Today we go home!

So today is the day! What an amazing time we have had! The past couple of days have been crazy...but fun! We went to the top of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, ate camel burgers, and packed, packed, packed!

Since our stuff is all packed up, I will add the final photos to this adventure once we touch ground in Utah.

Love,
Heather

Popped collars are back in style!

Popped collars caught in action! I wonder if National
Geographic is going to want a copy of this?
(click to view larger)

You are not going to believe this...but popped collars are totally back in style over here. For a month now, I have been trying to sneak a photo of some of the popped collars that are roaming around the mall. At last, I have finally captured this very exotic creature! As I am looking at the crisp lines of the collar and how it makes the men's heads look more pronounced, I realize...these guys are just like peacocks! Whenever we see a gentleman and sometimes an occasional gal with their collars popped, it is almost like they are saying, "Hey, look at me and how large my popped collar is!".  I cannot help but laugh out loud everytime I see one!

Henry and Big Buddy after eating dinner at a Noodle
company. They ran around the mall and were crazy
together! They have a lot of fun.

I hope to capture a photo of Mr. Big wearing his occasional popped collar. I think he also likes the look and feel of it! ;)

I am also trying to capture an Arab mullet, but have not had any success. It is like trying to get a snapshot of Big Foot around here. Each picture I take, seems to be to dark. Strange!

Five days till we fly home and we got to go to dinner with our new friends Pete and Johanna. Big Buddy loves playing with Henry pictured here. They are both a lot alike...boy all the way! They are loud, fast, and rough together! Here Henry is looking at the motorcycle that Big Buddy gave him. He was so happy to receive it! We hope that we will be able to see them one more time before we leave!

Six days left...friends, friends, friends!

Ruri and Big Buddy are best friends!

Since we are less than a week away till we leave to fly back to the United States, Big Buddy is spending as much time as he can with his best little friend Ruri. She is so cute and from Japan! We have really enjoyed playing with her and her mom! We will definitely miss them when we get back home.

Each night at about 5pm, we meet Ruri at the playground. Big Buddy and her play till it gets too dark to see. They love to play with their bouncy balls, blow bubbles, jump rope and run around crazy. It is still interesting to watch them

I just love this shot of them watching the bubbles floating in
the fountain.

interact even though Ruri only speaks a little bit of English. They seem to figure each other out.

Several times Big Buddy has gotten frustrated when Ruri didn't understand what he was telling her to do. After each of them pout for a few minutes, they both just smile and play something else. So cute!

Sometimes, our other friends come by and play also, they are Sophia and Ines. They are French

Ines, Sophia, Ruri and Big Buddy having fun!

and very cute! Big Buddy likes playing with Sophia, however, he thinks Ines is a baby, and he doesn't play with babies.


One thing they love to do is to hide their bouncy balls in their shirt and then pretend that they are hatching out a baby (thanks to cartoons!).


We still cannot believe that we are flying home in six days. Amazing! Looking forward to see my two cute little pugs. Oh, how we have missed them! A special thanks to our families for watching over them and taking good care of them while we were away!

Since the days are ticking, Big Buddy and Mr.

Mr. Big and Big Buddy relaxing in the pool!

Big are getting in all the swimming that they can! They swim at night for about 45 minutes to an hour. Big Buddy has gotten really used to the water and can even swim the length of the lap pool (with his floaties on of course). For each
lap he swims, Mr. Big gives him 5 dirhams which is about $1.25. He saves up his little moneys and buys himself little things from the stores here. Recently, he has been saving up for a large camel puppet. ;)

Cupcake from Bloomingdales! My mouth is watering while
typing this.

Today, we ran over to grab a few little gifts for friends and family, when we found these beautiful little cupcakes at Bloomingdales! Big Buddy loves cupcakes, so how could we resist! Can you say icing! They were so delicious! We could hardly even eat one though, they were so sugary (I just love the tower of frosting on top!).

