Connor's First Day of Preschool 3

So we really didn't have intentions on putting Connor in preschool right now, especially since we are only going to be in Khobar for the next couple of months.  However, after being here only a week it became increasingly clear that he was missing being with other kids.  Even though I wanted to have him all to myself before Jameson joins our family, I knew that letting him go somewhere for a few hours a day was what was best for him.  It turned out to be a lot harder to find somewhere for him to go than I thought it would be.  For starters, by the time we got here school had already started so just about everywhere I called was full.  The first place we looked at was recommended by one of Harry's coworkers.  When we told Connor that the class was full and they couldn't take anymore students he said, "Well I can just stand up in the back of the room!"  If that's not a kid desperate to go to school I don't know what is!  After many phone calls, I finally found a preschool that is only in its second year of operation.  Since it's new it's not well known and they had a few spots still available.  Connor and I went there for a visit and we decided to sign him up.  It was on a Thursday afternoon (Saudi Friday) so he would be able to start fresh Sunday morning (Saudi Monday).

The next day we found a lunch bag for him.  He wore it all around the store and pretty much all around the house for the entire weekend.  It has the cartoon character Ben 10 on it and he is so proud to wear it!

Saturday night he helped make his lunch!

  
Finally the big day had arrived and we didn't have any trouble getting him up.

The muscle check was his pose of choice for most of the morning.  We didn't tell him to do this...he just did it!

He's getting a little annoyed with all the pictures!

Muscle checks all morning!

Really annoyed with us taking a picture of everything he did ;)

It's finally time to go!

We are on our way!  We have the same driver, Prajeesh, everyday.  He goes Sunday - Thursday from 8:00 - 12:00 so I spend most of the morning bringing him back and forth.  The school is not far from our compound, but by the time I get back home I only have a few hours to kill before Prajeesh is back and we are on our way to pick him up.  It's a little hectic, but he loves going so it's okay.  The best thing about this school is that they have a daycare option after 12:00 so he can stay later if I need him to. 

He had a great first week!  They learned about the color red, circles, and how to draw straight lines.  Of course, he used a green color to draw all of his lines!  The kids are split up into two groups according to their age and each group has a teacher and an assistant.  There are only seven other kids in his group so they each get lots of one on one time with the teacher.  Several different nationalities make up the class so it's a little difficult for him to remember the names of the kids that he made friends with.  The only one he really talks about is Abooshi (not exactly sure if that's the correct spelling).  The first day he talked about him, Connor said he spoke Spanish, but since then he has told us that Abooshi speaks Japanese.  Who knows where Abooshi is from!

 

I never thought my coconut would be starting school in Saudi Arabia, but here we are!  Fingers crossed that we can find a place he likes just as much once we move to Jubail!

Humbled

We decided to move to Saudi Arabia for many reasons, obviously the main reason being financial.  Sure it is somewhat of a sacrifice because we are so far away from our family and friends.  Living in this country in it of itself comes with its own set of sacrifices.  But when it is said and done our payoff will be huge.  We are and will continue to be blessed with opportunities and life experiences that not even money can buy.  But lets face it, we had a great life before this came along. 

I knew that when I left this place I would be a completely different person compared to when I arrived.  Today reminded me of this.  I have had some of the worst days of my life over the last month and a half.  Despite this, I have tried to remember what a wonderful life I have.  I'm pretty sure that most people I know recognize that they have it pretty good, even in the hardest of times.  But then you have those opportunities when you gain a whole new perspective on just how good your life really is.  Let me tell you about the man that cleans our house.  For privacy reasons I don't want to use his real name so I'll call him Khalid for the purpose of this blog.

