Whirlwind Summer

It's been awhile since i've posted, we've been a bit consumed with summer.  Here's our past 3 months in a nutshell.

 In Dubai we rounded off the school year by saying farewell to fabulous teachers 

and checked off another year of precious elementary school.

We were able to fit in some paddle boarding before the extreme heat and humidity set in. 

    In the waters between the mosque... 

    and the Burj Al Arab, two of us paddled till our arms were tired, while the littlest one managed to hitch a ride.

Because you see, she needs to save her hands and strength for perfected her gecko taming skills.  
We have recently renamed her The Animal Whisperer.

We celebrated Chris' birthday with great friends in Dubai's latest record breaking building on the 

 73rd floor of the World's Tallest hotel

After that, it was off to the Good 'ol USA!
(Key the patriotic music)

It never fails ~ whenever the US immigration man stamps my passport and says, "Welcome Back Ma'am."  i always get teary eyed.

And in case any best friend ever doubts my love for her, let it be proven in the amount of time i traveled to see her and the time of day i left.  Just to make sure it's in writing...2:20 AM departure with 2 kids in tow.  27 hours of travel door to door which is pretty crazy considering she is only in Indiana and it takes us 16 hours to fly to California.  But with that said she did more than enough to make up for it.  The kids and i would do it all over again in a heartbeat to hang out with a bestie that i absolutely ADORE!

Picked up from the airport deJong style!! 

Beds and movies for the kids, cocktails and chitchat
 for the mommies for the last 1.5 hours of travel.  (Thanks for driving Arie!!)

Four blissful days of country life. 

Riding horses 

i am pretty sure my kids described it as Kid Heaven.

Awesome friends, milking cows, jumping off hay bales, getting dirty, shooting guns, 
staying up late, catching fireflies and 
watching bacon pigs grow.  

(i must interrupt myself for a side note: These 3 (below) are HUGE fans of bacon.  While in DC we even had to eat at a restaurant called THE PIG where the dessert was Bacon Brittle!!  In all honesty that sweet smiling, animal loving Riley (above) is admiring the little piglets and probably can't even comprehend that a few weeks later she will eat pig for DESSERT!)

Next stop: California 

This summer i experienced a bit of a culture shock.  
We had to be filled in on pop culture and current events.  We had never heard of Duck Dynasty, didn't know why Paula Deen wasn't cooking anymore, or who Zimmerman was and why he was on trial.  i found myself shocked at i saw on TV and heard on the radio.  i caught myself attempting to discreetly hide a bottle of wine as i walked into our hotel and wondered why every store was charging me extra for bags.  i couldn't believe returning a rental car could be so easy and that tattoos and piercings had become so overwhelmingly popular. 

But one thing didn't change, California means lots of fun, family, and love squeezed into a short period of time.   

Quick but wonderful Girls Get Away!!  
Doesn't even matter that our plans had to be changed about 15 times to make it happen.

So thankful for lots of sweet time with family and cousins.

No matter how much time we get to spend with people we always wish for more.  

We loaded up on America's favorite past time on both the West (Go Giants) 
and East Coast (Go Nationals). 

One very surreal moment for us was meeting up with our Dubai neighbors and friends at their beautiful home in SF for an amazing home cooked Persian meal!  It's one thing to randomly meet friends in airport restaurants and on departing flights but intentionally colliding our US and Dubai worlds was so fun and almost unreal.        

~We ended our US trip with a bit of history~

Discovering the Capitol 

Meeting our congressman

(although it was a bit uncomfortable when he asks you exactly where in his district you live...)

Drinks with views of the White House

Touring the Monuments

Discovering and appreciating our country's history

We also took a side trip to the beautiful Williamsburg, Virginia which is a FABULOUS trip for kids to experience history hands on.  


(And if by now you realize these are the only warm clothes my children own, you are correct!  i kid you not when i say they own only 1 sweatshirt and 1 pair of jeans, which they will likely only wear during this summer in the States.)

How great would it be if this "field trip" was part of the American History unit taught in elementary schools?! 

We helped make bricks the old fashioned way

Chatted with the local wig maker

and learned the proper way of having tea.

The kids' favorite was the late night spent in the tavern (great parenting right?!) talking with the locals and playing games from the 1700's.

