The week of Eid also brings the death of Sheikh Mohammed's 34 year-old son

Three days of mourning were declared this week because Sheikh Mohammed's son died of a heart attack at the age of 34. This means there is to be no national anthem played at school and the flags fly at half staff. Other than that, it is business as usual. 

Since Gina was still In Al Ain on Sunday, I went into work and then took a half day off to spend time shopping with her. We went to the mall and found some real deals. Gina was looking for some basics as well, as she didn't take many work clothes with her to Saudi. She was under the impression she would have to wear an abaya everyday at school. However, she reports that, because there are no men allowed on the women's side of the school, once the women get into the building, the abayas come off and everyone has on regular work clothes. So needless to say, she had to get some appropriate clothes to go under her abayas. 

After shopping we picked Millie up at her friend Sopie's house. She had gone home with her from school to have a play date. While there she wet her clothes and had to borrow some from Sophie. I suppose accidents are bound to happen. 

After we got Millie we headed to the rugby club to watch USA vs. Samoa in the World Cup. Jack and Stuart were there before we got there. They had a table and USA was getting beat, which wasn't that surprising. Jack had rugby practice and then we decided to stay and eat dinner. 

We got home and before I knew it the kids were in bed and Cathy was at our front door to visit Gina, and have a glass of wine, of course. She stayed and we watched the rest of the New Zealand vs Argentina rugby match. Now that we know how to get the rugby on tv without buying the package, guess what we will be watching for at least the next 6 weeks? Yep, the Rugby World Cup! 

We went to bed shortly after 10 pm. Stuart got up the next morning, fingerprinted in at work, and drove Gina to Abu Dhabi. It was so great to have her in Al Ain for the weekend. She was headed to Budapest, Hungary. Her passport makes me jealous for sure. 

We had about half of our students at school on Monday, which actually kind of surprised me. Some of the classes were able to combine, which meant not all of our teachers had to teach their full periods for the day. Sometimes it's really rough being a teacher here, as you can guess. 

Jack had piano on Monday evening and forgot to do his theory workbook. We attempted to do it on the way to his lesson, but failed to get it done. She just reassigned it for this week. These piano lessons might kill me. 

We stopped at the grocery store on the way back to the house so Jack could get treats for his class for his birthday on Tuesday. Once home, Jack showered and then the kids had dinner. I made a delightful combination of sausage rolls and tater tots. They ate a ton. Stuart left for rugby training and I put the kids to bed. As much as I miss being a part of the rugby team this year, I do love my Monday and Wednesday evening just watching total crap tv shows. 

Tuesday was an exciting day. Jack turned 7 years old. It's hard to believe that 7 years ago he was born. Time is so strange. In his short life he has had more travel opportunities than I had by the time I was 35. These experiences have helped create a wonderful boy who we are so proud of and so excited to see what he accomplishes in the future. 

He got up and immediately wanted to go down and open his presents. After he opened his gifts and had his favorite breakfast, Pilsbury cinnamon rolls, Stuart and I had to leave for work. 

We only had 25 boys and about 35 girls at school on Tuesday. It was meant to be a holiday but the holidays are all based on the moon, so can change by a day or so from time to time. My principal decided to send the kids home at 10 am and the teachers home at 11 am. I love my job!

I left school and went to the mall to check out the price for skating. Jack decided he wanted to invite some friends skating for his birthday party. 

Jack was so excited when he got home. He went straight upstairs to put in his new Wii game we bought him for his birthday. He has been begging for this game since we were given this Wii over a year ago. Imagine his disappointment when we discovered the game didn't work. All we could figure out was that the system was not the same frequency as the Wii game, meaning the system must have come from another country, most likely the UK. Once we were at the club for Jack's rugby practice, one of the dads said he could work it out so Jack could play his game. I didn't ask questions, I just gathered all the things he told me to get and then gave them to him on Friday. With any luck we will be in Wii eutopia in a short while. 

Our initial plan was to go to the new sushi restaurant on Jack's birthday to have dinner. But because all of Jack's friends were staying at the club, he decided he would rather eat dinner at the club, so we did and promised to have sushi the following week. 

Got up Wednesday morning and swam. 

Just sat around the house and did nothing. Went to the club and pool at 4 

Decided to go to Scott and Clare's and have curry while Stuart had rugby training and then stayed at the club to watch one of the Rygby World Cup matches. 

The kids took showers and out their jammies on at the Richardson's. We drove home around 9 pm and both kids were zonked by the time we were on the main road. 

Thursday morning I got up to swim, got to the club, and it wasn't open. Since it was officially Eid, I thought maybe they decided not to open until later. Instead Clare came over for a cup of tea. 

