Baby Gate, Baby Thief!

Deric came home Saturday from India which made us all so happy!  We stayed home most of the day being lazy and watching the new baby gate go up around the pool.  This gate had to be shipped from the US and took quite awhile to get here!  We are very glad it is here and I can breathe a sigh of relief now that it is up.  We have been on mega-baby-pool alert since we got here!  Deric put a safety chain on the back door to keep the kids from opening the door whenever they wanted.  Lilly is very curious about the back yard and loves to stand and look out while everyone is swimming.

After being lazy all day we decided to go out to dinner.  We ate at a little restaurant right next door to Ski Dubai.  It is fun because you can see all the skiers while you eat!  The girls of course brought their American Girl dolls.  They have been playing with them so much since we got here!  All day, Blake worked on making one of them look like Princess Leia.  Have I mentioned my kids are loving the Star Wars movies these days?  Anything to pass the time here in the desert!  Anyway, we ate dinner and when it was time to leave we realized Olivia's doll was missing!!!  We looked everwhere including the restrooms even though Liv was adamant she did not take it with her into the restroom!  I was baffled!  She had the doll sitting next to her during the whole meal..I knew this because I remember thinking it was cute that she had made her doll a plate of food!  I went to the manager to give her our number in case the doll turned up.  It was then that Daddy walks toward us with a very naked American Girl and her clothes in his hand!  She had been swiped by a very small little Arabic boy!  Deric at the last minute decided to walk into another area of the restaurant and saw the doll sitting naked in a chair next to a little boy.  Her clothes were sitting beside her!  Poor violated doll!  By this point all the waitstaff were looking and Deric sent a waitress over to get it.  It was pretty funny.  I had seen this same little tyke running wild through the restaurant earlier in the night.  I would love to know when he made his move!  We never saw a thing!  We all laughed and ended the night with some Marble Slab!  Love the evenings when everything is open for business!

Don't ask how many times she made me redo these hairdos!

Back safe and sound!

Hey guys!  I wanna play!

Notice they had to dig a large trench (by hand with shovels) and then drop large cinderblocks in to mount the fence to.  I am no expert on these things but the whole process seemed to be done the hard way!  But hey..this is Dubai and that's how they do things here!

Bummer Blog Post

Last night I skyped for quite awhile with my sweet friend from Chicago, Denise.  I was pretty homesick-weepy and it so helped to see her warm smile and hear her awesome laugh.  When I moved to Chicago I met so many wonderful friends who still mean the world to today.  My Chicago experience and the cherished friends we made there are a HUGE part of the reason I had the courage to come here!  I knew what wonderful experiences moving out of your comfort zone could bring. Where am I going with this?  Denise was telling me how she has been following the blog and she could tell I was a little blue...It made me start thinking that it was okay for me to feel sad and I didn't have to hide it!  This blog is a way to tell our family and friends our adventures overseas but also a way to preserve my memories of this time.  So that includes the good, the fun, the stressful and the downright ugly!!!  So here goes details of a recent BAD day!!

Blake woke up last Thursday feeling blue!  She started crying again and telling me all the things she would NOT get to do this year not being a 3rd grader at Westwood Elementary in Friendswood, Texas.  Did you know she will NOT get to participate in the choir, the recorder club, the knitting club or take the TAKS test!?  I felt so bad for her because all these things make me sad too!!!  I tried to comfort her with promises of new clubs that she would get to join here, probably more than she could imagine!!!  And that taking the TAKS test..well, it's kind of great that you don't have to worry about that!  My words really didn't help so I was glad that we had made some plans for the day.  Distractions, distractions!

Through our camp we heard about a place called Kidzania that on Thursdays served FOOD! (ramadan) We made some plans to meet some campers there and headed out.  My friend the nav lady guided us there. Of course this place is in a mall where all things are in Dubai.  I safely arrived, parked in a teensy-tiny parking spot, unloaded all Bryant children, supplies and strollers only to realize I AM AT THE WRONG MALL!!!!!!  I knew that Kidzania was at The Dubai Mall but for whatever reason my brain took me to Mall of the Emirates.  Dubai, I cannot keep up with all your malls and all your kid-fun-lands!!!!  The kids were so bummed but luckily all malls in Dubai have some sort of wonderful indoor entertainment.  This mall had a place called Magic Planet which is basically Chuck E. Cheese without the mouse or the pizza..especially the pizza! (ramadan)  It was empty(ramadan) and the kids had it to themselves!  They had a great time riding amusement park-like rides and playing many games that earned them obscene amounts of orange tickets!  Using their earnings, Luke bought a plastic machine gun with sound effects (nice for walking around the mall) and the girls both got a new barbie!  Take that homesickness!

After playing I took them to the desolate food court (ramadan) and fed them Happy Meals. Yes, some places like McDonalds are open but only for "take-away" and for children.  "Take-away" is what we Americans would call "take-out" or "to-go" food.  You can order from many places but they wrap your food up in a brown paper sack and you must "take it away".  So I sat and watched the kids eat lunch as I starved and dreamed about an ice cold diet coke with sonic ice.  There was a security guard monitoring the food court to make sure noone was sneaking a french fry.  Yes, I am being a little dramatic but there was a food court security guard and I did sneak french fries.

After lunch we decided to search for school shoes (remember Luke and the machine gun during this paragraph please).  We found a store with some cute shoes and tried to try some on.   This was a very frustrating moment for me!  The salesman kept bringing out the wrong sizes.  Either way too big or way too small!  Our American sizing was confusing him and his European sizing was confusing me!!!!! It was getting to be late in the day, Lilly was about done and Luke..(machine gun with sound effects).  So I had one of those "we are outta here" moments and headed for the car.  Once again Blake was in tears.

I wish I could say that it got better but it did NOT!  A lady parked so close to me that I could barely get out of the parking lot AND I got lost on the way home!  It took me over an hour to get to my home that is 15 minutes away!  The navigation lady kept telling me to "make the next turning left" but there was no left turn to make!  The roads change here so much that she just can't keep up!  I finally figured out my way home..on my own thank you!  When we pulled in the driveway I looked in the rearview mirror only to see Luke had taken an ink pen and drawn all over himself during the long drive home.  The things being lost will do to you.  I really couldn't blame him.

The day ended with our sweet Latha.  She wanted to take us on a walk to show us the lake in our neighborhood.  I didn't even know that just a minute away from our villa is a beautiful lake with a fountain that has a walking path around it.  It takes about a half hour to get around the lake and will be great for me when the weather cools a bit.  We started our walk close to 7pm.  The kids were miserable!  They whined and complained about how hot they were and how tired their legs were.  I have to say at this point I ignored them all and enjoyed the walk.  I look forward to making this walk again...ALONE!

So there- That was a bummer day but there have been many fun days since!  Deric has been home and we have been having a great time!  I will no longer feel bad about sharing stressful moments.

I will wrap up with Denise again.  She and I decided that the nav lady in my car really is my best friend here.  She makes me mad sometimes, happy most of the time, and she is always there for me when I am in need.  We decided she needed a name!  I am taking suggestions!  She has a british accent, she starts our time together by saying "caution, restricted access on the route!" (to say the least nav lady!  you think!?) She often says "please make a u-turn, please make a u-turn, please make a u-turn"..this is when I have really messed up!  She also says "leave the round-a-bout at the 5th exit" or "please make the 2nd turning right"....WHAT?  So, any name ideas?

Magic Planet makes it all better!

Desolate Food Court

The lake in our neighborhood

"Booo-hoooo..it's soooooo hot"

A smile! Yeah!

I took these pictures while Deric was driving.  THIS is how the roads look and THIS is why I continue to get lost!  The red and white things change constantly taking you in a new direction. Usually in the opposite direction you want to go.

YEAH ME!

All week the kids have been going to a camp at a hotel called Wafi.  The place is Egyptian themed and shaped like a pyramid.  They have been doing sports, swimming, dancing and just getting to play with other kids.  Driving to this hotel has had its challenges for me but has also been good for me to get out there and find my way around.  The first morning Deric went with us and helped navigate.  Lately he has been so mean!  He makes ME drive places!  The nerve!  Day 2 of camp I was on my own and you would think I could get there no problem.  NO!  It had to happen sometime and it did this day...I got lost!  Getting lost in Dubai is a very easy to do.  At one point I think I was on my to Oman!  This was the worst worst feeling.  And what was so frustrating was we could see the pyramid but we could not get to it!!!!  Luckily my new car has a navigation system and the lady in the dash kept telling me where to go.  We did finally make it there..about 30 minutes late. Once again it was one of those moments where I tried to stay calm so the kids stayed calm.  I think they might have learned some new words that day from their mama.. words that rhyme with sit!sit!sit!sit!  I had to sit in the lobby of the hotel and decompress for awhile before I got back on the road.  I now have the drive down and I cheer for myself out loud each morning when we make it there!  "Yeah Me" "Take that Dubai!""We made it!" "I did it!"..Seriously..I do this.

