Last week, we had an epic 5-day weekend in Dubai - Thursday thru Monday. We were celebrating UAE National Day, Martyr's Day, and the birth of the Prophet Mohammed all at once! We had grand plans to finish unpacking the house, and unfortunately, G came down with a allergy-induced cold. He'd been congested from all the dust in Dubai, and the post-nasal drainage he had at night caused a sore throat. Like champ, he powered through and we still got some important things done - like buying a Christmas tree. We considered buying a real tree through either Ace Hardware or Bloombox, but at the end of the day, it was just easier to buy a fake one from Ikea (G's first fake one...maybe ever. Poor guy.) G didn't ship any of our Christmas stuff from Houston since we had no idea what kind of storage space we might or might not have, so we also needed all new ornaments. Enter Ikea and their National Day Sale - 50% off everything Christmas, including the tree! Yay!
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| Baby L's first Christmas tree! |
G and I went to Ikea early Thursday morning to try to beat out the crowds - no such luck. Where Ikea in Abu Dhabi is pretty quiet in the morning, Ikea in Dubai is ALWAYS crazy busy. When G and I got home, we all pitched in to help decorate the tree, including Miss J! Baby L was not super enthusiastic because all 3 of her adults were distracted by the Christmas Spirit - meaning we weren't paying attention to her. It's tough being a baby!
Miss J spent the rest of the weekend in Abu Dhabi packing up her belongings at her previous employer's home so she could fully move in with us! We were sad she was away and also super excited to know that she was coming to be with us permanently.
We took Baby L to Christ Church in Jebel Ali, which is just outside Dubai (and about 15 minutes from our apartment. We got there SUPER early because we weren't sure about the parking situation, and I think next time, we'll leave a little later. We really enjoyed the service, and we plan to try to come back every week!
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| Baby L's first trip to church in Dubai! |
We also took Baby L on her first metro ride with some moderate success. Ibn Battuta Mall is 2 metro stops from our place, and my coworkers told me it's much less crowded than Dubai Mall or Mall of the Emirates. Basically Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates are for tourists, and Ibn Battuta Mall - while still very, very, nice - is more for expats and locals. I needed to send a gift via DHL to a friend back home, and we wanted to check out the grocery store since it might be easier to get to this mall than some of the others.
Baby L had her #grumpybaby face on the whole time. She was all cute and cheerful as we left the apartment, and then I think she was angry that she couldn't see what was going on from the stroller. I tried holding her face-out like Miss J does for awhile, and eventually put her into the Ergobaby (thank goodness we brought it with us!)
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Cute to start...
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| Then #grumpybaby on the metro... |
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#Grumpybaby while waiting on Mommy at DHL...
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| And #grumpybaby in the Ergobaby on the way back home. |
On Monday, G went to pick up Miss J from Abu Dhabi with all of her belongings, and we spent the last day of our long weekend chilling around the house. I finished Baby L's nursery (with the exception of her dresser, which is still a useless pile of lumber until I get the right parts), and I finished the master bedroom.
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| We bought some lovely pieces from a local artist, and this round plate I hung just outside Baby L's room. It says "Peace, Hope, and Love" in Arabic. |
Bit by bit, our place is becoming home - my goal is to have everything done by the time we go to Vietnam in January so that we're ready for visitors when we get back!
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