Fortunately my class went on a trip to the Al Ain Mall, specifically to the library at the Al Ain Mall. Field trips in this country have changed over the past few years to require the trip be related to the grade level curriculum. This is 'Abu Dhabi Reads' month so the library was justified. We did, however, find the non-related curriculum link in that McDonalds was the food of choice for the group. When you eat at the food court, who wants to eat the lunch their mom packed? Me neither.
Since we worked on Sunday, Easter, the church service was held in the evening. We took a picnic, the kids had an Easter egg hunt, and then we attended the service. It was unusual, but wonderful. The Easter bunny visited our house just before we left for church in the evening (the advantage of having more adults in the house is that there is always someone to distract while someone else places the baskets from the Easter bunny).
Baths and rock-a-bye baby, which I have to sing to Millie every night, and the kids were asleep. In my infinite wisdom I decided to go to bed before 10 pm. My mom informed us that when your body doesn't rejuvenate itself with sleep you are not healthy and can get sick easier. I knew that, but needed a reminder. And on that note I went to bed, only to be jolted from my sleep at 3:15 am by Millie screaming in her bed. I laid with her for a while, but broke down and brought her to our bed. I thought she would fall asleep and I could take her back to her bed. I probably turned over to look at her every 15 minutes until 5:30 am, when she was finally asleep. I swear each time I looked at her in the bed her eyes were as big as saucers. I am not sure what woke her up, but I think she might have woken up when she peed in her pull-up and it upset her. I am really just guessing here.
She ended up sleeping until 10 am because of the lack of 2 hours in the middle of the night. I was still sleep deprived but since when does that matter?
It seems that my projects I wanted done when my parents were here have all piled up. When we got home from Millie's dance class (or what I like to call 'something I pay for so she can sit on my lap'), my mom had painted our side table. I totally forgot to take a 'before' picture but believe me, it was ugly. As you can see, the after picture is fab! Thank you, Mom.
Stuart decided to go to rugby training on Monday night. The team is short on league players so they asked him to come and play. This is more than just 'fun'. They play a lot more games and are in much better shape as a result.
Tuesday was work as usual, well at least once I got there. I am the carpool driver on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday. I didn't drive the kids on Monday because our car was still in the shop. So Tuesday was the first day of the week I drove the kids to school. What a shock I was in for. They have built a new road in front of Jack's school in efforts to elliviate the high traffic issues around his and many other schools. Sadly their efforts have really just made traffic worse. I used to be able to make a left turn out of the drop-off area prior to the new road. But now, the new road goes in the opposite direction with a median between the road heading east and the road heading west, making the old road a dual lane road going one way, the worst way to go.
Once I realized this, it was too late and I was stuck going the way of all the traffic, down back behind 3 more private schools. I'm not sure anyone would believe some of the things I saw other than to witnesses it themselves. When you travel down a road that is two lane, one heading north and the other heading south, you expect to see cars going north and south. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would see cars traveling on the road in the way I observed on Tuesday. There were 2 lanes, the north and the south, both heading south, a lane of traffic on the sidewalk, and a lane of traffic on the dirt lot next to the sidewalk. It was wall to wall cars and no rules were being followed. Needless to say I was late to work. The drive from Jack's school to my school normally takes about 10 minutes. It took 43 minutes on Tuesday.
My whole day was thrown off a bit by the carpool stress. I now have a student teacher, which is not like we know them at home. She is with me for 3 weeks and will be teaching a total of 6 lessons. Anyway, she is very sweet and will be a good English teacher. My example to her as a teacher on Tuesday was far from stellar. At the end of the day I apologized for my lack of teaching that day. It wasn't good at all.
Tuesday I left school after 6th period. My planning period on Tuesdays is the last period of the day. So I went to my principal Tuesday morning and told her I knew I was late, but could I leave early. She was fine with it. Since we were not able to go to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque on Saturday, we decided to go Tuesday. Millie wore we big girl panties and everything. She has this potty training whipped, I think. She is now telling us when she needs to go. Way to go Grammie!