I heard about how cheap it is to have someone clean your house here, but even so I wasn't sure that it was something we would do.  I mean, I stay home all day...surely I can clean my own house.  Harry got Khalid to come clean a few days before he left to meet us in Dubai.  He told me about how good of a job he did for only 100 SAR (roughly $27.00).  Keep in mind that this is his rate, not a price that we came up with.  I thought okay, I'm 7 months pregnant and for 27 bucks it's worth it to not to have to clean.  So when we got to Saudi and got settled in, Harry had Khalid come over so I could meet him.  We agreed that we would pay him 100 SAR a week and he would come every Friday at 2:00.  Now Khalid works here on our compound and cleans houses on the side for extra money.  Friday is his only day off.  I didn't like the idea that he would have to spend his only day off, which also happens to be the Muslim holy day, working at our house but he insisted.  He said he would rather do it on his day off so that he wouldn't have to worry about his boss calling him out to do something.  He moved to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan about 10 years ago, right around the time his son was born.  Of course his family is still in Pakistan and he is here working to send money back to them.  According to his contract, every two years he is allowed to go home for three months.  He is going to do this until his son graduates from school.  His son is nine years old.  So my first impression of Khalid was that he is a very nice man who is making a huge sacrifice to try to give his family a better life.

Today we spent all morning grocery shopping so after we got home and had lunch I decided to take a nap.  Connor and I went upstairs to lay down around the same time Khalid was coming so I told Harry to have him start downstairs and then wake me up when he was ready to come upstairs.  This was at 2:00.  I woke up at 3:30 and Harry still hadn't come to get me up.  I couldn't believe that Khalid was still cleaning downstairs.  It wasn't even that dirty!  After he finished he made his way upstairs.  Connor and I made some fresh squeezed lemonade and started making supper together while Harry went play squash with some guys he works with.  I didn't hear a peep out of Khalid as he cleaned.  Harry got home around the same time I was finishing up with supper.  Khalid was still cleaning.  He even went outside and mopped the back patio!  I was starting to feel bad because he was working so hard for very little.  I thought asking him to stay for supper might be inappropriate so I fixed him a bag of snacks (water, oranges, a couple of muffins, chocolate, and some fresh hazelnut bread we bought this morning).  This man cleaned for 4 and 1/2 hours for $27!!  And when I say cleaned, he was literally dripping with sweat when he left.  He didn't even want to take his pay today.  He said we could pay him at the end of the month.  No way were we going to let this man work that hard every week and have to wait until the end of the month to get paid.  We told him we would pay him every week and then had to assure him that it was no problem.  He thanked me for the food and left.

I could not stop thinking about him after he left.  I began to feel more and more guilty as I thought about how hard he is working and the sacrifices he is making for the sole purpose to provide for his family.  I'm thinking, here I sit with my family in this nice house with my nice things wondering what grand vacation we will take next while this man just busted his butt to be able to send $27 back to Pakistan.  All to make a better life for his son that he has spent a total no more than 15 months with in the last 10 years.  I couldn't take it anymore.  I told Harry that we had to pay him more.  100 SAR was not enough for what he did.  He deserved more.  I figured an extra 25 SAR (not even $7) would be a good amount.  It would let him know that we appreciated the job he did without making him feel like a charity case.  He said okay we'll give him 50 extra SAR next week, 25 for this week and 25 for next.  I said no way, we had to give it to him tonight.  So Harry called the clubhouse and told them that when they saw Khalid to let him know we wanted to talk to him, but that he could just stop by tomorrow if he wanted to (it is his day off, remember).  An hour or so later he rang our doorbell - ready to clean.  He thought we wanted him to come back because he hadn't done a good enough job.  Harry explained to him that we thought he deserved more.  He refused to take the money.  He said he was happy with the food we gave him and would sleep good knowing we were satisfied with the job he did.  Huh!  Who does that??  The only thing I can figure is that he didn't feel right taking more than we agreed on, even though we thought he deserved it.  You definitely don't meet someone like that every day. 

I will still enjoy all the things I did before...time with family, material possessions, traveling to different countries, etc.  But I have gained an even deeper appreciation for all of my blessings, all thanks to Khalid, our housekeeper from Pakistan.       

