another address to see more pictures. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1379402673&1=94282b7b27

Hello, we are back from our Sri Lankan vacation and it was amazing. Below I will share a link or two for you to be directed to our Facebook page album. If for some reason it does not work, email me at abbymcalister@yahoo.com and I will send you the link that way. We left Dubai airport shortly after 8pm on Friday night and arrived at about 1 am in Sri Lanka. There is a 1.5 hour difference from UAE to Sri Lanka. We got off the plane and the humidity hit you like nothing else, WOW. We traveled on the bumpiest road I have EVER rode on for about 3 hours to our hotel for the night and where we stayed for the next two days. Our guide was a sweet Sri Lankan man who came by a recommendation. He dropped us and thought we needed to rest the whole next day, which lost us a whole day of beach in the end. He had booked way too many people and he could not handle three groups. It was a disappointing start, but we had some friends joining us, so we made the best of it. We had a hotel with no air and lots of dogs barking. We went to a beautiful botanical garden that afternoon, since we didnt get to our hotel until 4:30 that morning, we tried to sleep for a few hours. That night we ate dinner with friends and enjoyed a few beverages while the boys played together. It was very relaxing. We took off on Sunday to ride the elephant and to spend the night in the jungle at a really nice hotel(motel) with a refreshing pool. That night, I had a not so proud mommy moment. We got out of the pool, I wrapped Rydge in a towel, arms underneath, and sent him up the stairs. Yep, you guessed it, tripped on towel and couldnt catch himself because he was wrapped like a mummy. He fell, hit his lip on the tile stairs, slit his chin and his four bottom teeth went thru his lip. It was horrible, I hope his teeth are okay. I felt quite possibly to be the worst mother ever that night. The guide came and said he would be fine, and I continued to question that. It looked awful. We went to dinner, he sat on Siri's lap(guide) and he ate bread and water for supper, poor baby. He was fine the next day, it just looked bad. The next day we set off for the monkey temples and a beautiful Buddist Temple and then off to tea country in the mountains. That night we stayed at a awesome hotel and froze! It was so refreshing up in the mountains, so very beautiful. That next morning we woke up and travelled down the mountain to see some waterfalls and more monkeys and the most beautiful vegetable plots. I have never seen anything like this, it was amazing how they grew such pretty vegetables on the side of a mountain. Its such back breaking work. The scenery going down the montain was breath taking and then the waterfalls, oh wow! We have some really good pictures off of our little cheap cameras. We ended that day at the beach and was it ever pretty water. The boys had a wonderful time, we had a lot of car time, and they did really well. Thank goodness for the fully charged computer and DS. Our last day was enjoyed at the beach, where we even saw a sea turtle, it was incredible. The boys played in the sea for 6 whole hours and their eyes showed it the next day. So much salt water their little cheeks were beat red. Andy and I managed to get really burnt, but the boys were fine. We ate great seafood for really cheap and all in all enjoyed the trip. Sri Lanka has bumpy roads and a major dog problem and we didnt seem to sleep very well because of it and neck aches from the roads. We had to come home to recoop from a vacation that was truely an amazing adventure for Andy and I and our precious boys. I cant believe we are able to do this for them. Its a dream come true. It was so nice to get back to our home in the UAE and then our next flight will be home this summer.........leaving on or around July 15. Take care and enjoy the pictures. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2086674&id=1379402673&1=ecfd468ead. If this doesnt work......I will figure out a way and or just post some on here anyway. Its a lot of time! But that is okay. Thanks for taking the time to look! Love ♥Abby and gang.

We had a fun family day in the sun. We went out to Green Mubazzarah, where there are natural springs and they are HOT. The kids had fun hiking up a small hill, rode on tobaggans(sp), messed in the springs, had the freedom to RUN and we had some snacks. It was beautiful out there today. We need to take charcoal next time and cook some lunch.

WOW, this was a motorcycle. Complete with bling, lots of crystals on it....IT was amazing. He was from Dubai. He was very proud of his bike!

Look at my boys....and their longgggggggggg legs! I swear the boys have both grown 2 inches, it must be all the sun!

slushy and popcorn! The hot springs bubbling up.

There is that showpiece again....it was cool.

My precious Rylan-he's so dang cute! He is sporting the Rockridge Rocket hat!!!! Go Rockets!!!!

The boys have become really close.

My sweetie pies again.

there they go!!

heading to the top....it was not too bad, good climb for them!

Green Mubazzarah. Its really pretty.

Its a beautiful morning in the UAE. The kids are watching a movie in our room on the floor and Andy is cooking us bacon and eggs for breakfast. We have found some really good bacon at a local grocery store. I still miss my good Reason's sausage tho and plan to eat a whole lot of it this summer when we are home. We had found some good sausage from Wisconsin, Jones sausage, but they havent restocked in weeks at the "pork" store.

Andy has been under the weather the past few days and hope he is better today so we can go out an enjoy the weather, before it gets to hot. In about one month, it will be too hot to even play outside during the day. We did manage to get in a dinner last night, Andy did go and eat and we enjoyed celebrating our Anniversary of 9 years(Feb 27) last night over a steak dinner for him and a seafood plate for me. It was for the most part a free meal. We signed up for a rewards programs with a hotel chain here in the UAE and when signing up, we got a coupon for dinner.

