Life is normal again

First I want to apologize for the delay in adding another post!  You would be surprised how busy you can get when there’s NOTHING to do! Send us an email if you have a problem viewing the blog..apparently the way i initially "shared" was not the easiest way to do it.  You shouldn't have to create any kind of account. Should just be able to go to our link.

We made it through the hottest and hardest month in KSA.  Ramadan is over and the weather will stay between 103-115 now! People can't believe we swim before 4:30p (at which time the sun goes behind the clubhouse walls...we have to explain to everyone about West Texas weather and how it's not much different! :)

We finally got our 3bdrm villa and ALL of our shipments – so the toys, books, beds and dishes arrived.  The only thing we were not able to resuscitate was my desk…but it can be repurchased at Office Depot so no worries!  It took us a week or so to get settled in and now we are all very comfortable and feel more “at home”.

We had a great summer – the boys did kids activities inside the compound every other day.  We went swimming or played soccer and sometimes both almost every day.
 

July was very hard to get through…Ramadan is a very restrictive schedule…no eating, drinking, chewing gum after sunrise and before sunset (in public)…so the Muslims stay in all day – all shops were closed until 7/8pm and stayed open until 2am.  So now we are learning the “normal” routine…make sure you know your prayer times so you don’t wait an hour to check out in IKEA.  Yes,that happened. And we have been at least 7times to get a phone for me…still waiting for all the stars to line up…we either are missing yet another form of documentation, it’s prayer time, it’s bedtime, can’t find a parking lot, can’t find an open store or they are out of phones…it’s CRAZY!!!  
We got to see Darren for a week in August – we took a road trip and drove to Dubai (you will see pics from the desert along the way).  It was very uneventful except for the 20+ camels that crossed the ONLY highway through the desert…with cars going 70-90mi/hr (videos and pics posted).  There really was only one road – no service roads, no farm roads, no state roads…just one straight shot…which is good – there’s no getting lost out there!  There’s also NOWHERE to eat or pee…

Darren flew directly there.  We ran around the UAE while Scott did his training.  Then in the evenings we found cool places to eat and explore.  Darren and Scott found every Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Rolls, Bentley (and others that they would have to expound upon)that was ever made!  There is sooo much money in Dubai!  It is a fun place…there are a lot of things for little kids, but it is NOT a vacation I would take with little kids..it’s kinda like Vegas with rules and no alcohol except in your hotel room - $10/can of Heineken.  You will see pics of Darren in a Thobe/Ghutra (some of you may have already seen on Facebook…the explanations are for the NON Facebook people).  He went on a Desert Safari – they dune bashed inside an SUV and then he found a cute Pakistani girl to drive around on the 4wheeler with.  They served food and had music and belly dancing out in the middle of the desert. He said he had a lot of fun – we didn’t go with him although we have friends who said it’s an awesome adventure! I was just glad he came back alive. The other pictures are from Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.  It was fun – Samuel got to drive a Ferrari go-cart and Darren got to drive a real Ferrari in a “simulator” machine. It was a good trip for him right before his first leg of architecture courses in school.

Darren got stuck in the Dubai airport – his flight was delayed then cancelled so he had a short 2days to recoup before Fall classes started.  H is doing good at UTSA.  He is very focused after a few stressful situations this summer.  We are very proud of his independence and determination.

The boys are doing great!  They have so many new friends that we can’t keep up with all of the play dates and making sure to spend time with each.  So far the boys have bonded with a military family next door – their kids are about same age and play great with them.  We also get to benefit from the friendship with visits to the commissary in Bahrain – we found REAL diet coke, Clorox wipes, tortilla chips, graham crackers and saltines – all is good now - we can stay :)

Samuel is going to the playgroup here on the compound.  He attends one day a week for 4hrs – he loves it!  The younger group, called a crèche, doesn’t have room for Jonathan so he stays with me and shows me all his tricks and continually checks to see if it’s time to get Samuel.  I don’t think he will voluntarily join the crèche if a spot opens, but we are going to attempt to take him so I can have at least ½ of one day away from toddlers.  BUT if not..I like having my time with just Jonathan so I won’t force it!  J  I get time to work out and I started belly dancing classes in the evening!  Why not??!  J  Samuel is also doing soccer once a week and is so proud of himself..he thinks he’s a star already! 

We are going on a Mediterranean cruise in 2 weeks – we will get some pics of that to you asap.  We also hope to be in the US for the holidays- the boys and I will stay a month or so and try to get around to visit. By the way..our VPN phone is and has been out of order..Scott is working on fixing it this week and we can start calling again.  Love you! 

So..the funniest things we have experienced or discovered here since the last post…

There is NO voicemail in KSA – for ANYONE

The boys no longer say “hello, hey or hi” – they say “ahhhlooo”

You can’t watch cable here on an American TV

People stop us ALL the time to ask for pictures with the boys…they love the little white, blond kids here.  Samuel loves the attention, but Jonathan gets extremely frustrated so we have to avoid walking too close to people in the mall

We met the Arabic Female version of Darth Vader in the bathroom at the mall during prayer time…All we could see were eyes and all we could here was the oxygen machine

There are not any RV’s here

Families cannot go to the zoo together in Riyadh…either the wife can take the kids or the husband can take them..but not both of the parents.  We haven’t figured out why yet – will let you know if we do

 Gas station...they all look abandoned.

 Next 2 are desert on the way to Dubai

Brothers reunited - he only slept with them the first night

Ferrari World

Samuel driving Darren

 Samuel trying to look "cool" like Darren

 Jonathan just wants it to "Go"

Samuel took this picture - on the River Walk in Dubai

Darren bought the thobe and ghutra on his desert safari..Samuel wants one too

Atlantis Aquarium

Irish Village Restaurant - very cool

These are the Middle East "Flagmen" for construction

Jonathan's 2nd Birthday Party

We got lost on the wrong side of the sand... :)

Holiday Inn in Bahrain

Was a lot more familiar than Ma'a Assalaamah

Mosque in Bahrain

another flagman - laying down on the job...

Jonathan is potty trained!

Kid's activities in gym..

Samuel's sweetie..Ellen

I wore these every time we were in the car for about 2weeks... :) it was fun!

Sand mountains

A big castle out in the middle of the desert

People paint their cars like this...sometimes bright florescent colors..we don't know why

Dubai Mall

We have never seen this...have you??

The World's largest aquarium

Giving fishy kisses

Some stranger that wanted a pic with the boys..so we took one also to show everyone how weird it is sometimes...

burj khalifa -tallest tower in the world..in Dubai

ferry in Dubai

lamb brains

Atlantis Aquarium

"lay by ahead"....aka "rest area"

Reduce Speed sign..."due to Sand accumulation"...just thought it was funny that it was only every 10miles after Abu Dhabi that you saw one...even though - we saw 500mi of accumulated sand!