The leader of the camp is a very loud Irishman who cheers "Texans!" or "Americans!" everytime we walk in.  He is very loud and a little obnoxious and I think he scares the you-know-what out of Luke.  Luke has whimpered a few mornings about going but seems to have fun once he gets there.  One morning I left him in a line full of boys going out to play football.  When I picked him up he had a skinned up nose, cheek and eye.  I asked him what happened and he said "I fell playing football Mama but it wasn't Texas football it was Dubai football"....It was SOCCER!  The pool they are swimming in everyday is amazing and the girls get to have a fashion show tomorrow.  Speaking of fashion.....

Yesterday after camp a new friend let me follow her to the place you buy school uniforms.  $2185 durham later (divide by 3.7 to get that in dollars), I left with a large bag of khaki shorts, skorts, navy and white polos, button downs, and one very unhappy eldest daughter.  I was very excited about the uniform thing.  No more drama about what to wear in the morning..it is decided for you!  However, these uniforms are just not that great.  The shorts have elastic waist bands and are made of a polyester-ish material and there is no difference between the polo shirts for the boys and girls. I was thinking maybe a cute collar for the girls? Puffed sleeve?  NO- This put Blake into a quiet mode.  I knew the storm was brewing and later that night it erupted.  She cried and cried about how she did not like it here, she wanted to go home, she missed her house, her friends..the list goes on and on.  We laid in her bed and felt sad together and I told her it was okay to feel that way and just to let it out!

It was later that night that I realized it was the UNIFORMS that upset her!!!  Just like it was once SPONGEBOB....It's funny the things that can trigger homesickness in the kids. We revisited the subject this morning and she said it was the uniforms.  I told her that we could jazz them up with cute shoes and hair accessories and that seemed to make it all better...and a promise for some new flats...new shoes can always make it better!  I just love that girl...She may look like Deric but we sure are alike in a lot of ways!  BTW...Olivia and Luke did not seem to care a bit about the uniforms.  (for now)

Lastly, I must mention that when we left the uniform store I had to get myself home.  The navigation lady told me how to get there..I just push GUIDE ME HOME...And I did it without getting lost!

YEAH ME!

Church..

Just wanted to share a picture of our new church..Not sure why the taxi had to be there!  The Christian churches are all on a compound in a not-so-great part of town! It is going to definitely be different from our Friendswood church..however, in a muslim country it is a blessing in itself that we get to go to mass! Friday is the day of worship here so that is going to take some getting used to as well!

When we got home we had some fun with the new Wii and Luke's new bow and arrow.  You may not know this but I really have 5 kids!  The pictures will explain!  Don't worry, they are just suction cup arrows!  This just reminds me that we so love all being together again!  

Luke the Duke turns 5!

We celebrated our first birthday in Dubai!  Thursday, the 19th Luke turned 5....a whole hand old!  We had a great day celebrating as a family.  Luke woke up to donuts and presents!  He got the first video game for the Bryant house..a Wii!  Very exciting!  He also got a bow and arrow, some legos, cash and surprises from Texas and a remote control car from Latha and Anura!  So sweet!  After we fed everyone at home (ramadan) we took the kids to The Atlantis Hotel on the The Palm.  We spent the day at the waterpark and rode rides that took you through tanks filled with sharks and stingrays!  When we first got there I was a little worried about sweet Lilly and the heat.  It was HOT!  However she had more fun splashing in the little baby area!  I don't think she stopped smiling and squealing the whole time!   Her sisters fought over who got to take her down the little slides.  Once again I had a great time people watching everone on "holiday" as they call it here.  Speedos...look in the backgound of these pictures!  That evening we had a traditional Iftar dinner.  Iftar is a tradition during Ramadan where you break your fast with a special dinner right at sunset.  There are certain traditional foods you eat and the kids were such troopers about trying new things!   They brought Luke a cake and sang happy birthday to him.  It was a full day of fun....not your traditional party with lots of kids but it didn't seem to matter!  Speaking of that we did have dinner the night before Luke's birthday at some new friends house and we brought #5 cupcakes.  Lots of kids were there and we sang to Luke....So, I think I can say we successfully celebrated year #5!