Hatta for Easter Sunday

Anna has been on Spring break for two weeks and things have been up and down, Mom and both girls were quite sick, dad travelled to Texas and all of the other 'normal' stuff that comes with living in Dubai. All in all we survived and where committed to a great last week of her vacation. We were too under the weather to go to Emilee's dance class last week but made it this Thursday.

I wish I could get Emilee to keep her hair clips in, either that or have the courage to have her hair cut, nope still wishing for the hair clips :)

     Thursday was great and Friday proved to be a wonderful day as well. We enjoyed our new dresses, church and returned home to the unforgettable smell of roasting turkey, mmmmm. Dad and I managed to host our first dinner party in Dubai, Easter dinner no less, with great food and friends. 

The bunny even stopped by and we were ready with our baskets.

It was a hot Dubai day so hunting for eggs in the evening was okay with us, it was fun hunting as the sun set. The chocolate bunnies were pretty soft so we had to be careful, it was over 30 C even at 6:30pm. Saturday was a busy day too. Anna's and Emilee's first primary party in Dubai. We met at a community pool and enjoyed some Easter games, snacks, stickers and cooled off with a good long swim. Anna brought her special Calgary Easter bonnet, good thing - it was sunny.

There are so many beautiful and interesting places within the Gulf Coast region, that and a self imposed holiday Sunday equals road trip. The sand and dunes just after we turned on to the road to Hatta were so cool.

We have travelled once before to Fujariah, another emirate but this day we are headed to another country, Oman. Don't forget the passports, I just about did. After some quick internet research and making sure we had all our swimming gear we are off. We drove about and hour and a half, making our way through a few checkpoints into and a through Oman and then back into Dubai, quirky roads and borders. Anna practised her being very quite very well and thankfully Emilee slept though most of it. We arrived at the Hatta Fort Hotel just in time for lunch.

Lunch was good and we bought the maps and directions to our intended destination, the Hatta rock pools, more on them later. After changing into our swimming suits we were just about ready to head out when Shaheen the camel caught our attention. Rides where 20dms for adults and 10 for kids (about $2.60 CND) so after a brief introduction and picture taking it was Cooper's turn. He and Mom did great. Camels are tall, much taller than you think they are when they are all folded up and sitting in front of you. Who knew?

Mom and Ethan opted not to ride the camel, she was beautiful and very calm but it didn't seem like a good idea right now, next time. Dad, Anna and Emilee did a great job and everyone had a fantastic time. I took some video of Shaheen standing up, so cool. 

The video went on facebook right after our trip.

Its hot and we want to find the rock pools in the area to cool off in, back in the car for some off roading in Oman :)

 We love our Explorer, comfy, roomy and tough enough to this in, such fun. We loved the driving and the sceenery, so beautiful. We never did find a pool not crowded or clean enough to get out and go for a dip in, bummer. Maybe next time, when we use the map and instructions better, rookies. We managed to get the kids in the pool before it closed back at the hotel. The day was very fun and we sang songs and had snacks as we drove back to Dubai, watching the sunset as we drove out of the mountains. What a great weekend, poor Anna might be a little sleepy tomorrow at school though.