UAE Trip

It has been a long time since I've updated Cailin's blog so here you go.

For those who haven't heard, Cailin will soon have a little brother. His name has been narrowed down to a few choices but we have not decided yet so we are waiting to share that until we are 100%. Everything is going really well so far and he is growing perfectly. We recently found out that I might have some genetic factors which have contributed to the complications I had with Cailin. So while I can't change my DNA, at least knowing has allowed my doctors to be more proactive in trying to prevent or delay the complications as long as possible. I'm am seeing a wonderful doctor who is a specialist and an expert on high risk pregnancies and I feel very safe in her care. We will be seeing one of my 2 two doctors every two weeks to keep an eye on my progress but so far everything is good. Best case scenario, the baby will be delivered in July even though my due date is August, no one thinks we will go that long.

As you all know, we recently took a trip to The United Arab Emirates and we had a wonderful time. It was Cailin's first time on an airplane and let me tell you I couldn't have been prouder of my little trouper. We basically asked her to entertain herself in a seat for 15 to 17 hours and she did really well. There were of course a few tantrums but overall she did great. Thank God for Dora the Explorer is all I can say. UAE is a country that definitely LOVES kids so even on the flight over there, there was someone sitting near us for Cailin to talk to or make faces at.

In UAE, nearly every single place we went, someone gave her a toy or a present of some kind and usually gave her a hug or kiss. They truly love kids over there and she would be spoiled rotten if we lived over there. People were very nice and super friendly, not at all what I expected. Plus, the food was awesome! Cailin loved the food too, especially Moroccan tea with mint! It must have been pretty caffeinated though because she was up all night long afterwards. Alcohol is extremely hard to come by since it is illegal for muslims which is good because the roundabouts would have been a nightmare had anyone been drunk! You can only truly understand a roundabout if you actually drive through one so I won't try to explain them. Pork is also illegal for muslims so Poopah had to make a special trip to the pork store for bacon. So this means that all the things we take for granted like pepperoni or sausage, is all veal or beef so that took some getting used to.

The weather was wonderfully warm, it felt like Texas in the summer. The evenings were especially great so we quickly understood why the night life in the desert is so active. I was sad to come back to 40 degree temperatures in Houston. Al Ain was a very beautiful city, full of flowers and gardens. It was definitely an oasis in the desert.

We all took trip while we were in Dubai to the beach. The beaches there are gorgeous, even the public beach. Cailin was having a blast collecting sea shells, she still plays with them even now that we are home.

At the beach with the Burg Al Arab in the background. It is one of Dubai's most famous buildings and it supposed to be in the shape of a sailboat.

This is the beach outside of the Atlantis hotel. It is supposed to be only for guests of the hotel but Jeff and I snuck out there anyway. Shhh : ) You can see downtown Dubai in the background. All of this island is man made from sand shipped in. It is amazing what human engineering can accomplish.

At the Atlantis hotel there is a massive aquarium with every kind of fish and shark. Well okay, not every every shark, but there several different kinds of sharks and sting rays.

This is a picture of us driving up the made made island called the Palm, because it's designed to look like a giant palm tree.

We took a really great dinner cruise down one of the canals in Dubai. It was really late by the time we got there since everything runs on "en sha allah" (pardon the spelling), which means "God willing", time so Cailin was tired, hungry and cranky most of the time but I'll show you the times when she was happy.

Despite my smile, I too was very cranky. I hadn't eaten in about 7 hours and anyone who has ever been pregnant or known anyone who was pregnant knows not to make a pregnant girl go hungry. Plus Cailin's tantrums were wearing us all out. I know what you are thinking...Cailin, tantrums? Can't be! But alas, she had a few to say the least.

In between Cailin's own personal thunderstorms she ran around the boat like a maniac. Someone was always chasing her around. Luckily we had a pharaoh waiting for a good sword fight.

Cailin's new outfit, I think she felt pretty caused she twirled around for about 30 minutes.

Al Ain is a very ancient city. It was the site of some of the first civilizations and a major trading partner with Mesopotamia. They still have some sites standing. This picture shows two oryz's which are native to this area. These sites are more than 5000 years old and set in one of the most beautiful parks I've ever seen. It was very quiet and green. Made us all want to find a hammock and take a nap.

One of the most interesting thing was our stop at the camel souk. It is a market where they buy and sell camels. Camels are very noisy and not too friendly so they were freaking me out but Cailin liked them of course. Nana, Mama and Cailin had all been shopping for perfume all day so we were drenched in perfume so one camel decided to come investigate me and I jumped three feet in the air. I wasn't sure if he was going to bite me or not.

We helped this man find this runaway camel so he paused for a second for us to take a picture. Thanks camel man!

This a picture of Nana and Poopah's apartment. It is a very nice and new complex. Like most places, it isn't far from a mosque, so I was woken up a few times at 5 am by the call to prayer. I was not too happy about that but what are going to do.

We took Bob out to the dunes. It is actually really pretty out in the desert but the sand is very hard to climb. Cailin loved them and didn't want to leave. It was giant sand box to her!

Al Ain has a really good zoo. The exhibits are very natural looking. They had a bird show with different types of falcons, owls, and the biggest vulture in the world.

This vulture had an 8 foot wing span. He followed the trainer around because he had this huge slab of meat.

They had these two white lions that were the big attraction of the zoo. I could see why, they were gorgeous.


One of the best things about this zoo is the enclosure for the giraffes, antelope, wildebeasts and zebras. They all roamed together in a space of at least 5 acres. You can see the mountains that surround Al Ain in the background.

We drove to the top of the tallest mountain around Al Ain, Jebel Hafit. They had a little concession stand with little kid rides. Little kid rides...ahem...for kids Jeff...just sayin'.

Jeff briefly gave up one of the rides for Cailin. She was actually a little scared of them once they started moving and making noise.
It was really windy up there.

One day we decided to go to a hotel and play in the pool. Cailin got a chance to play on the playground too. The pool water was really cold though so it took her a while to voluntarily get in.

There was a great pavilion in Al Ain. It was a place where a lot of locals go. It was surrounded by lots of shops and restaurants. They had a fountain show that was really cool and all the kids roller bladed on the slick marble tile down in front. Cailin had a blast running all over the place. I think she was all hopped up on the Moroccan tea though.

I think I found my new look.

Cailin had fun playing the phone on the airplane, or her "Lo" as she calls it.

Waiting to board.

Okay, this picture was taken at home but it was so cute I had to put it on the blog. She was really excited to sing the "If you're happy and you know it" song, especially the part where you shout "Hooray!"

Here is a video of Cailin playing with a little indian girl at the pavilion in Al Ain. Two year olds tend to hone in on each other immediately.

Going down the slide with Nana. Cailin was not a fan.

Driving around Al Ain

Here are 3 videos from the show they put on for us during the dinner cruise. Cailin decided to start the show off by dancing for everyone and getting the crowd warmed up. The manager or owner of the boat came out to dance with her, he couldn't resist I guess. Everyone was clapping and laughing. I really need to teach her how to come out of her shell a little bit.

These two videos are of the actual dancers. Look closely at the last video and you can see Cailin twirling and clapping the in background. These are some kind of traditional egyptian dances that are supposed to be funny obviously.

Despite the early exhaustion, lack of sleep, and a jet lagged toddler, we all had so much fun. Perhaps one day we will go back. Thanks to Nana and Poopah for a great time and thanks UAE for all the fun and good food!