Al Ain

We got a week off for Eid (a Muslim religious holiday) here a couple weeks ago, and decided to use the time getting to know Abu Dhabi. Our first day we spent at the nearby oasis of Al Ain. As all Hamblins know, a great adventure must start with an adventure hat 

I leave the hats to the others ... for me, it kind of falls into the same category as close-toed shoes: why would you do that?!?

On the drive, we caught our first glimpses of REAL sand dunes. I am SO excited to actually see real dunes and climb on them and explore them, something we haven't done yet (the heat has been a deterrent there...) We also saw a few camels in the distance, running in a straight line across the sand. It was so unbelievably beautiful and cool that I didn't even pull out my camera, just watched them go.

More blurry sand :)

Our arrival into Al Ain - it just felt like a neat place! 

We ate lunch in the oasis, where they farm the dates off the trees. There are lots of paved pathways through the oasis, as well as dirt paths through the trees. My adventuring on the dirt paths stopped after finding an extraordinarily well fed mouse scurrying around, but the paved paths were gorgeous :) The kids spent the rest of their time looking for more mice.

Owen loved sitting in the backpack, seeing the world from up high. We bought the backpack when Tyler was a baby, from one of Ken's coworkers. As a strapped-for-cash little family, we wondered if $25 was really worth it. We can now emphatically say YES! Tyler used it all over D.C., it saved our life in Israel with Will, Hailey slept in it all through Panama, and now Owen is using it as his personal chariot! Let's hear it for Ken, and his superhuman strength in carrying all these not-so-petite babies!

I caught some Dad/Owen moments that were just too sweet to pass up 

And then, there was this one. Priceless. Watch out Dad!!!

The place was absolutely quiet, and we were lucky to have one other group of tourists walk by so that we could get a family picture.

 My favorite trees are palm trees. I just think they are beautiful. Lucky for me, they are all over this country! The ones here at the oasis were just begging to be captured on film (or my memory card, whatever, it sounds better the other way :)

Sometimes, walking is hard work...

Will felt the same way, and just plunked himself down for a breather. It lasted approximately 10 seconds, then he popped up and dashed madly after Tyler and Hailey, determined not to miss anything exciting!

Tyler is obsessed with palm fronds, because he thinks it is cool that the workers in our compound use them to sweep the streets. This one wouldn't be too effective I think, but he enjoyed using it to "fan" us.

Hailey was first to get back to the parking lot. Hooray for air conditioned cars!

Next, we headed over to the fort. Again, totally amazing and such a fun place! We were the only ones there, and it was a child's dream, with lots of empty space to run, and plenty of things to climb on. 

I told them to look like marauding bandits. This is what I got 

Look at the hands - Ken is in professor mode! Look at the boy's faces - they are in student mode :)

Inside, we were offered complimentary dates, tea, and postcards. The boys painstakingly agonized over which postcard they wanted, while Hailey headed over to the dates. Why stop at 1, when the nice worker is filling up a napkin with 10? It was only after the first few that I discovered she was eating them pit and all. Yuck! It didn't bother her - this is the same girl who swallows her gum no matter how I try to explain it to her...

Climbing up to the watch tower

Some pretty windows. We couldn't go inside the rooms, since they are renovating, but the outside was plenty fun.

Look up!

From atop the battlements, I looked out and saw an army of midgets retreating - no wait, those are my kids running on ahead to who knows what...

Tyler was impressed with the spikes on the door. Now this should deter solicitors...

 Another section of the visitors center had a gorgeous photography display. They were black and white photos done by Wilfrid Theisinger, a soldier/explorer who lived with the Bedouin, traveling through all kinds of amazing countries and deserts. He is Ken's new hero, and I am determined to find some of his photos to buy. This one is of Abu Dhabi in 1948 

After the fort, we headed over to Jebel Hafeet, a nearby mountain. To our complete shock and astonishment, it RAINED on us! Not just a little rain either, but tons of sideways falling rain complete with heavy winds. People were pulling over and stopping by the side of the road. Being from Virginia though has made us tough when it comes to rain, so we pushed on, and got to the top of the mountain (we drove, they don't have a hiking trail there... ) just as the rain stopped. In time for the sunset. Perfect? I think so! (I enjoy even the memory of this because let's face it, 9 times out of 10, when we plan an outing it does NOT go the way we expect it to go and it is nowhere near perfect :) There were still a few drops falling as we got out, so my brave kids spent their time running from shelter to shelter.

When we urged then to come look over the side and take a picture, they told us they were freezing and kept asking for jackets. Seriously? It was no lower than 85 degrees up there, I kid you not. The thing is, I had goosebumps too. We're acclimating :) 

 Owen thought the raindrops were fun. This was his first interactive experience with rain.

The view from the top.

On the drive home, everyone conked out. That's how you can tell it was a good day!