Life in Saudi - Take 1

We officially moved to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Monday, September 2, 2013!  Dubai was a short 1 hour flight so we were in KSA in no time.  DOW paid for us to use the al fifa service when we arrived which made things much easier.  This is basically a VIP meet and greet service that allows you to bypass all the airport madness.  When we stepped off the airplane we didn't even go through the corridor.  We were met by someone who took us out of a side door and drove us to the al fifa office.  Once there we went through security and then into a very nice waiting area.  We were literally the only people there besides the security guards and airport personnel.  They took our passports and started the intake process.  Some guy brought us bottled water and hot tea in fancy tea cups on a gold platter.  Ummm okay.  Soon after we were ushered into a little office with some guard-looking man who took my fingerprints.  This is when I got my first taste of life as a woman in KSA (Disclaimer:  I've since come to realize that not all Saudi men treat women this way.)  The man behind the desk didn't look at or speak to me.  He talked to me through Harry.  This made my already anxious husband even more stressed.  At first he didn't know if the man was telling him to do something or getting him to tell me what to do.  I was just confused all around because I couldn't understand what he was saying.  I couldn't get the fingerprints done and get out of that office fast enough.  When we finished I told Harry that he really needed to calm down because him being so flustered was stressing me out just as much as trying to figure out what was going on was.  I don't even want to think about what it would have been like if we would have had to go through the airport with the lines and crowds!  Prayer time started right around the same time we went back to the waiting area which made me even more uncomfortable.  The men were praying right next to where we were sitting and I didn't know if it was appropriate for us to stay there or if we needed to move.  It didn't take long before Monther, the really nice al fifa contact guy, came to get us and bring us to another waiting area upstairs...whew!  The waiting area upstairs was just as nice as the one downstairs and we were still the only people there.  We were there for a total of about an hour and then Monther came to tell us that everything was done and we could go.  He took us out to a car that already had all our luggage loaded, gave me a tin of chocolates to welcome me to Saudi Arabia, and we took off to our new, albeit temporary, house!  (We are staying at the Las Dunas compound in Khobar for now.  After Jameson is born we will move to our actual house at the Al Jude II compound in Jubail.)  Needless to say, it was a much different experience compared to all the "fun" I had at the Dubai airport...even with the rude and uncomfortable fingerprint guy!

This is us in the waiting area in the al fifa building.

On the way to our new house!

Definitely not in Louisiana anymore!

Going through security to get into the compound for the first time was a little unnerving.  The guard looks underneath the car with a mirror and then looks under the hood.  After he's cleared the car, he moves the spikes that would have otherwise busted the tires.  Then we get to another checkpoint where the guard records the license plate number and checks credentials before opening the gate. 

Connor was so excited when we got home.  As soon as we walked through the door he said, "Our new house is perfect!"  Harry set up Connor's room before he left for Dubai as a surprise for him to find when we got there.  He loved it!

I've been here for five days now and life here is MUCH different than back home in the states.  Some things are good, some bad, some just simply different - you can decide which one is which.  So here you go...my initial thoughts/impressions about living in Saudi Arabia.

