Jet lag Joy

And... we're back in the UAE! After a fun summer back in the States, we've returned for another summer in Abu Dhabi ( I just can't call it fall when it is so hot and humid outside!) We were pretty excited to come back, but it wasn't for the heat. Or the jet lag. Or the non-functioning A.C. units. Or that some of my most not favorite bugs thought they could move into the house while we were gone, or that 3 kittens took up residence under the hood of our van, which ended up having a dead battery. Actually, for a few days, we forgot WHY we even wanted to be back! I tell you, we had to do some real soul searching. The transition back was just a teensy bit harder than I expected, but worth it in the end...  

Tyler could even be found curled up in obscure corners and out of the way places. It didn't matter WHAT was going on around him! (Yes, Hailey is head-butting Tyler repeatedly and he is still asleep)

That one on the right it my car. The blue is my pregnant belly. Even though I parked super far away to avoid  this exact scenario, someone has parked so close to the driver's side of the car that me and my preggo belly cannot physically fit to get into the car!

I wasn't thinking very nice thoughts as I tried to climb over kids and groceries across the van to my seat.  Ken finished off the shopping later that night :) BUT, if I had a picture of them, I would insert it here - our wonderful friends who had us over for dinner just days after we got home, who reminded us what it is like to laugh all night and just enjoy being together. We remembered part of why we love Abu Dhabi!

First the long plane trip - at 8 months pregnant, it just wasn't that fun :) Then the jet lag. Any of you who have been through it with small kids know that things like dental work with no anesthesia and being water-boarded sound like more fun. And probably are.

Here's poor Will succumbing during play time. Owen really wanted to help him.

I even had him take a shower in an attempt to wake him up. You can see how well that worked. It's 4:30 in the afternoon.

This is Will "helping" me make dinner. His sense of balance is astounding! Don't worry, all of them wanted to be awake and partying at 2 a.m. No joke. Ken and I looked and felt like zombies for the first week.

In the middle of this, I had to go grocery shopping. I chose a Saturday. I'm still shaking my head over that - I KNOW BETTER! It is the worst day of the week to go. Plus it was right before school started. And I took Hailey and Owen with me. Blame it on pregnancy hormones and lack of sleep, but there were tears after I couldn't find the first TEN items on my list. It was like being a newbie in the country again! I finally steer my shopping cart down to the basement parking level (pretty sure it is actually illegal to have carts that go in a straight line where you want them to) and I find this: 

But by the time it was the first day of school, we were back on schedule! Here's Tyler on the first day.

Will started 2 days after Tyler - a big kindergartener! He was so excited to ride the bus with Tyler and have recess. 

 I was hoping to make it through the morning without crying until he left. I had basically made it, but as I was sending him out the door, I heard Tyler whipser to him "its OK Will, she cries when she's really happy sometimes" OK - didn't fool Tyler, but oh well. Another baby off to school. It happens way too fast!

Lucky for me, I have 2 more at home! Hailey is thrilled to have me all to herself while Owen naps - I haven't colored so much since I was little. But Hailey tells me I'm really good at staying in the lines.

You wouldn't think this cute face would stuff a bead up her nose, then get a giant bloody nose fishing it out.

Then, O tries to see how many items he can fit in a toilet. 

 They band together to see how long it takes to empty every book we own off the bookshelves.

No boredom here! Here are a couple things we've found to keep us busy: stroller races. We've got a great track.

Chores - Owen likes to help empty the silverware out of the dishwasher. It's surprisingly helpful!

Light saber battles

Church - Hailey likes dresses that have puffy skirts so that she can swirl around.

Dancing - we updated our music, and Owen has discovered his Latin blood - he clears all the books off the table and dances around on it.

Plant souq - we needed to replace a plant that died, and found some other treasures. Hailey and Owen got juice boxes and a free plant for being so cute. Next time, I'll tell Hailey to pick the plant I want!

A few pjs all day. At least until the bus comes in the afternoon, then I have to change. It just wouldn't look right.

Snacking. An important part of our day. Hailey's favorite snacks are cucumbers. Mine are brownies. This could explain a lot of my recent weight gain... No, wait, different reason for that!

 Owen's favorite is whatever Hailey is having. Fortunately, she doesn't mind sharing!

