Flu Bug!

Dear Flu - Please go away!  NOW!  You are not wanted here!!!  Jake & Cash

For some reason the twins have been hit with almost every virus under the sun in their short 8 months of life! My guess is that a sweet big brother unknowingly brings home germs from school and then passes it on to them.  Mason was sick last week with an upper respiratory infection, high fever, runny nose, coughing, etc.  Then the next evening, Cash starting running a high fever, so I immediately made an appointment for the following day.  When Cash woke up from his morning nap, he was nearly lifeless, burning up with a 103 fever and glassy-eyed.  All you moms out there know what a miserable feeling it is when you cannot help your child, especially little ones such Cash & Jake.  When we arrived at the doctor she knew immediately that Cash had the flu, so she did the swab test and sure enough it was positive!  Jake started off looking ok, but by the end of the appointment he was running a high temp and his nose started to run as well.  Sure enough - flu for baby Jake too :(  We started the boys on Tamiflu, and of course Jake had a bad reaction as the medication caused him abdominal cramping :(  Cash responded well to the meds and is starting to improve.  We had to take Jake off due to his reaction and because he now has an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection as well.  More antibiotics for Jake and lots of Tylenol and Motrin.  Needless to say, it's not a lot of fun here at the Daniel Casa.  But we are on Day 6 of our illnesses, so hopefully things will start to improve soon!

Desert Safari

One of the "must do" things in Dubai is to go on a desert dune bashing and safari followed by a traditional Arabic BBQ dinner with belly dancers, camel rides, henna tattoos, 4-wheels and shisha!  We were picked up in a Land Cruiser, which is the only vehicle that can handle the desert sands, and headed out to bash some dunes!   This was Mason and Rod's second time to do this, but a first for Bobby, Debbie and myself.  There were a few white knuckle moments, and my favorite quote of the night was by Debbie who said, "And all I wanted to do is ride a darn camel!" ha, ha!  Our driver gave us a great ride, and we got to stop along the way to watch a beautiful sunset and run up and down the sand dunes, which was Mason's favorite activity!  After about an hour of dune bashing, we met up with the other vehicles at the campsite and enjoyed a festive evening of Arabic BBQ and lots of dancing!  Here are a ton of pictures of our fun evening:

 This is an extra sturdy desert tree and the roots grow real deep into the ground to get water

 

 Mama and her baby camel, which was born earlier that day!

 Bobby:  "I can now say that I've smoked a camel AND ridden a camel!" Ha!

 Prepare for dismount!

 Bobby trying out the shisha

 The belly dancer was making Mason very uncomfortable, so he closed his eyes - ha!

 Mason decided to do his own performance while the belly dancer was taking a break

 Sheik Ali Bobby and Sheika GranDebs :)

 An amazing performer that twirled in circles for approximately 15 minutes!

 

Friday Brunch

It's been a while since I last updated, but time flies when you are having fun!  GranBobs and GranDebs (Rod's Dad and his wife) came out here to visit us last week, and we had a blast with them!  They flew from Dallas to Paris, where they spent one day/night, but as luck would have it, Paris was experiencing unseasonably cold weather with temps in the single digits and lots of snow!  They quickly boarded a train and headed to Switzerland, where surprisingly the weather was much nicer!  They spent 4 days in Switzerland and then came out to see us in Dubai.  Stopping over in Europe is a great way to break up the trip, and it helps you adjust to the time change.  Bobby and Debbie landed on Friday, Feb 10th and we wasted no time showing them the sights and sounds of Dubai.  As I mentioned, our weekends are Friday/Saturday, and "Friday Brunch" is somewhat of an institution here in Dubai.  A lot of the restaurants and hotels offer some sort of Brunch menu on Friday afternoons, which is usually an all you can eat and drink affair.   We decided to take them to one of the most popular spots, which is Bubblicious at The Westin Dubai.  There are over 10 live cooking stations, food set up for miles, endless champagne, a kids area with food, snacks, Wii, movies, desserts, Chinese acrobats, etc, etc.  It is insane, and something you have to see to believe.

 Mason at one of the many dessert stations

 Mason and kids enjoying the bounce house

 Gorgeous view at The Westin

 One of the pool areas

 Massive yacht in the bay

 Skyline behind hotel

GranDebs, Ash and good ol' Jack

One of the food stations

We enjoyed the brunch with GranDebs and GranBobs

Mason with GranBobs and GranDebs

Just another stunning centerpiece in the hotel lobby ;)

Mason's School

Mason is still enjoying school and recently started soccer through their After School Activities Program.  I'm not sure if this is standard at most private schools, but we are enjoying the programs offered by the school.  They are broken down by grade, and some of the activities are: soccer, karate, hip hop dance, ballet, basketball, swim, science, art, tennis, choir and Arabic.  Right now Mason is taking soccer and arts/crafts; his MMA classes are offered outside of school.

Two kids have joined Mason's class this week, and both are from the states.  One is from TX and the other is from NY.  However, I'm learning that a lot of the kids here have never actually lived in the states, or did so for only a short period of time.  For example, Mason's buddy Adam says he's from Canada, but only because that is where parents are from.  Adam was born in Japan and now he and his family are here living in Dubai.

Here are a few pictures of Mason playing soccer and a few more of his school.

 Mason playing goalie

 The Assembly Room at CAS

 Words to UAE national anthem, which the kids sing at every school assembly

 The gymnasium

 Mason's kindergarten classroom

A map of where Mason's classmates are from 

 3 kids are from the US and 2 are from Canada

 Computers in classroom

 Swimming pool that is next to soccer field

 School lunch and snack menu; looks a bit different than the foods we have back home ;)

The twins about to go out on a stroll