Our Mosque visit was wonderful! We happened to get there just before the last tour so we were able to hear the history of the mosque and learn a bit more about the Muslim religion. I was a bit shocke at how often they referred to Christianity. This mosque is one of very few that you can actually go inside the mosque. The inside, where the men pray (women can come to the mosque to pray, but often don't- make your own assumptions), is just carpet, beautiful, inviting carpet. So inviting that Jack couldn't resist doig a cartwheel at one point during the tour. Needless to say I was mortified, but then later laughed my head off. He will always be able to say he did a cartwheel in the middle of the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Wish I could say that.
Here we are at the entrance of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
Although people pray inside the mosque, often times when there are thousands of people here during Ramadan or Eid, there are people in these marbled areas as well.
This was our guide in his traditional dress.
Honestly, can anyone blame Jack for wanting to do a cartwheel in this place? Those gymnastics lessons have been worth every dirham!
The sun was just beginning to set.
Every view of the mosque was more spectacular than the next.
It was hot as blue blazes at the Mosque. We decided to NOT dress appropriately so we could be given abayas and kandoras, which didn't help with the heat at all. Here are the men in their kandoras. Lookin' good!
You can't wear shoes in the carpeted area. This is a Persian rug and it is so soft. The kids decided they needed to sit on it. I have always wondered how they keep order in a place like this when it comes to people kneeling and praying. That was explained to us when we saw the lines in the rug. Every few feet there are exaggerated parts of the carpet that look as if they have pressed a piece of furniture on it to indent the rug. That is how the Muslims know where to kneel. Clever!
We forget Millie's shoes in the car. She was asleep when we got her out of the car so someone (who shall remain nameless) left them in the car. It turned out to be a blessing because then we could tell her that she wasn't allowed to get out of her stroller because she didn't have any shoes.
After we left the mosque we met Gina at the World Trade Center Mall and Central Souq. We wanted to go back there because my mom had found a painting of Bedouin life that she wanted, and we hasn't found anything like it anywhere else on our adventures. We ate dinner at Shakespeare's. We then jammied up the kids and headed back to Al Ain.
Wednesday morning was another carpool nightmare. I thought I had it all figured out, and although I left a bit earlier and that did help, I still ended up having to pull back around to the backside of Jack's school which meant running into other private school traffic. Going earlier was helpful, but I knew that the following day, even though it wasn't my normal drop off day, I would need to park on the west side of the school and the little precious ones who ride with me would just have to suck it up and walk a little ways in order to save my sanity. I wasn't late to school on Wednesday, which was great.
When I got home from school on Wednesday friends of my parents were coming by. Dave and Sara lived in my neighborhood when we first moved there in the late 70s and they now live in Sharjah, the emirate just outside of Dubai. They have lived in the Middle East for 15 years. Small world indeed.
We sat and visited for a couple of hours and then took them to the Curry House. It is by far our favorite place to eat, but not everyone loves curry so it was a crap shoot. Fortunately it seems that everyone enjoyed their food, and if not at least they were polite enough not I say they didn't like it.
Thursday morning was my last venture to Jack's school and it turned out very well. We parked and walked and that was by far the best decision. It kept me out of road rage territory and helped me to be on time to school with little stress. Whew!
When we got home from school we sat around for a bit and then went to the Golf Club for Stuart's birthday celebration. Cathy and Kayleigh met us there as well as Karen, Wade and their kids. We sat outside, which was hot, but there was a box AC unit that was on us most of the time. I suppose it was bearable.
For Stuart's birthday dinner he cooked his own steak and yes, that is a giant beer!
We came home and had cake and ice cream to celebrate Stuart's birthday. The kids went to bed, Stuart showered and then he was off to the airport. He flew to England for his granddad's funeral. There are people who provide a service to run you to the airport. We have a friend who does that so we paid him to take Stuart to the airport so I wouldn't have to drive back from the airport at 1 in the morning. Stuart's flight left at 5:30 am on Friday morning. He will be in the UK until late Tuesday. I cried when he left and realized that we are not apart very often at all. I don't know how women having traveling husbands do it. I started stressing about the 5 days without him the second I locked the door behind him.
We were going to go to church on Friday morning but then decided to just spend the day at home playing games with the kids. Since it was Grammie and Pop's last day here it only made since to just hang around the house and enjoy each other. Naturally I had laundry going.
