Jet lag Joy 2

Coming back to Abu Dhabi and suffering from this thing called jet lag is like having 5 newborn babies at the same time. Now I don't know about you, but the sleep deprivation that comes with ONE newborn baby is almost enough to send me over the edge. Five?! I'm kind of like a raving lunatic who falls asleep mid sentence in the middle of the day. Seriously, I've been going to bed at 5 pm when Ken gets home and skipping dinner entirely. My experience this past week can be summed up in one word: DREADFUL. Not because I don't love it here and not because I'm not oh-so-happy to be home and among our friends who are family. But because scenes like this occur regularly throughout the day (see photo above)

We were cooking together! Specifically to keep her awake! I turn around to get the flour, and BOOM, she's out. And it is 10 a.m.

Of course, while I am busy trying to keep #3 awake, #2 sneaks off and tucks himself into bed. And before you can say "don't sleep now or you'll be up all night," he's out. And nothing wakes him up - even #4 climbing all over him.

Come back downstairs dragging an extremely grumpy #2, only to find #3 underneath that blanket on the couch, you guessed it, fast asleep. And have you ever tried to reason with a 10 month old? It doesn't work, he sleeps when he wants to, let's say from 9 am until midnight. Now repeat this scenario every day….

This means that our nights look something like this: 

• Day 1: Wake up at 2 a.m. to find my very resourceful 8 year old downstairs with 3 of his siblings. [how long have they been awake?!] "Don't worry mom," they tell me, "Tyler gave us breakfast. Fruit snacks and chocolate granola bars!" Ah yes, the breakfast of champions. 
• Day 2: We decide to start a giant lego creation with the boys at 3 a.m. Then get the dishes done and the kitchen mopped, only to want to go back to bed at 5 a.m. 
• Days 3-7: We are all awake and ready to start the day at 2 a.m. Dressed by 7 a.m. Asleep by 9 a.m. Except for Ken, who has to go to work and pretend to be awake all day.

It's a good thing we love this crazy place. And, we are just starting to emerge from the sleepy fog. By next week, I bet we'll feel back to normal, and there will be no more falling asleep at the dinner table, food in mouth :)

A.D. Anecdotes 4

Although the humidity and heat of a UAE summer are impressive, we decided that having seen it once, we were not eager to see it again, so we have returned to the States for the summer. BUT, we did have some fun times in May and June in Abu Dhabi that I don't want to forget, so I present, for your viewing pleasure, the following highlights:

Where do you spend most of your free time when the weather is already HOT?

In the water. ANY water. One day, the beach.

The wind was blowing so much the plate stayed on his stomach without him holding it!

The next day (ok, most days), our pool. (thanks for the pictures, Grandpa!)

Another beach - when you have cool friends, they teach you what things like 'kiting' are. We had so much fun watching them kite, eating dinner, and finding crabs. 

What happens when you accidentally run into the deep end of the pool while playing tag with your brothers and you can't swim? Your parents enroll you in private swim lessons! Hailey LOVED her swim teacher enough that she actually learned how to swim. The transformation between one day to the next was miraculous. Hailey now resembles a little fish in the water. She can't wait to continue her lessons in the fall, and we're happy that we won't be suffering as many heart attacks in the water trying to make sure everyone is alive and swimming.

What do you do when all your friends are buying passes to the water park, and your kids can't stop begging you to go try it out? You cave into peer pressure. And in two weeks you go four times. Tyler and I got to go by ourselves one day, and it was a blast.

What do you do when a new park and food truck open up?

Try it out! The new park is amazing, and the food at the truck was pretty good too.

How does your husband show you he's sorry he went away for a week long business trip to the States and hung out with all your old friends without you? This is how. I'd like to say I shared these with everyone and took my time slowly savoring each last bite. In reality, it only took me four days to eat the entire box. Alone. And it was wonderful.

What happens when you have talented friends?

You actually learn to make bread, and succeed when trying on your own!

What do you learn how to do at 9 months old? Sit up, as well as army crawl! This baby is growing too fast. He's enjoying his mobility by exploring previously undiscovered frontiers, like under the tool table and behind the couches. Now, if only he could figure out how to back up… (Since we think he's ridiculously cute, he gets the most pictures this post)

How do you celebrate the last day of school and a 10 year wedding anniversary? With ice cream cones in the middle of the day, and amazing flowers! (and a sick throwing up baby, but we'll just gloss over that part…)

What do you do when you have to say goodbye to good friends?

You maybe shed some tears. Ok, a lot of tears. And promise to try and visit someday!

What do you do when you're the cutest thing around and everyone wants pictures with you?

Say cheese! And hope that they give you free shwarmas if they think you are so awesome… This is our FAVORITE shwarma place, and we like finding excuses to eat here.

How do you finish off another great school year? Strong! The boys worked really hard this year, and had the best teachers. We had fun seeing a lot of their accomplishments at the end of year back to school night.

Will and his best buddy Jason

What do you do when you really have to go?

You use this beauty right here, located in a very deserted and out of the way part of town. Umm, I decided I didn't really have to go that bad… I did end up at a pretty sweet warehouse with fun furniture and knick knacks though!

Colby looks like a giant next to his friend here - a six month head start will do that to you!

Meanwhile, the other three created their own fun... See you in a couple of months Abu Dhabi!