Yes, friends, it has been a busy, fun-filled summer. I say that with a long sigh because I'll have to accept that the season of sun and fun is coming to an end. It honestly feels like weeks ago that Anissa was finishing preschool and we were packing up for our trip to Tunisia. My big girl will be off to school in a matter of days - full-time kindergarten - and Elianne and I will be on our own for a large portion of the day. Though I can't help getting teary-eyed at the thought of Anissa "leaving us", I am excited for her. And, looking back on our amazing summer, I feel good knowing that we took full advantage of this last stretch of time together before she heads out into the big wide world.
We kicked off our summer with an unforgettable month in Tunisia. It was so fabulous seeing Anissa and Elianne get to know Mehdi's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and of course spending quality time with Mama Jo. The girls had the vacation of a lifetime: amusement parks, ice cream by the ton, the pool, the beach, and billions of "boussa" (kisses). Anissa rode a camel, was a flower girl in cousin Cyrine's wedding, picked up an impressive amount of French and had any five-year-old's dream birthday pool party. Elianne fell in love with a garden turtle, was more talented at remembering Arabic names than I am, and charmed everyone with her constant toothy smile. Between family visits, delicious meals and outings to the beach, the month flew by much too fast. During a quick layover in Paris, we met up with Mehdi's dad, his wife Francoise and their sweet daughter Sasha. A quick trip to the Eiffel Tower and a dinner at Sacre Coeur, and it was already time to fly back to Calgary. Nearly two months later, and Anissa still sighs occasionally and expresses how much she misses everyone in Tunisia. How lucky my girls are to have such a loving extended family in such a beautiful place.
I wasn't really sure what we were going to do back in Alberta once back from our trip and had even worried about how to fill the days, but thankfully there has been plenty to keep us busy. Two of my nieces spent a week each at our house, my parents visited a few times, and we went camping with my entire family. Anissa had a reunion with her best friend, Mariella, during our fantastic week in Whistler with Dan, Natasha, Mariella and Antonia.
What else? Anissa and I went to see Cirque du Soleil (her mouth was open in awe the entire performance), we took the girls to Sesame Street Live (Elianne's turn to be in awe), Anissa attended a week-long summer camp at the zoo and we had plenty of backyard/playground dates with friends.
I'm sure I've forgotten something, but I'll let the photos fill in the blanks.
Here's a peek at Tunisia:
And here's back home:
