Family dinner.
Jet lag wins.
Dressed for the Mosque.
Sunny day at the beach.Ryan returned last nite from China. Safe and sound. Josh, our still jetlagging nephew, woke up to ride with me to pick him up, at 1am, at the school. Bless his heart. His suitcase is full of Chinese bargains and, although we were all pretty beat, he did tell us that the trip was great. We, too, have a great week with Don and Laurie and Josh here. We are getting plenty of touring in...the Grand Mosque, Emirates Palace, the Beach, etc. as well as just time to laugh, talk, and reminisce.
It was one of the better trips I have had to the Mosque. We latched onto a tour guide and heard some new things from her. There was also a ladies college visiting, so the mosque was filled with local Emirati women giggling in their black abayas and snapping pictures. Although from a distance it was hard to differentiate between the expats who have to cover in black when visiting the Mosque and the local gals who were there, when you got close there was no comparison. They are so graceful and wear their abayas so naturally. We spent the time battling with the shayla scarfs that cover our heads, trying to keep them on...They didn't have that problem. :) By the way, our trip to the Mosque was actually the second try. The first day we arrived too late and only Muslims could go in. Oh well. I appreciated the good attitude and flexiblity of our visitors. It makes it easier when people just go with the flow. :)
Before everyone arrived I told my friend Jill that I wanted to be sure that our Kansas family had fun on their visit. She laughed and said "Mattie, they will enjoy looking out your window! So many different sights." It proved to be prophetic. We have had some great conversations about all the activity outside the window! :) The parking, the laborers arriving and leaving from work, kids heading to school and just city life here. I am actually glad for our bustling location. Sometimes. :)
So we still have a few days. Coming up. Visit to Dubai, field trip to a nature preserve, Arabic food, and I imagine other adventures. Now that Ryan is here he will have several things he wants his cousins to do and see. :)
What a blessing to have them here. They should be over Jet lag about the time they climb back on the plane on Friday.
More updates later.
Have a great day!