Scrolling through our pictures i realized even though the summer was hectic moving from place to place it was filled with great memories and time spent with people we love.  

Oh, and along the way i was able to pick up a new travel tip to help siblings get along better.   

For now it's back to the land of the 

Oman

This weekend we decide to head to the desert for a change of scenery  

~OMAN~

Never could have told you 2 years ago WHERE Oman was much less WHAT it was.  Here's what we've learned...

Called Sultanate of Oman it boarders Yemen, UAE and Saudi.   It is actually split into 2 parts, the larger section bordering the Arabian Sea and the itty bitty part, the Musandam Peninsula which is where we went, is separated from the rest of the country by the UAE and juts out into the Strait of Hormuz.  Which happens to puts us the closest we've every been to Iran.  (i can imagine the thoughts swimming through your head right about now, but really it's all good.)  We are able to reach Musandam by car in about 2 hours.  

Within those 2 hours the scenery changed from powdery cinnamon colored sand

to craggy mountains

with patches of natural oasis

Through our windshield we spotted goats running amok through a market square,  typical roadside markers

warning us of upcoming camels

(Warning of Speed Bumps Ahead NOT camels)

AND a new sign.. 

Moose???

It took us 1 1/2 hours to get through the Oman boarder with only 10-15 cars in front of us.  Oman is more traditional and strict with Shari'a law which would explain why the gentleman ahead of us had to turn around and go back from whence he came all because of a little blue cooler of beer discovered in the back of his car.  Officers opened our bags and rummaged around our trunk.  One officer took my camera away when he saw me snap a picture of the "Welcome to Oman" sign.  i attempted to jokingly protest but he said i had to erase the picture.  Seriously?!  Yes, Sir!  Camera was returned, picture not.

  (Hindsight, we think it may have been an attempt to exercise his authority in a humorous way but after 1.5 hours in line we had no desire to jokingly argue with an officer in an uniform.) 

(Stole this from the Internet. This is what my picture should have looked like minus the dude.)     

Once we crossed over the boarder we were officially on vacation and boarded the houseboat otherwise known as a dhow.  The kids were eager to start the swim, dolphin, snorkel, fish, and kayak adventure, that is until we noticed the local fisherman drag in their first catch of the day.

 

One might think that confiscated pictures, a long wait at the boarder and an unappealing location makes for a sorry sort of road trip but i would beg to differ.  While there once was a time where the term Middle East seemed so scary and ominous to us, we now understand that not every place in the Middle East should be characterized as such.  Although there clearly are areas of unrest in the Middle East there are also some lovely places that are exciting to explore because they are so starkly different from our own culture and also surprisingly safe.  Sometimes what makes a place so appealing is not its picture perfect geography but the diversity and uniqueness of its people.

Oman appeared drastically different to me and i appreciated that it felt more Middle Eastern than its Westernized neighbor Dubai. 
   

Dhow loaded with our 5 families ~ we are off to cruise Musandam and the Gulf of Oman.

Balancing

Flipping

Dangling

Lounging

Fishing

Paddling

Splashing

Snorkeling

Sadly the only thing we couldn't check of the list was a dolphin sighting.

Before the UAE discovered its hidden resource of oil, pearl diving was a significant source of income.  

(A borrowed image of a pearl diver.  They would hold their breath for minutes at a time to dive down to collect shells.  You can read more about Traditional Diving Boat and the history of Pearl Diving HERE)

The history is interesting and the kids have learned quite a bit about it while living here.  Which is why this part of the trip was so exciting...

Cutting open an oyster fresh from the sea.

Pearl buried inside!

Although that was exciting, the live crab, which we were told is often found in these oysters, was the real prize being fought over by the younger passengers.

 5 years ago Chris and i said we would NEVER live in the Middle East.  Little did we know we would one day take our kids on a boat about 40 miles from Iran near the Straight of Hormuz for a relaxing day where they could jump off the top deck of a dhow and look for dolphins.   You know the saying, "Never say Never" 

 i am very thankful for this opportunity to live abroad in an area that previously felt so completely out of our comfort zone.   As a result my eyes and heart have been opened to new people, places and experiences that remind me of how vast God's creation is and how His ideas are so much grander than my small mind could ever contrive.