We went to Wadi Adventure, a wave pool with climbing structures and white water rafting. We were thinking it was a good idea, but it turns out that everyone thought it was a good idea. We opted out of Wadi Adventure and decided to go to the rugby club. I got to swim after all, and I swam a mile, 1600 meters. Yahoo for me! Clare and I signed up for a 1600 meter swim in Novemeber in Dubai. I thought maybe I should actually see if I was able to swim that far.

After I swam, we hung out for about another hour, then headed back to the Richardson's  for pizza and wing, and yes, another rugby match. This time the match was a replay of the biggest upset in forever, the Japan vs South Africa match. 

I woke up Friday morning with a horrible feeling in my shoulder. It felt as if I had pulled something in my shoulder. Because of this horrible feeling, I decided to skip the swim on Friday. Instead I did our grocery shop for the week, which I really dislike. 

Stuart left for his rugby match in Dubai around 2 pm. I made cupcakes for Jack's birthday party the following morning, and stuffed monkey bread for a 'Favorite Things' party my friend DeDe was throwing that evening. 

I took the kids early to DeDe's because her husband, Criag, was going to take their three children and our two to see a movie while we shared our 'Favorite Things' with 8 other women. This party was so much fun. She had one in the summer time and decided that she would do it again this fall. The premise of the party is to buy 6 items that are exactly alike, representing your 'favorite things'. Then you wrap them and bring a food dish to share at the party. Everyone writes their names on 6 cards. All cards go into a basket, with each participant picking out 6 different names. This part can be tricky and sometimes he last person who picks can have doubled names so there has to be some switching around. When everyone has their six names we take turns giving out our 'favorite things'. We get up and tell why it is our 'favorite thig' and then call the names we have and give them one of the gifts. I thought I was so clever. I brought back the EOS lip balm, that I love, from Arizona. I was the third person to present, and he third person who thought I was so clever. The two before me also bought a form of the lip balm. It was so funny. The gifts are not to be more than $10, but sometimes people don't stick to that. I also put in a large bag of Reese's peanut butter miniatures. 

I received a decal that you see above he kids' pictures in the photo below, a pecan praline from Texas, and a sharpie marker in my first gift. The second gift was a paper mache camel that was left on a counter in Umm Al Quain, where one of the gals lives. I assume we will get these soon. The third gift was a pedicure voucher and a EOS lip balm. The fourth gift was an insulated lunch bag with two reusable containers inside, as well as a miniature sheesha ornament. The fifth gift was a car freshener from Bath and Body Works; sweet pea, my favorite scent. The last gift was a hand sewn satchel used for wet items, such as a swimsuit. Mine had a paisley design on it. Such fun! Sherry Bollard and Sue Tharlson, I could see the two of you getting into such a party. 

The decal I got as one of my gifts. 

The party ended and the kids came back. We headed home for showers and bed. Stuart got home just after 10 pm. His team had lost, which is nothing new, but he said they looked better. He's still happy to be involved and playing. 

Friday morning we were up early, rushing about for Jack's birthday party. We left to pick kids up around 9:30 am. Prior to that Jack was talking about his party bags and how excited he was to get the little Yoda we had bought for them. The crushing blow was when I informed him that because he wanted to invite other boys after I had purchased those items, he wasn't getting a goodie bag. He cried! I felt so bad, but since I bought the goodie bag items in Arizona, there was no place to find the little Yoda in the UAE. He got over it by the time the party rolled around, thank goodness. 

We got to the skating rink just after 10 am. Thank goodness so many parents showed up because we needed the help tying skates. Yikes! They skated for about an hour and a half through blisters and cold hands from their falls. Of course we were the only parents who didn't send our kids in long pants. 

The selfie of the helpers; the Richardson's right next to us, and the O'Reillys on the far right side. 

Thank goodness they had the 'walkers' for skaters like Millie. 

Falling was very painful for Jack because he always landed on his hands, which was cold. 

The entire crew of invited guests. 

After skating we went to the food court and had a nutritious lunch of McDonalds. All in all, the party was a success and now we are finished with birthday celebrations until next year. 

Once all the kids were delivered home, we headed back to our house. Jack played with some of his new gifts and I decided to go for a swim. Saturday evening the Richardson's came over for dinner. We made nachos, the kids played, we watched rugby and had a lovely evening with some wonderful friends. 

The Richardsons left just before 8 pm, but not before the kids all had showers. It's become a habit for all of us. If we are at their house into the evening we have our kids shower before we go home, and vice versa, so that if they fall asleep before we get home, it's no big deal. 

The kids went to bed, Stuart stayed up to watch rugby, and I fell asleep on the sofa.    I finally got up just before 10 pm and headed to bed. We had a great Eid holiday.