Dubai

We took a big, adventure trip to Dubai this summer and it was amazing!  John had been to Dubai, a small middle eastern country which is part of the United Arab Emirates, a few years ago on business and he always wanted to go back and take us along to see it. I kind of resisted, not really thinking it was a good idea to take three kids to the middle east these days but John finally convinced us it was a very safe place to visit, so off we went.
It's a long flight - 9 hours to Amsterdam then a 6 hour layover and then another 5 hours to Dubai.  I can't decide if flying direct would be easier or not.  John and Noah actually took a shower in the Amsterdam airport and we did some duty-free shopping as well.
We arrived around 8 in the evening so we didn't anything the first day but our hotel was amazing - it was Le Royal Meridien Hotel & Resort and was right on the beach.  The rooms were huge and very, very clean - I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone.  The next morning we headed to the beach pretty early - trying not to give in to any jet lag! The grounds and pools (5 of them) were not crowded at all - this is the off-season for Dubai - and very beautiful.  The beach itself looked like it had been vacuumed - I swear it was that clean!  The water was very warm and I enjoyed it much more than I do in Hawaii.
The week flew by! We took a day trip to Abu Dhabi which included a tour of the Grand Mosque.  The girls and I had to wear traditional Arab women's clothing called abayas and wrap our hair in scarves. We also got to check out the Formula One racetrack which was probably the highlight of John's day.
We visited the Mall of the Emirates where Ski Dubai (indoor ski hill) is located. So funny that we had to take a trip to the desert to get us all out on skis! Well, not quite - John and I skiied, Zoey took a ski lesson, Noah took a snowboarding lesson and Alicia took a lot of pictures!  We also spent a day at the Atlantis resort which is on Palm Jumeirah island.  The island is man-made in the shape of a palm tree - amazing!
The dress code is a little tricky and we had to pick up a few pieces of clothing to make sure we stayed modest - especially for dinner.  John and Noah had to wear long pants and collared shirts.  The basic rule is keep your knees and shoulders covered. Overall, it was a great trip with lots to see and do and I would definitely recommend it as a vacation destination.

Swim Team & Kidney Stones!

Ahhh, the smell of chlorine in the summertime - it doesn't remind me of my childhood but it has definitely been a part of my kid's lives for the last 10 years.  Swim teams are pretty big in Texas - much more so than in Canada. Alicia started out on the Cinco Ranch summer swim team when she was 8 and swam off and on until she was 14. Zoey and Noah joined her the second time we lived in Katy and swam for the Highland Park team. The first year we lived in McKinney (2007), all three swam for the McKinney Sea Lions and Zoey has continued on with them every summer since then.  Noah took a few years off but is back this year, just not competing in meets.

Practices start in May after school and then move to early morning once school gets out. To her credit and I think because she loves to swim so much, Zoey never complains about the early morning practice times, which is awesome! Meets are usually on Saturdays and require being at the pool by 7 for warm-ups but in order to get a seat, you usually need to be there by 6:30 and they usually last at least 7 or 8 hours, depending on which events you are swimming. The nice thing about swimming with the Sea Lions are the indoor pools - in Katy, they were all outdoor meets and it was miserable sitting out in the hot, humid Texas weather all day. I'm glad that Zoey loves to swim so much and has even transitioned to the high school swim team (varsity) so she swims pretty much year round. Hopefully she will continue on when she goes to college.

On another note, John is struggling with kidney stones again. Last summer when they did a scan before he had his gall bladder removed, they said he had three small stones in his kidneys and they have finally decided to make their way out.  The first two passed with minimal pain but this third one is causing some major distress - hopefully no hospital trips will be required!

I'm back!

I have been inspired to try this again after finding an online class called Blogging for Scrapbookers  by Shimelle Laine.  I don't know whether I will ever become a regular blogger but I guess some posts once in awhile are better than no posts!

We are in the thick of summer activities around here - actually, today is the official first day of summer but it seems like it started about a month ago, really. Alicia has been home from Rice since the first week in May and is busy working at the Frisco library again for the rest of the summer. Zoey and Noah were done school on May 31 and are both swimming with the McKinney Sea Lions for summer swim team.  Zoey is doing it mainly to keep in shape for when school starts - she will be swimming Varsity for McKinney North again - it will be her third year.  Noah is doing it mainly because we made him!  I refuse to let him spend every day, all day playing X-Box! 

Zoey is also taking an SAT prep class which she is not too happy about but we really want her to do well when she takes the test this fall - the scores seem to be so important for college admissions these days.  Noah has band on Tuesday evenings as well for a couple of hours.  Getting ready for marching this fall! I have been waiting for this day since he started band - love watching the marching bands!

We have also got our summer vacation out of the way as well - we took a great "adventure" trip to Dubai at the beginning of June - think I will save the details of that for another post.

I am thankful for all of the good things in my life - especially John and my three wonderful babies! Who happen to be 19, 16 and 14!