We played Old Maid and went to the co-op so the kids could play in the soft play area. Now that Millie is potty trained, the soft play area kind of makes me sick. I now really think of all the kids who have peed in there. Oh well, I guess all kids live through it.
After the kids played, we ate at a chicken place in the co-op. Then went to the grocery store to get Grammie and Pop some snacks for their trip. We came back to the apartment and everyone got ready for the journey to Dubai. Cathy volunteered to ride with us so I would have company on the way back. Of course the kids were with me, but having an adult with you after dropping off my parents was really nice. The kids were a bit off. Stuart left the night before and now Grammie and Pop? Sadly, they were just stuck with me for 5 days.
As you would guess there were tears at the airport, mostly from me. I can truly say, and not just because I know my mom and dad will read this, that there was not one time that I was ready for them to go home, not even when I dropped them off. We had such a wonderful time. The thing I really enjoyed the most was watching them play with Jack and Millie. I am so very thankful that all of the grandparents of my children like to play with them. It makes me so happy to think of the wonderful memories they are forming right now. Especially reflecting on Stuart's granddad this week, I know one of the reasons it was so important for Stuart to go back for his funeral was because his granddad had such a huge impact on his life. I know that Granddad Tom played with Stuart, his brothers, and his cousins. The few times Jack and Millie were around Tom, he played with them. In fact, the only reason our kids know the nursery rhyme 'Round and Round the Garden' is because of Granddad Tom. So how very thankful I am that my parents can be those kind of grandparents to my children.
After we dropped Grammie and Pop off at the airport we decided to stop at Mirdiff City Centre, a large mall in Dubai, and get something to eat. The one thing about the big cities is that there is not ever a lack of good restaurants. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen, which was awesome. Millie had to pee 3 times, of which only one produced any results. I think now it is just the novelty of knowing she can go, and also seeing a new bathroom. I will be glad when her infatuation with new bathrooms ends.
We didn't get home until 11 pm and the kids stayed awake the entire way. Once we were home the kids went to bed and I stayed up to watch a movie. I am not going to lie, I do not like being the only adult in the place. I wasn't ever good at living alone. Being the youngest of three, I never had to live alone, except when I lived in England for that year. I didn't like that either. I finally got off the couch and went to bed around 2 am.
Jack was up just after eight, which is late for him, and Millie rolled out of bed just after ten. We all got dressed and headed to the mall to do some banking, get Stuart a birthday present because Saturday was his birthday, and we had lunch at.....McDonald's- my favorite (NOT). Millie threw her toy on the floor because I put her in back in her stroller after we ate. I promptly took the toy to a little boy who was sitting at the table next to us and informed him that he could have it because she obviously didn't want it since she threw it. You would have thought I took away her best friend. I am not really sure she even plays with those toys once we get them home. At any rate, misbehavior like that where someone could get hit by Tom and Jerry in the barrel needs some kind of consequence. I think she got my point.
After our shopping, banking, and eating were through we headed back to the apartment just to chill. The kids showered, Jack without me telling him to do so, and Millie under serious duress because she hadn't picked up her toys and I was making her do that before she showered or watched any television. She might be the most stubborn child I have even been had the privilege to know. She digs in her heels almost as hard as I do. Wow!
We ate dinner and then we Skyped Stuart to wish him a happy birthday. Jack told him we had bought him a present today and I am surprised that neither kid told him what it was. They are learning. The kids went to bed and were asleep by 7 pm, again, Jack very voluntarily after his nightly book, and Millie under duress just because.
I knew I would need to get them in bed early because little Miss Millie was going to be in for a rude awakening come Sunday morning when she is dragged out of bed at 6:45 am after a month of being able to sleep as late as she wanted to. Oh how I dreaded Sunday morning. Boo!
We are on the downhill slope of the school year. We have parent meetings this week and then I can only assume the rest of the year will just fly. I can hardly believe we have already been here 8 months. It really doesn't seem that long. We will be back in Arizona in 11 weeks. We are really excited to be there for a month and do whatever it is we want to do.
Here's to another great week!
