Saturday saw another family trip to Dubai, this time to check out the dolphinarium. The kids were very excited and have been wanting to go since they saw it on tv a few weeks ago. The dolphinarium is inside the children’s park, which we had never been to before but it was very impressive. It is on the water, huge grassed areas, lots of play equipment etc. There was also a children’s museum- looked a bit like the QLD Science Museum that we will go back and visit another day.

Clint and I were both fairly skeptical before  the dolphin and seal show, but I have to say it was pretty good. Went for just over an hour, although in some sections the compares seemed to be doing a bit of stretching. It is indoors (no surprises in this country) which was great for the atmosphere and you got to be so much closer to the animals then places like Seaworld.

Lachie enjoyed it but Charlotte was absolutely mesmerised, she had a huge grin on her face the entire time and kept saying it was ‘awesome’. Although when it was time to say goodbye to the dolphins the tears ran down her cheeks and she was sobbing as she didn’t want the dolphins to go!

For the first part of this term, Charlotte has been looking at nursery rhymes as their theme at school. As an end to the unit, they had a nursery rhyme dress up day where the children dressed up, did a parade and then lots of fun activities.

I was hoping she would choose something easy like Jill (grab a bucket and you are done) and dreaded her deciding on a sheep or something equally difficult- costumes are not that easy to source here! Thankfully she went with the rhyme Miss Polly, her only dilemma was whether to be Miss Polly or the Doctor. She changed her mind daily before finally settling on Miss Polly at 7pm the night before.

The kids have been doing Aus-kick (AFL skills) every Friday now for a few weeks. It is only a short season due to the weather… they play from mid September through till the end of February. At first Lachie wasn’t so sure but now he looks forward to it and enjoys it. Charlotte also joins in for most of the drills but by the time they play the game at the end she has had enough and tends to be kicking a footy with her friend Claire totally oblivious to the game going on.

A few ‘action’ shots…

The lead up to Halloween last year was very low as key as the children really had no idea what it was all about! However this year they have been counting down the days for weeks. Although I am fairly sure they don’t fully understand the traditions involved and are only in it for the candy! They chose their costumes early- Lachs as a wizard (you would think this would be an easy costume to find….. but it was a nightmare, luckily we found one in Dubai last weekend) and Charlotte as Mariposa (a Barbie fairy for those of you without young girls)! I was a witch and Clint went to the grand Prix for the afternoon.

The kids were so excited all day and couldn’t wait to get started. There were kids out everywhere, and the atmosphere around the compound was fantastic, there are about 400 villas in our area of the compound so there were plenty of houses to visit. But after about 90 mins the kids were done, they had enough candy and chocolate to feed an army and were getting tired of walking! (the house here are more spaced out then our previous compound).

After the trick or treating we headed to one of the common areas for some more fun. About 50 families got together for a bbq and some Halloween games for the kids. It was a great evening but an early finish as the kids all had school the next day.

Halloween is definitely one of the things the children will miss when we eventually move on!

Photos of my little wizard and Mariposa ready for trick and treat plus at the bbq afterwards. The kids loved the party games, especially turning their friends into Mummies with toilet paper.

Yes I will admit it does seem strange that the first time my children experience snow it is while living in the desert! But it is a great way to see it! All fresh powder and after a couple of hours you can leave and defrost in the 39 degree heat… perfect!

Last saturday we took the kids to Ski Dubai which is located in one of the Dubai malls. It is an indoor ski/ snow park. You can ski, snowboard or just play in the snow in the lovely minus 3 degree setting. It even has a quad chair lift and a couple of cafes inside! For the real skiers/snowboarders among you… it has 5 runs (one being a black run) with the longest being 400 meters, like everything in Dubai it has to be the biggest in the world. And this ones claim to fame is the 3000 square meters snow park which is the largest indoor snow park.

