So last week I traded in my rental yaris tin can for a lovely new Mitsubishi, Outlander, a crossover 4x4. It is used and for just a little more then a rental I will have it paid off in two years and it is still under warranty. It couldn't be more of a boring color, white, but as my friend Abby points out it is pearly white. I really love driving it and can tell already that I am getting more respect on the road from my fellow drivers and maybe my head is a little taller to not be driving the same vehicle as the Farooj Chicken delivery guy. But I have to complain, there is a tape player! No CD player and how did I miss that, well I am super impulsive and didn't look for details like a CD players or MP3 player compatibility...the worst part is that all in the same week the one station in Al Ain that plays American music, which is pretty bad top 20 stuff suddenly stopped playing American music and switched to Hindi. Fantastic! So I am currently improvising with my phone or netbook for music or I sing to myself. I plan on doing a little shopping for a CD player for my car at some junction; but not on the agenda this month. Here is a picture and in case you are wondering I am not leaving the plastic on the seats like some of the strange locals (apparently this is big here to keep things in their packaging to keep them nice; not uncommon to see all the stickers on the computer of a teller or customer service rep.
In other news I joined a bowling league. Yes there is bowling with out alcohol and I suck at it! I joined with some other teachers and so far we are having a lot of fun. It seems to be all teachers for the most part and no one seems super competitive although it is clear we all want to win! We get to just unwind and be super silly and laugh a lot and it is nice to get away from Mike and Gavin and have some guaranteed girl time once a week. Also bonus, it counts as activity points on weight watchers! Here is a picture of my team, "split happens,"
From right to left there is Jolynn from Illinois, Sylvia from South Africa, and of course me, and Abby from Illinois (I met her in Iowa before we came out here).
We have a lot of laughs and I am really enjoying bowling so far!
This past weekend was really fun and full. On Friday, my friend Abby and I got much needed pedicures, which we agreed we needed much more frequently. Then we were off to the Al Ain Airshow. I haven't been to an airshow since I was a kid, it was pretty amazing! Gavin was all over the place running around and had gasps of enthusiasm for the planes and loud booms and had his fill on junk food. We went with Abby and her family and really enjoyed it. Here is a picture of Mike and Gavin enjoying the airshow (yes we try to keep Gavin strapped in as much as possible!)
Then afterwards we decided to throw caution into the wind or be sponteaneous and we hopped into our rugged new 4x4s packed with hot dogs, wood, a grill, some chairs, and sand toys and found us some random dunes. We are in the desert so why not? So we drove abound 8 miles towards Dubai and pulled off into the nearest deserty sand dunes stocked with some camels nearby and everything. Abby's truck got stuck in the desert! Mike and Andy had to jump on the back of the truck and jump up and down and do some pushing to get it out. Apparently they weren't working the 4x4 correctly but I had to make the joke and ask if they were still planning to join the off roaders club when they got stuck in the sand making a three point turn about.
We set up near a few dunes and the boys started digging with their toys and the sun began to set quickly! We got the grill and fire going and made some hotdogs and smores. It was a lot of fun! The only downside was that Gavin is really impulsive/active/unaware of the whole toppling down a dune to be injured concept so after trying to corner him in a cornerless desert to play in one area, we were forced to strap him to his stroller and supply him with enough chips, graham crackers, and marshmallows to keep him from whining.
Here is a fantastic picture my friend Abby took of me, Gavin, her boys, and Michael at the top of a dune at sunset.
Here is another picture of Abby and I making smores around the little grill Abby brought.
Then on Saturday I was invited to a Valentine's Day craft party at another teacher's flat. She had put together a whole morning of activities for the kids to make crafts including picture frames, necklaces, and valentines. I really thought it was a good idea for Gavin! I really did! Gavin has limited activity with other kids and I really thought this would be a great opportunity for him to get to play with other kids! I also have spent time coloring and working with play-doh with him and as long as I am there to guide him he loves it and can spend quite a bit of time focused diligently on the task at hand. Plus I just figured in his love for hearts was a plus, I mean how could we go wrong?
Well we arrived and everything started off so sweet and innocent! Gavin was nicely gluing hearts together creating a lovely valentine for Daddy or Mommy. He even was coloring on it very nicely. Then he notices the necklace making station with beads. Hearts, and starts! Oh my! He loves hearts and stars (he seems to have a thing for shapes lately-really really into them). I grab a nice handfull and bring him back to our area where I try to focus him on making a neckclace with the beads I have. Before I can stop him he dives towards the nicely organised dishes of beads and he dumps them over. OH no he doesn't stop there! He then preoceeds to wave his hands back and forth to see them fly accross the room. At this point my sweet hostess is grabbing the broom and scrambling to pick them up and assuring me that isn't a big deal and I am sure at this point it isn't, everyone is laughing and Gavin is really confused when I put him in time out. I apollogize profusely and then decide he needs a distraction. Gavin is compulsive, I am going with," it is a normal two year old thing."