• I've only seen two refrigerators, but neither had an ice maker.  The one at Al Jude II actually has two ice trays connected to some handle that you use to turn the trays over so the ice will dump into the ice bucket.  I'm not exactly sure how it works, but it's...well...different.
• The light switches at the hotel in Dubai and here at Las Dunas are backwards from what we have in the states.  You push the switch down to turn the light on and push it up to turn it off.  The switches at Al Jude aren't like this though.
• You always have to pay attention to the voltage and watts on the plugs.  I can't even keep track of what I can use where and if I need an adapter or not.  A lot of the outlets have a switch on them so you have to turn the outlet on in order to use whatever you plugged in (and yes, you have to push the switch down to turn it on).
• The driving.  OMG, the driving.  I'm not even sure you can call it driving.  They basically do whatever they want and they honk the horn constantly!  I think the only traffic law I've seen them obey is to stop at a red light.  They literally drive in the middle of the road, pass people up on the shoulder, turn two lane roads into four lanes, jump curbs, drive as fast as they want, turn in a non-turning lane across traffic going straight, cross four lanes of traffic to exit, and turn an exit ramp into a three lane highway!  It's not so bad in actual parking lots, but along the street they will park any kind of way they feel like it.  I laughed out loud when I saw at least 10 cars parked in all different directions and at all different angles crowded around a sign that said "No Parking or Waiting".  I'm actually glad that I'm not allowed to drive here!
• Speaking of no driving...we are driven everywhere.  We call or email someone to let them know when and where we need to go and someone comes to our door and picks us up.  I was really nervous about this, mainly because I get car sick so easily.  Thankfully we've had very good drivers and it hasn't been an issue.  They definitely don't drive like the crazy people on the road!  It's basically a chauffer service.  The guy drops us off at the door and when we are finished and ready to leave we call him and he meets us at the door to pick us up.  If we shopped and have bags, he helps load them up and unload them when we get back home.  I've talked to a few ladies who have had unpleasant experiences for one reason or another, but I don't have any complaints yet.  Of course Harry is still on vacation so he's been with me for every trip which makes a difference.  Things tend to not go as smoothly when you don't have your husband with you (or so I've been told).  I'm nervous to find out what will happen when I need something right away and have to call for a driver when I would have otherwise jumped in the car and taken off!
• Some traffic lights have timers on them.  So you sit at the red light and watch it countdown to green.  And as soon as it turns green they're honking lol!  There are also timers for the green lights so you know how much longer it will stay green. 
• The wheels on the store buggies are casters.  It drives me insane.  They are soooo hard to turn!
• Trying to shop is extremely frustrating!  In most of the stores, there is no rhyme or reason for the way things are organized.  A lot of the merchandise at the first store I went into didn't have prices labeled.  The grocery stores are a little more organized, but things are definitely foreign to me right now.  It's hard to figure out what things are because the packaging is different and sometimes you have to search for the English writing amongst all the Arabic characters. 
• Muslims pray 5 times a day, starting around 4 am.  If you are out and about you will hear the call to prayer.  If you are in a store you can continue to shop, but you can't check out until prayer is finished.  Because they pray throughout the day most stores have prayer rooms (one for men and one for women, of course).
• A lot of the bigger chain stores have some type of restaurant or café in them.  The grocery store I went to yesterday actually had a small strip mall inside of it.
• No ceiling fans.  At least I haven't seen any anywhere.
• The escalators inside the stores are more like moving ramps because they don't turn into steps.  I found this extremely comical when I saw them...given the close call we had going down the escalator at the airport in Dubai!
• I haven't seen gas prices and since we don't drive there isn't a need to even go to a gas station, but Harry said it is extremely cheap...like 60 cents a gallon cheap.
• Most restaurants have separate dining areas.  Some of them go so far as to have separate entrances to the building.  One for families and one for single men.  I actually saw a men's line and women's line at the pharmacy in a hospital, as well as separate waiting areas.
• Trying to do conversions has been extremely difficult, even for this former math teacher.  Turning SAR into USD, kilograms to pounds, centimeters to inches, and Celsius to Fahrenheit in your head gets confusing.
• The language barrier is probably the most frustrating thing, for me and the person I'm trying to communicate with. 
• Keeping track of what day and time it is here compared to back home gets confusing. 
• The sun starts to come up around 4:30 am and it goes down around 5:00 pm.  No daylight savings time here.
• Compound life has been really fun so far.  Once you go through the gate at the entrance it doesn't even feel like you're in Saudi Arabia, well except for the desert-like heat...that's a quick reminder!  Life inside these walls has somewhat of a family feel to it.  You are in walking distance to everyone here and to the clubhouse where all the amenities are.  Here at Las Dunas the clubhouse has a restaurant, convenient store, aerobic room, nursery, library, salon, gym, tennis court, squash court, and swimming pool.  We don't have to worry about much here.  There are people who work here that take care of most everything.  We don't even take the garbage away.  We have a garbage can outside the back door and someone comes around everyday to empty it.  If we need something done inside the house we call maintenance and they come take care of it.  We all got together last night for a pool party so I got to meet most of the people here which was really fun.  The ladies get together to do things often.  They went to lunch yesterday, but I couldn't go because I had an appointment to visit one of the hospitals.  I am going shopping with a few of them tomorrow though.  Many of the wives are starting to put different clubs and activities together to help occupy our time.
• I had two hospitals to choose from in terms of where I wanted to deliver Jameson.  SAAD is here in Khobar and Royal Commission is in Jubail (where are permanent house is).  I visited SAAD first and was pleased with the experience.  The doctor that I met with was very nice and she was extremely thorough.  I was really hoping that I would feel just as comfortable at Royal Commission so that we could move as soon as the house is ready.  That way we could actually get settled before Jameson arrives and not have to worry about moving with a newborn.  Unfortunately it didn't take long before I realized that I would probably go back to the USA before I would have a baby there.  I felt pretty uncomfortable from the beginning because I didn't see any other non-Muslim women there which meant I was the only woman without her hair covered.  I get funny looks and stared at most places, but I felt it more so here.  Especially when I walked up to the counter and all the women in front of me in line turned around and stared at me like I was an alien....strike 1.  The intake nurse was very rude.  I was having a really hard time understanding her and she said, "Well I'm not speaking Arabic, I'm speaking English"...strike 2.  I met with the chief OB doctor there and I was satisfied with his bedside manner and explanation during the ultrasound...maybe they can turn this around after all?  Then I asked him what differences I can expect in comparison to delivering in the USA.  He said really the only difference is that they don't have epidurals available in the facility...say what?!?  Strike 3...time to go!  He said they use injections and gas as pain relievers during delivery.  I have nothing against people who choose to deliver without an epidural, but I am not one of those people.  Even so...if you don't even have the option available to use, you are not modern enough for me!
• Last but certainly not least are the bathrooms (or toilets as they call them).  I carry around toilet paper and baby wipes because you'd be hard pressed to find it in public restrooms.  However, I've never actually used my supplies because I have always just turned right back around and decided to wait until I got home.  This coming from a 7 month pregnant women should tell you something about the condition.  They use sprayers to clean themselves, which also means that the floors are usually wet.  I have yet to figure out how/where I am going to change diapers when we go out!