Both the children had been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks (it has been a great bribe!) and were so excited once we got there. They looked so cute all rugged up as we went in. Of course they were greeted by a big dressed up bear which Lachie loved and Charlotte immediately ran from… my brave little princess! Once inside they had a fabulous time playing in the snow, tobagganing, sledging and sliding down in the tubes. charlotte found the little tubes early on and stayed their most of the time. Sliding down, then dragging the tube back up to go again. Most of the time she was the only one on the slope and had the attendant’s undivided attention. Lachie climbed to the top of the tobbaggan run (where you have to lie down on your back) as soon as we got there then shyed away from it and headed to the little tubes with Charlotte. But once he got his confidence he progressed to the big tubes and then to the tobaggan and we couldnt get him off! After a couple of hours they were both exhausted!!

We were most impressed with the facilities and the way it is run.The cost of your ticket includes ski jacket, ski pants, socks and ski boots. you needed your own gloves and beanies. the kids also were provided a helmet which all kids under 13 must wear… a good thing too as we lost count of the number of times Charlotte knocked her head! The only downfall to the day was our camera ran out of battery! We did get a few photos and small videos but we shall just have to return and do it again!

Have only been here just over a year, it feels strange when people at school corner you to ask questions, in some ways I feel like I am still working things out myself! But to people who are just arriving, a year seems like a long time! And in some ways I do feel like a local:

* It is 39 degrees and 98% humidity today and I find myself saying how nice it is now the heat has gone!

* I know the weekend is Thursday/Friday and have stopped planning things for Saturday night! I must say the week seems to go very quickly when Tuesday is hump day!

* The camels on the side of the road no longer get a second glance.

* I could ace any defensive driving course in the world! When driving here I have learnt that indicators are optional, the white lines on the road seem to be a suggestion only, you can stop in the middle of a roundabout if you feel the need to chat and you can overtake on the shoulder doing 160km/hour while talking on a mobile with 3 kids playing on the front seat… nothing I see here on the roads surprises me anymore!

* I think in terms of Dirham’s and noticed when I was back in Australia I converted Aussie prices back to the dirham.

* I am use to being called ‘Madam’ at least 10 times a day

* I no longer feel guilty putting everything in the rubbish bin! But I do wish they would get recycling here at some stage… Clint is working on it!

As my children grow it becomes more and more apparent that my angels are complete opposites, maybe thats why they get on so well… the old opposites attract theory.

Lachie is still very ordered, everything in its place and to him everything is black or white. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is devastated if he gets in trouble. He is also somewhat of a perfectionist and if he can’t do something or perceives himself at not very good at it then easily gives up.

Charlotte on the other hand, will look you in the eye and blatantly lie and when in trouble she doesn’t care, just looks at you as if to say “whatever”. She will argue every point and minor detail and if there is a loop-hole she will find it… far to street smart for a 3-year-old! She believes if she can find a path to walk to her bed then the room is clean. She is also very determined and insists on doing everything by herself, she will try for ages until she gets it right or masters a new skill.

Yesterday Lachie was practising his spelling words for the week, one of which is ’school’. He spelt it out correctly only to have Charlotte announce that it doesn’t matter if he forgets how to spell it cause it is written on his shirt (uniform)… yep how to cheat from a 3-year-old!  The look on Lachie’s face was priceless, the thought of someone cheating horrified him… he will probably tell his teacher that she needs to cover everyone’s shirts/dresses so no-one can cheat!

We love them both to bits but Clint and I shudder at the thought of Charlotte as a teenager!

We have only been back a few weeks and already the kids social calendars are filled with parties! Meaning our weekends are also filled with parties, Charlotte is too young to leave by herself yet, not to mention still terrified of clowns. And not many parties are held at home so we  stay with Lachs at the party places as the toilets and things are always outside in the general area, and while the staff are usually lovely, close supervision isn’t a strong point.

Last weekend they had a party and this weekend we had Jasmines 5th, Claire’s 4th and Jacks 6th. Of course the kids love it and have a wonderful time, and I enjoy the catch up with the other parents. Jasmine’s was bowling (Charlotte very proud of her first strike) and Jack and Claire’s was at a party/play centre. They loved the rides, Charlotte’s favourite was the rollercoaster and Lachie loved the “crazy cars” (strapped into a car that goes round while going up, down and jerking sideways), Charlotte came off that one saying it was fun but a little bit scary.

