Eid Mubarak

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast at the Le Meridian. We then came back to the room to finish packing and get to Anantara. Jack and Millie could not wait to see Billie and Zoe. 

We arrived just before 10 am and weren't sure if we would be able to check in until later. However, we were pleasantly surprised when we were told our room was ready. We were staying in the room right above Louise's. It was perfect. 

We arrived at the room and knocked on the door to Louise's room. Everyone came out and hugged. Then we were upstairs to sort out our bags and get our swimmers on. Because Louise's room was a swim out room, we kind of stationed ourselves in there and just came in and out as we needed. We swam for a while and then we decided we would put the kids in kids' club. It was so blasted hot. Staying in the pool just wasn't an option. 

While the three oldest were in kids' club, Louise, Stuart, Zoe and I had tea in the Lotus Lounge. We stayed there for a couple of hours and Zoe napped part of that tie. We then picked the kids up after a couple of hours. They had a great time and were told we would take them back the next day. I love a free babysitting service.  

We decided to go swimming again, although we stayed under the bridge because it was so dang hot! We finally got out of the water around 4:30 pm and went to the room to get showered and dressed for dinner. Although I'm not sure why we showered. The second we stepped outside we were dripping with sweat. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are always so much more humid than Al Ain because they sit on the Arabian Gulf. 

We had dinner at the Thai restaurant and it was delicious. My goddaughter fell asleep while I was rocking her, allowing me to maintain the name 'baby whisperer'. It seems when no one else can get her to go to sleep, Aunty Dana has the magic touch. She's precious. 

We got back to the room and went to bed just after 9 again. These last two nights might be the most complete nights of sleep I have had for a while. However, I did wake up just before midnight and thought I had had a full night's sleep. 

We got up and met Lou and the kids at the beach. We went into the Gulf for a bit, then hit the main pool, which clearly is air conditioned because it was way cooler than the swim out pool. I'm not sure it was open when we were in it just before 8 am, but no one said anything so we just carried on with what we were doing. After about had an hour, we went back to the room to change and head to breakfast. After an hour at breakfast I took the kids to the kids' club again. They loved it and we loved having them there, as you would guess. 

I came back to the breakfast place for some more tea and conversation. When clearly we were the only people in the restaurant, we decided it might be time to make a move elsewhere. Stuart went to the concierge to book a table for dinner at Bushman's, an Australian restaurant. I looked in the gift shop and then decided to head back to the room for a bit. 

Then at 11 am we went to the Lotus Lounge for a latte. Our days at Anantara seem full of difficult decisions. Once tea and coffee were consumed, yet again, we decided maybe we should collect the kids for a bite of lunch. We ordered room service again and then got back in the pool for the afternoon. 

Louise headed for a massage and we stayed in the shade in the pool as much as possible. Once Louise returned, Billy, Jack and Millie got dried off and came to our room to play on their devices. We chilled in the room until it was time for dinner. 

We ate at Bushman's, an Australian restaurant. Jack had kangaroo and I had crocodile skewers. Millie had fish and chips, but hardly ate any of it. How does one child eat anything in the world and is very adventuresome in his food selections, and the other child only eats white things? It baffles me!

We ate and then sat and talked for a long time. The kids were very patient as we yammered away. We didn't get back to the room until almost 10 pm. We had promised the kids we would have a night dip when we got back, but technically the pool was closed. We broke the rules anyway and tried to scare the kids by telling them security was coming so we had to hide under the bridge. We may have done too good of a job as Millie started whimpering and wanted to get out. It was the quietest they had been all weekend. Once we were out of the pool we told the family good bye, and then it was showers and bed for all. They were leaving at 5 am, yet we had the entire day at the resort if we chose to be there. 

I woke up to a text Tuesday morning from Louise. It seems Ev had left her sunglasses in their room and she wanted me to look for them. So instead of waiting until I could contact reception, I hopped in the pool and swam to their steps. Then I popped into their room. Louise had left the sliding glass doors open, conveniently for me. Sadly, I didn't find the sunglasses so I can only assume Ev packed them somewhere.  When I got back to the room, I got out of my swimmers and got back into bed, simply to look through Facebook.  

