Our trip to the UAE- Dubai

After Abu Dhabi we went to Dubai and stayed for four nights at the Grand Hyatt. I have never stayed at a hotel alone with both kids and was a little nervous but everything worked out and the staff helped me tremendously. We got to the hotel right at check in (after walking around the Mall of the Emirates and eating at California Pizza Kitchen) and we went swimming at the kids pool. 

We ate a good amount of our breakfasts and dinners in our room. It was just easier and Graham loved sitting in the big chair. I went down for breakfast one day and the staff was really helpful but when I realized it was the same price as ordering room service, I decided I didn't feel like dealing with getting the kids ready and down stairs. 

Also as soon as we checked in to the hotel and got to our room, he realized it was carpeted and took off walking everywhere! Now he is still walking all over the place which is awesome!

We went to the Palm Atlantis Aquarium one day and loved looking at all the fish. Graham LOVED the big aquarium/display and Peyton enjoyed all of them and the divers in the tanks that were cleaning or feeding the fish. 

We went to the Dubai Fountains one night and the Burj Khalifa. We didn't go to the top of the Burj Khalifa as I wanted to save some activities for whenever daddy can come with us but we did enjoy the fountains. Graham was clapping and cheering and Peyton was dancing through the show. The fountains were pretty spectacular.

And I don't know why Blogger keeps rotating my picture sideways but I gave up so here it is anyways...

 

The last day we went by the Dubai Marina which was beautiful and had some pretty awesome boats...

Pretty much we did lots of shopping (lots of shopping), eating at nice restaurants including PF Changs which was delicious and swimming by the pool. The kids were great and we had fun just the three of us. Dubai was fun but by the end of the four nights I was ready to leave. It was too crowded, congested, too much shopping and materialism and had too many tourists! I personally LOVE Abu Dhabi and would much rather be there than Dubai. It is fun for a little while and I know we will go back with John and explore other parts like the Gold Souq, the Burj Khalifa, Ski Dubai and the water parks...all of which I didn't feel like doing with the kids alone! It was a good break and helped give us a little extra push to make it through the next part of turnaround....a little over 30 days left!!

You can see the rest of my pictures on Facebook.

Our trip to the UAE- Abu Dhabi

Last Friday the kids and headed off to the UAE for some time with my sister in Abu Dhabi and also to have some time relaxing and having fun in Dubai. With John working turnaround, my days are long at home and since I can't just go and drive to somewhere we thought it would be a nice break and give me some momentum to make it the rest of the turnaround. 

We had a wonderful time as always with my sister and then a great time relaxing and shopping and then exploring Dubai. I have traveled with the kids before by myself (back to the States in November....to Abu Dhabi via Dubai when my dad was in town) but this trip added a whole new dimension to my solo travels as we were staying in a hotel just me, Peyton and Graham! We are getting a pretty good system down and traveling with them is easier than it sounds! 

I posted all the pictures from both parts of the trip on Facebook and because I don't have time and Blogger is annoying with pictures at times...I am only going to put a couple on here...check out Facebook for the rest.


While in Abu Dhabi we enjoyed many wonderful meals at a variety of different places. My favorite was a place called Jones the Grocer which reminded me of Central Market/Whole Foods. I was even able to have a glass of wine with lunch! 

Graham loved trying ketchup for the first time and was infatuated with it! 


We also visited Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and went on a very informative tour. The mosque was breath taking and I am so glad we were able to go this time. Peyton mostly enjoyed taking off her shoes and putting them in a bag to carry around but she was very quiet, listened and I was very proud.

I took the kids to the zoo in Al Ain which is about an hour drive from Abu Dhabi. It was a wonderful zoo. They have a partnership with the San Diego zoo and it reminded me so much of when we went there and just the habitats for the animals. We had a fun day...hot day but fun.

We were able to feed the giraffes carrot sticks which was such a neat experience and we loved it. And we also got to interact with the gorilla! He was just hanging out at the glass and watched us forever. Peyton loved him. Then he started picking his nose and putting it in his mouth which as you can see made Peyton laugh hysterically. It was a great time!


After a week of playing in Abu Dhabi the kids and I packed it up and went to Dubai....

Heavy Heart

We are back from our trip to the UAE and our time away was more than a vacation from Saudi, it was a reminder of my need for my Savior who is in control whether I understand everything or not. It was reminder of how much I need to have faith and dependence on Him because this world doesn't make sense sometimes...our time away was a roller coaster of emotions, tons of prayer and ups and downs and always ending up humbling asking for peace that only comes from Him. 

I was joyful, and delirious happy when I saw on Facebook the status updates of a friend whose adoption is proceeding in Uganda and they are so close to bringing their little boy home. Such joy and happiness! 

Then fear, worry and saying prayers of healing for another friend's little girl who is just around 8 weeks old and was admitted to the NICU for  acute bronchitis and needed breathing treatments. She is home now and doing better. 

