In the afternoon Amber's temp. went down so we all went to see the Great Oz movie. It was playing in English, which we don't get too much for kids so we wanted to take advantage of it! We all liked it but Amber thought a few parts were a little scary.
We had some more fondue for dinner, but this time Jason just grilled the leftover meat. Everything was good until he was washing the dishes and a knife went pretty deep into his hand. He is doing ok.
The kids have 2 weeks off for spring break starting this week!
Monday morning the boys all had haircuts so since Jason was getting his hair cut too he was able to just take the boys and stay until everyone was finished. My chiropractor had sent me a note last night that he was going to take a last minute vacation this week and was canceling all appts. so we changed to next week. He is hard to get into since he works mostly school hours so I was looking forward to going today. Since Amber still had her fever today I cancelled her playdate at a friends house. But we did put the Easter eggs on the tree outside on this cold day!
After lunch Jacob went to a friend's house. This friend lives about 20 min or so away so by the time I got there and back it was an hour later- ugh. Then before dinner I had to go back and get him.
Tuesday morning we hung out and then for lunch we went and picked Jason up at work and ate out at a Subway near him. So the kids enjoyed being able to eat lunch with Dad!
After lunch we ran over to the Woman's club to pick up a few things and I needed cool whip to make a b'day dessert for Jason when we get back. The kids were excited to see jelly beans so we got a bag of those. We will be in Dubai over Easter so I am hoping that the kids don't realize it is Easter, and then we can just celebrate when we get back like it is the real day! We will see.
In the afternoon I drove Sean to his friend's house and he was spending the night there and then I drove Jacob to his friend's house for a sleepover as well! Quiet night at home! After we dropped the boys off I thought we would go see if we could get sandals for everyone- ugh! I got Jason some flip flops, and Jacob some sandals. In looking for sandals for Amber they were super expensive- 74 euros that is like $96- are you kidding me! There was nothing special about them. The rest of them were in the 50s and 60s price range. I was so annoyed. I want Target!! So we found a pair for 1/3 of the cost but they were blue- not one of Amber's favorite colors.
I painted Amber's toes and fingernails once we got home. She was so excited. She picked out purple and told me that I should use the same color- we will see!
Wednesday morning there was a heater guy that came over to check the heating system per the owner, but he was also cleaning it. No one told me that part and he was here for 2 1/2 hours! Once he finished we went and picked up Sean from his sleepover and then went and picked up Jacob from his sleepover. They both had a great time. We had to do a few errands and then I let the kids pick out lunch from the bakery. We got a mini pizza, pasta salad and tuna sandwich and split everything.
I finished getting everything packed and Jason got home in the afternoon and we left for the airport for our trip to Dubai! We were flying out of Lux so that was nice. We just had to drive to the airport which doesn't take that long. We flew to London for the connecting flight. They said that from Terminal 1 in London where we would be landing, to go to Terminal 5, which is where we needed to get for the connecting flight, to allow for 90 min! We had 45 by the time we landed. Our flight landed 20 min or so late and then they couldn't find a place to park the plane. We were starting to get nervous we would miss the flight. As soon as they let us off we started running and running. Amber started crying because she couldn't run anymore. We were running up escalators, down stairs and then we had to wait for a bus to take us there. We only had to wait a few minutes and then it came. But it took like 10 min. on the bus which had its own little roads to get to the other terminal. Once we got to the right terminal we ran some more, Amber crying again. Thank goodness no one was really at this part of the airport because we had more escalators and had to go through border and passport check and then security again. Then more running down stairs to wait for a tram to our terminal. Geesh! We got to the terminal with enough time to go potty, buy water and sit for 2 min and then we started boarding!
It seemed like mostly tourists on the plane. I think I only saw one woman in the traditional black full robe attire. So we got settled and got everyone watching their movie and we take off- full flight. About 1/3 of the way through the movie they lose the entertainment system and Amber and mine never fully recovered. So much for those movies! We only had music or TVs shows. At least she fell asleep at 10pm and sleep until 1am when she woke up to go potty and then back to sleep. They didn't serve dinner until 11:15pm and Sean and Amber were both asleep so they didn't eat. I picked at it so they didn't miss much.
Thursday morning on the plane I woke Amber up for breakfast because it is normally juice, fruit and a croissant. It was about 2:30am our time. What they served was juice and a hot dog like bun with some smoked salmon and some white sauce in there. I didn't even open the packages!