Today for church, Tyler decided he wanted to wear a suit. Which meant Will followed suite (ha, ha :), which encouraged Ken to break his out (it IS ridiculously hot outside, I don't blame him for not wanting to :) 

All of this encouraged me to take a family picture, something I wouldn't normally do at such a late stage in the pregnancy. But hey, it might never happen again - I mean all of us looking put together - I know what it is like after a baby!

 So now you are caught up with us. Me, I haven't given up on doing my part to banish this heat spell. While shopping for chili powder at the store, I found chilly powder instead. My original plan was to sprinkle it at some strategic places in my back and front yards, to take care of some neighborhood pests, so I figured it might also have a little influence on the weather. I'll let you know how it goes. We're happy to be home!

Oman - Oh Man!

Maybe some of you have noticed that the blog posts have slowed down. That is because most days, by 7 pm, this 6 months pregnant lady feels a lot like Hailey here after a grocery shopping expedition 

Totally wiped out :) Ready to sleep wherever I land :)

BUT, I am leaving for a summer trip to the U.S. soon and feel like I should wrap up with a few posts, no matter how old they are. So, without further ado, pictures from our April spring break trip to Oman!

Tyler had 2 weeks off of school, and we did all kinds of fun outings together, but the best by far was our 3 day quick stay in Oman. As I type those words, I vaguely remember Hailey having an awful stomach bug that meant she threw up every few hours through the whole 5 hour car trip. Including at the border, and how she demanded to be carried everywhere and didn't love most of the trip and how hot it was to carry her while Ken carried Owen. Hmm. Well, I guess there is a bonus to blogging 2 months later - most of that fades and I am left with all the happy parts!

We stayed at a cute little house in a tiny town in the middle of a banana plantation. My favorite part: 3 separate bedrooms and a badly needed washing machine, all for dirt cheap. The kids' favorite part: the fact that our house came with a pet cat. It learned to fear Owen's love...

Exploring the paths next to our place

We found a neat aqueduct.

Which of course needed to be climbed.

The kids learned how to build an arch ... or there was a lizard. Whatever the case, it was riveting for a moment.

We'd be in the modern city, then BOOM, we'd find the old city right alongside it! Plenty of exploring to be done. And warning the boys not to step through rotting floor boards.

Hailey and I took lots of breaks :)

Walking down the street to our house. We were some of the only foreigners we saw, and got lots and lots of stares as we walked down our street every night to the one restaurant in town. It was good for our kids, since we could point out that the kids weren't laughing and pointing at us because they were being mean, but because really - we were dressed differently and there are quite a few of us trekking around!

We spent a day in the mountains, taking in the sights and meeting/chasing lots of goats. We saw some amazing bronze age beehive tombs, as well as a spectacular wadi with beautiful blue-green water. Ken and the older kids dived off the cliffs into the water, while I watched with the others. My camera had died by that point and I tried to use Ken's phone to document it, but it died too! I just have to content myself with beautiful memories. Maybe we'll go back!

We stopped at a smaller fort on our way to another sight

We visited one of the souqs and looked at the pottery.

And made some new friends! This guy was brave - Owen really needed a diaper change by this point.

We toured a huge fort

The kids, locked in the dungeon wearing old chains. They are trying to look sad...

Tyler got it down :)

And he's free!

Taking a rest in the rest area of the fort

Hailey is supposed to be pretending to be asleep, so that I wouldn't look quite as goofy as I do. Instead, she opted for cute.

A fascinating discussion of some sort!

After all that exploring, we needed some juice, and some air conditioning! 

Driving back to our place, the sun was just starting to set. Here was one of the old watch towers built throughout the city.

We hurried to use the remaining light to see a huge section of the old city we came across one of our nightly walks.

By this point, I was in charge of history, so I told them the city was abandoned because the goats took it over and ate all the people. This encouraged everyone to get excited enough to climb up the slippery mountainside and stare at the ruins, as well as the man-eating goats. 

There was a really pretty view at the top. 

But, pretty views don't fill an empty stomach, so we hiked down really fast!

To eat at our favorite shwarma place! (OK, maybe one of the ONLY shwarma places close enough for us to walk to, but still...) We got this picture our last night there. After eating there for so many meals, we were just a teeny bit ready to head back home to good old Abu Dhabi, where almost every kind of fast food you want is available. Oman rocked!