First Easter in Abu Dhabi

It’s a big Christian holiday and I’m in a big Muslim country……

I wasn’t sure what I was going to find for Easter here.  There were a few cheesy decorations around and even some sponsored Easter Egg Hunts though.  Our Embassy did a nice “Spring Fling” with a visit by the Easter Bunny, Easter Egg Hunt and some snacks.

Back home we would’ve had baskets for the kids, followed by an Easter Egg Hunt and church and then culminating with a big dinner at my mom’s clubhouse with family.  This year it was a little different.

The Saturday before Easter there was the Embassy Spring Fling where we aren’t allowed to take pictures but the kids had a good time so that was nice.

       

I made Bunny Cake Pops and Cake Balls to share at the Easter Potluck.

 

On Sunday, we decided to wake up SUPER early with the kids and take them (Alexander was the only one up for it) to Sunrise service at church.  We joined thousands of people (okay maybe hundreds) for a bright and early mass at church.  We even sat with some friends so that was nice.

We came home and the kids enjoyed their Easter Baskets and then stayed in our room while Brian and I hid Easter Eggs.  We’ve always done different colors for each kid.  This way it is even, the kids get goodies appropriate for their age and we are able to hide eggs appropriately for their age too!  It’s fun to make it tricky for Alexander.

                         

                   

After they did an Easter Egg Hunt we decided to head out for our first brunch.  Brunches are a big thing here and they happen every weekend but we’ve never attended one.  We decided for Easter this year that since it was just the five of us and not our whole extended family that we wanted something different.  The brunch was AMAZING!!!

We headed out to Yas Island to Origins Restaurant at the Viceroy Hotel.  I’ve never seen such an unbelievable spread.  There was a great variety of different cuisines and an amazing dessert table (or three) plus two chocolate fountains.  There was a kids room where you could check the kids in and they could enjoy their own kiddie brunch (nuggets, fries, etc….) and play games and hang out.  We all ate together for awhile and then they went there for a bit and then I went outside with them for a small Easter Egg Hunt and they spent the rest of the time in there while Brian and I finished brunch.  TOTALLY doing it again!

They even had an “Easter Bunny” which was really Bugs Bunny – I suppose it’s the best they could do there.  Ha Ha

                   

The kids hanging out in the Kiddie Room

 

             

Dark Chocolate & White Chocolate Fountains with treats on one table, Chocolatier making truffles at another.

 

         

Lovely Breads with decorations, one of the several other tables of food.

 

 

 

                           

Kids Buffet and the “Easter Bunny”

 

 

           

The racetrack & yachts out the window that Cameron wanted to do after eating!  The kids at the Hunt.

The End of Baseball Season

Alexander has loved playing baseball here.  His coach is FANTASTIC.  The team is super and the families are absolutely wonderful.  We have enjoyed going to Dubai every weekend to play and it’s been great to watch him improve over the season.   The team is very dedicated and they have won all but two of their games – one they lost and one they tied. 

The championship game was against THAT team.   They tied and lost to the same team and this was it.

The kids played a pretty good game but in the end they took 2nd place.   Alexander still enjoyed it even if he was feeling pretty defeated and blaming the rest of the world (the other team, the umpire, etc….).  My child is not what I would call a “Good Loser”.  No idea where that comes from……..

The kids had an End of Year party and it was great to see everyone again.  He presented each player with a little trophy and a game ball along with a little speech about each kid.

We all played a game with kids against adults that was a modified ball game.  We swung with tennis rackets and hit tennis balls that were pitched to us and the other team played regular positions on the baseball field.  It was a blast!

     

Booked a Cruise

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDetails/itinerary.do?hasSenior=&hasMilitary=&hasFireandPolice=&cruiseType=CO&state=&packageCode=SR12M291&date=201206

I have been talking about booking a cruise FOREVER or like at least a few months now.  I have always wanted to see so much of Europe and the idea of a Mediterranean Cruise was always so attractive to me.

I called around, I emailed and I checked stuff online.  I ordered a Rick Steves’ book and another book and read some more stuff.  Then I talked to Brian about stuff and talked and thought and debated and chose one and changed my mind and on and on.

