Dubai Pets

We currently have far too many pets in both Dubai and Budapest. In Dubai we have 1 cat and 3 dogs. 

In Budapest we have Betty and Gigi. I'll post about them shortly.

First, here is Oswald (aka Ozzie) with his reindeer ears. He is so ugly and so cute at the same time. He turns 1 in January. Note to self, look up his date of birth. PS He was born in Hungary.

Coco, our elf (right below), is a silly Dubai desert rescue. She is so timid and afraid of her own shadow but craves attention and love all the time. 

Lucky is the alpha of the group - when Daisy isn't around - and another Dubai desert rescue. We thought Lucky would be a small to medium sized dog but he grew and grew and grew. He's lovely but also a bit protective so friends who visit know his bark. Below is a photo of him with Ozzie. For some reason we thought it would be funny to have Lucky wear my dragon boat team top. I think blue suits him! Paddles Ready!

Early on, after Oswald joined our family and Lucky started accepting him, we would (and still do) find Ozzie taking cover underneath Lucky. He fits perfectly. Sometimes he cleans (yes, ewwwww!) and sometimes he just hides.

Daisy is our cat and she is the best cat we have ever owned. She is super cool and friendly, spends her nights outdoors (so we don't wake up with her running across our faces or to her howling at 4am), doesn't jump up and eat our food and leaves our Christmas tree, water glasses and fragile items alone. 

Photo below on left is Daisy and Ozzie about one month after Ozzie joined our family. Daisy took the longest time to accept him and he was so afraid and curious of Daisy.  Every day he inched a bit closer. Today, about 4 months later, they can lay on the same couch as each other and she doesn't hiss at him if he touches her.

The other photo is one of my usual views when I come out of my bedroom and look down into the kids' TV room. Terence in his element (when he is home from school): food, video games, laptop, animals. Usually he has Daisy and one or all dogs surrounding him. His sunnies are nearby as he probably just got home or about to go out. 

This last one is a video. Love it as it captures how I dog walk. Ozzie is off the lead / leash but has to take part so instead he likes to keep either Lucky or Coco's leash in his mouth. It's his attempt of either being in charge or being part of the pack. I have yet to work it out but find it amusing. He goes for Coco's leash more than Lucky's as I think Lucky is bit too tall and he has trouble jumping up to reach it.

Early Christmas

Due to our trip this year to Vietnam, we celebrated Christmas a bit early. We had our Christmas celebration on December 18th (also on Robert's birthday). Our departure to Hanoi, Vietnam was on December 20th at 3:30am on Emirates flight EK394. So technically we had to head to the airport at about midnight on the 19th.  This made December 18th our best option for an at home Christmas celebration.

Christmas was lovely and, as always in Dubai, feels a bit strange in t-shirts and shorts. I had put up the tree this year before Thanksgiving which I have never done before but as we found a lovely large artificial (slightly white to give it a snow dusted appearance) tree, it was easy to do without all the maintenance of a live tree. 

With all the kids now knowing the 'truth' about Santa and his magic, the presents started to pile up under the tree in the weeks and days leading up to our Christmas celebration on the 18th. This heightened the excitement and made it all easier and more fun to celebrate early.

The hardest thing for the kids (mostly Ali and Mia) was that I didn't allow them to wake up on the 18th and open presents right away - as we always do on Christmas morning. Part of the reason why was it was still a work day so Curt left before they all woke up. I did my usual 'mom' activities and hit the gym then finalized shopping for all the food items, breakfast treats (knowing they wouldn't wake until late morning when I was due back home), and last minute holiday necessities (including a few last minute stocking stuffers I had forgotten).

When I returned home, I only heard a bit of shuffling from our trio upstairs so they were all treated to a special breakfast in bed. I wish I had taken pictures as their breakfasts were all served up on Christmas plates and included all sorts of yummy foods that they all loved including some delicious fresh fruits, freshly baked croissants and donuts (from Baker and Spice) and for Mia her favorite avocados. She can eat avocados all day and night. 

Normally on Christmas morning I make home made cinnamon rolls but with all the travels I had been doing and about to do and Christmas presents still to wrap and dinner still to prepare, the Baker and Spice treat seemed like the perfect breakfast treat and they were all very happy!

Curt returned home at about 4:30pm with the last of the presents that just arrived via post. Phew, that was a close call! I was still at the dentist with Ali (really not a normal 'Christmas day') but made it home just after 5pm to do a quick 45 minute packing job and dinner preparation. 

Dinner consisted of amazing grade 11 wagyu steaks prepared by Curt on the charcoal grill, mashed potatoes, broccoli, green beans, tomato salad and home made dinner rolls. We all gobbled it up and the kids were bouncing around ready to open our presents before we even had a chance to clear the table.