We were going to go to church on Friday morning but then decided to just spend the day at home playing games with the kids. Since it was Grammie and Pop's last day here it only made since to just hang around the house and enjoy each other. Naturally I had laundry going.
We played Old Maid and went to the co-op so the kids could play in the soft play area. Now that Millie is potty trained, the soft play area kind of makes me sick. I now really think of all the kids who have peed in there. Oh well, I guess all kids live through it.
After the kids played, we ate at a chicken place in the co-op. Then went to the grocery store to get Grammie and Pop some snacks for their trip. We came back to the apartment and everyone got ready for the journey to Dubai. Cathy volunteered to ride with us so I would have company on the way back. Of course the kids were with me, but having an adult with you after dropping off my parents was really nice. The kids were a bit off. Stuart left the night before and now Grammie and Pop? Sadly, they were just stuck with me for 5 days.
As you would guess there were tears at the airport, mostly from me. I can truly say, and not just because I know my mom and dad will read this, that there was not one time that I was ready for them to go home, not even when I dropped them off. We had such a wonderful time. The thing I really enjoyed the most was watching them play with Jack and Millie. I am so very thankful that all of the grandparents of my children like to play with them. It makes me so happy to think of the wonderful memories they are forming right now. Especially reflecting on Stuart's granddad this week, I know one of the reasons it was so important for Stuart to go back for his funeral was because his granddad had such a huge impact on his life. I know that Granddad Tom played with Stuart, his brothers, and his cousins. The few times Jack and Millie were around Tom, he played with them. In fact, the only reason our kids know the nursery rhyme 'Round and Round the Garden' is because of Granddad Tom. So how very thankful I am that my parents can be those kind of grandparents to my children.
After we dropped Grammie and Pop off at the airport we decided to stop at Mirdiff City Centre, a large mall in Dubai, and get something to eat. The one thing about the big cities is that there is not ever a lack of good restaurants. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen, which was awesome. Millie had to pee 3 times, of which only one produced any results. I think now it is just the novelty of knowing she can go, and also seeing a new bathroom. I will be glad when her infatuation with new bathrooms ends.
We didn't get home until 11 pm and the kids stayed awake the entire way. Once we were home the kids went to bed and I stayed up to watch a movie. I am not going to lie, I do not like being the only adult in the place. I wasn't ever good at living alone. Being the youngest of three, I never had to live alone, except when I lived in England for that year. I didn't like that either. I finally got off the couch and went to bed around 2 am.
Jack was up just after eight, which is late for him, and Millie rolled out of bed just after ten. We all got dressed and headed to the mall to do some banking, get Stuart a birthday present because Saturday was his birthday, and we had lunch at.....McDonald's- my favorite (NOT). Millie threw her toy on the floor because I put her in back in her stroller after we ate. I promptly took the toy to a little boy who was sitting at the table next to us and informed him that he could have it because she obviously didn't want it since she threw it. You would have thought I took away her best friend. I am not really sure she even plays with those toys once we get them home. At any rate, misbehavior like that where someone could get hit by Tom and Jerry in the barrel needs some kind of consequence. I think she got my point.
After our shopping, banking, and eating were through we headed back to the apartment just to chill. The kids showered, Jack without me telling him to do so, and Millie under serious duress because she hadn't picked up her toys and I was making her do that before she showered or watched any television. She might be the most stubborn child I have even been had the privilege to know. She digs in her heels almost as hard as I do. Wow!
We ate dinner and then we Skyped Stuart to wish him a happy birthday. Jack told him we had bought him a present today and I am surprised that neither kid told him what it was. They are learning. The kids went to bed and were asleep by 7 pm, again, Jack very voluntarily after his nightly book, and Millie under duress just because.
I knew I would need to get them in bed early because little Miss Millie was going to be in for a rude awakening come Sunday morning when she is dragged out of bed at 6:45 am after a month of being able to sleep as late as she wanted to. Oh how I dreaded Sunday morning. Boo!
We are on the downhill slope of the school year. We have parent meetings this week and then I can only assume the rest of the year will just fly. I can hardly believe we have already been here 8 months. It really doesn't seem that long. We will be back in Arizona in 11 weeks. We are really excited to be there for a month and do whatever it is we want to do.
Here's to another great week!
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