For example if he sees a toy at the park and wants to play with it and the child that has it refuses then we have to leave the park because he will think of nothing else but getting his hands on the toy. At times distraction will work but mostly it doesn't and why didn't my gut realize that the beads fell under this very same category? Here I am with a group of ladies that I barely know hoping to have some new friendships for both Gavin and I to flourish trying desperately to get Gavin to eat a cookie and get his mind off of things. And he dives again into the beads! Desperately trying to ensure every bead is spread across the room. Again my hostess smiles as she scrambles to pick up all the beads and my heartrate goes up and I feel panicky and Gavin sees the other kids going to play and he follows. Maybe he is distracted now? I saunter down the hall to see how Gavin is playing when oldest boy begins to point frantically at the cookie on the floor, "who brought food in the bedroom? There is no food allowed in the bedroom! Who brought food in the bedroom?" I apollogized to the young boy and scurried to hide the evidence hoping no one would see my child with the red scarlet cookie. Well at this point Gavin decides to give the beads one more toss around the room and our sweet hostess has given up on cleaning up the beads plopping defeated on the couch. Gavin is now attempting to dislodge the door from the princess doll house of the little girl and I can see I need to leave. They all smile and nod and say good-bye and I even imagine are feeling a little sense of relief. I left and in hindsight realize Gavin just might not be ready for craft day.
Here are the beads before Gavin attacked them lol:
We have a lot of laughs and I am really enjoying bowling so far!
This past weekend was really fun and full. On Friday, my friend Abby and I got much needed pedicures, which we agreed we needed much more frequently. Then we were off to the Al Ain Airshow. I haven't been to an airshow since I was a kid, it was pretty amazing! Gavin was all over the place running around and had gasps of enthusiasm for the planes and loud booms and had his fill on junk food. We went with Abby and her family and really enjoyed it. Here is a picture of Mike and Gavin enjoying the airshow (yes we try to keep Gavin strapped in as much as possible!)
Then afterwards we decided to throw caution into the wind or be sponteaneous and we hopped into our rugged new 4x4s packed with hot dogs, wood, a grill, some chairs, and sand toys and found us some random dunes. We are in the desert so why not? So we drove abound 8 miles towards Dubai and pulled off into the nearest deserty sand dunes stocked with some camels nearby and everything. Abby's truck got stuck in the desert! Mike and Andy had to jump on the back of the truck and jump up and down and do some pushing to get it out. Apparently they weren't working the 4x4 correctly but I had to make the joke and ask if they were still planning to join the off roaders club when they got stuck in the sand making a three point turn about.
We set up near a few dunes and the boys started digging with their toys and the sun began to set quickly! We got the grill and fire going and made some hotdogs and smores. It was a lot of fun! The only downside was that Gavin is really impulsive/active/unaware of the whole toppling down a dune to be injured concept so after trying to corner him in a cornerless desert to play in one area, we were forced to strap him to his stroller and supply him with enough chips, graham crackers, and marshmallows to keep him from whining.
Here is a fantastic picture my friend Abby took of me, Gavin, her boys, and Michael at the top of a dune at sunset.
Well we arrived and everything started off so sweet and innocent! Gavin was nicely gluing hearts together creating a lovely valentine for Daddy or Mommy. He even was coloring on it very nicely. Then he notices the necklace making station with beads. Hearts, and starts! Oh my! He loves hearts and stars (he seems to have a thing for shapes lately-really really into them). I grab a nice handfull and bring him back to our area where I try to focus him on making a neckclace with the beads I have. Before I can stop him he dives towards the nicely organised dishes of beads and he dumps them over. OH no he doesn't stop there! He then preoceeds to wave his hands back and forth to see them fly accross the room. At this point my sweet hostess is grabbing the broom and scrambling to pick them up and assuring me that isn't a big deal and I am sure at this point it isn't, everyone is laughing and Gavin is really confused when I put him in time out. I apollogize profusely and then decide he needs a distraction. Gavin is compulsive, I am going with," it is a normal two year old thing."
For example if he sees a toy at the park and wants to play with it and the child that has it refuses then we have to leave the park because he will think of nothing else but getting his hands on the toy. At times distraction will work but mostly it doesn't and why didn't my gut realize that the beads fell under this very same category? Here I am with a group of ladies that I barely know hoping to have some new friendships for both Gavin and I to flourish trying desperately to get Gavin to eat a cookie and get his mind off of things. And he dives again into the beads! Desperately trying to ensure every bead is spread across the room. Again my hostess smiles as she scrambles to pick up all the beads and my heartrate goes up and I feel panicky and Gavin sees the other kids going to play and he follows. Maybe he is distracted now? I saunter down the hall to see how Gavin is playing when oldest boy begins to point frantically at the cookie on the floor, "who brought food in the bedroom? There is no food allowed in the bedroom! Who brought food in the bedroom?" I apollogized to the young boy and scurried to hide the evidence hoping no one would see my child with the red scarlet cookie. Well at this point Gavin decides to give the beads one more toss around the room and our sweet hostess has given up on cleaning up the beads plopping defeated on the couch. Gavin is now attempting to dislodge the door from the princess doll house of the little girl and I can see I need to leave. They all smile and nod and say good-bye and I even imagine are feeling a little sense of relief. I left and in hindsight realize Gavin just might not be ready for craft day.
Here are the beads before Gavin attacked them lol:
Here is Gavin's valentine before he turned into baby godzilla:
Next week Michael and I are headed back to Abu Dhabi for the first time since we were bussed away from the Beach Rotana last August. We are going to Yas Island to see Eric Clapton! I cannot wait! Details to come on that venture! I am up way past my bedtime but I have to admit it is kind of nice. Michael is in Dubai with a friend and for the first time in a long time I have the place to myself while Gavin sleeps; the peace is kind of nice. 
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