We decided to leave our dessert of homemade Angel Food Cake for after our present opening. 

Below are some of my favorite photos of our tree and the kids. In the next post (may work out to be previous post as it's been a while since I blogged), I'll post a few more pics from the day. 

Flashback to 2011 (Ali video)

I just came across this sweet video of little Ali in October 2011. She was 5 1/2 years old and keen to become a good swimmer. She learned by watching her big brother and big sister. Shortly after this she started lessons and got better and better (and stronger and stronger) at all her strokes.

Love these little treasures that take me back in time. Today Ali is 9 years and 1.5 months old. As fun as she is now, a little part of me really misses this little girl in the video!

Our Move One Dubai office

Just a few photos of our lovely office in the Greens area of Dubai. We moved in over the summer and it's so nice being in a new, modern office. Curt and I are both working Sunday - Thursday every week. Long hours and new challenges but loving every minute of it.

More soon.... just been so incredibly busy.

Back to School

Finally.... here are some back to school photos. Sorry that they are so dark but I have yet to unpack my Canon camera (or any others for that matter) so I've been using my iPhone.

Terence and Mia's first day of school was last week on Wednesday / Mercredi, September 15th. Curt got up extra early to make delicious buttermilk pancakes while I got the 2 up, showered, dressed and ready. Ali stayed behind with our babysitter.




Since it was our first time to visit the school since the one time we were driven there in May, we followed our friends. I took a few snaps along the way in case I needed to look back and be reminded. However, it's very easy and I haven't had to refer back and have found it perfectly every time since on my own. Just for you to see what the route looks like from our current location in the Dubai Marina, check out these 3 photos.

Mia just before entering her building. Terence getting ready to enter his building (behind him). He was so embarrassed of the photos. Could you imagine if I had actually pulled out my massive Canon camera? At least the iPhone isn't so obvious.

While Curt took Terence into his classroom, I went with Mia to scout out hers. It took us a while but finally managed to find her lovely, bright classroom with her incredible teacher, Anne-Sophie.

She was given a cubby for her lunch box and other belongings.

She had a minute of embarrassment too.

Below is Terence and Mia waiting for school to start (can you believe the Clements family was actually early??) Ali was with us as we needed to go visit her teacher with Curt.

My big girl, Ali. On the bottom right is us waiting outside her classroom. There were a few other parents there, too, so we had to wait our turn to meet her lovely teacher, Anne, and her assistant, Benedicte. I think it was such a great idea for them to have us come one-on-one to meet, visit the classroom, get to know each other, ask questions and familiarize ourselves.

Then we had weekend so she had 2 days before her official first day. Yesterday was Ali's first day when she joined Mia and Terence. She handled it perfectly. Do you notice that they are sitting on their little lunch cooler boxes? Mia taught Ali to do this. They serve a dual purpose!

BIENVENUE! WELCOME! We were the first ones into her class. I think that made it a little less overwhelming as there will be 28 children in her Moyenne Section class with her!

We are in Dubai

Well, we have relocated. We arrived to Dubai on Thursday, Sept 2nd. It's day 2 in Dubai and I have 2 amazingly restful nights after 1 week of insomnia due to lists, packing and lots of responsibilities and very little free time. So, here we are! In Dubai!

Yesterday evening after our last afternoon swim, Ali asked me, "ma, how long will we stay in Dubai this time?" I smiled and thought carefully about how I'd answer her. Then, I figured I wouldn't sugar coat it so I answered, "Forever!" She smiled and shrieked "YEAH!" I guess that's a good reaction. I hope the novelty doesn't wear off too quickly. She maybe changing her tune after school starts (on September 15th).

So far, you can check out what I've written by clicking on my other blog here. I'll try maintaining both as best I can but until I manage to juggle my time a bit better, you'll have to make do with what I offer. All the best from the Clements family in Dubai, UAE!

Another T video

I will slowly play catch up to all of T's videos and photos that he took while in Dubai. This next one was of a clothing store's window display in the Dubai Mall (largest in the world, they claim). It certainly caught our attention. He must have taken this as I walked through the store and admired their beautiful clothes...

Terence Videos of the Dune Bashing Adventure

The video below was from Terence's new camera. Again (it's an 'again' after you read the post below), I love seeing it from his perspective. The little boy is Tyler who is also moving to Dubai with his family this summer. Tyler's daddy works for Move One's Logistics.

The video is taken on one of our breaks from Dune Bashing out in the Empty Quarters desert.

