First Camping Trip in the UAE - December 3/4, 2009

We didn't think we were going to be able to go camping- But we made it. Wayne had sprained his ankle early in the week - really badly. It was the size of a grapefruit and this lovely purple colour. He took it easy all week - a.k.a. I did everything for him! :) The decision was made that we would try it and Wayne would bring a good book and read at the base camp. I started out driving, with Wayne doing the navigating (which is usually the other way around)- that lasted for maybe half an hour. Wayne couldn't figure out the GPS, so he decided his ankle was well enough to drive while I figured it out. :)

We took the scenic route out, all back roads. We saw a lot of camels everywhere. One was even causing a traffic jam! It was great (we took lots of pictures just for Justin).

So after many tries with the GPS we finally get out to Fossil Rock and I finally know how to put in some points on the GPS. It was well worth it! We set up camp first, because once it starts to get dark it goes very quickly. Once that was done and out of the way, the kids and I thought we would try to find our first geocache on our own (without Dad to help!). So we headed off and inevitably we ended up at the wrong rock outcrop. Oh well, we climbed to the top and had a wonderful view, and saw many neat fossils on the way. Below is a picture of the kids sitting at the top of the wrong outcrop (on the left) and us on our way to the right rock outcrop (on the right). We did a lot of hiking up and down some pretty huge dunes this day.






Here are a few of the better fossils that we found. It was abosultely amazing the number that were there.

The kids and I were gone for over two hours and it was getting close to supper when we finally arrived back at the camp. We had bought a throw away BBQ (basically a tin bake pan with a rack on top and the brickettes and starter all ready to go) to cook our hot dogs on. Yes we should have just thrown it away because in like 5-10 minutes it was done and our hot dogs were still cold. So we started our camp fire early and then put the pan over that. Oh the challenges you have when camping. We had a wonderful fire with our friend Ewan (from Wayne's work), who did the stoking (we missed you Kristen).

The next morning we were up and at it fairly early (6:20 am) so we took a little hike on the sand dunes to watch the sunrise. The pictures below are of: Samantha playing follow the leader (top left), our camp site (top right), the kids following bug tracks - Samantha: "Is this how they did it Dad?"(bottom left), and finally the sunrise (bottom right). It was so calm you could hear the quad bikes coming out to the dunes from the neighbouring town. I wonder when they actually sleep because the night before they were still going at it until about 2 am!

Once we packed up camp we decided to head out and explore. We were about 1 km from the rocks where we found the geocache so we drove out to them (more like the boys wanted to play). We did some driving in the dunes and then had a break, so the kids and I did some more climbing and exploring. On our way out we decided to try to go down the huge dune that went over the rock outcrop (on the left). It was both scarey and fun; remind me to show you the video later (it is too large to put here). Once the boys were done playing for a bit we headed out for a different way home - through the wadi (dry river bed). Wayne got stuck cresting a dune and had to be pulled out (on the right).

Below are pictures of Patrick and Samantha at the highest point that we could climb on Fossil rock (on the left), a cool shot of the rock with the sand dunes in the background (middle) and finally on the right, Patrick and Samantha finding our third geocache. Here we found a "travel bug" and will have to find a cool place to leave it. We had a picnic here and then headed into the wadi.
It was an awesome weekend, and definitly a place we would return to. Especially when Wayne's ankle is better since he missed out on all the cool fossils.

UAE Day at GEMS - November 25,2009

This day was a very exciting day at school. First off it was the last day of school before our week off, and it ended up being this huge party at school. We dressed up in the traditional dress (dish dash for the boys and abiya for the girls). I had to get help for my head scarf.

There was an assembly first thing in the morning. Every grade had a part to play. Patrick's grade sang a song in Arabic. Samantha's kindergarden classes each wore a different colour of the UAE flag and then they sat in the right order. Some of the older classes performed a tradional dance, a wedding and a fashion show. My grade 2's talked about the 7 Emirates and then did a little cheer.


Afterwards each grade got a chance outside to visit all the different stations. They had falcon's there (I got to hold one- they are so beautiful), horse rides, face painting (Patrick got the flag on his cheek), tradional pancake making, henna painting and someone was writing out your name in Arabic. I got the kids names done, I am hoping I can get the teacher to do Wayne's and mine later.

This is Samantha getting her henna on her hand, middle one is of Samantha and her friend Zeena, and the final one is both Samantha and I with our hands done with the heena. It was really neat to do. The longer you leave it on to dry the darker it becomes. At first it is very orange in colour but eventually goes to a brown colour.

They had a huge lunch for everyone, with all the traditional foods - hummos, falafels, tahini, grilled meat, rice, wraps, salads with tomatoe and cucumbers, looked like some kind of cabbage roll, and many other things I didn't know about. The deserts were like a trifle served in a chocolate bowl. Everything was very good, and there was so much of it.

Crazy Hair Day at GEMS - November 22, 2009

This past couple of weeks at school we have been raising funds for a special needs school here in Abu Dhabi. The kids had a few fun days- dress as a teacher day/ teachers dress as a student, PJ day and crazy hair day. Check out the hair-dos on these two. :)

Yes we shaved Patrick's initials into the back of his head.
On the way to school, Wayne had some harder music on and Samantha was bobbing her head. I looked back and had visions of her in about 10 years with baggy black jeans with the chains hanging off of them, baggy shirt and holding a skate board. Still gives me shudders!

First Dune Bashing Excursion - November 20,2009

We joined a 4X4 group here in Abu Dhabi. Our first outing with "Beastor" didn't start out the greatest. We couldn't find the meeting point. Good job we left really early so we had time to finally find it. We were all excited (secret- I was a bit nervous). So we all get our tires deflated and head out to the point where will start to go running the dunes. We go about 15ft and get stuck! Not a very good begining. The rest of the day was a lot better. We only got stuck twice the whole trip. The kids loved when Wayne had the sand spraying up to their windows. It was a beautiful trip with some awesome views. We went all afternoon and had supper in the dunes. The sunset was amazing!

As you can see from the pictures, the kids had a fun filled day and are out for the count!