We were all finally up around 8 am and had breakfast. The kids played at the little room next to the dining area. We had tea and just enjoyed the morning relaxing. We went back to the room to pack and check out. We decided to stop at the outlet mall on the way back to Al Ain. Stuart wanted to look for a rash guard. We ended up eating lunch there and then headed home. 

Once we were home, after a stop at the super market, we went into action to get washing started and groceries put away. Then Stuart started dinner. The Richardsons were coming to eat with us. Prior to that, I went to get Greta at DeDe's. 

Greta is a puppy who lives with Sarah, a teacher at DeDe's school who agreed to stay at our house this summer and take care of our animals as well as Greta. Greta currently lives in an apartment. She's not properly house trained therefore making her a pee machine. Sarah as off to have surgery so we volunteered to keep Greta. I had a week to break this dog of her pee habits. Oh, did I also mention that she has an 'intimidated urination' problem? Whenever you approach her using a high voice, she pees. Ugh!

Once she had peed all over the house and then had a walk, we had dinner. The kids played upstairs and the dogs fought. Molly is an absolute bully. Hopefully by the end of Greta's stay she won't be quite as intimidated by Molly. 

Greta slept on the rug by my bed, which I know was odd for her as she sleeps in Sarah's bed every night. She slept for 4 hours and then I carried her downstairs to go pee. Greta stayed in the living room while she was at our house until Saturday, when she actually started wandering around the house. Until that time she was totally scared to leave the one spot she had claimed as her own in front of the love seat. 

Once everyone was awake Wednesday morning, we all got ready for our day. The kids went to school with Stuart. We kind of forgot that all of our private school child care helpers would be gone as they finished school on June 22. So we were going to attempt to get away with taking them with us to school. However, Stuart said they were off the wall at his school. He dropped Millie off to my school and I took her with me to get my hair done. She got a trim and then a mani/pedi, while I had my hair straightened. Jack also got a new do. Stuart took him to barber. 

When I got home we fed the kids and put them to bed. Stuart headed to the airport to pick up Sean. It seems this time of the year we are always taking someone to the airport. The paybacks are worth it I suppose. 

I got up and took Jack and Millie to the Richardson's. Clare had said she would take them to Bounce. Fortunately that kept me from taking them to school. School was beyond boring on Thursday. However, a decree did come out saying we would need to plan for professional development for the last week of school. We kind of suspected that the school district might just call it quits on the 29th of June, but we were wrong. Once I was home from school I relaxed and had a nap. 

We went to the O'Reilly's for dinner. The plan was to organise our Christmas holidays with them. They will only be here one more year and it's time for a trip with them. We had a wonderful dinner and conversation was delightful, as usual. We didn't get our trip planned, but we had a lot of fun throwing out ideas. 

 

We got home just after nine so Stuart could take the Richardsons to the airport. The kids went to bed and I stayed up watching television. Stuart got home around 1 am, and we took the dogs out one last time to pee before they went to sleep. 

I woke up at 5 am to a peeing dog. Really? I'm very tired of this already. I'm hoping she gets trained while she is with us, but I doubt that will be the case. I napped on the sofa once the pee was cleaned up and the dogs were fed. 

Jack was up at 6 am, as he often is. Once Millie was awake, I went upstairs to help the kids do spring cleaning. We gathered two garbage bags full of toys to give away. I also might have just thrown some things away while the kids were not looking. After the toy clean out we went to the Rouvi's for a bit of a play for the kids and a cup of tea with Rochelle. We stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed home. 

Stuart was picked up on Friday afternoon for his first pedicure ever! 

Friday evening we went to the golf club for a leaving dinner for Kayleigh. I can hardly believe she is actually going back to the UK to go to school. We will miss her so desperately. She has been an important part of our lives for the past 4 years. We wish her all the best as she finds her new adventure. 

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the cinema to see Despicable Me 3. It was such a cute movie. We then headed back to the house where I left the kids and headed to the mall to have a bite of lunch with Leanne. We had a wonderful chat for a few hours. Once I was home, we all went to the grocery store and we fed the kids at KFC. The kids showered when we got home and they vegged in front of the television. It was another week down and one week left until our holidays began. Yahoo!