Well I hope this has satisfied some of your curiosity about what it's like to live here.  There are many, many challenges and I get frustrated a lot when we are out, but then we get back home and I am in my happy place again.  I keep reminding myself that I will learn, adjust, and adapt to day to day life.  The most important thing I've learned is to always keep an open mind and think about the big picture and all the reasons why we came here in the first place.  Even during the most frustrating moments I'm trying to embrace what's different and grow as a person from it.   

Dubai

After a crazy few weeks, it was finally time to start packing up to head to the middle east!  I had so much going on that I literally did not have the time or energy to start packing until around 6:00 the night before we left (and when I say packing, I really just mean throwing stuff into six suitcases and a backpack).  To top off the insanity, we didn't get our passports and visas until about 7:00...talk about last minute!  The visas didn't get put into our passports until Monday, so shipping them overnight when we had a flight to catch at noon on Tuesday was too risky.  That meant we had to pay a hot shot company to drive them from Houston to Raceland after they were done.  But finally, we were all packed up, said our goodbyes and boarded a plane headed for Washington, D.C.  The flight there was uncomfortable, but uneventful.  We were on the very last row of a small express plane so the seats didn't recline at all.  I did my usual routine of praying for almost the entire flight because my anxiety was so bad while Connor watched a movie and took a nap.  I wonder if my fear of flying will ever get better?  I hope so.  I've flown many times, but I'm sure we will be getting on planes a lot more often over then next few years.  After having to get off on the tarmac while trying to manage a backpack, two carryon bags, and a 3 year old we headed to the United lounge.  Thankfully, in the middle of trying to pack, I was able to upgrade our flights to business class for a decent price.  Definitely money well spent!  Connor was walking in front of me so that I could keep my eyes on him while we walked through the insanely busy airport.  We needed to make a bathroom stop before getting to the lounge so when I saw it I told Connor to turn.  I turned, but he just kept walking so I said he name again.  This got his attention, but he didn't see me right away and started going into a panic while crowds of people walked by each side of him.  Watching him search frantically was hilarious so sad.  I was laughing so hard that I had to say his name several times before he finally heard me and saw where I was.  Eventually we were back on a plane and heading to Dubai!  I was much more relaxed on that flight which made knowing I would be in the air for 13 hours a lot easier.  The accommodations in business class are top notch which also helped.  Connor was an absolute angel!  He watched the Scooby Doo movie four times and slept for almost 7 hours straight.  Everyone kept telling me how good he was...I'm guessing they initially cringed when they saw us sit down, but were thankful when they realized I have an exceptionally well-behaved kid :)

