PHOTOS ARE HERE!

Brian's already in bed with a headache, so I thought I'd take this moment to add some photos from the last few months. It's nice these actually look like we do something...



This is the "Corniche" which is our beach. The water is warm and green. No waves but you can rent jet-skis and such if you want. There are also restaurants and cafes all along the boardwalk, and you can rent a bike and follow it for a few miles... I mean kilometers (got to say kilometers here). There is a free beach where we go, or you can pay a little bit and go to the family beach. The sand isn't as nice as Oregon's, but I have yet to find anywhere that is.




No need to search the beach for seashells- just look under your feet. Most of the countries over here have ruined their coral reef by creating "re-claimed land" where they literally reclaim the land from the sea- though I'm not sure it was ever not the seas to begin with... by bringing it to the shore and then building skyscrapers on it. Lots of dead coral in the sea, not much snorkeling to do.
Another Free Activity they had on the Corniche was a fair in honor of the Circuit race they had here in Abu Dhabi. They had lots of things to do and see. This was a sand sculpture they had of a race car and then they had tables with sand on them for the kids to try to sculpt their own. We then watched some professional kite flyers from France so synchronized kite flying.



This is the Ibn Batutta Mall in Dubai. It is the worlds largest themed mall. Ibn Batutta was the Marco Pollo of the Middle East. The mall has different sections dedicated to the places he visited. Beautiful design and creativity.

This was the entrance we came into- can't remember the country, I was just stricken with the details of everything- and the boys were fascinated by the huge fountain with the lions on it!

I want to say this was Greece...

China...

This was India.

Abu Dhabi had a Science Festival that was free to go to. They had lots of different "labs" set up for the kids to do experiments in. We wish we'd planned our visit better because we only go to go to two labs, but we had fun! This one the boys made slime.

Brian took a quick trip back to the US to go to his grandmother's funeral in November. When he got back he showed me with gifts from the promised land! This is most but not all of what he brought.

For National Day- which was a huge celebration here for the UAE's 40th anniversary- Ashton's school had some cultural things for the kids to explore. This is the camel and the Arabian Horse the kids got to sit on.

I decided that I would take the boys fishing- a bit impromptu and I had/have no idea where to go or what fish there are and what bait to use. But the boys liked trying! (and getting sandy, too.) The beach we are standing on you can see from the bridge in the picture. Mostly I just think this spot is beautiful and I admire it every time I go by. There is a little fort that sits out in the water that the boys call the castle (you can see it a little in the background).

One day I forgot I was filling up the tub for Ashton's bath... All the boys decided they didn't want to be left out of the biggest tub of bubbles they'd ever seen. And what mom can resist taking pictures of her three sea monsters all covered in it?

Decorating the fake tree- at least we had our ornaments!

Gingerbread Houses!!

I always get the boys to help me decorate the sugar cookies. It's an art project for us. Every year it gets more interesting with the older they get :) They do a great job!