PS Wendy, you are going to love this...



If you want to have a feel for what the ride was like (not the dune bashing part as this video was just our drive to the camp on a rather straight, even stretch), then watch T's video from the back seat of one of the jeeps.

Ali Swimming Video

I've just plugged in T's camera's memory stick into my laptop. There are 171 photos and even a few videos. I love looking through them to see life through his perspective. I will try and sort through and post over the next day or 2. In the meantime, I had to post a video that he took of Ali swimming. Unfortunately Curt only made it to the pool one day of the 2 weeks we were there due to his work schedule. The kids were so excited. I was happy to have a break as I had given tons of 'dolphin rides' to each of them. Even Ali let's me take her all the way down to the bottom of the deep end. She can hold her breath for an amazingly long time! We had a system that she pinched my shoulder if she was running low on air and I would quickly go back to the top. The deep end was only about 2 1/2 or 3 meters deep.

While in Dubai earlier this month, Ali's endurance for swimming really improved. She's always been a great swimmer and stopped wearing arm bands about a year ago but I still like her with either a noodle or some sort of flotation device (the small inner tubes are great) nearby. Her biggest achievement this time was swimming all the way across the width of the pool. The width was probably about 4 - 4 1/2 meters. The hardest thing for her was coming up for air. She's a great swimmer but she only just now how to incorporate her stroke with breathing breaks. Curt kept the noodle nearby for her to grab during breaths.

And, keep in mind that Terence did the filming.

Dubai Friends

Started this post a while ago, saved and forgot about. Just a few photos of our recent visit to Dubai and a day with our great friends. They are a family with 5 kids and a puppy. It is always so fun going over there and they all seem to mesh so well with our 3. It also seems to be the perfect array of boys and girls and ages of each...

Believe it or not, T is 2 years younger then Charles. Charles is the shortest in his class and T is the tallest in his. This is what you get when you put them together. They will only be 1 grade apart at the Dubai school so they'll probably see each other a lot on the play ground and school events.

Ali will be in the same grade with Alberta (the little girl in the above photo with her eyes closed).

Our Last Night in Dubai

On our last night in Dubai we went and checked out one of the newest shopping malls - the Mirdif City Centre near the airport. I needed to get a few gifts for some people and the kids voted for this mall as they went with Erika, the sitter, and loved the play area. Since I'd never been, I went along with the majority vote. It was a long drive from our hotel (about a 65 dirham taxi fare) but it proved a fun adventure. I wasn't entirely thrilled with the choice of stores but they do have THE first Crate and Barrel (as well as a Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids) so that will be good to know for future home purchases. And, as I mentioned, their kids play area Cite des Enfants was great for our trio. I don't think the entire play section is finished but what they have is really entertaining and unique. I think it is affiliated with the Paris Science center that T and I went to a couple of years ago. I even blogged about it here.

On the way out of the mall's front entrance, they had these giant letters spelling out Mirdif. The kids loved climbing up inside of them. Here they are inside the letter F.

And, Mia in front of the letter 'M'.

Desert Fun

On Saturday we had a fantastic afternoon / evening in the Empty Quarters desert. I didn't know much about this desert until our Dune Bashing adventure. Our informative driver (2nd generation Emirati), Omar, filled us in on lots of things about Dubai and the surrounding area.

The Empty Quarters, we learned, is one of the largest deserts in the world. It is called the Empty Quarter because four countries' borders meet in the desert: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen.

Our driver picked us up in his very large Chevy Tahoe at 4pm to drive us out to the desert meeting point. There were 25 cars in total dune bashing on Saturday. 3 cars were filled with our group (see above photo).

Curt had been before and really thought it would be a fun outing for us to all do together. He especially thought the kids would love it and they did. It felt like a rollercoaster ride as Omar drove us quickly over the dunes - up and down, sliding left and right. Several times it felt as if we'd tip over. I was in the car with Mia and Ali and they screamed with delight and shouted, 'faster, faster'!!

During our ride (about 1 1/2 hrs total), we had several stops to stretch, have a drink and take a few snaps. Then, we ended at an area in the middle of the desert set up with a stage (for the belly dancer), dinner, shisha pipes, henna tattoo artists, camels, etc. The food was fantastic and the evening was wonderful out in the desert with friends and entertainment.

These were taken at one of our stops

Our fantastic driver Omar. He spoke about 4 or 5 languages and has been driving through the dunes for 4 years.

The kids with Carl (who is also moving his family out to Dubai) jumping down one of the big dunes.

Another group snap (above) and T's jeep (below)

Some white antelopes in the distance

CAMELS

Night time entertainment in our Bedu encampment