At the end of our day, it was really fun to see Mr. Big getting ready to head out to a meeting with his fellow Arabs. He was all decked out in his dishdash and head piece (I am starting to wonder if I married an Arab...and didn't realize it!)

Mr. Big in his Arab getup!

One week and a day left!

So with only a week and one day left in the Middle East, we are very frantically trying to pack, get in the last minute sight seeing and also just survive!

It has been a very long trip and I think the three of us are ready to come home. ;)

As I am organizing everything, I will try and post some more of what we are doing as we are preparing to come home!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Big Buddy getting ready for the firework show!

Happy New Year from Mr. Big, Big Buddy, and I!

Here are a few snapshots of our totally and completely amazing New Years Eve in the Middle East! Let's just say, they sure know how to bring in the New Year! Definitely, an experience of a lifetime for the three of us!

At about 6 p.m. we noticed that the number of people around the mall and Old Town was definitely increasing quite rapidly. So the three of us decided that we would try and find some New Year's Eve dinner right around Old Town so that we would not loose our parking spot in the parking tower (this was definitely a good call!)

We decided to eat at the Meat Company. Steaks with mashed potatoes were pretty good! We were able to get in in the nick of time since we had no reservation and all. The place was crawling with happy people celebrating!

The fountain show begins and has fire. We see the reflection
on the exterior of the buildings.

After dinner we headed back to our apartment, so that Mr. Big and Big Buddy could swim (Big Buddy had a little nap during the day so he could stay up to see the New Year's celebration and seemed to have a ton of energy he needed to burn. Swimming usually takes care of this nicely!) Once the pool closed, we headed back, bathed Big Buddy and got ready for the celebration. Mr. Big scoped out a great place on the 9th floor where there was this tucked away common area where you could stand and see the Burj Khalifa perfectly from the roof tops. A few other people scoped out this same spot, however, I would say that there were less then 20 of us total.

Big Buddy, Mr. Big and myself anxiously waiting for the 
New Year!

We set Big Buddy up on the ledge (no, we are not Michael Jackson, dangling our child from the roof top ledge, the ledge was 5 feet deep so we were able to set him there with his daddy's arms as a seat belt while he leaned back on Mr. Big).

Unfortunately, we were not able to see the entire fountain show with water and fire, but we had the best view of the fireworks off the Burj Khalifa! Big Buddy was so excited! We got these funny paper hats to celebrate along with some horns to toot and a few clackers to bang!

Amazing fountain show begins. Breathtaking!

Not knowing how loud the fireworks would be and since we were so close, we decided to place headphones on Big Buddy's ears to protect them just in case. Turns out that the fireworks really weren't that loud, but we were ready!

The fountain show began first and we were able to see it when the water shot up really high. Very pretty! We were also able to see the reflection of the fire part of the show in the windows of the surrounding buildings. Very cool! However, when the actual firework show began, SHUT UP! We were totally blown away! Super beautiful and amazing!

The first fireworks shoot off the Burj Khalifa! Amazing!

Here are a few pictures of what we were able to capture. As you can see, fireworks shot out from all over the Burj Khalifa! Amazing!

Then fireworks also shot from the tops of surrounding buildings and also up from the fountain! It was definitely a show if we do say so ourselves!

Wow!

I just love the photo I was able to capture of the three of us watching all of this happen. Typical, Mr. Big totally in awe in the background, while I am taking the photo, and Big Buddy wondering what the heck is going on. Heehee!

The display lasted for quite awhile and Big Buddy even blew his horn and clacked the clacker a few times until we got dirty looks from the surrounding people. :)

Afterward, it was pretty neat to see the smoke surrounding the Burj Khalif. Wow, is all that we can say. This display of fireworks and people yelling "Happy New Year" was so much more amazing then what you see on TV at Times Square in New York! We feel so lucky!

When we got back to our apartment, it was evident that the parties had started! Loud music, sheesha, people yelling, "Happy New Year" and tons of laughing! It felt so amazing just hearing all of this and watching the millions of people walking by...like a parade (all of this lasted till long after 2:30 a.m. in the morning!)


