The Flying Tambrinis: We're on Staycation

This week we were supposed to go on a spring break trip to Senegal with our friends. Unfortunately, Aaron's leave was cancelled at the last minute - he didn't need to work all week, but he needed to stay in town, just in case. So we had a staycation. Determined to make the best of it, we found fun things to do with the kids. We also slept in, enjoyed leisurely meals and didn't look at the clock much, so it actually felt like vacation!

We went to the pool a lot...

Alex painting the volcano he got as a birthday gift

Natalie is supposed to be finger-painting but saw Alex and insisted on having a brush

Rainbow Mountain erupts!!

Natalie ready for an afternoon outside

Spotted this thing yesterday: if you look up "ramshackle" in the dictionary,

there is a picture of this sorry structure. It's a convenience store - no joke.

Below are pictures we took at Charazade, a newly-opened fun park on the edge of the dunes. It's huge, and there's so much to do. There's even a restaurant, sprinklers to cool things off, and - bonus! - real restrooms. We spent a couple hours there with all the embassy kids and some of their parents.

Nick was thrilled to see the trampolines!

Like I said, it's on the edge of the dunes.

Natalie takes a break; it was 103 degrees

We only had to ask the staff about 10 times to turn on the carousel

We love somebunny!

My little Miffy, one pampered rabbit

Aaron and I went with Nick and Olivia to BlaBla Thè, a French bistro.

There is a nice garden there with swings and outdoor seating.

Indoor seating; BlaBla Thè also has a small library and kid's reading room

You can get refreshing tea and coffee drinks, and there is a small lunch

menu which changes weekly. They are also open for breakfast. It's a quiet

and elegant place that makes you forget you're in third-world Africa.

After lunch, we went to the al-Khaima Center, the tallest building in Nouakchott.

On the top floor, there are 3 observation decks and a cafè.

Hey Julie Junior - enjoying yourself?

Our final stop with Nick and Liv was Galerie Mama- Bamba, a row of Senegalese shops. There are 4 or 5 stores, and they all sell the same things. I don't get it.