Once we got off the plane there was a lady there waiting with our names on a sign. I had signed up for this service that takes you thought the airport and gets you through customs and immigration without having to wait in line. 2 people who I had talked too had used this before b/c I guess it can take a couple hours to get through immigration and after our long night I didn't want to be waiting in line. So we walked a bit, this is the 2nd largest airport in the world. The first one was the one we flew out of in London. But they predict this will be the largest in a few more years! So after walking a bit a golf cart comes and then drives us to immigration. There they opened up a booth just for us and we went through fast. Other people had to wait in line and get their picture taken. But since it was early in the morning the lines weren't too bad for the other people. Then our carry bags had to go through a scanner. Here you weren't allowed to bring in any medicine. They have a list of like 400 medicines which are illegal here. Some of it is just over the counter stuff we would buy at home. I had read about people going to jail for bringing things in, or even have eaten poppy seeds before arriving since those are illegal too. So I was a bit freaked out with it all and didn't bring any vitamins or anything but Advil, my cheese pills and Imodium. I was on antibiotic for my foot but I didn't even bring that. They talked about if you brought in a prescription drug it needed the prescription from the Dr. then a notarized note and approved by someone else too, crazy! Normally I always travel with cold medicines and things for the kids so hopefully we will be ok!
Once we got all our bags the lady walked us through customs but they didn't ask to see anything and then outside the woman found our transfer to the hotel for us. So it was a guy from the hotel. We walked to the parking lot and he pulled up in the van. The parking lot was full of full size SUV's and big parking spots! Ok I think I am going to like it here! The main highway going into/out of Dubai was 6 lanes each way! I was surprised how big everything here was. Big trucks can't drive on the highway during the day only at certain hours at night and they have a flashing light on top of the cab of the truck. We were staying in a resort about an 1:15 min. north of Dubai city so we had a bit of a drive this morning. All the kids fell asleep. All the signs for things were in Arabic and English. After we got out of the city it was just sand dunes until we got close to the other city. Along the roadside were fences and those are to keep the camels off the highways. We would see groups of camels in the desert, so funny! I guess there were some pretty bad accidents with camels walking onto the highway before the fences came up since they are better at seeing long distances and they would see the desert on the other side of the highway but not really notice the highway.
When we got to the hotel it was like a compound, there was a wall all around it. It all looked very nice and then there was a guard at the gate.
Here is an overview picture of the resort.
So we unloaded and I went to check in but it was like 9:30 am or so. So the lady said the room wasn't ready yet, but we could go and enjoy breakfast this morning, which was good because we were starving. So we went downstairs where breakfast was and it was a huge American breakfast- so good! There were pancakes, Belgium waffles, french toast, omelet stations, and then all sorts of other items. We enjoyed it. We got half board here, so breakfast and dinner every day. Then we walked around a bit. It was beautiful there. They have 7 pools and 1.5 km of white sandy beach- paradise. We kept checking on the room but it wasn't ready. So around 11:30 or so they gave us keys to another room to relax until ours was ready. So the golf cart drove us down to this villa at the far end of the property. It was upstairs and by 2-3 of the pools. So we changed into our suites and spent the afternoon at the 3 pools by there. We shared some snacks at one of the little outside restaurants since we didn't need too much after that big breakfast. The boys played on the beach for a bit too. Then we came back to the room and got cleaned up, Amber took a nap, and our room had been ready for a bit, so they came and picked us back up and took us to our new room back closer to the hotel but still a villa, right in front of the beach!
Dinners began at 6:30 so we went back to the same place we had breakfast and they have big buffet dinners. Tonight it was Italian and it was very good.
We came back to the room and went to bed early as everyone was exhausted. Our room was just one big room. It had 2 queen beds in it and they they brought another bed for Amber and she was just next to me. It had a big bathroom, 2 sinks, tub and separate shower. It had a changing area with 2 closets and then the room was large. But we were hoping it would have been 2 bedrooms. I don't even know if they have those. The villas are bigger then the hotel rooms so at least that was nice. Here is a picture from our room.
Friday we slept in and eventually woke the kids up around 9:30 so we could go and get breakfast. After breakfast we tried a different pool. This one was heated so the kids enjoyed it.
