It's beginning to feel a little like Christmas...

Finley's Fashion… she already loves her brother's clothes. 

We had a LONG weekend - including Thanksgiving, and then 3 more days off for UAE's National Day, so we spent a couple of nights at a resort in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.  To get there, it required our first real road trip - about 4 hours in the car, but the resort was nice.  Isolated, pretty quiet, and a variety of things to keep the kids entertained.  We went with some friends from school, and enjoyed the pool, beach, grass and playground.  The restaurants left a bit to be desired - the 2nd night we tried the one out on the beach, and it was pretty windy and cold.  Yes, we are wimps, but it was chilly!  And the service was slow so we had to be cold for a long time. 

Another adventure to prepare for the holidays - a Christmas movie at the IMAX theatre - Finley's first real movie, and a visit with the young Filipino Santa on the way in - the kids both got their own package of cookies:)  Fin is pretty terrified of Santa though - she screams every time we see one.  I'm surprised we got her this close to one - but it was the first one, her reaction has grown with each succeeding man in red.

We got a bonus penguin movie along with our Christmas cartoon, and then life size animals - no one goes all out like Dubai.  My favorite is the huge billboard on the freeway regarding Dubai winning the 2020 World Expo - "Whoever said winning isn't everything doesn't know Dubai."

2nd Annual Ward Christmas party in the desert - Will and Canyon being crocodiles on the dunes.  So fun for them - but just looks itchy to me!

We took a family camel ride this year - Finley wasn't sure how she felt about it, but she liked it more than she did Santa...

I have mentioned before how I love camels, and especially seeing them out in the desert, but I equally love having Santa ride in on a camel.  It's awesome.  I have about 5 not so great pictures of him surrounded by kids and parents and moms with cameras, and in all of them, you can pick out Will's bright orange shirt as close as he can get!

And finally, birthday bouncy castle black eyes… the whole family was invited to Will's friend Ali's birthday party at one of the country club's Carnival on the Lawn.  Food, face painting, bouncy castles, and another visit from Santa.  It was open to all, and spaces had been reserved for the party group, so there were a lot of kids there we didn't know.  Will had a collision with one of them, and came out crying, but went back for more after calming down a bit.  When the were cutting the birthday cake, I noticed some blue over his eye, and wondered if he had wiped frosting or something on his face, then realized when I got closer that it was a bruise.  During the night, it swelled up and turned into a full on black eye.  He looks a bit like an abused child…

And now, just one more half day of school until our winter break, and Christmas!  We wish we were going home - I am ready to spend Christmas with my whole family again, but we are going to Germany on the day after Christmas to enjoy (I hope) some snow and adventuring.  Happy Holidays!