Brownie Scout Camp Out at ACS Cramer Field

It was a new tent, large enough for 6 people..I pulled out the instructions to set it up just the right way. Most of you know, I am not an "instruction girl" but I was going to do this right! The first concern was the misspelling of the word "instructions"...Then step (1) Follow set up instructions carefully..There were NO SET UP instructions!..Welcome to the UAE. Luckily, it was quite easy to figure out and just taught me that taking time to read instructions is not something I have really been missing out on.

What's a campout without S'mores? Around here, graham crackers are not available but luckily Cairo's leader and second mother, Carol, Layla's Mom, works at the US Embassy and had shipped in graham crackers and Hershey bars..Yum! Cairo wanted to take a picture of me for the blog...so here it is...

The finished tent...with our comfy bed, including a comforter and two pillows each..We don't enjoy this kind of luxury camping in the desert so we took full advantage of the Cramer Field at ACS.

The Before picture..I took picture through the entire setting up process so when I took it down I could fold it up the correct way...My Dad will be so proud of that..

This is just a portion of the tents that were set up for the Brownie/Girl Scout camp out at ACS.

Cairo and some of her fun Brownie Scout friends..

Home Made Pizza on Flat Bread

The other night I stopped by the bread maker and asked him if he could make me some small size bread for the kids. He was delighted since he knows the kids now and thinks they are so fun. I brought the bread home and we had a family pizza making party using the flat bread as the crust. I pulled all the fresh veggies and some ham and pineapple and pepperoni out the fridge and everyone had a great time making and eating their own pizza. It was great to see how well they ate what they had made. You will notice Cairo made the "healthiest" pizza, using the most fresh veggies...even "cupecumbers" (as Charlie calls them.)

Charlie wasn't interested in making his own pizza so I overlooked taking a photo of him..my bad. He did eat a bit everyone elses. If any of you have trouble getting your kids to eat..I highly recommend having them make their own dinner from ingredients you choose. They seem to be so much more invested. It was a great night and pizzas were all delicious. Each pizza won an award of some kind. As I mentioned, Cairo won for the healtiest. Jack won for most colorful and Sam won for most traditional and most spicy.

The finished pizzas..hot out of the oven...I wish I had one of these right now!

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.