While I have had enough cake and party games to last quite sometime, Lachs is off to another party Monday night- yes you read that correctly, Monday night with school the next day! But it’s fairly normal here for the locals to have late evening parties as they tend to sleep in the afternoon after school and then stay up late. It is one of Lachie’s good friends so I said he could go as long as Clint could be home so I don’t have to take Charlotte too (she just wouldnt cope with the late night) and that we would have to leave early cause otherwise we won’t get home till 8:30 and thats late for him on a school night…. so I guess I will be singing Happy Birthday one more time !

Clint and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary yesterday. As well as going out to dinner I got a lovely bouquet of flowers (they are truly spectacular) complete with a tube of cream… just incase I am suffering from the 7 year itch!

Although the official Eid date hadn’t been announced, the public holidays had been so we headed off for the weekend to Fujariah.

Fujariah is one of the 7 emirates and unlike the others that are all desert, Fujariah is almost totally mountainous. It is also the only emirate on the Gulf of Oman, the others all border the Persian Gulf (there’s todays geography lesson). The drive up was great, we didn’t go the most direct way as we had to stop in Dubai at the bike shop (yes, I know you are all surprised by that one), but once we hit Fujariah the mountains, although not green they made a nice change from the desert. We also went past the UAE version of Mt Rushmore… apparently patriotic vandalism is ok.

We stayed at the JAL beach resort just outside Dibba (Daba to the Omanians). As the name suggests it is run by the Japanese airline and seems to do a lot of fly in golf holidays from Japan. Personally I am still trying to work out why people would subject themselves to a game of golf in this heat! Apart from check-in where they gave us the wrong room, the hotel was great and the staff fantastic! They were so friendly and helpful and the kids had a ball. It’s the first time Lachie and Charlotte have really been into kids club (they had one specially for 3-6 year olds), whenever we went to pick them up they claimed they were not hungry or ready to go. So Clint and I were lucky enough to steal some time to ourselves in a place where vodka is cheaper than a milkshake! We spent the weekend relaxing and the kids did a lot of swimming in the numerous pools. Lachie also enjoyed the small ocean  water park, although he wasnt to sure about having to wear the life jacket to swim out there.

Photos:

Top- hotel from the pier, Lachie and Clint head out to play in the ocean

Middle- in the pool

Bottom- musical hat game

We woke up Sunday morning to find Ramadan was over and it was time to celebrate Eid. Apparently the U.A.E moon sighting committee went up in their plane, saw the moon and made the announcement at 8:15pm Saturday night (nothing like leaving it till the last minute). Although the hotel was already great, we noticed a difference with the end of Ramadan immediately: music in the lift, hallways, tunes pumping by the pool, pool bar open and outside dining to name a few.

The kids also loved the breakfast buffet, no surprises there once the kids discovered the numerous chocolate items on offer. They ate so much they actually refused ice-cream when it was offered (yep, ice-cream at breakfast time… and they wonder why diabetes is a problem.)  For a hotel that was booked out, it is so well designed you don’t feel crowded at all. All the rooms overlook the Indian Ocean/ Gulf of Oman and the buildings are only 3 or 4 stories (unlike the monstrous Dubai hotels), when the kids were in bed we were able to sit out on the balcony overlooking the pool and listen to the waves crashing in… very peaceful!

When we left the resort, we drove back through the town of Fujariah which is apparently the safest city in the U. A.E, I think that may have something to do with the public lashings you can still witness in the city centre on Fridays for minor offences. The drive along the coast and mountains to the Oman border was lovely but the kids didn’t get much out of it, but a sing a long to the Wiggles kept them occupied.

Hopefully we will get ourselves organised for a few more weekend escapes so we can explore a bit more of what the UAE has to offer.