School's out for summer!

There were no kids at school on Sunday so our work hours have been cut by 30 minutes on either end of the day. So now we arrive at 7:30 am and can leave at 1 pm. Not bad hours if you ask me. However, keep in mind, when Ramadan starts the work hours will be from 8 am to noon. Those are tough days😀

Our Arabic staff had a goin. Away party for one of our teachers transferring to Abu Dhabi next year. The picture below is of a cake and some 'candles'. No words could describe what I felt when I saw the flames going toward the streamers they had also slung around the room. Only in the UAE. 

Sunday after school I headed to Dubai to see Dr. Barry, my orthopedic doctor. After looking at my MRI it was decided I would have orthroscopic surgery. Most likely the surgery will be Monday, June 15. The doctor said all would be well by the time we were ready to travel home. Inshallah! My friend Cathy is going to take me because Stuart only has one emergency day left and I would rather him take that when Jack has his tonsils and adenoids taken out in a couple of weeks. My surgery is an out patient surgery so it should be rather routine. I'm just glad I have a friend willing to go with me. Our family away from our families really do come through when we need them. 

I got home from Dubai just in time to bathe the kids and put them to bed. I feel as if I was still exhausted from our weekend at Atlantis. I was really tired Sunday night. 

Monday morning we hit a milestone with Millie. She asked me to braid her hair for school for the first time. I was told she took it out before she even got into the carpool car to go to school but we are making progress. 

After school we took Stuart's car in for a service. There was a recall on his air conditioner so they would need to keep his car for two days. I knew there was a good reason to have that third car. 

We also had Jack's parent teacher conference on Monday afternoon. His teacher is our good friend, Clare Richardson (Henry's mum). She had nothing but great things to say about him and his progress. He is above grade level in all subjects. The only thing she suggested he work on was cooperation when he is doing projects with others. In essence she was saying he is a bit bossy and takes over. Wonder where he gets that from?

Even though we had no students at school all week, we were still very busy making our school improvement plan for next year. So although I thought there would be a little more down time this week, turns out I was needed to work a bit after all. 

Monday evening Stuart found out the rugby club pool would be closed during Ramadan for renovation and so they could build a new pool as well. Holy cow! What on earth will we do on these hot days if swimming is out? We will have to come up with a plan for sure. 

Tuesday afternoon boredom starting setting in with the kids. It's so miserably hot that they can't go outside, and we don't want to go anywhere because to get in and out of the car you must accept the fact that a body part might actually melt off. After bathes, movies and dinner, it was a relief to put them to bed. 

I headed to get a much needed pedicure. It was a scene from Dumb and Dumber. Remember when Jim Carry was getting a pedicure and they used a sandblasted? Uh huh, that was the look. These poor ladies doing my feet (yes, one on each foot) must have been totally disgusted. But 'smooth as a baby's butt' would totally describe my feet now. 

Wednesday we went to the pool after school, then decided to eat at the rugby club. Jack, Millie and I departed earlier than Stuart because the wheels were falling off the bus. Once we got home bathes and beds. Khalas!

Thursday at school we had a celebration for the students who had memorized portions of the Quran. I nearly fell asleep. I understand how second language learners get overwhelmed in the brain and fall asleep during a presentation in a foreign language. It was exhausting doing nothing at work on Thursday. 

Thursday evening Gina was supposed to come to Al Ain for the weekend.  However, she fell asleep on her sofa and decided to wait until Friday morning to drive down. 

Once Gina got into town on Friday morning, we, along with DeDe and Cathy, headed to Dubai to an art festival. We bought some unique items from artists all over the world who are based in the UAE. We ate lunch at a little cafe just a bit up from where the art festival was.

This was the blackberry and cucumber tea I had at lunch. 

