Final Farewell

June 4: Nothing in my imagination could have prepared me for what these last 3 years here in Abu Dhabi would be like, and how much we would grow to love it here. We have loved our time here, despite (or maybe because of) all the hard moments and difficulties. We love the people we've met, the life long friendships we've formed, the culture we've come to know, and the wild/beautiful  landscape here that is so different than our home in Northern VA. It's hard to end this chapter in our lives, but it's time. 

The stuff is all gone. On its way to the US. No turning back now :) The goodbyes have been said (except to the Jesbears. That one will be too hard. Lucky for us, they're flying back with us and we still get to spend a week in San Fransisco together!) and the giant list of "make sure we do this one more time" has been checked off. These empty rooms don't even look like our house anymore.

In preparation for having all of our stuff gone, Will has been religiously saving every toilet paper and paper towel roll for the last couple of months. And it paid off! Look at all the toys they made! Swords, guns, nun chucks, even a pack of dynamite (see Colby). Its pretty awesome to have such talented and resourceful kids. 

We spent our last evening at the Wierzbanowski's house, celebrating Lily's birthday, saying goodbye to neighbors, and mentally prepping for our red eye 11 pm flight. Ma'salama Abu Dhabi! Thanks for being such a great place to call home. On to new adventures!

X Marks the Spot

May 14: Don't forget about the treasure hunt! For the mysterious pirate's treasure! The second part of the map ended up being in our very own backyard, under some rocks. Hidden along with some Portuguese candy. This pirate sure traveled! The 3rd and final piece of the map was hidden at a small park not too far from our house. There was some American candy with this section. Hailey and Tyler took a short cut through some bushes to find the map and ended up with some cuts. Here is their staged grief over their minuscule cuts

May 31: The put together map revealed the treasure's resting place to be at kite beach, one of our favorite spots to go hang out with the Jesbears. We headed out with shovels, ready to find this treasure! But first, a quick crab hunt. The crabs were feisty today, and the kids kept getting pinched.

Will, matching rock formations with the sketch on the map. 

Much to their excitement, they found an arrow!

Looks like the spot to dig...

They had to dig down a ways!

TREASURE! There was much excitement from all at the beautiful little jeweled cases they found. Each, stuffed with interesting treasure. And the best part? It wasn't me who did this. Must be a real pirate treasure!

Finished just in time to catch a beautiful sunset. 

Jess has been my best friend here, and our family wouldn't know what to do without her family hanging out with us several times a week! Hundreds of adventures, outings, late night chats, shopping, playdates and more. We will feel the hole in our lives of not living close to the Jesbears (also known as the Robertsons).

Friends like Family

The best part of where you live (in my opinion) are the people you meet and the friends you make. Here in Abu Dhabi, we've made lifelong friends. These people have become our family these past three years. They celebrated with us when we had a new baby, brought countless meals, offered hours of babysitting and companionship and advice and have just become an integral part of our lives. We are definitely leaving a big piece of our hearts behind. Words cannot express how much we will miss them. I know we'll see each other again, but it will never be the same as when we were all living in this little Arab country out by the ocean.

May 19: One last, epic, taco party. The memories I'll have of these: late nights; dozens of kids running around the house - upstairs, downstairs, outside, everywhere; Forest's famous fish tacos - there's a reason his business was so successful in NYC; Abby's taquitos - nothing compares; that one time we had a crockpot of camel meat. And a piñata. Friends that you can talk to for hours about anything, and never run out of things to say. We had these every few months, and whether it was at the Parke's house, in the desert, or at our place, it was memorable every single time!

May 14: Adopted Grandparents. They still buy you sugary treats and the junk food mom says no to, just as a grandparent should. The kids were thrilled to run into the Sharps at the ACS book sale, especially since I had told them I wasn't buying them any food. Grandpa Sharp to the rescue!

These girls have supported me not only when I got here and had to figure everything out, but as I leave and deal with a health trial that has proven to be the hardest thing I've ever gone through up to this point. I love these ladies!

 I'm going to miss my Thursday morning outings and lunches with Abby!

May 27: Last dinner at the Sharp's house. Once again, words fail me when I try to describe the kindness, friendship, love and support they've given us here.

May 10: Hailey's BFF, Naomi. The good thing about foreign service friends is that they make really good pen pals - these two are already wearing halves of their "best friend" lockets around their necks and ready to write letters to each other!

Goodbye Dubai

May 12: Ken had the day off, and we figured we'd take one last trip to Dubai while the boys were in school. We ended up finding a pretty yummy Mexican food place (why did we just discover this right before moving?!) 

They stopped in front of our table and made the guacamole while we were watching. Colby was so sure it was ALL just for him :) 

We didn't go into the aquarium, but we stopped and watched the sharks for a while. 

The famous Burj Khalifa. I don't think the kids will ever forget about it, they're constantly talking about it! 

Sweet little O. With a face like that, who would believe he got ahold of markers this morning and drew all over his legs, arms and even the bottoms of his feet?? Me. I would believe it. 

Musandom Magic - Take 2

May 5: Our first trip to Musandom last month was such a success, and with Jon and Ashley squeezing  in one more visit to do something fun, we decided to get a group together and go back out on a dhow sightseeing trip. It was totally worth it, and this time we saw lots of dolphins!

Once again, there were plenty of kids to run around with. In addition to Uncle Jon's family, we had the Updegraffs and Cores come too.

I tried to capture all of the cliffs we pass through. Even in a blog like this (where it actually decreases the quality of my pictures) you can tell just how pretty it is out there in the water! As a funny bonus, our phones thought we were in Iran (on a clear day you can actually see the coast of Iran) and on the screen kept saying "welcome to Iran." The closest either of us will get to Iran!

Dolphins! Owen was one of the first to spot them, and it had been his dream since last time to "see a dolphin's face," so you can guess who was super excited!

We were not the only boat excited about this discovery :) 

Owen, making friends with the captain. 

The pictures don't do the water justice - so many brilliant blues, greens and everything in between.

Here's where the captain stopped for us to get out and swim. The fish were swarming! Which meant the boys were a little hesitant about getting into the water initially.

Not Hailey! She jumped right in. After the boys saw that we really weren't dealing with flesh eating piranhas, they jumped in close behind!

These cliff walls were quite impressive even close up. 

Colby did NOT want to be left behind on the boat while the adults went swimming. He kept pointing at the water, just in case that would help get his point across :)

But we still did get some time for the adults to swim! And if you think you see Pringles floating in the water, you are correct. The kids figured out how to keep the fish coming back.

Nothing like a peaceful boat nap after swimming and exploring all morning! 

I had to include the picture of these goats, just to remember our Omani goat experience. These guys are all over the towns, walking around and hanging out in front of the shops. Well, at the border, there was a line so Ken was inside the building longer than usual, while we waited in the line of cars. I opened the side door to help Owen with something and give the kids some air, and a goat immediately hopped into the car! I'm pretty sure he thought he'd hit the equivalent of a goat piñata with the amount of crackers/goldfish/who knows what else is lodged in between seats and all over the van floor. Needless to say, some kids were horrified (Owen) some thought it was awesome (the whole back row) and all I could think of was ("does this thing have fleas?!") I ended up having to actually physically push him out (he REALLY didn't want to leave) and he stepped on me on his way out. Now I've been stepped on by a camel AND a goat! Life goals here:)