Half of their pools are heated and half aren't. Amber did great swimming this week without her life jacket on. The boys also tried 2 other non heated pools- one salt water, but they didn't last long. It is so peaceful here! We ate lunch at one of the smaller restaurants. After lunch we went back to our villa and sat on the beach in front of our place for awhile.
Then we went in and started getting ready for our jeep tour we were doing today. We booked a private jeep tour and then it meet up with the group for dinner. It was a lot of fun! Since we were staying far out from the city we had to get picked up at 3:30 and it took an hour to get to the dunes. We were in a Toyota SUV cruiser. Our guide was dressed in the traditional one piece white outfit with the white thing on his head. He was very quite and soft spoken. But he liked his music. Most stations were in English and then the American songs. Once we got on the dunes he had a special CD of jamming music for the dune bashing! All 3 kids fell asleep on the way there and that is after Amber had 1/2 hour nap in the room right before we left.
Once at the sand dunes there were other tours and people around. That is why everyone has SUVs, so they can go dune bashing. There is no trail, you just drive where ever, for an hour moving towards the camp. The boys were in the back with smiles on their faces. Amber and I were in the middle row and she was just enjoying her ride. I was glad I was in the middle row so I couldn't see out the front and what was coming. Jason was in the front and by the end he was getting queasy and the boys were too. Amber and I were fine.
The driver had to let the air out of the tires since it was better for the car in the sand. He would drive up a dune and then we would slide down. Jacob asked if he had ever tipped over and he just laughed- ok not sure what that meant! Inside the jeep it was a nice car, all in closed but outfitted inside with the roll bars. The car was so clean and smelled like it had been shampooed. There wasn't even any sand in the car until we got out and then back in. Once in the sand you kind of sink and it is redder in color.
When we were driving to get here we saw many herds of camels in the desert.
After we finished the dunes we met up with all the other tours at the campsite. When we pulled up, which is a campsite set up in the middle of the desert, a lady was getting sick. The other vehicles had 6 or 7 people in them so it was nice to have the car to ourselves. At the campsite we did camel rides and then it was a BBQ.
Here is a picture of the campsite where we had the BBQ.
When eating you sit on the pillows and eat off the low tables.
For dinner they had 2 salads, pita bread with hummus, roasted potatoes, chicken and beef skewers and then chicken and beef sausages, steamed carrots and zucchini. Dessert was mixed fruit and then like a cornbread with carmel sauce on it. It was all fine. After dinner they had a belly dancer and then we got back in the jeep and he drove us back to the hotel.
I had to ask the driver about the way they dress- I couldn't resist. So the woman have to wear all black starting from the age of 13, head and body covered, not the face. They can wear normal clothes under it and they don't have to wear the black thing at home. Once they are married they can only show their eyes unless their husband is more liberal and will allow them to show their faces! Crazy! The men wear white but they can really wear anything. And they wear the thing on their heads to keep the sun off it and it is long so you can wrap it around your face if there is a sand storm. These are old traditions that have just been kept. White because it gets hot in the desert and that keeps them cool. Also why a lot of cars here are white. In the summer it can get to 120 degrees!
Our guide was a fast driver and speed us home. He was a nice guy and we had a great time!
Saturday we got up earlier and got ready because we were doing a Dubai city tour today.
Pictures by the pool.
Again we hired a private car instead of doing the bus tour. So he picked us up at 10am. It was a Toyota Land Cruiser nice and clean too. Here this fully loaded SUV cost about $40,000 since there are no taxes here. And gas was .30 cents/liter. It was an hours drive back to Dubai. Amber took her 1st nap for the day.
We started out by driving over and seeing the outside of some of the prince's palaces. You couldn't get too close, but they had some peacocks walking around.
Then we went over to a neat hotel on the beach. They had a tone of little canals at this hotel that you have to take a water taxi to get anywhere.
And they had a beautiful lobby. Driving around in Dubai everything seems so clean and new looking. What a contrast to everything we see in Europe. We tour things that are 2000 years old, there is so much history, old churches and the cities are dirty. Here everything is so new. And Jason said he wasn't sure there were any churches here anyway! We saw the construction going on around the city. You know the country is 80% desert so they build in like block segments and then next to that block is the desert until they develop the next block. So kind of funny.
We drove to the public beach.
