Abu Dhabi Here We Come

At the beginning of this year, my mom told us that she was going to come to the Middle East! John and I were so excited and really excited for the kids. We started working on the visa process and as we feared.....it didn't work out :( April 1 came around and her visa was still not processed and we ran out of time. Thankfully we hadn't told the kids (in case this happened) but we were still really sad about all of it. Instead the kids and I flew to Abu Dhabi for a couple of days to see her there and we had the unexpected addition of my dad! He was in SE Asia on business and was able to stop by on his way home which wouldn't have happened if we got the Saudi visa. So, it all worked out!

The kids were super excited to see their Auntie Ashley and could barely go to sleep. We kept it a surprise that the grandparents would be there! 

When we landed in Abu Dhabi, my mom was waiting at the Starbucks just outside arrivals. I knew she would be there but the kids had no idea. When we walked out I tried to get Peyton to look over in her direction to find a taxi but as soon as I said the word "taxi" she was so focused that she didn't bother to observe anything else around her. Graham on the other hand was walking slowly behind me, looking around and all of the sudden stopped and looked at my mom, paused and then kept walking. Then he stopped again, paused, and kept walking. The third time my mom smiled back and dropped his bag and yelled "G" and ran into her arms. Peyton turned around to probably yell at us for being too slow and just stood there in shock for minutes. Finally it all registered and she was so excited! I wanted so badly to capture it all on video but as always when I travel with the two by myself I get so caught up into everything else that I never take pictures.

We headed to my sisters apartment and the whole taxi ride Peyton was full of questions and Graham just keep saying "G" out of pure excitement! The excitement didn't end when we got home though.... after we got Graham down for a nap and were catching up and all of the sudden we felt the whole apartment building shake. My mom and I asked each other if we felt that and then it happened again. We finally realized it was an earthquake and tried to figure out what to do, we finally decided to get Graham and walk down the stairs and go outside. So we walked down the nine flights of stairs with my sisters dog and the two kids and waited until it was all clear. We later learned by reading online that we shouldn't have gone outside and were probably safer in the building. Never experienced an earthquake and had no idea what to do. We were feeling the tremors from the earthquake that hit the border of Pakistan and Iran. 

While in Abu Dhabi we played at the game center in the mall, went to the movie "The Croods," had ice cream, shopped and hung out with G...

 

 Graham got his hair cut one afternoon and was a champ. He did keep saying that it hurt and for mommy to "help me." 

After his hair cut it was time for the surprise of Papa! He was walking in the mall and so we had the kids walk by him and see if they noticed. Peyton ran right into him, said excuse me and kept walking! That kid doesn't notice anything! Graham looked up and say him immediately and yelled,"Papa." LOVE that Graham noticed both of them and it shows how much he has grown up and is understanding who they are in his life!

 We went to Dubai for the day and shopped around Dubai Mall....

And then we went to the souq area that sells knock off purses and shopped there. Peyton started getting really into trying on the purses! She cracks me up!

The best was when I decided finally on what kind of purse I wanted....a simple cross body small Michael Kors purse. Well, apparently that was not only hard to find but pricey. So we started going into each store and asking if they even had a Michael Kors bag so we could expedite the process. Nothing is more hilarious than when your four year old walks into a purse store and yells,"do you have Michael Kors?" She was a hit! And then when we finally found one the store owner was equally impressed with Arabic! What a life she lives!

We had a great time with our Auntie, G and Papa and only wish the time together was longer! Hopefully next time everyone can come visit us in our sand box!