After having the "weekend" off last month, Matt is back to having Wednesdays and Thursday off for May. It was nice to go to church as a family last month, but it makes date nights impossible. There is actually a group of LDS American Servicemen who hold a Sunday meeting. They come for 3 months at a time and never leave the base, so they don't even know that church is held on Fridays in this region. So he goes to church a few days after us. His schedule will continue to change, we are sure, and we'll just be flexible.
Last week there were two L3 higher ups in town and they took everyone out to dinner. The kids and I drove down to Abu Dhabi and met up with Matt and many of his co-workers. They picked a place called Trader Vic's, which neither Matt or I knew and it turned out that we were rather underdressed, but it was still a nice evening. We're awfully glad for our kids who are willing to try new foods. It was nice to be able to take them out without pep talks about good behavior. Matt was the only one with a spouse and/or children in attendance (or in country) from the group. I worried a little that it would feel awkward, but I worried needlessly. Apparently it was a good thing we went.
Last Wednesday, we wanted to try 4 wheeling in the desert before it gets too hot. The one place for which we had a phone number was closed though, so we went to the beach. It was completely gorgeous. The sand was really hot walking from the car to the shoreline, but the water was perfect. The girls spent the most time trying out the boggie boards with Matt. When the waves were too quiet, they would use them as floating collection tables while picking up treasured shells, rocks and pieces of coral from under the sea. I tried swimming out with Isaac a couple times. We went out to where we couldn't touch--quite a ways as it has a very gradual slope down. Once when we were out quite far, we swam parallel to the shore for awhile and then back. I am much better at swimming in a straight line when I can follow the sand ripples along the bottom. Thank goodness for lovely clear water. But I still am rubbish at keeping the seawater out of my mouth and spend a lot of time spitting, spitting, spitting and still ending up with a burning throat. Isaac is much faster than me. He can beat me in the pool when he tries. He can beat me in the ocean without much effort. I need practice.
Wednesday night, after taking Isaac to his kickboxing class, Matt and I went out for a bit of shopping, dinner, and a movie. We have gone out more in Dubai than we have since Las Vegas, and neither of us is taking it for granted. It's so nice to spend a few hours together alone.
Thursday we tried going out to the dunes. We didn't bother setting alarms and so got a later start than we ought to have done. It was awfully hot. It was fun, but we will not be going back till winter. Before then, we will invest in some gloves. Isaac and Makenna both got blisters on thumbs, which also popped while riding. A few of us got heat rash on legs. We all drank a liter of water when we got back. Matt had gone 4 Wheeling before, but the rest of us got our first try in Austria over a long weekend last fall. Riding in the sand is very different. The kids all got stuck in the sand more than once. Thank goodness Matt is plenty strong because he got lots of opportunities to lift the kids' ATVs out their holes. I could only budge them if the kids got off first. We learned that you can't go up a hill half hearted. You have to charge up or get stuck.
Last week there were two L3 higher ups in town and they took everyone out to dinner. The kids and I drove down to Abu Dhabi and met up with Matt and many of his co-workers. They picked a place called Trader Vic's, which neither Matt or I knew and it turned out that we were rather underdressed, but it was still a nice evening. We're awfully glad for our kids who are willing to try new foods. It was nice to be able to take them out without pep talks about good behavior. Matt was the only one with a spouse and/or children in attendance (or in country) from the group. I worried a little that it would feel awkward, but I worried needlessly. Apparently it was a good thing we went.
Last Wednesday, we wanted to try 4 wheeling in the desert before it gets too hot. The one place for which we had a phone number was closed though, so we went to the beach. It was completely gorgeous. The sand was really hot walking from the car to the shoreline, but the water was perfect. The girls spent the most time trying out the boggie boards with Matt. When the waves were too quiet, they would use them as floating collection tables while picking up treasured shells, rocks and pieces of coral from under the sea. I tried swimming out with Isaac a couple times. We went out to where we couldn't touch--quite a ways as it has a very gradual slope down. Once when we were out quite far, we swam parallel to the shore for awhile and then back. I am much better at swimming in a straight line when I can follow the sand ripples along the bottom. Thank goodness for lovely clear water. But I still am rubbish at keeping the seawater out of my mouth and spend a lot of time spitting, spitting, spitting and still ending up with a burning throat. Isaac is much faster than me. He can beat me in the pool when he tries. He can beat me in the ocean without much effort. I need practice.
Wednesday night, after taking Isaac to his kickboxing class, Matt and I went out for a bit of shopping, dinner, and a movie. We have gone out more in Dubai than we have since Las Vegas, and neither of us is taking it for granted. It's so nice to spend a few hours together alone.
Thursday we tried going out to the dunes. We didn't bother setting alarms and so got a later start than we ought to have done. It was awfully hot. It was fun, but we will not be going back till winter. Before then, we will invest in some gloves. Isaac and Makenna both got blisters on thumbs, which also popped while riding. A few of us got heat rash on legs. We all drank a liter of water when we got back. Matt had gone 4 Wheeling before, but the rest of us got our first try in Austria over a long weekend last fall. Riding in the sand is very different. The kids all got stuck in the sand more than once. Thank goodness Matt is plenty strong because he got lots of opportunities to lift the kids' ATVs out their holes. I could only budge them if the kids got off first. We learned that you can't go up a hill half hearted. You have to charge up or get stuck.
The girls getting instruction.
Starting off.
Jess
Isaac. The time he got the most stuck was after catching a lot more air then he expected. Some of the dunes really dropped off on the other sides. To be on the safe side, we mostly followed older tracks. The pictures are all rather boring because I couldn't stop to snap any shots when it was more exciting.
After getting home and showering, we were all rather wiped out. Matt really enjoyed having our baby take a nap on him.
Later, Matt took Makenna to her horseback riding lesson and Isaac went to go see The Avengers with a family from the branch. Jess had renewed energy after her nap and came out with me to help water the grass. We recently invested in a little sprinkler which beats using my thumb as a nozzle replacement while watering the grass and plants each day. Jess happily helped move it around every few minutes while doing cartwheels through the spray.
Hi Karen!
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing things you are al doing!!!
It was so great to read and catch up on all of you,
We love and miss you guys!!
Kelly