After lunch we decided to look for a place called The Emporium, which is a furniture store we had seen advertised on Facebook. It has always intrigued me and I was insistent on going to see what they had to offer. We drove around for FOREVER!  The GPS coordinates on the website were wrong and the map drawn on the website was wrong as well. We called the owner three times, and after an hour of driving in a two square mile area, we finally found the store. It was not at all what I had expected. The pictures were a bit deceiving. Although he had some unique and wonderful pieces, it just wasn't what I thought it would be. It was a warehouse and not a store. 

Here is where we parked. 

This was the entrance. Not impressed! But at least we found the place that I have drooled over for the past several months. Not worth the bother. 

Because our furniture hunting experience was a let down, it was decided that we needed a slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory to lift our spirits. So off the the Mall of the Emirates we went. 

Bentley!

Bugatti Veyro is apparently a very expensive car. 

We decided to valet park at the mall because of the time of day. There were no parking places to be had. If you arrive at a mall in the UAE anytime after 4 pm, you are fresh out of luck for a place to park your car. So the valet was our best choice. We saw all types of really expensive cars. Everyone was taking pictures of the cars so of course I joined in. Then I took a picture of Cathy's Kia just to be obnoxious. 

We had our cheesecake and then headed back to Al Ain. 

Stuart had spent the day in Abu Dhabi at a stag do (bachelor party), so Claire, Cathy's daughter had been with the kids all day. We got home before he did and the kids were asleep. The art festival provided me with teacher gifts for Jack's and Millie's teacher and a special gift for myself. If you know the book Elmer, this camel will make you smile. The kids loved it. 

This artist is from the U.S. And has made a killing with my friend DeDe. I am sure this won't be the last camel I purchase from her. Isn't he cute?

Stuart's stag do seemed to be a lot of fun. Stuart just raved about the brunch they had. Brunches are a very big thing here in the UAE and every hotel seems to have one. We have not hit the 'brunch' scene very hard, but after Stuart going on and on about it we may start checking them out more often next year. 

Gina and I stayed up and watched several episodes of House of Cards. We are trying to get through season 3 before we go home in a few weeks. Saturday morning we got up and were able to watch a few more espisodes before she had to shoot off for her brunch plans. Hopefully we will finish the last three episodes in the next few weeks when she comes to stay. 

The kids and I went to the pool after Gina headed back to Abu Dhabi. Stuart had a rugby coaches meeting at the club so we swam with some of our regular crew.  

Jack had woken up with a fever and swollen tonsils. Since we can buy antibiotics over the counter and I knew he had strep throat for the 7th time since moving to the UAE, I sent Stuart to the chemist to get medicine for him. He had his first dose before we went to the pool. He also had Tylenol before the pool, but while we were at the pool he sat on the lounge chair because he said his eyes were burning. We left immediately because I knew his fever had returned. We headed home and watched movies the rest of the afternoon. 

Stuart got home and I went to DeDe's for her 'My Favorite Things' party. The directions were to bring 6 of your 'favorite things' under $10. We all had to explain why these were our favorite things. I had Stuart pick up 6 zipped coin purses when he was in Thailand. I love little coin purses and try to buy them when I travel. 

Here is the coin purse. I put a pair of antique looking earrings that I bought at the art fair the day before. They were very unique, also something I like to purchase when traveling. 

We each wrote our names on 6 cards and placed them in a basket. Then we picked out 6 names, but couldn't have our own name or duplicates. We gave a gift to each person we selected. There were some really clever ideas. I love my lady friends. I got a candle with henna painted in a design, a large candle from Bath and Body Works, note cards and a wish bracelet, a oil that can be used for many things, a Starbucks gift card, and a glitzy mirror. It was a great afternoon. 

When I got home the kids had eaten dinner and were about ready to head up to bed to read books. I took them upstairs and put them bed. 

Because I had not had enough activity for the day, I headed to Mandy's house for a birthday celebration for Cathy. 

Cathy is on the left and Mandy is on the right. They were trying to light the candles with a big swamp cooler blowing behind them. It wasn't all that successful. We had a great time. We stayed until 11 pm....on a school night! 

Another great week in the UAE! 26 days until we hit Arizona!