On one side is where they are building the islands in the shape of the world. So there are just big mounds of sand out in the water right now.
On the other side of the beach is the only 7 star hotel in the world. You can't even go in there unless you have a reservation to stay or eat there. Rumor has it coffee is $50.00
So we did a lot of driving around. Tallest building in the world!
The tour guide talked about a lot of rich people have places in the city. I asked if the rich people were the locals and he said no they are from all over the world. In their religion here they are allowed to have more then one wife but they keep the wives in separate houses so we saw one huge mansion and another one right next too it the exact same and that one is for the second wife- crazy! He said with the bad economic times he wasn't sure how anyone could afford more then one wife! He said he would be happy with just one. He was probably mid 30's. He said the younger generations normally only have one wife.
From here we drove out onto the famous island that looks like a palm tree from the sky.
It is all apts., and condos down the arms. I think there may have been a few hotels too. We drove to the end where you go down into a tunnel and then come up where the Atlantis is.
We got out here and walked around.
It was like a mall at this entrance and it was packed. From here we drove to another part of Dubai- the other side of town. We wanted to go and eat at our favorite restaurant- any guesses?
Hard Rock! It is huge.
We loved it, of course. Then back in the car and over to the tallest building in the world. I had bought tickets a couple of weeks ago online. Good thing b/c it was sold out for at least the next 2 days. On the weekends they start letting people up at 5:30 am and it goes until 11:30 at night! Our tickets were for a specific time. You have to enter this place through the mall, the largest mall in the world! Now were are talking, my kind of place! This place is great!
So for the tour. It takes us up to the 124th floor. This building has over 200 floors. Some apts., some offices, and a restaurant. We looked around up there.
That blue water is where the fountain show is that we saw later.
They have a nice outside observation area and it wasn't windy at all. I couldn't even tell I was outside. Then once we were done we took the elevator back down and we walked around the mall for a bit.
This mall was awesome, it has 1200 stores. We only walked around part of 2 of the 4 floors it has. But we found a Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream!
They had some of our favorite restaurants here, Red Lobster, Rainforest Cafe, Texas Roadhouse. We could have eaten here for a week! I couldn't believe all the places. They had a ton of American stores too. Another mall we drove by had the indoor skiing place. We saw a huge Toys R Us in town too. This mall had an indoor ice skating rink. Here they even had a Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids! The mall was packed. They had a huge aquarium and an underwater zoo. We didn't have time to do those. They have a huge candy store that we spent way too much time in!
Then we went outside and saw the water fountain show.
They had this belly dancing music and the water would spray up and make S like motions. It lasted maybe almost 10 min. or so. I think at night it has lights to go with it.
Another picture of the tallest building.
Then we met back up with our driver so we could leave since he had to drop us back off at our hotel by 8pm when the tour ended. Amber fell asleep again on the ride home with her new pink camel as a pillow!
Just back out into the desert until we reached our town about 1 hour away. Cool day in Dubai!!
Overall Dubai has a lot of hotels, over 500. There are a lot of offices and then housing. Not a ton of things to see in the city like the old towns in Europe.
Once back at the hotel we went to dinner at the main restaurant. It was Indian night, and none of us were that crazy about the food.
Sunday- Happy Easter! I didn't tell the kids it was Easter today b/c I didn't want to celebrate it here or have to have everything ready for right when we walk in the door at home. So the Easter Bunny is coming next weekend! Thank you Easter Bunny! Today the kids didn't even wake up until around 9 am! They went to bed around 10 pm but Amber had 2 naps yesterday. We ate and had our breakfast buffet outside by the pool where we try and eat every morning. We spent the morning at a couple of pools then over to the beach in front of our room.
It is just great being able to walk from our room to the beach! Jason likes the covered patio. We played at the beach and then ordered lunch and ate it on our patio. Then I went and got my Mother's Day gift! A facial and massage from the spa there at the resort. It was wonderful! The spa was very nice. Jason took the kids to the pool.
Then we got ready for dinner. Tonight the buffet was European- we get a lot of that so we decided to try their Brazilian Steakhouse Restaurant. Since we have breakfast and dinner included for the main restaurant only we had to pay a portion of this bill. You can use some points towards dinner meals at one of their restaurants. The food was ok/good. We did the churrascaria where they bring the meat to you on their cooking sticks and slice it off for you on your plate. The boys always enjoy it! My favorite Brazilian drink they didn't make it very well. And they put something spicy in the rice and beans-ok who is running this place? Have they been to Brazil and tasted what the food is suppose to taste like?