What an amazing way to start out 2011!

Fireworks shoot up from the fountain and surrounding
buildings.

I just love the awe, joy, and wonder on Mr. Big's face here!

Spider-man!

Spider-man giving Mr. Big a super squeeze!

Spider-man patrolling the playground.

View from the playground at our apartment.

Big Buddy has turned into Spider-man! Since Christmas when he got this Spider-man costume, he likes to sneak it on and then wears it everywhere. I have given up on making him take it off, for two reasons...first, I have found that it is really easy to spot my three year old if he runs ahead and there are a lot of people. Second, he loves the attention. He gets all sorts of smiles from children to adults. Everyone likes to call out to Spider-man and give him a high-five or shake his hand. You can see how special it makes Big Buddy feel to be recognized by everyone. ;) I figure, let him live it up. As soon as we get home, I doubt he will get the same response from people, but it will be interesting to see.


I just love the muscles on his little chest! Lots of teen girls love it too and frequently will walk up to him to touch the muscles. Big Buddy is not shy. Mr. Big figures that this is helping him get used to girl attention for when he gets older. ;)

Here is a photo of Spider-man keeping the playground safe for all the kids! He is on patrol!

Here is a view from the playground. Very pretty! Temperature is low 80's now during the day. We are still wearing shorts with short sleeve shirts and no jackets. I fear that it is going to take our breath away when we travel home in the next couple of weeks to snow and below zero temperatures!

I love my cute little Spider-man!

Spider-man posing next to a giant vase.

Day after Christmas...Visa Run to Oman

Hitting the road to renew our visas, with Spiderman in the back.

Since our visiting visas run out on Jan 3, 2011, we decided that we better hit the road since New Year's weekend will probably be crazy for driving.

With Spiderman in tow, and my hair completely hidden from site out of respect for the Omanies, we packed an overnight bag just in case and set out on our renewal adventure.

Rain in the desert! A real treat for us to see!

Only ten minutest into our drive, we noticed dark clouds forming in the sky. And then out of nowhere, it began to pour rain. We were so surprised, since we have heard how it can go for years without a single raindrop here in the UAE.

We felt really lucky to experience this downpour! Here are a few pictures of the rainfall in Dubai!

As we drove to the bordering city of Hatta, we realized that we had not seen any camels on "Death's Highway". Maybe it was because of the rain. We wondered if they take shelter from it or if they stand out in it? Hugh.

I snuck a snapshot of Mr. Big driving. All in all, we all seemed a bit more relaxed driving to renew our visa's. I do have to admit though that I was still really nervous inside.

Mr. Big driving on Death's Highway!

This trip I decided that I was going to try and get a few more pictures of the actual checkpoints and visa stations (please keep in mind that there are signs everywhere stating that no photography is allowed, so I felt really lucky to get the shots I did).

This first shot of a tan shack was our first police checkpoint to the border of the UAE.
 It was raining like crazy so they waved us through pretty quickly.


After about half an hour or so, the rain lifted and we were heading to the actual border between

First checkpoint. It is raining camels and gazels!

Road to the UAE passport checkpoint.

the UAE and Oman. I snapped a couple of shots of the giant signs letting us know that we were at a passport checkpoint. I also got a snapshot of the actual little building that you walk up to the front of and get your passport stamped. Hope no one saw the flash!

Lucky for us, it was once again not busy at this checkpoint and we only had to stand with Spiderman there for about 5 minutes before we were next to the counter. I was a bit nervous that Spiderman decided that today was the day that he needed to renew his visa also. But then I thought, "what the hell, why not! Big Buddy is only three and if these people cannot take a joke, then I guess we will all go to jail. ;)

I have to admit that it was so fun taking Spiderman with us on this stressful outing. Every time I felt the least bit stressed, I would look at him and laugh. Sometimes you just need to add a little bit of funny to the world when and where you can!

