Liwa with family and friends - 17-19 Febuary, 2011

We had to take Nana and Grandad to Liwa for a camping trip in the desert while they were here.  We also went with some German friends of ours from school.  On the way we saw a cool dune buggy heading out to baha in the sand - Patrick even got to "test drive it".  Once we arrived at our site we set up, did some relaxing and hiking.

Having friends with us was great because while the grown-ups set up the kids set off exploring and playing on the sand dunes.  Claudia brought reflective window coverings for the kids to slide down the dunes - Holger and I even got in on the action.  What fun!

 

 
Oh course the kids had to have us hike up that huge dune! Since I had been up to do the sliding we sent Wayne off with them while Nana and I chillaxed and watched them :)

 We had a wonderful time camping with our family and friends.  And once again the weekend ended way to soon! :)

Hanging around Abu Dhabi with Nana & Grandad - 2011

Grandad at the beach chillaxing with his coffee.

Kids practicing their snorkling for our spring break.

We took Nana and Grandad to the "fun fair" in one of the malls - See if you can find us amongst the masses.  Kids loved it, grown-ups not so much. :)

Morning and picnic lunch at a park.  "Can we knock the boys off ?" Samantha said to Patrick.

Another day having a little cool off after playing in the park.

A nice relaxing morning of making cookies and playing with the electronic set.

Look at us Grandad!

 Patrick as Leonardo DaVinci for his social studies project.  He had a lot of making his own paint, bridge and parachute with Nana.

A trip to the book fair and one of the city parks while Samantha and I stayed home (Sam was sick).

A relaxing breakfast on the roof top with some swimming, scrabble and other antics.  Patrick and Samantha must think they are either royality or dolphins that they need to be fed while they are in the pool!  You gotta' love when breakfast takes all morning to finish. :)

Our last outing with Nana and Grandad before they had to leave :(  Fresh lemon-mint drinks for the grown-ups and chocolate milkshakes for the kids while sitting at the beach watching the world go by.

Dubai - 25-26th February, 2011

We decided to do some sightseeing in Dubai this weekend.  Our first stop was at the Dubai mall for lunch and the aqarium.  Along the way, the boys got sucked into the remote control toy shop.  Wayne is drooling over the fighter plane and whining that he wants one.  While Samantha found some pretty shoes for Auntie Patrice - of course they were pink!

Patrick you are standing awefully close to that shark!  That evening the kids and I had a picnik at the hotel while Wayne and his parents went and did some serious gold shopping.  The next day, we visited the souks and markets and had lunch along the water.

Nana and Grandad visited Dubai another day when Wayne had business meetings there.  They had fun wandering the docks and enjoying the sights.

Masdar - 11 February, 2011

Well Nana and Grandad arrived earlier this week, so we thought to take it easy this weekend.  Wayne took us to Masdar for a look around.  We got to drive in a "magic no-driver car" (as Patrick called it).  It was right out of the Jetsons and very cool.  Samantha told our "driver" where we were heading.

The residence buildings and library for the university were neat to see with their odd designs.  Wayne gave us a techno-tour of all the sustainable design stuff and the windtower he worked on.

They also had these little fountains that change colours all over the place (second photo); Samantha thought they were really neat and wanted me to include a photo for her.

Air show in Al Ain - 4 February, 2011

Wayne took the kids to the air show in Al Ain with friends of ours.  They had a wonderful time - I could tell because they came home tired and all excited to tell me EVERYTHING!  There was the helicopter that did tricks and played the yo-yo (below).

There were power-gliders that did some neat tricks with coloured smoke while less than one metre apart.

Wayne said he took these pictures for the kids - but I think he took it for the girls on the planes ;)

There were stunts where motorbikes jumped over flying planes.

By the sounds of things there were so many tricks and demostrations going on that it was an action packed day.

Samantha said she liked the heart planes best :)

"Christmas morning- Part deux" - January 3, 2011

We got back to Abu Dhabi late so "Christmas morning from family" was delayed to this morning.  The kids were very excited to open their presents.

I don't know who is having more fun with dressing up the dolls - Wayne or Samantha?

Nice pout Sam!   Gotcha, no those are not Rice Krispies in the box.  :)

Patrick is loving his cool things he got for Christmas.

Sam likes to get new clothes, especially when they're pink.  Work it, Girl!

Madaba - January 2, 2011

This was our last holiday breakfast - I guess it is up to us again to make breakfast and clean up after this :(  The kids did really enjoy the honeycomb that they put on their toast every morning.

We had all day to tour around before heading to the airport for around 4ish.  So it was off to Madaba to see the Byzantine-era mosaics.  The most famous one is on the St. George's church floor - the oldest Palestine map in existance.  It was orginally 15m to 25m long and 6m wide, made up of more than 2 million pieces and made in AD 560.

Around the church there were more mosaics of various biblical scenes.  They were quite beautiful.

After the church we wandered around the town and checked out the touristy  shops.  We went into one shop where a student was working and they let Patrick and Samantha have a go at making a mosaic - such concentration.  I think it was the only time on the whole trip that Samantha was actually quiet.  This was great for us and the shop keepers because it gave Wayne and I time to shop (we ended up getting a really cool piece).

We did some touring of the country side (below) and went to Wadi As-Seer.  We went past a Roman aquaduct and the Iraq al-Amir (Caves of the Prince) on the way to the Qasr al-Abad (Palace of the Slave).

This palace is thought to be pre-Roman; built between 187 and 175 BC.  There are still some animal carvings left: panther water spouts, a lioness and her cub, and some eagles.  The blocks for the building are the largest  blocks found in an ancient structure in all of the Middle East - 7m by 3m but only about 20 cm thick.  This made the stucture susceptible to the earthquake in AD 362.

Our final pictures of our Jordan trip were taken when I made Wayne stop so I got get some shots of the huge cacti that they used as fences and boarders (below).

We also tried to do a little bit in Amman but got frustratingly lost in the narrow, crowded, one way streets - so we gave up and headed to the airport.  All in all it was a wonderful vacation and we got to see so many cool sights both here and in Egypt.