We had seen a 2 cats roaming around the outside areas of the hotel and there was one wondering around Amber's chair tonight. I am guessing they are strays and people are feeding them. This restaurant was at the end of their property and sits on some rocks overlooking the sea- beautiful night and great views!
This is a view from the path that we were walking on to get to the Brazilian Restaurant.
So this cat just plops itself down under Amber's chair! I am guessing it knew food would soon be coming its way! Dinner lasted 2 1/2 hours. It ended with grilled Pineapple- traditional in Brazil, mine was cold.
Then we walked back to our villa along the path by the beach- love it here!
Monday morning Jason and Jacob went for a run. We got beach towels and put them out on the chairs in front of our place and sat for a bit. It was so peaceful! About 8:30 we woke Amber up so we could go and get another great breakfast. I love the Belgium waffles they make! After breakfast we went upstairs and thanked the tourist office I had booked our tours through b/c everything he had recommended was great. I had prebooked things with him before we got here. Then we had to buy Amber a sun hat. I forgot to bring one for her and her head was getting a little bit red. We then went to the heated pool at the other end of the resort. It isn't as crowded down here so we stayed until lunch and ate at the outside little restaurant between the pool and the beach. After lunch we came back to the beach by our villa and the kids played in the sand and the water.
Around 3pm or so Sean would always have had enough and want to go back to the room and shower and relax. The Disney channel was in English here so the kids always enjoyed watching that! I took Amber and Jacob to another pool for a bit. Then we all came back and got ready for dinner. Tonight it was an Asian Buffet. It was ok.
Tuesday we walked to the other restaurant serving breakfast.
This one was overlooking the sea by the Brazilian one we had dinner at the other night. It was peaceful. Then we went back to the room and decided we would go see the local mall today. So we took a 10 min. taxi ride to the mall. A lot more people in the traditional white/black robe attire here.
It was also like 60 degrees in here- brr! We had brought our sweatshirts b/c I had a feeling it would be cold inside. Ugh, I was miserable plus also starting to get sick. So we walked around the mall. They had the Carrefour grocery store so we went in there to see what they sold. They sold American peanut butter, Hershey products, and cake mixes- not bad! Then we walked over to the arcade. The kids enjoyed playing games and getting tickets. They had fun and won some trinkets just like you can get at home with your tickets.
Then we went to Chili's in the mall for lunch. It was even colder in there. Here we have noticed they run out of things maybe b/c everything is imported? I asked for the Turkey/Soup Combo, but they were out of turkey. And Sean wanted a root beer, but they were out of that too. We shopped at the Gap, and a Hello Kitty store where Amber got a new back pack for next year.
We went back to the hotel then and I took the kids to the pool. Jason stayed in the room to do some work. So when Sean finished swimming he walked back to the room since we figured Jason would be there. Well of course Jason had left and walked a different way and they missed each other. So Sean was gone for a bit by the time he walked all the way back to the room, sat on the porch for a bit and then walked all the way back to us at the pool!
Later we got ready for dinner and hung out in the room. Tonight it was Chef's choice- ok. We found the kids buffet tonight and Amber enjoyed getting herself sandwiches. It was a cute little buffet on a kids size table with little plates, but it was in an attached room I didn't see before. We did like the dessert tonight- a chocolate fountain with fruit kabobs and bunny marshmallows. Amber loved those!
Wednesday was our last full day here :(
After breakfast the 3 boys went parasailing. Amber and I rode in the boat.
The boys loved it!
We rode out into the Arabian Sea. Jason said they could see some jelly fish swimming around from the sky. That is kind of scary b/c people do wave runners, and skiing and tubing here and I have seen them fall off. I wonder if anyone has been stung before? The hotel has a sports center place on the beach with lots of sporting/boating things to do. As I mentioned before they treat Amber like a princess here. One of the sports guys just picked her up and carried her across the sand and into the water and places her in the boat that we had to ride in to get to the big boat so she wouldn't have to walk in the sand and the water!
After this we just went to one of the pools until lunch. For lunch we went over to the salt water pool-not heated and everyone sat at the pool bar and got a drink, except one! I said I couldn't go b/c I needed to take their picture, it was too cold for me!