And then tears of sadness, heartbrokenness hearing a friend's sweet a little girl went to be with Jesus. The Carpenter family are the best friends of one of our closest friends and our circle of friends always mixed together and our paths crossed regularly when we lived in Texas. They tragically lost their son Cade during soccer practice less than a year ago due to a undiagnosed heart condition. Their daughter, Addi, was getting treatment for the same heart condition and passed away on Friday. Pray for them, their family, their friends. Pray that their community of friends, family and their church can support them as they grieve and most of all for the peace and understanding that only Jesus can give them. 

You Can Still Be Spontaneous

This weekend was looking to be pretty dull and long! It is a long weekend (some holiday is on Saturday) and John of course is working and then I found out that Peyton's school was canceled on Sunday so that meant we would have four days of no school and not much to do with people being on holiday. I was trying to be optimistic, planning play dates, beach time and scavenger hunts and then I talked to my sister. I didn't realize that this coming week she was off of school and had no plans, she leaves the next week for a trip to Sri Lanka. So....I tossed the idea out to John and he told me to go!


So in one evening, I went from staying here to booking plane tickets, a car and hotel for 12 days in the United Arab Emirates! We fly out tomorrow morning into Dubai and I will do the same thing I did last time and drive to Abu Dhabi and spend a week there with my sister.  Then when she leaves for her trip, the kids and I will spend four nights in Dubai exploring, relaxing and having a mini vacation. Since this was so last minute...Peyton had NO idea! When she woke up this morning I couldn't wait to tell her and see her reaction and I only wished I had the video camera on. She was so excited and wanted to go now! I am hoping to do some more tourist stuff while we are there since I don't have much shopping to do (but a girl can always shop) and it is nicer weather now as opposed to the summer when I went the first time and our last trip was to spend time with Papa! We are looking to do visit the Grand Mosque for sure and hopefully one of the souqs I have been wanting to go to. I also want to take Peyton to a movie if there is one out. I thought it would be fun for her to go with her Auntie for some special time...or with me. My plans for Dubai are to take the kids swimming, play at the beach, go to the aquarium and the children's museum/zone and have fun with them! So....our weekend got busier quick and I am busy today doing laundry and packing (good thing I travel often with these two by myself so I have packing down and it goes fast) and picking up the house! And then tomorrow morning....off we go for 12 days of fun, Auntie Ashley, driving, no abayas and an occasional adult beverage! I am thankful that we can just pack up and take a trip away and am thankful to have family so close that we can escape to!


Even though we are leaving tomorrow and have tons to do, we still took time and played at the beach today. I had planned on taking the kids to breakfast and then for a walk along the beach for sea shells. Well, that walk turned into kids walking into the water, getting soaked and playing in the sand and having a BLAST! They both had so much fun and Graham was covered in sand! I love the beach, I love taking the kids to the beach and it is my favorite part of living here. We are such a short walk from it and people pay big money back in the States for that and we pay a nominal fee for our house by the beach! I love that the beach is a new experience every time you go. The tide is never the same, the sea shells look different, the horizon, water color, weather...it is always different and gives you a different feeling and experience. The beach is soothing to me and even with kids and the insane amount of sand that comes home, the mess, the baths and the work involved...I love it! And as you can see....they loved our outing as well!

Sports Day

I have said it before but it is worth repeating Peyton's preschool teacher is wonderful! We are so thankful to have found her and appreciate everything she does for the school. Yesterday she organized a Sports Day for the kids. This was on her day off (we don't have school on Wednesdays) and she did it over two weeks...the older kids last week and the younger ones today. She made delicious Indian food/snacks for the moms, had snacks for the kids, medals and went above and beyond. We are so thankful for all that she does for the kids!


I had someone come watch Graham so he could have his morning nap and I could focus on Peyton and it was tons of fun. She was much more in her element and in a better mood than the ballet night and I enjoyed my morning with her! She was an all star in the ball/spoon race and won that!


Here are some pictures from the day...

First Ballet Performance

Practice leotard, sweater, shoes, tights and bag...$100

Lessons for 3.5 months...$150

Recital Tutu and Headband....$18

White leotard and tights...$45

2 Tickets to Swan Lake performance...$5

Flowers for ballerina...$15

Babysitter for baby brother...$17

Seeing your ballerina melt down before, during her dance and perform 60 seconds of the whole recital.....priceless?!?!

After weeks of doing great going to ballet, a fabulous dress rehearsal the night before and being incredibly excited all day...ballet recital night came it was a bomb! 

