If you can believe it, Saturday November 7, 2011, was the FIRST TIME all of my little ones hit the beach in Abu Dhabi. Our friends have a boat, and after a year, we managed to get around to taking our maiden voyage out with them. We cruised out to one of the private islands in the Arabian Gulf (I guess one of the Sheikh's palaces is there), and passed a lovely morning (filled with spf, uv shirts and golf umbrellas) in the sand and sun.
T N took a while to get his beach legs. At first I thought he was having balance issues related to his ears, but then I realized he was having a really hard time walking in the sand. It took him a long time to learn to work his limbs against gravity, and now he had to contend with sinking in the sand too! I believe his most enjoyable activity was sitting at Drica's fold-out picnic table and EATING!!
Little A and I had a great time 'beach-combing' and collecting small shells from along the shore-line. I tried to impart to her the importance of picking shells that were different in some way: colour, shape, texture. She was so very proud of her shell collection, and I have given her little glass bowl to store them in. She also had a great time making 'mud-pies' with her friend Luz.
Smile-ah enjoyed the beach vicariously through us all. She stayed in the shade, on the boat with Malou. I just don't feel good about slathering her in SPF quite yet, or exposing her to too much sun. She is a JUST so little and already has eczema issues--which we seem to finally have under control--why mess with it?
We all had a great time--and Peter has a little souvenir of the day (a strip of sunburn where he could not stretch to apply his own sunscreen) to remind him to ask for help when he needs it. We were thoroughly exhausted by the time we got home, though I did muster up some energy to go and drop off a birthday gift for my friend Farzana (accompanied by little A--just like the old days).
We took Sunday as a quiet 'family day' at home, and I had a quick little visit with my friend Shariza, who popped over in the afternoon with Eid sweets. Well, it was really a family AFTERNOON as Peter had received special dispensation (from me) to go golfing. I have to mention the consideration of my friend Juergen (Yang's husband), who asked Yang to check with ME to see if it would be alright to golf with Peter. His rationale was that he understood that by golfing with Peter, he would be leaving me with the three little ones on my own (well--with Malou). He could understand if I preferred for Peter to be home with me, and that's why he wanted Yang to check with me first. I think that is amazingly thoughtful.
We had planned to go to the Shangri-la beach club on Monday (today) and so, despite the overcast look of the skies, we head out. We had a wonderful time once again, and T N improved his beach walking skills. We were blessed to enjoy Abu Dhabi's first fall rainfall--just a tiny smattering of drops here and there (though from the looks of our roads in the compound, it looks like we got lucky at the beach). The friends who were supposed to join us didn't make it, and instead, I was reunited with my friend Sahar, back from the UK for 3 weeks. It was like she had never left!
Here are some pictures from today.
T N took a while to get his beach legs. At first I thought he was having balance issues related to his ears, but then I realized he was having a really hard time walking in the sand. It took him a long time to learn to work his limbs against gravity, and now he had to contend with sinking in the sand too! I believe his most enjoyable activity was sitting at Drica's fold-out picnic table and EATING!!
Little A and I had a great time 'beach-combing' and collecting small shells from along the shore-line. I tried to impart to her the importance of picking shells that were different in some way: colour, shape, texture. She was so very proud of her shell collection, and I have given her little glass bowl to store them in. She also had a great time making 'mud-pies' with her friend Luz.
Smile-ah enjoyed the beach vicariously through us all. She stayed in the shade, on the boat with Malou. I just don't feel good about slathering her in SPF quite yet, or exposing her to too much sun. She is a JUST so little and already has eczema issues--which we seem to finally have under control--why mess with it?
We all had a great time--and Peter has a little souvenir of the day (a strip of sunburn where he could not stretch to apply his own sunscreen) to remind him to ask for help when he needs it. We were thoroughly exhausted by the time we got home, though I did muster up some energy to go and drop off a birthday gift for my friend Farzana (accompanied by little A--just like the old days).
We took Sunday as a quiet 'family day' at home, and I had a quick little visit with my friend Shariza, who popped over in the afternoon with Eid sweets. Well, it was really a family AFTERNOON as Peter had received special dispensation (from me) to go golfing. I have to mention the consideration of my friend Juergen (Yang's husband), who asked Yang to check with ME to see if it would be alright to golf with Peter. His rationale was that he understood that by golfing with Peter, he would be leaving me with the three little ones on my own (well--with Malou). He could understand if I preferred for Peter to be home with me, and that's why he wanted Yang to check with me first. I think that is amazingly thoughtful.
We had planned to go to the Shangri-la beach club on Monday (today) and so, despite the overcast look of the skies, we head out. We had a wonderful time once again, and T N improved his beach walking skills. We were blessed to enjoy Abu Dhabi's first fall rainfall--just a tiny smattering of drops here and there (though from the looks of our roads in the compound, it looks like we got lucky at the beach). The friends who were supposed to join us didn't make it, and instead, I was reunited with my friend Sahar, back from the UK for 3 weeks. It was like she had never left!
Here are some pictures from today.
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| Sarongs make good nursing covers too! |
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| Check out the Sheikh Zayed mosque across the water. |
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| Construction on a competing resort across the water |
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