Amber didn't last long either, soon she and her drink were shaking.
Sean warming up in the sun!
Then we walked over to another beach bar and the only food they served were pork burrito things so we got that. But Sean and I didn't care for it. Too many different spices in there.
Then we just walked back to the villa and hung out there and the beach. The kids dug a big hole in the sand and were going to fill it with water. Well then Sean decided he was done outside so he went in and showered. Then Amber had enough so she went in and watched a movie. Jacob was left with this little bucket to fill his big hole with water. I think he poured a couple of buckets of water in there and then gave up. He spent the next 2 hours just playing in the ocean! Jason and him played catch in there and then they went swimming but otherwise Jacob was just hanging out in the water!
There was a problem with the water in the hotel and the toilets this afternoon, so I hope everything is ok. The water was not warm and there was no water pressure.
The dinner buffet was South American night- it was ok. Really not crazy about the dinners. We all chow down at breakfast. Amber has been eating for breakfast, an omelet, belgium waffle, pancake and fruit! That is a lot for her to eat from her usual breakfast! I packed things up tonight as we have an early day tomorrow.
Sean and I both have really bad colds now. I am not surprised b/c if you go inside anywhere you are freezing, but then outside is like 90 degrees!
Thursday was a long day! I didn't sleep well as now I was getting a whole body cold/aches thing. So at 4am the wake up call comes so I go and get in the shower. The water was ok but kept coming and going and would then scare me when it blasted back on. We were all ready a bit before 5am so called and the golf cart came for us and our bags and loaded us up and drove us to the reception. They have an early breakfast here for those checking out early. It is from 2-6am. So we had a small breakfast and checked out. Then the transfer van came for us and it took an hour to get to the airport. It was a pretty sunrise over the sand dunes. Once at the airport right when you walk in the door you and all your bags have to go through security so once we do that we get in our line and our flight gets delayed an hour- ugh! By the time we get to the desk she says we will miss our connecting flight so we ask if we can get another flight or another airline. They ask us to go wait and they will check for us. Well around 8am they tell us that they can get us on another flight that goes to Nice and then home here. Ok we will take it. Of course it leaves in an 1:20 min. and most gates close 1 hour before your international departure so now we are getting concerned we are going to miss this flight. She tells us we have to go to another terminal, walk outside and catch the shuttle, are you kidding me! So we run outside and wait for the shuttle and get back on the expressway it seems like and drive to the other terminal. Once there again right when we get in we have to go through security. Then this airline has a long line so I go to the customer service desk and tell him our flight is going to be leaving soon and he looks at his watch and says we have 3 minutes to check in! He takes us right away to a ticket agent and she gets us seats. Then we start our run again through passport control and security again then up and down escalators and a tram to reach our terminal. By the time we get there they are already boarding the bus. So we boarded the bus to drive us out to the plane. Again Jason and I are sweating by the time we sit down on the plane. Jason and I are in the exit row, the middle and end seats and the kids are in the middle row right across the aisle from me. They were suppose to be on the other side but we asked this young man if he would switch with the kids otherwise he was going to be in the middle of me and the kids! So he switched. Now I was starting to come down with the chills, after the sweating ended! And my head was getting so stuffed and I had a bad runny nose. This was going to be a long flight! I did enjoy watching the movie Parental Guidance. I thought it was cute. And then The Impossible about the tsunami was a good movie too since I couldn't fall asleep.
