Holidays Round 1: Eid Al Adha, Thanksgiving and National Day

Eid Al Adha (2nd Eid) break was from 12-20 November. We stayed in Abu Dhabi doing very little, just trying to relax and enjoy some of the last perfect weather. (At the time of writing, we have started to dip into the 70s at night.) Randy and I frequented several coffee shops and enjoyed breakfast out a few times. The girls spent time at the local parks. Talula seemed quite relaxed in this photo- and we just wanted to show off how fat she is for all of you who are far away. It was hard to get photos of Anastasia during this outing because she enjoys chasing birds so much. She can clear most parks of wildlife in a minute or two.

Thanksgiving was spent being truly thankful that mom was well and appeared to be in the clear- no chemo needed. Thursday was a teaching day for Randy, but I was still on mat leave at that time so Anastasia and I spent the afternoon making pumpkin and apple pies. Canadian bestie Leanne made the pie crust dough; Anastasia and I rolled it out and we were also in charge of filling them. Anastasia took her job of keeping the dough floured quite seriously-Noy couldn't even get her to look up for the picture. When the school day ended, Randy made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, Leanne brought over a salad and we feasted. The Sunday following Thanksgiving was my first day back at work. It was a busy week in 8th grade: labs, police CSI presentation, tests and then our school's National Day celebration.

During my last weekend of mat leave I was able to finish Anastasia's quilt. I was surprised how fast I was able to make it- it is simpler in some ways than Talula's (see post below) but I think I like it as much or more.

UAE's National Day celebrating 39 years is today, 2 December 2010. All of the roundabouts have been decorated with falcons, boats, horses, big bright 39's, and lots of other interesting shapes for the past few weeks. They leave them up throughout December so it's sort of like having Christmas lights up. (The malls have lights, Christmas trees, and go over the top just as much as US stores.) In addition to the street decorations, cars and people look pretty spectacular for the festivities as well. As you can see, our two UAE-born daughters were decked out. Anastasia is passed out in this photo- no nap before leads to missing fireworks, although Randy said the Emirates Palace had already turned on their lights. And of course car horns have been honking for hours already...