We are doing well, now. Rydge had ear infection last week and Ry had a sore throat, nothing major for him. I have had a chest cold, didnt fell bad just a bad cough. Andy has had a stomach bug for a few days. We wanna get this all out of the way so we can enjoy our SPRING BREAK trip tp Sri Lanka, leaving next Friday, March 25. We are all very excited!

Take care,

♥Abby

Well, this is post number THREE tonight. I have the time to catch up, the boys went to bed EXTRA early tonight. As many of you already know, Andy is in the states for 2 weeks on business training for MUSCO. Yes, which means I am here with the crazy boys by myself. The plan was for Rylan to go home for 2 weeks with Andy, but in the end, he decided he would miss mommy too much and he thought Rydge would miss him as well. Its just as well he stayed, I miss Andy, I can't imagine not having Rylan here as well. He has had his moments, but like tonight, they were in bed at 7:30 because of the attitudes. Maybe tomorrow night they will learn and we can have a more enjoyable evening. When looking at the other two posts I just added tonight, keep in mind, I am not a computer whiz. I try to write some notes along side the pics, but they dont always post in the same spots, so you will figure it out i am sure of it! Anyway, things are winding down, few more months and we will be home. It has gone very fast and we have enjoyed most of it. There continues to be struggles now and then, but thats life. Like today....you cant just return an item like at walmart, its a HUGE process like most things here. Since it was over 100 dirhams, no money back, I can have a voucher to spend at a later date or it will be 15 days before it will post back into my bank account. That was a reminder, dont buy anything unless you are SURE it will fit! I was so irritated. It took 30 mins to return two flippin shirts, just insane. Never again. As you will see below, we continue to have a great time, so many things to do. We just booked a trip to Sri Lanka for our Spring break, we are VERY excited and cant wait to share those pictures when we return. We will be gone from MArch 25-April 1. It is a 3 hour flight from here, so pretty cool. There has been so much devastation in the middle east, we cant go to some of the closer spots for fear we will be caught in the cross fire. So, Sri Lanka it is! We hope things clear up soon in the other countries, as we want to visit Egypt, but man, not now! Well, I am gonna go to bed early. I have not been sleeping well with Andy away, and I have SEVEN more days, ug....I have a feeling, this is something that will be regular for him, maybe not to the states, but def. here in the UAE and closer countries such as Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. We continue to do well, I have been very homesick lately and even more so with Andy gone. It comes and goes, my kids and job helps me to forget. We are giving up so much, but we are learning to be independant, seeing a different side of the world and culture and WOW....amazing things can and will happen for us. Love and miss everyone and know...we are safe and at any point I feel my babies are not, we are gone....we have money saved! Take care and blessings to you all.
♥Abby

FIRST DESERT BBQ!!! SO, SO FUN!!

One last pic of Ry before the night ended!

The kiddos eating some grub!

Rydge was tired, so he wanted his dad to drag him, and he did!

I wonder what he is thinking?

His and Hers.....Andy's is supplied by work, his is in front and mine is used, but its ours. We love duning....but we need more practice.

The boys trying to climb back up the dune...it was hard work and i am pretty sure they didnt do it again!

Marshmellows!!!YUM!They wasted NO time.....they plopped out of the car and played right there.

Rylan really enjoyed the pure freedom to RUN!

Rydge and Ry taking it all in. They loved it!

Wide open spaces!!

The race is on!

My friend Michelle from Arizona. Her little girl is in Rydges class.

Awe........Nine years together! Time flies!

Our Desert Family Picture....Rydge was NOT cooperating...sand in eyes!

So peaceful. It was so quiet and nice. City livin is for the birds!

Hungry boy!

Rylan was having a nice time.

not for a tall man!

Mini car...just my size Rylan thought!

Dubai creek, so pretty.

Rydge wanted this shot for Papa Randy

Tired boy, we walked for an hour! We took a taxi back to the other side.Souks

Trading Dhow boats

Ferries taking people across to other side.

Dhow cruise

enjoying some arabic yummies

Old Village

It has been quite some time since I last posted. We have been very busy with work and play. There is so much to do here, we are never home and most of it is free or costs very little to explore. One of the last fun things we did was take an afternoon trip to Dubai, which is not uncommon for our weekend. But, we discovered Dubai Creek, it was so awesome and unique. While we were there, we visited a make shift Bedouin Village(how the older generation lived in the UAE before modernization). We had a wonderful one hour long walk along the Dubai creek where they still actively do trading for the fruit and vegie souks. The old Dhow boats were very visable and pretty cool to see, they are so old and beautiful. There was a lot of excitement throughout the evening within our family and many others. We saw local ferries whisk their way back and forth across the creek, lots of souks of anything imaginable to buy, local music and food and even a small car and motorcycle show. We then finished with a wonderful meal at a seafood restaurant along the Dubai creek. It was one of the best meals I have eaten here in the UAE, cant wait to go back and hopefully take a visitor! We love vistors! When mom and dad visted in November, we had not yet found some of the gems we know about now. So, here are some pictures we hope you enjoy them.