Marina Mall and Marina Beach

Earlier this week, Reem and I took the twins and her littlest one to visit Marina Mall and Marina Beach. It's about a fifteen minute walk from our place.

We left the apartment complex about 9:30am in an effort to beat the heat. Now that it's October, it's cooling down, but still very hot here in the afternoons.

At the Marina outside the Mall, we stopped to feed the ducks and fish. I couldn't get a good picture of the fish, but there were schools of them swarming the bread we tossed in =).

Love these babies of mine!!

Isn't that little duck house island so cute?!?

Once we were out of bread, we wandered over to Marina Beach to play in the sand and water...

I have so many pictures of our boy doing just this...throwing sand/rocks/sticks in the ocean =). Sweet boy LOVES the beach and is such a water baby!

Digging to make sandcastles...

Gorgeous views...

My feet in the warm sand of the shores of the Persian Gulf...

Did I mention this kid loves the beach? Here is a picture of him trying to give me a heart attack...

("Never turn your back on the ocean" = means nothing to my adventurous boy)

We found a little playground just a short walk up from the shore...

At this point it was shortly after 11:00am, and our daughter started complaining of thirst. I had completely forgotten to pack a water bottle, which honestly is SO unlike me. If you knew me in Portland, my beloved stainless steel water bottle was a ubiquitous part of my day. It sealed tight and I could keep it in my purse without it ever leaking, and it always kept my water cold. 

Well, it died during our move.

*moment of silence in remembrance*

Anyways, I've yet to replace it, and therefor just kinda fallen out of the habit of carrying a water bottle everywhere I go. Which sucks because WE LITERALLY LIVE IN THE DESERT NOW. 

I'd remembered sunscreen and already reapplied once during our outing (see, not a total mom fail!) but felt terrible we'd been out in the direct sun and heat for nearly two hours and I'd not thought about  my children's hydration. Gah.

Poor little thing genuinely whined all the way back to the food area around the Marina about how she was sooooo thirsty.

We got to the nearest coffee shop, ordered waters and lemonades and a carrot cake for the kids to split. 

About ten minutes into our snack, she told me her tummy didn't feel so good. 

I think the poor thing had a touch of heat exhaustion.

We stayed near a fan in the shade outdoors, and drank sips of water until she felt cooled down. 

Reem was sweet enough to push her in the stroller on the way back, and once home we took a nice cool shower. 

She never threw up or mentioned feeling crummy again, but I felt just terrible for being so negligent. 

Lesson learned!! I already have two water bottles in the freezer ready to go for our next outing, and a sticky note on my purse to remember to pack them next time we head out =). 

So, besides our little heat issue at the end of our morning, we had a really nice time. It was so beautiful, and I can't wait to go back and visit Marina Beach with David, and swim! They have an area roped off from boats and jet skis and such, just protected for swimming. Even having my feet in the water felt Heavenly...so warm! Very, very different from the waters of the Pacific Ocean on the Oregon Coast =).