Where to next?

I am of the belief that life is easier when you have something to look forward to - it helps you get through the regular day to day stuff.  We have been working with some pretty big things to look forward to - the end of school, the end of being pregnant (and yes, that one did affect everyone in my little family as I was much more pleasant afterwards, and a lot less sweaty!), a new little person to hold and snuggle, and then a visit from Grandma and Grandpa.  Now I am on the other side of that big list, so it's time to decide where to next?  But while I am working on that, let's take some time to recap the past few weeks of fun.  And if you thought I had done some long, picture stuffed posts before today, well, this one puts all those to shame...

We planned my parent's trip so they could be here when we blessed Tyson, and it was a great day.  Grandma brought us a sweet little blessing outfit, and everyone cooperated with bladder control, (Finley) quiet (Tyson), and a quick hand with the binki (Thanks Dad) during the appropriate times.  

Our adventures are out of order, but really, with a post this long, who can remember what happened when?  One day we ventured to the Atlantis Resort to see their Lost Chambers Aquarium.  It did not disappoint!

This exhibit right at the end was probably my favorite - I had no idea there were hot pink fish with purple tummies swimming around out there in the world.  Sadly, this aquarium had no sea turtles though - those are my all time favorite, ever since I had a close encounter with one while snorkeling in Hawaii.

 After some lunch, we drove down the rest of the Palm, and stopped for a photo opportunity.

 With a magnifying glass, you could see the building right next to ours between the two "twin" towers in the background.  Our building isn't tall enough to be seen over the others.

Tyson has started to smile a lot - it's Will's favorite thing to count how many times he can get Tyson to smile for him.

Our friend, Linda, from school came and babysat all three kids one evening so we could go on a double date, a dhow dinner cruise around the Marina.  It was pretty spectacular - and even came with door to door service, although the drivers were a bit on the ripe side, and could work on smoothing out their braking skills.  On our way there, we almost rear ended a car, and my poor mom in the front seat saw her life flash before her!

My dad and Nate did a little golfing at the Dubai Creek Par 3 course, and didn't even loose any balls to the water hazard!  So they both got to check one more thing off their bucket lists.  One of the other things my dad wanted to do was go to a Rotary meeting here in Dubai, and we found their meeting place and time, and dropped him off a little ways away - we couldn't get through all the crazy traffic to get him any closer.  It was a little scary dropping him off alone when we were totally sure he was heading to the right place, but he found it, and of course made lots of friends, and even got to be part of the program for the day since their planned speaker didn't show!  Then, as would only happen to my dad, in the Mall of the Emirates, we ended up on the escalator right behind one of the men he met there!  He has a knack for making the world small, and finding friends everywhere.

We ventured down to Abu Dhabi (which Finley learned to say on the way there, and it was pretty cute), and visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque - it was pretty impressive.

 My mom and I got to don our first ever abayas for the visit, and she got scolded by a guard for holding hers up to high (it was too long, and she was trying not to trip) and showing a little ankle.  I think I was allergic to whatever was used to launder them, or whatever the previous wearer was wearing because I had a major allergy attack all the next day.  And if anyone has seen me suffer a major allergy attack, you will know it is not pleasant!  Yes, we know how gorgeous we look.

 My mom searched my closet at home and found my Cabbage Patch doll, and Finley was in love with her at first sight.  She calls her "New Baby" (the others are named by colors, except for Pippi - Longstocking), and loves putting her in the car seat, and dressing her and changing her diaper, and putting her in the swing.  We went through Finley's baby clothes and pulled out a few new outfits for the baby, so she has a whole wardrobe.

 Will went to a birthday party one afternoon, and got a blow-up microphone, which is perfect for him since he sings ALL the time.  We finally had to make him stop singing his new favorite song "The Animals Go in by 2 by 2" - and it goes to ten, and they have multiple versions of it on youtube and he would have sung it in his sleep if he could.  It was running through all of our heads all the time, and we were ready for some variety:)

Stories, stories, stories, stories - I think Grandma read at least a thousand - several of them what seemed like a thousand times!  Finley was in heaven, and would just bring her a huge stack and sit there, happy as a clam.  Speaking of being happy, my mom and I did some baking.  For some reason I am too chicken to attempt bread without her, so one day we made some bread, and then my first attempt at cinnamon rolls, which Nate has been requesting for ages.

Grandpa was a champion baby calmer - he got to help out lots of mornings while we were trying to get people out the door to school, or showered for the day, and he and Tyson got pretty tight.

Grandma got lots of good snuggle time too, but for some reason I only took about 2 pictures of her with the baby!

 Will took over story time the night Grandma left - such a good big brother.

Aunt Heather sent some play dough, and it was a hit with both kids.  Grandpa was a really good sport to help Finley cut out elephants over and over, and then to help vacuum up all the stray crumbs of it all over the floor!  One of the favorite story books is called "The Day the Crayons Quit" and one of the crayons is sad because the little boy tore off all his wrapping, and he is naked in the box.  I kept asking Finley why her new baby had to be naked all the time, and she showed me the page in the book with the naked crayon - she wanted the baby to be like the crayon...

Grandma brought a new swimsuit for Finley - it was all she would wear for about 3 days.  She also tried making diapers out of kleenex for the baby until she got brave one day and just got a real one.  I have to keep an eye on her or else she tries to change the baby's diaper a lot…

 Sweet brothers - Will is so great with Tyson.

Playing the memory game- Will hates it when someone else finds the match of one of his favorite animals - which is hard because pretty much all the animals in the game are his favorite...

Grandpa worked on helping Will learn to tie his shoes - the rabbit goes down the hole, and around the tree etc. etc.  Using Daddy's shoes made it a bit easier - the laces were nice and long.

One night we took a drive out to Bab Al Shams - a resort out in the desert.  We were hoping to get there for the sunset, but we missed it, so we just let the kids run around on the grass for a bit, and check out the spider on the tree.  When they see grass, they often times just take off running like crazy - it's fun to see, but also sad because they don't get to do it nearly enough.

And you can't come to Dubai without a trip to the beach - it was Tyson's first time, and he did pretty well.  The water temps were perfect, and the beach was not infested with jellyfish this time, so that was nice.

 We even got my parents out in the kayaks, and Nate and I got to take them out for the first time in a long time, and it felt great.

 We took Finley to get a haircut one day, and bought her some purple nail polish - she was sad after my last pedicure because my toes were purple and she wanted hers to match.  Strangely though, the polish I bought for her is "washable" and comes off when she has a bath!

Now the visit is over, I go back to school in less than two weeks, and we don't have anything planned to look forward to.  My parents have spent both my other kids' "first Christmas" with them, so we tried to convince them to come back in a few months, but I think if we want to make that happen we will have to go to them!  So for now, we will look forward to summer, and hopefully find other little things between now and then to fill the days!