We arrive in Nice with only an hour until our next flight leaves. Of course it seems to take forever to get us to the gate and actually off of the plane. We run through the airport and find out that we actually have to exit and go to the departure side of the airport b/c there is no connections desk. So we run and find it and there was no one in line, of course b/c everyone has already checked in. Thank goodness she was still there! She got us our seats and we ran to the gate but had to take a tram and do more stairs along the way and security and passport control when we got off of the plane. By the time we get to the gate we are able to go to the bathroom and then it was time to board the bus to go to the plane! I am all for short layovers but these are cutting it a bit too close! By the time we get on this flight I am not doing good. I have a fever and I am sweating through my clothes, after the initial running sweat of course! It was an 1:10 min. flight and all I could do was close my eyes and try and sleep. Poor Amber was next to me and just wanted to talk and play but I couldn't. She couldn't even get in her bookbag either since she pulled both zippers off. I noticed in Dubai that one zipper was not attached to both sides of the zipper anymore but since it had another zipper I didn't worry about it. I packed up her bag and zipped it up. At the airport in Dubai, Amber went to get something out of her bag and zip it back up and all of a sudden she is standing there with 2 zippers in her hand! There was no way to open her bag unless we pried open the zippers but then it will be stuck open and her full bag will be dropping stuff all over the place. So I told her it had to stay closed until we got home. So she did really good the whole day of traveling not getting into her bag. Once we landed we got in the car and drove to the gas station by the house for the usual post trip quick foods. I helped Jason get the soup, bread and veg. ready for everyone for dinner and then I went upstairs. I didn't even touch a suitcase. I think I was in bed by 6:30pm! I was exhausted and feeling horrible. I found some cold medicine and went to sleep. Of course Amber likes to be with me so she decided she needed to play with the legos which the lego table is in our room to the side. Then later Jason puts her to bed and she started crying b/c she knew I was there but not saying good night. So I got up and read her a book and tucked her in bed. I woke up a few times through the night but was able to fall back asleep.
Friday I woke up feeling slightly better after being in bed for over 12 hours! Ugh! I wasn't moving very fast today but it did feel good to sleep back in my own bed without all the kids right there making noises and shower in my own shower with normal water pressure! I opened a suitcase and started on the huge pile of laundry. The suitcase when I packed it didn't have any sand in it but it must have been from the shoes because there was sand all over the clothes and the suitcase as well now as the boys hallway and my laundry basket. I boiled the eggs today so the kids could color them b/c I told them the Easter Bunny is coming tomorrow. Jacob knew that Easter was last Sunday but hasn't said anymore and the other 2 don't really know. They only sell brown eggs here so that last time I was shopping in Germany before we left I picked up the special white eggs they had for sale for Easter.
Amber told me she got into her bookbag this morning, so I figured Jason had pried it open for her. Nope she took a pair of scissors and cut it open, not along the zipper either. So now the bag is ruined.
This morning Amber went to one of her boy friend's houses for an Easter Egg hunt. It was really cute and she had a great time! The boys and I went to the chiropractor- always needed after a long trip. Once home I asked Jacob to fix sandwiches for him and Sean so I could do another load of laundry. He did a good job. He made a turkey sandwich for himself and peanut butter and jelly for Sean. When I get back in the kitchen I notice a new can of peanut butter I had on the back shelf was at the front and I asked Jacob where did he get the peanut butter from and he pointed to that one. Ok Jacob I have 2 jars already opened and they are in the drawer here with the desserts and gum that he is in all the time how could you not have noticed this? I told him he needs to start helping out more so he knows where everything is! We have to bring that peanut butter from home and now I have 3 jars of it opened. One we bought in Spain and used there so that is why the second one is opened.
After lunch we went back and picked up Amber and went to the grocery store to put some food in the fridge until I can plan out some meals as I wasn't in the mood to do that this morning. Once groceries put away I got everything ready to color the eggs. The kids had fun coloring their eggs.
I had bought a painting kit and then I had an Easter egg dying kit from last year. They don't sell those here either. I had found them at a special store last year.
Then we baked a carrot cake to have for our Easter, but also ate it tonight! It was good and everyone liked it. As I mentioned before I didn't want to plan any meals so tonight was make your own pizzas. Jason was home early- like around 5pm and he had already been to the butcher. So we loaded up on our meat for the freezer. Then he helped everyone make their own pizzas. Everyone enjoyed dinner and Jason watched a movie with them so I could go upstairs and get everyone's Easter basket ready.
Got the kids to bed reasonable early and then hid the eggs and got ready for Easter!
Sat. morning Sean came in around 7:15 excited to go find his eggs, but I told him he had to wait until Amber got up. So around 7:45 he came back in and was making a bit more noise and I think it woke Amber up b/c then she got up so we all got up and got ready to see what the Easter Bunny left for us!
The kids got their baskets and candy first and then they did their Easter egg hunt!
Today we just hung out and I did more laundry and then after lunch we went and saw The Croods movie. It was good. It is about a cave man's family. It is a kid's movie. Everyone liked it. Then we did a BBQ with some pork chops I had been marinating all day. Those turned out good too for our Easter dinner (:
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