Abu Dhabi....Finally!

WARNING!

This is a picture overload!!

 Finally! I am taking the time to post about our trip to Abu Dhabi , and it only took me 2+ months. My parents moved to Abu Dhabi in May of 2010, so we quickly planned a trip to go see them. We were able to spend two weeks in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) right before Christmas. (We had to take advantage of Kevin's last long Christmas break as a student). 

Surprisingly, the kids were really good for both of our flights out to Abu Dhabi and back to the US, which is good because 13 hours is a long time to deal with misbehaving children. I must have prayed hard enough to have mine sleeping most of the time. I have now decided they were both at a good age to be flying, because Jonah wasn't crawling yet and Annalise could entertain herself well. Now, three months later, I would have to consider whether or not Jonah would last that long without driving us all crazy. To summarize, I am glad we went when we did. 

If you are like me and don't have the time to read long blog posts, feel free to scan through the pictures below, but if you want the long version,  keep reading!

So I thought it would be really weird going somewhere warm and sunny right before Christmas, especially living here in Columbus where the clouds rule the sky. I also thought there would be very few Christmas decorations, or Christmas celebration in a country where Islam is the largest and official religion. (However, the government follows a policy of tolerance toward other religions and activities of non- Muslims.) Luckily, I was wrong on both of my assumptions, being somewhere warm was wonderful, and there was plenty of Christmas celebrating to be found. 

The first couple of days we spent adjusting to the time difference and taking it easy. I have never experienced jet lag like that before......

(somehow my mom got this picture of me?)

I think the kids adjusted better than I did! 

The first few days we spent at the beach and hanging out at my parents house. 

(This is their house, no address though

So good luck finding it!)

Flat Stanley also got to hang out with us!

(If you have never read Flat Stanley, you should!)

The view from the roof...

From the top floor 

(3 floors worth of stairs)

I asked my mom for some sunscreen when we went to the beach,

 and all she could find was this blue stuff. 

Obviously Annalise thought it was pretty cool!

Visiting the Abu Dhabi Historical Village.......

We decided the easiest way to see the city was to do a Big Red Bus Tour....

The bus was perfect because we could get all the fun historical info 

(that Kevin loves),

 and see everything without having to navigate or worry about parking. 

Among all these buildings I also found this handsome guy....

It seemed that most of the city was under construction, 

there are buildings going up everywhere (huge buildings). 

There are cranes and construction workers all over the place. 

We stopped for lunch at the mall and had some Italian food. 

Surprisingly, there are all kinds of 

american chain restaurants everywhere......

with a little twist!

   

Dinner that night in a spinning tower thing

 (much like the one in Seattle.)

Annalise loved that part of the floor was moving, 

she stood next to the window and waved goodbye to us

 as our table was moving away. 

We also did the big red bus tour in Dubai, 

and saw a lot more buildings!

This one happens to be the tallest in the world...

  

     

Mall in Dubai

There are mosques on every corner, and every one of them 

has a large speaker so all can hear the call to prayer five times a day

We also went to see the Grand Mosque, 

it was gorgeous, the detail was indescribable.

This was our tour guide....

and I wish I would have gotten a picture of her shoes, 

because they were the tallest heels I have ever seen....

the shoes people wear there are amazing.

She is wearing her Abaya,

 as all women are required to wear one in the mosque

 to be modest while inside.

An awesome serious shot of me holding Jonah before he ripped the scarf off of  my head ten times....I finally had to hand him over to dad, he was driving me crazy! (he was probably just curious, but it was not easy keeping that thing on....I don't know how the women wear them all the time and handle their children at the same time?)

The clock looking thing above is all the times that the call to prayer is sounded.

This happens to be the biggest carpet in the world, and all hand sewn!

Khalifa Park

This park seems to have everything, 

a train, 

a museum, 

a playground ,

 four person bikes, 

a fountain, and a lot of foliage

 (which is pretty weird being in a dessert, 

but there is grass everywhere.

 I think they said that 97% of the water there

 is taken from the sea water and desalinated.)

There were a lot of women with their kids at the playground. 

They had all packed their dinner, blankets,

 and chairs to spend the evening at the park. 

(as you can see behind Annalise)

 

Al-Ain

My dad had to work the first week we were there, 

but the second week he got to join us on all of our excursions. 

Our day trip was the zoo in Al-Ain, 

but first we went to top of the mountain to check out the view...

  

If you look hard you can see the border to Oman (the country that borders the UAE)

The Zoo in Al-Ain

Chasing Cheetahs

(eating toes.....)

 

Dessert Safari Excursion

Kevin and I got a night to ourselves while my parents watched the kids. 

We got to ride with 4 other people in a Land Cruiser 

while the driver drove like a maniac up and down the sand dunes....

it was awesome!

We never got a good video of the ride, 

but here is clip for an idea of our back seat view!

(Sorry it is kind of a lame video, 

but we were busy enjoying ourselves)

The sand was amazingly fine...I wish you could feel it through my picture!

These pictures below were taken at the same time, 

the Sun setting on the left, and the moon rising on the right. 

It was a gorgeous view!

Our evening entertainment, and dinner....

(I think Kevin may have even been a little bored

 without children to chase while eating dinner....

I on the other loved having a break)

More Beach time, and swimming...

The last Supper...buffet style...

.Annalise did not waste her time getting to the good stuff!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as we enjoyed our trip!

We had a blast, and I hope we get to go back sometime to see them again!

Love you Mom and Dad!!!