Peyton feel asleep on the way to pick up John and so she napped for about 45 minutes in the car. Rule of the day....when Peyton naps in the afternoon she wakes up miserable and cranky and sure enough...it was bad. She finally woke up and got out of the car and just started sobbing which defeated all the work I did to put her make up on and keep her from touching it for the past hour before we left. She agreed for me to walk her backstage and we sat there forever talking, reassuring, talking, pleading, bribing and finally I was able to leave. I prayed a prayer that she would be able to do it, calm down and have fun and then just before it was about to start I see someone holding her and looking for me. I walk down in front of the whole theater during the welcome message and head backstage. I talk to her, convince her to dance for me and I would stay back stage and watch her and wait for her. She went and essentially stood on stage looking for me the whole time...take a look....she is on the far right...behind some kids looking off the stage for me the whole time...

After her brief but very moving performance...she rushed into my arms. She was proud of herself but I could tell that she was not going to leave my side. I had mistakenly read the program and thought that the little kids only had the one dance besides the last part where everyone comes out and bows. The helpers asked if I wanted to stay backstage with her...probably to see if I would convince her to do more and I said no, not realizing that there was another dance for her class and we went and sat in the audience and watched. I am kicking myself for not seeing if she would have done the second dance but I didn't know there was one and I didn't want to sit backstage for an hour to have her go out and bow. 

She LOVED watching everyone and sat very still and then we left at the end. She did give me and John a hug and told us she loved us in the middle of it which was pretty sweet.

When we left she received her flowers I got for her earlier in the day and she was very proud of them. We tried to take some pictures and then came home. Not how I thought the day would go at all! I wish I had stayed yesterday during dress rehearsal and taken a video because I know she did great then but how would I have known that today was going to turn out how it did!

Oh and because my plan to take pictures outside before the performance was ruined due to some unforeseen circumstances, I tried to get some pictures when we left...which as you can see did not work and I essentially got some of the crappiest pictures I could possibly get of my ballerina. I think I might make her wear her outfit another day and let me take real pictures of her.

Oh well....she did look pretty precious in her tutu and....tomorrow we are hoping for better success at sports day at school and then we are off to ballet again on Saturday....


Update....someone posted some pictures from the rehearsal the night before and I have a cute one of her dancing....I know there were several other people who stayed to take pictures so I am looking forward to seeing those....

Weekend Recap...First Steps and a Parade

I wanted to do a quick recap of this past weekend before the week kicked off and would get behind in blogging....


Starting with Wednesday.....Graham took his first steps! Totally took me by surprise! We were leaving for a birthday party and he let go of the chair and took two steps. I was so proud of him and while we were at the party he kept walking between me and two of my friends. He loved showing off his new skill! I tried to take a video but with only one person to help set him up, take the video and be there to catch him...the video stinks! I did manage to keep him up and he walked four steps to John when he came home from work.


Thursday was the Ras Tanura Parade and Carnival and it was awful weather for it...a light sand storm and super windy. We had a float for the Moms and Tots that we decorated Wednesday but I didn't go on it because I had no desire to be contained to a moving vehicle for 90 minutes with Graham and Peyton was in a cranky mood that day so I didn't send her by herself. The theme was Passport to the World so I dressed the kids up in their Canada gear and off we went. I also realized that we only have two American flags in the whole house which is the extent of our American paraphenalia. I told John he needs to get on that and help represent. 

 

How does a parade work here in Saudi...pretty much the same...you have the horses...some camels...and trucks decorated and then golf carts decorated which is what a lot of people use for transportation around camp. 

Friday we were able to have lunch with John which was nice and other than that we just spent the weekend hanging out at home and entertaining the two little ones...solo! Turnaround is getting old and I am getting pretty tired/worn out but that is a different post for a different day! 


Also over the weekend we took some pictures outside and played around. I wanted to share a picture of  the family member probably least featured on the blog....Titus! He has been around much longer than either of the kids (we got him seven years ago) but as  I am sure it is the case with most pets...the kids kind of took over our life and attention and he is a little neglected. He is such a wonderful dog and beyond patient with both of the kids. He has his moments and behaviors that we wish would be different but when you have a dog that loves to play with the kids, puts up with them and is so sweet...you look past those annoying moments. I love that he goes outside to play with Peyton all the time and will lay still for her to trace him in sidewalk chalk! And he is a great guard dog...the other night John thought he closed the front door when he went to the store but if you aren't careful it blows open, so sure enough it blew open. I came out of the bedroom about 40 minutes later and I see Titus sitting at attention at the open door....now that it is an AWESOME dog! We love him!

And today we woke up to this lovely weather....a sand storm...also known as a Shamal. It brought 25-25 mph winds the night before and during the day and lots of sand. It was a stay indoors kind of day. I kind of laughed on the way to school though on how some kids have to go to school during snow storms and here I am heading out in a sand storm. Thats life in the Middle East!

This week is a little busy with Peyton's first ballet recital which we are praying hard that John can attend, sports day at school and hopefully Mommy getting back into a workout routine....I have been a little lazy since the challenge ended!