Saudi Arabia

Last week Chris got to go to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for work. Jeddah is located in the western part of Saudi Arabia and is on the Red Sea. Jeddah is also the principal gateway to Mecca, Islams holiest city, which Muslims are required to visit at least once in their lifetime. It is also a gateway to Medina, the second holiest place in Islam. Chris was there for only a few days and spent most of his time there working.

He took the three hour flight from Dubai to Jeddah on Fly Dubai, a local discount airline. He choose this airline because they had the best flight times, but after a major delay at the airport here, then delayed on the plane, then shuttle bus/wrong terminal confusion and lost (then found) luggage, he decided that this was the first and last time he would choose Fly Dubai. The short version of the story...things were not signed well getting off the plane in Saudi, he ended up riding a bus to the wrong terminal to go through customs, ended up with people going on their pilgrimage to Mecca, had to ride another shuttle bus back to go through customs...all is all it was a full day affair.

While Chris was in Jeddah, he got to attend a professional soccer team between two of Saudi Arabia's soccer (or football, as they call it here) teams. The teams actually share the stadium but when Chris went on Friday night they were playing against each other. He said the entire stadium was dressed in the two teams colors, chanting, and very passionate about their teams. Two observations...there were no women at the game and no alcohol.

When he got home he said that visiting other countries in the Middle East reminds him how spoiled we are in Dubai. In Saudi, everything shuts down for prayer time (five-times a day), women are not allowed to be out alone or drive. Most expats there all live on secure bases or compounds, where rules are a little loser.

Dubai also has a very European feel to it, has a remarkable skyline and has many tourist attractions that we are probably beginning to take for granted. Chris has visited Lebanon, Oman and now Saudi Arabia and has yet to see these things elsewhere in the region.

Savannah and I are certainly glad Chris is home, but it is exciting that he got see such an interesting place.

Playdate for Savannah

Today Savannah had a playdate with her friend, Jacob. We know Jacob from our AWA playgroup. We are also in the same music class with Jacob and his mom. Savannah and Jacob had a blast playing! Beth and I actually left for a little while (leaving Savannah and Jacob with their nanny) and ran to the Antique Museum (where you can buy any type of Dubai souvenir ever invented) and for a quick lunch. Savannah and Jacob had a blast playing together and Beth and I enjoyed an hour or two out!

Movie Shoot in Dubai

While driving down Sheikh Zayed Road with a friend today we saw what appeared to be a movie shooting a driving scene. Lately, there have been several movies that have shot here, most famously Mission Impossible 3. Although, I have no idea what movie they were shooting it was fun to see the camera, camera men and the huge trailer that held the everything. It was also odd to see it driving down the highway with only one police car trailing it. We will have to keep watch in the local paper for any entertainment news!

Plane Tickets Are Bought

A week or so ago we booked a trip home! We are going to Florida first. My Nana is turning 90! We are going to celebrate with her and much of my family. Luckily, most all of Chris' family and extended family all live in St. Louis, so they were able to meet Savannah when we were home last summer. My family is small but spread across the country. This week will be great because my cousins are coming as well. We don't get together often enough and they haven't met Savannah yet! We have also rented a house with my parents, sister and brother-in-law. The house is in the same neighborhood as my Aunt and Uncle and is only a few blocks away, so it should be a week of lots of celebrating, fun, laughs and golf for the guys.

While we are in Florida we are meeting our good friends, Doug and Melissa at Disney World! They have two kids and were able to plan their trip when we were going to be in town. We can't wait to see them and are so honored that they are going out of their way to see us! (As they said, "Orlando is a lot closer than Dubai.")

Then we are headed to St. Louis. Chris' cousin is getting married so it is fantastic that the timing has worked out that we can still attend these family events, even though we live so far away. We will be in St. Louis for roughly a week and a half before heading back to Dubai.

It is never long enough, but we are looking forward to spending the time with our family!

Savannah is 19 Months Old

Hard to believe that Savannah turned 19 months old today. She continues to add words to her vocabulary. Mostly one syllable, but it is amazing how she picks up on things. Evidently I must tell her to "sit" a lot because that is the newest word in her dictionary, and she points out where you sit with that. Leaving the mall today she showed off her ability to say "door" in a crowded elevator, by shouting "door" as the doors opened (at least they thought it was funny). She is fascinated with turning the lights "off" and "on" and telling you when she ready to get "out" of her highchair or car seat. When she wants to watch Minnie Mouse (or "Ninnie") she also points to the TV and says "on". She loves to wear her shoes (or any shoes she can find in our closet and walks around saying "shoes". She has always liked to eat bananas but lately has been eating them faster than I can keep them in the house. I am not sure if it is because she can say "b-nana", or because she sees them on the counter or because she likes to hold them herself (but only in the peel...she doesn't seem to like her hands to be dirty!). She still is rather picky about what she eats but definitely enjoys dipping ("dip-dip") her food in things. Sometimes she prefers the dip to the actual food, but if it helps her eat something different; than I am all for dipping! (She likes waffles if she dips them in syrup and will sometimes eat a few baby carrots if she dips them in hummus. She likes ketchup, but only uses the french fry for the dipping stick-she consumes hardly any of the fry but a lot of ketchup! Today I got her to eat Greek yogurt as a dip with her fruit.) When she wants "one more" of something or to do "one more" of something she holds up one finger next to her face. And like most toddlers she has the "no head shake" down pretty well.

We are attempting sleep training her again...and sticking with it. For whatever reason her poor sleep habits became worse when Chris traveled last month. We are on night four and are starting to see improvements...hopefully it will continue. This weekend we are tacking naps in the same manor.

Savannah still loves to play with balls but is starting to take an interest to her doll and bear. The other day she "feed" her doll some of her grapes. Granted this was right before she threw her on the floor but she is getting the idea.

We can't wait to see what the next month brings! I love that every day there is something new she says or does!

Swimming Lessons

Today was Savannah's first swimming lesson. It is a mom/baby class we are taking with a couple other kids (and moms) from our American Women's Association playgroup. It is only a six week term. The first week we didn't know about it, the second and third weeks class was canceled due to sandstorms, so today was our first day. Surprisingly, Savannah did not seem to have much fun! She loves the water, so I am hoping that it was just a little cold this morning and that next week will be better. She did the activities but was very clingy and probably preferred for me to just hold her. She did get a sticker at the end of class, which seemed to make things a little better! (The swim suit picture is getting ready to go to swim class...the other one was afterwards at home--but I couldn't resist the cuteness!)

Fore....

Today Savannah made out well at the mall. In preparation for our upcoming long flight home we bought her a portable DVD player...now to teach her to watch movies on it! Not that we are pushing her TV watching habits, but 14+ hours is a long time confined to a airplane seat. Luckily, she has taken a new interest in Minnie Mouse so hopefully she will sit still for a little while mid-flight to watch "Mickey's Clubhouse". We also stopped in the toy store and dad couldn't resist buying her a golf set. Although plastic not titanium, they do the trick and are fun to push around.