Musandom Magic

April 8: There is one trip I have wanted to take ever since we moved here: take a dhow cruise in Musandom, Oman. Somehow, every time we've made plans to go, we've had to change them. But I am happy to say that this weekend, we FINALLY went! And it sure didn't disappoint! The kids scouted out our beach camping sight immediately upon arrival.

With the low tide, Tyler and Lilli made it to this little patch of sand in the water

Will joined them once he realized he could make it there without getting his shorts wet.

The picture doesn't do justice to the awesome sunset we saw. The kids didn't stop exploring though - using flashlights, they found some impressive crabs and lizards hiding in the rocks near our campsite. 

In the morning this sink hole appeared on the shore. Every time the waves rolled in, the water shot up a little ways. I thought it was beautiful, but I did my motherly job to ruin Tyler's fun by forbidding him to swim into it like he wanted to.

We also found this sea turtle hanging out in the very shallow water!

Next step - to find our dhow! We had an eventful ride down a very windy road (ask our neighbors how windy - they had some very carsick girls in their car...) Everyone was pretty excited to venture out on the water and try to spot some dolphins.

Lots of towering cliffs and sparkling water!!

Owen enjoyed the complimentary fruit on board the dhow.

We're here!

Good trips are even better with good friends! The Wierzbonowskis

The Robertsons (aka the Jesbears)

The Garbayos

The dhow was a kid's dream - they could wander around and climb on everything, or sit in their own corner and just take in the sights. And it was a parent's nightmare - making sure none of the 12 kids on board accidentally fell off the (low) sides of the dhow without us noticing… Actually, with so many adults it wasn't really that bad :)

Time to look for fish! The water was a little colder than we've become accustomed to, but we saw plenty of cool fish to make up for it :)

Did I mention the low sides?! Colby REALLY wanted to see those fish...

We saw a couple dolphins, but never too close or too far out of the water. Just spotting them was enough to make my kids talk about it for days on end :)

When everyone was done swimming, we had a picnic lunch i.e. all the kids went to check out what everyone else was eating instead of eating the food their own parents brought. It all works out :)

Then, almost every single adult and child fell asleep on the return trip to the dock. Owen chose this particularly comfy looking spot. Best trip ever!!

Kodak Moments

I've been struggling a lot lately with some challenges in my life. The youngest two members of my family have seemed to take this as a personal challenge to completely destroy my sanity by putting more effort into doing the usual things a 3 year old and 18 month old do i.e. things involving rolls of toilet paper, chocolate milk powder, water, markers, and so forth :) It is nice when I come across pictures like these, and I'm reminded of the reasons why I love this thing called motherhood!

My children always look most angelic when they are sleeping!

We planted beans in preschool a few weeks ago. Here is Owen, reading to his beloved bean plant so it will grow bigger.

So, despite their best efforts, I'm going to see this all through - the move, the sadness at leaving friends, and everything else going on at the moment. Besides, I'm determined to wear them down - see, its already working!

Sharjah Sights

April 2: We decided to spend another Saturday exploring more of the sights in Sharjah. We stopped at the aquarium first.

"Sharks, huh? They don't look THAT scary.."

I think one of the requirements to truly enjoying fish in a tank is to make sure your hands and face are pressed right up to the glass :)

Fish tunnel!

This fish was excited to say hi to Ken and Colby.

One cool part of the exhibit at the maritime museum showed this early baby bottle - imagine using this!

Tyler tried his hand at getting a picture of us.

We found a McDonalds drive thru!!! Those are not to be found closer to where we live.

We decided to get lunch there.

We also went to the science museum, which turned out to be a lot of fun for both the children AND the adults :)

Professor Colbs

Learning how a hot air balloon works

Testing your reflex time while driving - Colby won't be driving us around anytime soon, his score was awful :)

Magic!

Pedaling to produce electricity!

We stopped at a grocery store to buy food for a picnic, and came across this donation box. I thought some of the categories were pretty fascinating.

Our picnic site had lots of REAL grass! It called for a race.

Look at all these boys! I am one lucky mom. (thank heavens for my girl! I believe we were having our 17th bathroom run when this picture was taken…)

On our way home we stopped at the Blue Souq, which was filled with all kinds of interesting shops and merchandise. I was surprised at how much the kids got into it and seemed to enjoy it. (Mostly that means they kept trying to buy every sword and dagger in sight with money they didn't have)

Happy Birthday Hailey!

Hailey turned 5! She wanted to have a water trampoline party with her friends, and that is exactly what we did :)

 Hailey also wanted to have a water balloon fight. Early that morning, she told me her whole goal was to get me wet with a water balloon. Somehow, all the water balloons kept bouncing, so even when the kids hit me with them, they would bounce off and pop in the grass. Imagine Hailey's happiness when she got me with the VERY LAST water balloon :)

The crew :)

We had pink cupcakes (strawberry flavor?) since she wanted to save her birthday cake for her actual birthday.

Good friends always help you open your presents :)

We finished off with a dance party - those kids sure have some sweet moves!

On her birthday, Ken brought her flowers when he got home from work. Hailey was so excited to have her very own flowers.

The request this year - a crown cake. Here is my valiant effort

Ready for cake!

This girl is the sweetest, happiest five year old girl you will ever meet. She takes care of everyone, is a loyal friend, has a great sense of humor, and loves to cuddle up in my lap. It's hard to believe how fast the time has flown by, and I'm so happy she brings some spunky pink into our boy filled family :)