But – a decision was made and I booked one.

Here’s our plan:

SAILING ITINERARY
Date	Ports of Call	Arv	Dep	Activity
Mon 16 Jul 2012	Barcelona, Spain		05:00 PM	Boarding (Doing a 1/2 Day City Tour)
Tue 17 Jul 2012	Cannes (Monte Carlo), France	09:00 AM	06:00 PM	Tendered (Going to check things on our own)
Wed 18 Jul 2012	Livorno (Florence /pisa), Italy	07:00 AM	07:00 PM	Docked (Visiting Leaning Tower, Statue of David, City of Florence)
Thu 19 Jul 2012	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	07:00 AM	07:00 PM	Docked (Going to the Vatican and Tour of Rome)
Fri 20 Jul 2012	Cruising			Cruising
Sat 21 Jul 2012	Cruising			Cruising
Sun 22 Jul 2012	Athens (Piraeus), Greece	06:00 AM	06:00 PM	Docked (Still need to book an excursion through RCI)
Mon 23 Jul 2012	Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey	08:00 AM	07:00 PM	Docked (Terrace Houses, Museum, House of Mary, Basilica)
Tue 24 Jul 2012	Santorini, Greece	07:00 AM	06:00 PM	Tendered (Blue Domes, Oia, Winery, Black Sandy Beaches)
Wed 25 Jul 2012	Cruising			Cruising
Thu 26 Jul 2012	Naples (Salerno), Italy	07:00 AM	07:00 PM	Docked (Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano)
Fri 27 Jul 2012	Cruising			Cruising
Sat 28 Jul 2012	Barcelona, Spain	06:00 AM		Departure

 

 

Luckily I found this great website called www.cruisecritic.com where people connect who are all going on the same cruise.  Everyone shares tips and information about private tours (which seem to cost less and get you more for touring).  It’s been FANTASTIC.  This trip is absolutely overwhelming (in fact that’s my handle on the boards – OverwhelmedCruiser).  The idea of reading tours that sound good and just adding our family onto them has been great!   The trip will cost a fortune but I figure it’s a trip of a lifetime and we are packing so much in.  The kids are really excited!  

Alexander went to an exhibit about Pompeii when he was in NY and was fascinated so to actually take him there is AMAZING!   He’s also really excited about touring Athens too so we have to find the best tour to see what we want there.  I’m just hoping Cameron does well for it and no one gets seasick.  Can you imagine????  Considering that Alexander & I suffer from motion sickness (which is why I drive 90% of the time as opposed to Brian) and we have to stop every 30 minutes in long car rides for Alexander to get out and walk around……   Hoping for the best!!!!

Sucks to not be home sometimes

This was a hard week for friends back home.  One of my dear friends went through a rough experience when her husband disappeared.  People saw him one evening and the next morning he was gone without a trace.  I don’t want to go into any personal details about the situation in my blog, because that’s not what it’s for.  I’m writing it more from the perspective of not being home when tough stuff happens back there.

I could send positive emails.  I could get updated from all our friends.  I could call her or facetime or email but it’s not the same.  I can’t come by with a bottle of wine to cry/scream/laugh.  I can’t stay up late going through papers or join a search party.  I can’t cook a meal or help with the kids.  I just sit thousands and thousands of miles away and get emotional. 

Within a few days of this happening, I found out about the son of our family photographer unexpectedly passing away.  Again – nothing I could do.  I could email an encouraging word.  I can pray.  I can send good energy into the atmosphere but that’s it.

I’m sure there will be many more times when I wish I was home whether to cry or celebrate (one of my dearest friends had her 40th birthday back home and I would’ve loved to celebrate big but will just have to wait).  So – I don’t just miss the bad stuff, I miss the good stuff too.

I am experiencing great things here and having wonderful new experiences that I wouldn’t have back home.  There are things about my current life that I love but missing the good/bad and even sometimes the mundane back home can still be hard.

I’m always thinking of everyone back home and wishing I could do more.  I know everyone feels the love from across the seas though!!!