We finally get to Dubai and this is where things in the airport got a little hectic.  After getting off the airplane, we had to go up an escalator...okay, no problem.  Then we had to go down a different escalator.  I didn't really think twice about it because Connor has gone up and down escalators many times, but this particular time his feet started moving before the rest of his body could catch up and he was basically laying down in seconds.  I guess I didn't realize that he hasn't yet mastered going down because someone is always holding his hand, but on this day he tried tackling it alone (remember...I have two rolling bags, a backpack, and my purse).  He was in front of me and I hadn't gotten on yet, so I immediately initiated the mom reflex and literally pulled him up by his shirt - disaster diverted.  Thankfully there were two really nice men behind me who took my bags and I held his hand and we made it down without incident, only to be faced with yet another escalator.  Crap.  Stairs it is.  (Note:  I definitely would have taken an elevator from the beginning if I could have found one.  I guess in my delirium after 18 hours of traveling with only a few hours of sleep, I walked right by it.  In my defense, it was a glass contraption that didn't resemble an elevator to me at the time.)  At this point, I'm sweating like a pig and wondering where to go from here...visas, passport control, baggage claim???  Harry got to the airport a few hours before us so I texted him and figured out what my next move was.  We go through a security checkpoint before getting to baggage claim and I'm so focused on getting out of this sauna of an airport that I don't even see him standing on the other side of the x-ray machine waiting for us.  He's getting emotional and all like I'm so happy to see you guys, and I'm all like I need a shower, a bed, and an A/C NOW!!  We make it through baggage claim, another security checkpoint, find the Atlantis counter and make our way to the car that was waiting for us.  As they are loading the luggage into the car I get an overwhelming feeling that something is not right and I realize...we didn't get the car seat off the baggage carousel!!  Harry takes off back into the airport and comes back a few minutes later, car seat in tow.  We strap Connor in and off we go!

The Atlantis is amazing!  Everything is done first class and beautiful.  It was the perfect place to relax and get over traveling and jetlag before moving to Saudi.  I was exhausted by the time we arrived so we didn't leave the room once we got there.  We laid around, ordered room service, and went to bed early.

He thought it was really cool that he could watch tv while taking a bath!

Day One
Our first day was an early one.  Connor and I woke up around 3:30 am...got to love jetlag!  We hung out and watched tv until Harry woke up, ordered room service for breakfast and decided that we would have a relaxing day of exploring the hotel.

Connor was quite the photographer on this trip!

The first thing we did after breakfast was take a walk outside around the pool area.  We stumbled on a little playground and let Connor play for a little while.  I quickly realized that we were not going to be doing many outside activities until much later in the day.  Can you say hot!?!  We headed inside to start looking around.

The hotel has an aquarium so that's what we decided to do.  I'm not a huge fan of doing the whole aquarium/zoo type of thing, but the one at the Atlantis is really nice.  It really has a whole "lost city" feel to it.  There were cushions in front of the large tanks along the way so you could sit and watch.  Not many people were there so we were able to take our time and Connor was able to run around and enjoy himself.

After the aquarium, we headed back to the room for a much needed nap.  We woke up refreshed and decided to head to the pool.  Connor and Harry had a great time while I relaxed and watched from a lounge chair.

We made our way back to the room for an early supper of burgers, fries, and milkshakes :)

Day Two
We woke up pretty early again and ordered room service for breakfast...again!  I could totally get used to getting out of the shower every morning and having a full spread waiting for me lol.  After breakfast, I went to the spa for a massage and facial while Harry and Connor went check out the water park.  Let me tell you, the spa at the Atlantis is amazing!  My massage was pretty average, but it's the best I could get being pregnant.  The facial was unbelievable!  The whole ambiance of the place is worth the experience.  Very tranquil and relaxing.  The boys had a blast at the water park.  Connor wouldn't stop talking about the "rabbits" (rapids) that he rode.  He probably would have stayed there all day, but we had already rented a cabana on the beach for the afternoon.  The cabana was a lot for just the three of us, but it was great nonetheless.  It was set up with a table to eat at under the cabana with a hammock, lounge chairs, and a few beanbag chairs next to it.

