The Bread Man

On our way home from dance class a few weeks ago, I said to my neighbor, Elizabeth, "One of these days I want to stop at one of these corner bakeries and see what it is people are lining up for."  She said she had heard of a bakery in our neighborhood where they used a furnace/hole in the floor to cook bread.  She hadn't been there so we went and found it right then.  Wow, the things I am missing right in my neighborhood!  It was such an amazing site.  People were lined up at 9pm with their own bags buying hot bread.  We bought some..for the price of less that .25 cents a piece.  It was so great.  I brought it home to Brad and we watched our favorite ITunes downloads while eating this great hot bread.

The next night we took the kids to check it out.

The next week, I went and asked him to make small pieces so each of us could make our own pizza for dinner using the flat bread as the crust.  (Pictures will be posted later).  The kids had a blast making and eating their own pizzas and the bread made a really tasty crust!

This the "oven" the bread is cooked in..It is so hot. He just sticks the dough to the sides of the oven and the hot coals bake the outside and the hot wall of the oven bakes the other side. Yummy! We took the kids for family night. They were fascinated and loved the bread.

Brad Gets a New Car

Just one of the "perks" as the Director...What about the Director's wife???

Saying good-bye to Brad's Benz...Not really a sad occassion since later that night his new BMW was delivered!

Most Dangerous Job in the Gulf??

I've heard that "crabbing" is the most dangerous profession. I'd risk a bet that being a courier in Abu Dhabi is a close second, if not equal to crabbing. It has amazed me that I haven't seen more accidents involving the little motorbikes that these guys speed around on. They weave in and out of crazy, fast traffic with little or no evidence of fear. Today we came across this tragic site. As we pulled up to the area, the courier was getting up off the ground and shaking his hand as if that's where the pain was. After seeing his bike and the damaged car that hit him...I would call him the luckiest of men with the most dangerous job in the world!

Charlie's Daily Headgear

Everyday for the past week (since the trip to the fire house) Charlie has insisted on wearing this hat and sunglasses on the way to and from school.  He takes them off when he gets into class and puts it all back on again when it's time to come home.  

Dhow Sails

I was going to pick up the twins today and drove past this boat yard.  I'm always interested in the dhows that sit out there because my dad and brother are sailors and my brother just finished building a beautiful sail boat of his own.  I love how this photo captures the tradition of sail making, along with the traditional dress of the men and in the background there is ultra-modern architecture.  Those are the sites that make this part of the world so interesting.

All Dressed Up for Friday Prayers at the Mosque

On my way to church Friday I saw this cute father and son dressed in their finest to go to the mosque together for prayer.  I was so happy they let me take their picture.  Aren't they cute?

They were fighting the strong winds from the shmaal that came through the country that day.  While it was miserable for all of us, I felt the worst for Tiger Woods and the other pros who were being pelted by sand at the Desert Classic in Dubai.

Shmaal Hits UAE

While loved ones back home may be dealing with drifting snow, we are dealing with drifts of sand.

The visibility was so low this amazing mosque could hardly be seen.

Days like these I can understand where the hijab (head-scarf) originated.  It would keep the gritty bits of sand out of your hair.

Sand blew across the roads and blasted the cars..It's amazing there wasn't any damage to the paint.

Nico's Birthday Party

OK, after the fire station and the trip to the Women's College to play in the fountains...(see below), we met at ACS to celebrate Nico's birthday.  Molly had lots of fun games for the kids to play.  After, we went to Molly's for pizza and cake.  It was a very busy, very fun day.

Sam, making the hula-hoop come rolling back to him.

Dana rocks at the hula-hoop.  There's a good reason I'm not pictured trying this...it was pathetic.

Charlie, winning the race!

The object of this game was to jump in the sack to the end where the kids each picked up an animal to put in the KangaSack and jump back to the starting line.

Fun at Dad's Work-Abu Dhabi Women's College Campus

While the other kids played the fountain, Charlie just focused on staying dry and stayin' cool.

Dana's parents are in town visiting so we took them to see the Women's College and have some traditional arab food from Lebanese Flower (one of our favorite spots..right by the campus).  While Brad toured the campus with Dana's folks we let the kids play in the courtyard.  There aren't any students there right now since it's between semesters so it was a free-for-all.

It was right after a morning at the fire station.  We took Ali, Mark, Nico and the twins to the Women's College.

The kids played with a giant chess set for about and hour but soon the fountain was just too fun to resist.