I was able to sneak a photo of Mr. Big and Big Buddy as they were walking up to the building from behind. I thought this photo was darn precious!

Passport checkpoint building.

Once in front of the building, though, not a single person cracked a smile at our little Spiderman. The gentleman who was stamping the passports seemed to be having quite a grumpy day and the whole costume was lost on him. We were able to make is through successfully and quickly and felt happy as we jumped back into our rental car.

Now, off to the checkpoint were they search your vehicle. This time I took a snapshot quite a bit away since I got one up close last time. We popped the trunk and after a quick glance (glad Mr. Big left his Marshall Radio Telemetry

Spiderman getting ready to renew his visa.

receivers at the apartment...or we would of gone to jail), they closed the trunk and sent us on our way.


The stretch of road from the UAE checkpoint to the Oman Checkpoint is quite a little distance. So we cranked our Arabic music, which really sounds like only one song that lasts for about 20 minutes and repeats over and over. I will say that it can be very relaxing to listen to in times of stress.


When we reached the large Oman passport check-in, Mr. Big and I decided that we would explain to Spiderman how we needed to act and what was going to transpire, so that he would better know what to expect this time. We did notice that it helped Spiderman act better inside and since we also knew the drill, we were able to get inside, fill out our papers quickly and get in line before the mass numbers of people arrived that were behind us.

As were were standing in line, Mr. Big noticed that

Checkpoint to search our car! We have nothing to hide!

our visiting visa for Oman from our last trip had not expired yet and we still had two days on it. So he politely asked if we needed to pay the $200 again since our visa's were not expired. The man just looked at us like we were completely right, however, he was not going to make it easy for us, so we should just pay the $200 again. With his hand out, we gave the man the cash and headed out the door to try and make it back into the UAE before dark.  Once again, Spiderman received tons of people starring at him, but nobody cracked a smile except for maybe a couple of other tourists. How strange! I am willing to wager that they all went home that night and told their families that

Oman passport checkpoint.

Spiderman came in today to get his Oman visa.

Since we made it through the Oman entry point and it didn't seem busy, we thought for sure we would just sail right out of the country at the next border crossing into the UAE. We were so WRONG!  Once we got to the border, shown below with the giant fence, we noticed the extremely large line of cars that were parked in the road. Now the road is a dirt two lane road, but the cars and turned the right lane into a two lane road of its own. The cars entering Oman were having a little bit of a hard time squeezing by in their now very skinny lane.

Physical border between Oman and the UAE.

So to help pass the two hours that it took us to crawl about half a mile, Mr. Big turned on the soundtrack to the new movie TRON and we all grooved out to it dancing in the car! We received the strangest looks from the surrounding cars, but we didn't care. We also broke out the PB &J's that I packed just in case along with apple slices. It was a car picnic!



After a while, we noticed that people were getting so crazy sitting in their cars, that they decided to get out and wander around. The guy in the photo below is an Omani gentleman. Notice the hat that he is wearing, it is customary in Oman.

Our family photo of happiness! We are almost
across the boarder!

While sitting in the car for two hours, if we drove up next to another car with kids, Big Buddy would wave to them like crazy and flirt. I took a picture of the cute little girl and her father. Now the reason I took the picture, is because it is very common over here to see a child sitting on someones lap in the front seat, especially while driving. Seat belts don't really exist over here. I have had to learn to bite my lip and turn my head (it makes me so angry!)

Two hour wait to get across the boarder. People got stir crazy.

Once we made it to the gate back into the UAE, it was very nice to have the police officer take a double take when looking into our car and then say hi to Spiderman sitting in the back. Yippee! We made it back into the UAE with an extended Visa.

On the way back to Dubai, it was evening and the sun was setting. I was able to get a really beautiful picture of the sunset going behind the mountains. Breath taking! A great note to end our visa run on. May we never need to do it ever again!

Typical to see a child on daddy's lap while driving.

Beautiful sunset driving back to Dubai.