We were hanging out in the water when Harry found a starfish.  Connor thought it was really neat!  Of course we had to take a picture of him with Spidey!

It gets really hot out in the sun so after being there for a while it was time to get in the shade with a few cold towels and cool off.  The hammock was so nice to have.  I was actually able to take a decent nap in it while the boys went back in the water.

We had our fill of the heat and sand after a few hours so we went back to the room for showers.  The shower is pretty big and Connor had a blast playing in it.  He probably spent at least 30 minutes just playing and singing and having a great time.  After showers we decided it would be another room service and early bed kind of night.  It wasn't long after he got his tummy full before Connor couldn't keep his eyes open any longer!

 Day Three
We actually ate outside of our room this day!  We decided to check out one of the buffets in the hotel.  We stopped to get a few pictures along the way.  The décor around the hotel is spectacular.  Very over the top and Vegas-like.  In fact, It reminds me of the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Connor was our guide to help get us back to our room.  He thought he was something else giving us directions with that map!

After breakfast, we hung out in the room until it was time for our dolphin encounter.  Harry and I swam with dolphins in Mexico a few years ago, so we were excited to be able to experience something like it with Connor.  We were really worried though that he would be afraid and we would be wasting our money so we talked it up and got him really excited about doing it.  He asked all morning if it was time to go swim with the dolphins yet!  Much to our surprise, he didn't hesitate at all.  He loved every minute of the experience and asked if we could go back the next day!  Our dolphin's name was Jasmine and she was four years old.  Connor thought it was really neat that they were almost the same age.  The whole experience was so much fun and I was so glad we decided to do it!  Definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

 

We all got to take turns giving Jasmine a kiss and hug!

 

Connor tossed a ring out in the water and Jasmine hooked it and brought it back to him.  He took it off her neck and then gave her a rub.  I couldn't believe how he just went out there without even thinking about it!  I danced with her and Harry threw a ball out for her to bring back. 

Here you get to see my 7 month pregnant belly squeezed into a wetsuit.  I have no idea how I got it on, but I did!  And boy was I happy to get it off lol!

 

We were in a group of 10 people so as each person took their turn getting set up for individual time with the dolphin, another trainer had Jasmine do different things for the rest of us and gave us a little dolphin education.  One of the times, while Jasmine was turned over she peed in the water...Connor thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen!  Not long after we got changed and started walking back to our room, Connor was passed out!  He didn't stay that way long though once he realized that we were stopping to pick up yogurt to snack on!

 

Day Four
Our last day in Dubai was actually the first time that we left the hotel.  We decided to take the shuttle to the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall.
 

The Burj is the tallest building in the world.  It is 2,716.5 feet tall!  After getting a few pictures it was time to get inside to soak up some A/C!  We grabbed something to drink before starting to explore the mall.  We really weren't looking for anything in particular so we just walked around looking at everything.  It is massive and overwhelming!  They have lots of the same stores and restaurants that you can find in the states. 

This is a really neat waterfall inside the mall.  It is huge!!

We ended up finding an ice skating rink and Connor was thrilled to try it!  Watching him ice skate ranked a close second to watching him swim with a dolphin. 

Thank goodness for this little penguin!  He definitely couldn't have done much without it.

By the time he kind of started getting the hang of it, it was time for us to catch the shuttle back to the hotel.  He had an awesome time while it lasted though!

By the time we got back to our room I couldn't go anymore so I decided to take a nap while the boys went back to the waterpark.  While they were there Harry got Connor a water gun as his souvenir.  Connor said he needed to buy one too so they could play together and of course he had to!  They got in the shower and played with them for quite a while before supper and bed. 

 

The next morning, we packed up and caught a flight to Saudi Arabia.  Dubai was definitely a great way to start our new journey!