Camping in Oman

Carl's scout troop was doing a camping trip to Oman and we decided to make it a family trip.  We had a lot of fun and we are excited to do a lot more camping in this area.  

We had to do a clean up when we arrived as the people here don't tend to pick up after themselves.  I was really saddened by the amount of trash just left out in the dessert.

There was an incredible sunset.  Carl and I sat out under the stars and I have never seen them so clearly.  Looking up at the starry night I could see why people made up stories about the stars. We saw some falling stars and the North Star has never been so beautiful and bright in my remembrance. 

 I saw the biggest coolest beetle ever and the girls and I captured it.  He may not seem big but just imagine that he is as big as this bowl bottom.  We saw snake, scorpion, fox, gazelle, beetle, and of course camel tracks.  In the morning when we woke up there were camel droppings all around our tents and tracks.  Carl says he remembered hearing something in the night, I wish we had woken up and gotten some pictures. 

In the morning he went up with the girls and climbed the mountain and they saw Camels in the distance.  

Indoor ski park

When we arrived at the mall (yes the snowpark is in a mall) we were starving, on the way to the food court  we saw a sign for the Shake Shack.  I had been at the one in New York and it was sooo good so we had to try it in Dubai.  It was delicious, the burgers were super yummy.  The fries and shake were only ok but to get a good burger in the ME is something to celebrate.  We had to see where you can see snow in the dessert.  We showed up in shorts and got suited up and went in.  There were ice sculptures, tubing and rides in large plastic "snowballs".  It was a lot of fun although it felt more like an ice park with shaved ice on top.  The kids had a blast but they finally started to complain about the freezing toes and hands.

Iftar Dinner during Ramadan

Ramadan is a time of fasting during the day for the Muslims, it lasts for a full moon cycle. At sundown they break their fast at Iftar. We have to remember not to eat or drink anything in public. Lil' Carl has two muslim friends form Jordan who would come over and we would try to be respectful of their fast. Carl shared with them that he understood what it was like to fast since we fast the first Sabath of each month. Similar to when we fast they use this time to do service and charity. We took the kids to an Iftar tent and had a great time. The food was unremarkable but the experience was fun. The girls and I got our hands decorated with Henna.
 

Aquarium in the mall

We went to Dubai for the day and had a great time in the Aquarium at the mall.  It is the largest viewing window in the world.  On the way there we also saw the tallest building in the world.  When it cools down we look forward to going to the fastest roller coaster in the world.  It was a lot of fun!  Apparently the Mall that it is in is the largest mall in the world also.  That made me even more excited to exit it once we were done with the aquarium, way to many people.  It took us an hour and a half just to exit the parking garage which is frustrating since we only live an hour and half away.

Landed and getting settled

Our trip here was full of tears, excitement, exhaustion, throw up, more exhaustion, relief and joy.  Leaving my parents was very sad, knowing it will be some time before we see them again (I am hoping they come for Madison's baptism in a year) it was very hard to leave them.  The kids were having such a great time there but it was time to leave.  We were also sad to leave our sweet Aussie Yoshi but we are looking forward to him joining us soon.  Then there was the long plane ride, I mean really, really long.  We arrived though and we were happy to be reunited with Carl and start the transition to our new home.  It has been quite a bit of work but we have unpacked and there are only a few boxes left (I am staying out of the study, the room where all random boxes and items have gone).  We had a great first week of spending our days at the pool and relaxing.  The kids met the other children in the compound and there seems to be someone for everyone.  Church is great, our ward reminds me of the branch in Bahrain, diverse, loving, caring and friendly, I am looking forward to getting to know everyone better.  Carl is really happy with his job and we love our new place.  We have hit up IKEA quite a bit and still need to get some things.

This last week we went to go to the pool and it was green, I mean slimy green.  We were all very dissapointed and were even more so a couple of days later when the problem still wasn't fixed.  Apparently the part that is needed is coming from Saudi and seeing how it is Ramadan where everything has odd hours and goes slower here I am not sure when the pool will be up and running again so this week we have been a little more stir crazy.  I have not yet ventured out on my own, that is something I am looking forward to doing without the kids in tow.  I think they are looking forward to school starting more than I am, they are ready to meet some new friends.  The kids also talked us into getting two kittens which I was surprised that I actually kind of like as long as they stay out of my couches.  They found a tear in the lining under one of the sections of my couch and climbed up in it to nap, I am not ok with this.  Carl bought fabric and we will be fixing it tonight. 

For the first time we have actually bought curtains!  I am so excited!  Carl had picked out the ones for the bedrooms but he left the living room for me and I had so much fun picking out the fabric and style.  I will post pictures when they are finished. 

Other than that we are hanging out and enjoying being together shile trying to arrange things in the villa and really hoping the pool gets fixed soon!  The plan is to post once a week and I will include pictures and videow of all the crazy, fun adventures of the agren family....