Recent Outings

Since the weather has been so nice, we try to spend time outside as much as possible.  Enjoying the cooler temps while they last! 

We took a walk to a nearby park.  This is Jahili Fort and you can see the small mountain, Jebel Hafeet, in the background.  The parks are popular and become crowded in the evenings. We ended up leaving not long after arriving as the kids were a little overwhelmed by the number of children playing on the playgrounds.  Lots of families come to the park and picnic or grill out.  

Sunset at the park

Maeve enjoying an evening bike ride outside our apartment

Garrison on his trike

Sometimes I forget that we really do live in the middle of a desert.  

The kids enjoy looking for camels on drives out of town.  

Maeve getting her feet wet at a local oasis.  It's winter here and the water is still hot!

We took a trip out to the sand dunes with friends and my cousin who was in town visiting.  Climbing in sand is not easy and I was completely out of breath after conquering only a small hill.  And I reached the top only to find higher dunes in front of me.  There is something beautiful about looking out at a sea of sand with the sun setting.  I would have stayed longer but was afraid getting hit by people on 4x4's riding the dunes.  This was a popular place for riders.  : ) 

Gabe was invited to take a ride.

The kids and some friends enjoying playing in the sand.

A few of the camel/goat farms from the top of one of the dunes.

Another view from the top

Fall Family Fun

So the month of October flew by...we must be having fun now.  : )  Life activities feel like they are picking up and our house is feeling like home now.  I'm realizing we are in the middle of November and I have given little thought to Thanksgiving and even Christmas.  Maybe it's because it still feels like summer here with the highs in the mid 80's.

We recently enjoyed visit from Gabe's parents which was wonderful and allowed us to take in some of the tourists attractions we've wanted to see and do.  Our first activity was a desert safari.  We spent what seemed like hour racing up and down sand dunes.  Sliding on the side and coming just short of rolling over.  It was a wild ride which ended in me feeling a little sick.  The kids loved it and were begging for more.  Next we stopped at a camel farm where a mother had given birth about 30 minutes before we arrived.  The baby was lying on the ground and was trying to raise it's neck and our guide said that in a day it would start walking....so amazing.  As the sun was setting we arrived at the location where we would have a traditional Arabic meal.  We enjoyed a camel ride, some henna painting for me and the girls, a wonderful meal which ended with a belly dancer.  Gabe got called up on stage and I may have included some of those photos.  ; )

We also made a trip to Dubai and took a ride up the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

He was so excited about petting the camel

Garrison was with us but was not in a mood for photos at this point!

View from the top of the Burj Khalifa. This was the view from the 124th floor.  The Burj Khalifa houses a hotel, apartments, offices and restaurants.  

View of "the Burj" from the base.

In N(Eid) of a vacation

We recently returned from a much needed vacation.  Evelyn had a week off from school in celebration of Eid Al Adha so we decided to head to beach.

On Sunday, before our trip we had a BBQ with our friends, the Bunch Family, which involved roasted pink marshmallows.

Enjoying roasted marshmallows

On Monday morning we spent a day at a desert resort where the kids got a camel ride and falcon show.

Waiting for a camel ride

Finally...they have wanted to ride a camel since we moved here!

Up close with the falcons

On Tuesday we made it to Dibba in the Fujairah Emirate.  The beach was great with lots of shells to collect.

Sunset on the Fujarah coast

Enjoy!

The Neals

A Few Social Gatherings

I can't believe it's been 3 months since we've moved here.  The weather is finally starting to feel cooler. The highs are only in the 100's and being in the shade or out after sunset can be quite nice.  In September we celebrated Evelyn's 6th birthday.  We had a joint party with a few new friends (twins) who have the same birthday as Evelyn.

The Doll Cake

Evelyn taking a swing

Blowing out the candles 

Garrison enjoying some chocolate after church one night

Lat night we visited the family of one of Oasis Hospital oldest translators. He is a bit of legend, as his grandfather and father were seafaring tradesmen between Dubai and Muscat back in the day.  Always cool to talk to him, and he is always trying to teach me something new with my Arabic.  Here the kids are being introduced to one the new chicks on the premises.  The. kids. had. a. blast.  

 Garrison caught us some dinner!  Watching Garrison run down a chicken was awesome.

We dropped by about 5 to have dinner.  While we sat around drinking tea, other westerners we know all came by just to make a social call.  That's what you do here--you invite yourself over to peoples homes for tea or dinner.  We waited, talked, played, told stories, talked religion and politics, caught chickens....all the usual stuff.  At about 8pm (no dinner yet) we suggested it was time to leave but they insisted we stay and have something, so they brought out the homemade chapati and ranch style red beans.  Of course it was great.  Turns out dinner was going to be about 10pm.  They stay up late here.  It will take a long time before we are ever living on Arab time. 

The Spring Next Door

The mornings have been cooler so Maeve, Garrison, and I have ventured out to a local park and the Oasis that is right next to our apartment.  A few friends joined us and one just happens to be a photographer!  These were some of her great shots.  The kids had fun playing in the water which we were told flows from Oman, the neighboring country.

The girls enjoyed ice skating at a local mall.  And even did surprisingly well when they skated without the aid.