portraits from their spring semester at Dubai American Academy. They were quite different from the traditional school photos from our Texas schools. I don't really know what to say about Connor's picture. His crazy hair, askew collar and tie, the wrinkled shirt...oh the joys of middle school! Ha! But how fun is Kaitlynn's 3rd grade class photo? I wish our schools back home did photos like these. So neat!

After spring break, the kids both started a new swimming unit in their PE classes. They loved the chance to swim during the hot days. Connor had to wear a swim cap for the first time, which really emphasized the size and shape of his huge noggin. Ha!

Connor has never played basketball on a team before, but he's been enjoying playing with his buddies in the neighborhood for a while. We lined up a local coach to give him some lessons so that maybe he can join a team later this year. He really enjoys the weekly lessons while Kaitlynn plays in the park and I try to do some walking.

Kaitlynn's elementary school recently hosted a Fine Arts night, and she was excited to show me her self-portrait that she drew in Art. Poor girl, she just LOVES all crafts but she ended up with a mother who is the opposite of crafty. We attended a girls craft night to learn how to embroider and I *may* have had to fight tears of frustration. No thank you!!

Connor was a bit jealous, but Kaitlynn's 3rd grade class enjoyed several field trips this spring. One of them was a trip to the Green Planet, which is an indoor rainforest. The kids had so much fun exploring the rainforest plants and animals.

Kaitlynn's class also took a field trip towards the end of their school year. They visited the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, which is a center that promotes the Emirati culture, customs, traditions, and religion for visitors. Through fun activities like art projects, interactive history lesson, and even an authentic Arabic lunch buffet, the kids were able to enjoy such a unique and fun experience. Kaitlynn was NOT impressed with the Arabic coffee, ha!

Connor Turns 12

My firstborn turned 12 in early May. How did this happen?? Ha! He definitely seems to be changing in appearance these days and growing taller everyday. I keep trying to slow down time but nothing is working.

We bought Connor a new Apple laptop for school earlier this year, and we made it clear at the time that his Macbook would be the ONLY thing he would get for his birthday. But we wanted to make sure he could celebrate his 12th birthday with some friends, too. He decided to invite a few of his favorite buddies from school and baseball for an afternoon of trampoline fun and pizza. Kaitlynn was able to invite a friend along as well. They were all exhausted and sweaty after 2 hours at Bounce Dubai.

Afterwards, we went to Russo's Pizza for dinner and cake. Connor's requested birthday treat was a brownie cake. I experimented with homemade icing and it turned out great.

Connor had a great birthday with his favorite buddies, and it reminded me how lucky we are that he has adapted so easily to his new city and school.

Kaitlynn's Spring Choir

One of the first activities that Kaitlynn signed up for this spring was the elementary school choir. She attended choir practices after school all semester and really enjoyed the rehearsal time with her friends. In mid-May, the elementary choir performed in a concert for the parents and did such a nice job. Kaitlynn's choir teacher, Ms. Novak, did such a great job with the kids and the organization of the performances.

The school also puts on an annual spring musical performance to showcase all of the elementary students. The theme of this year's performance was The Beatles. Kaitlynn's favorite song was "When I'm 64" and she loved dressing up and performing with her friends. With the separate choir performance as well as two different school performances, Kaitlynn had a lot of stage time and did such a great job.