Party Of Five in Dubai: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

Apples and Oranges

It's hard to compare Dubai and Texas - it's like apples and oranges. There are some really great things about both places that we call home, but our hometown of Fairfield, Texas and Dubai could not be more different. Fairfield is a suburb of Dallas and is about 90 miles south of Big D! Our town has approximately 3,000 people and there is one public school that the kids attend. Dubai on the other hand, has more than 2 million people and there nearly 100 public schools and 150 private schools! Mason attends a public school in Fairfield and a private one in Dubai. The size of the two schools is very similar, except the Dubai school has grades PreK - 12 on one campus, while our school back home is divided into 4 campuses. There are approximately 120 kids in each grade in both places.

Fairfield is a rural town, and we live on a ranch that is approximately 10 minutes from town. Our home is located about 1/2 mile off the main road, and our nearest neighbor would be Rod's dad, and he is about 500 yards away! Part of ranch life includes cattle, chickens, horses, a several ponds and a creek. We also have wild hogs, a lot of deer and lots of other wildlife. It's a boy's paradise!! We do have a local grocery store in town, but we don't have a Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, etc. You have to drive anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hrs to reach one of those.

In Dubai, we live in a hotel apartment and use an elevator to get to our room each day. We have all the amenities of a hotel including a concierge, room service, swimming pool, gym, restaurants, grocery store, cleaners, key card system to access our rooms, etc. We live across the street from the world's largest mall and are within minutes of the beach, restaurants, movie theaters, and a whole lot more!

Home is where the heart is! Here is where our heart resides:

Mason and Rod playing a game of catch in the backyard

Has anyone seen the twins? Oh, there they are down by the fence!

Front part of our house

View from our back porch

Sunrise!

One of the ponds filled with water after much needed rain!

Double rainbow :)

We leave behind our amazing dog, Levi

Cash gets friendly with a calf

Tractor rides in the afternoon with GranBobs

Fishing in our pond after school

Mason and cousin Emmie riding around with their daddies after school

Mason gets to go dove hunting with the guys

We have an annual father/son campout

We go for rides in the Kubota

Mason and his 2nd grade class

We love to have everyone over to swim during the summer

We especially love having our cousins over for swim parties (yep, that's an elk mounted above our mantle!)

One of our favorites times of year is the County Fair every June! Mason with his cousins, Calame, Emmie and Charlie!

We have a parade at the start of the County Fair, and here is a caravan of TX tow trucks going through the square in downtown Fairfield!

Levi and I take the boys for a jog in the double stroller, right in our backyard

In the fall, our lives revolve around football; especially the Texas A&M Aggies and our high school football team, the Fairfield Eagles

Mason shot his first buck this past fall

And occasionally we get snow!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Mr. Mason

It's hard to believe that Mr. Mason turned 8 years old last week! Time sure is flying by, and this kid has experienced so much in his short 8 years. From living in California, moving home to Fairfield, Texas, the loss of his Mimi, traveling back and forth from Texas to Dubai, bouncing between two different schools, etc, etc. He's lived through more than I did in my first 30 years!!

This time in Dubai has been great for Mason. He had a very smooth transition back into school, has made some really good friends, played baseball in the Dubai Little League and took Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing classes. Here are some of Mason's highlights:

Mason, the sports fanatic and statistician, was excited to get a collection of NFL football helmets

Mason attended a baseball camp put on by the Cincinnati Reds over the winter break. First Base Coach Billy Hatcher, instructed the kids, and numerous other players helped out as well! What an experience!

Mason had a blast at boxing and never backed down from an opponent, no matter their age or size!

Mason and his buddy Colin warming up on the bag

Mason learned a lot of new moves at Brazillian jui-jitsu

He enjoyed many playdates with his buddy Giacomo.

Dubai has perfect weather for park playdates

He had a blast riding four-wheelers on the sand dunes

Mason has had so much fun playing with his new buddy and classmate, Colin, another sports fanatic! We had a special lunch at Johnny Rockets!

They took charge at ASD Sports Day!

Mason's last game with the Cardinals. They finished in 3rd place!

Way to go Cardinals! What a fun season!

Happy 8th Birthday Mason!

Scooter derby at the hotel!

Laser tag birthday party!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Cousin Angie Comes to Dubai!

I never thought I would see the day, but Cousin Angie came to visit us here in Dubai last week! We were beyond thrilled to have her here, and this was huge considering she doesn't like to travel beyond her 10 square mile radius back home in Texas! I've been telling her for years that she needs to come, and this year she finally did. Angie works for Briggs-Freeman Sotheby's Farm and Ranch division in Dallas, and it just so happened that Sotheby's opened up their Dubai office a few months ago! They were having their Dubai Open House, so several of her associates also flew out here for the all festivities. It could not have worked out more perfect as all of their company events were within walking distance from our hotel, so she was able to combine work with play! The twins had just as much fun as I did spending time with Cousin Angie, and they loved hanging out in her room, playing on her phone, looking at her videos and pictures and not allowing her any time to herself! Mason also enjoyed having Angie here, because she always goes out of her way to make him feel special: talks baseball, looks at ALL of his baseball and football cards, throws the ball with him, visits his school, etc, etc. I loved that Angie was able to share our day to day life, meet our friends, survive a sand storm, experience the crazy traffic and road rage, stroll along the beach and splash in the Gulf, enjoy the sunshine and 80 degree temps, watch Mason at baseball, celebrate Mason's 8th birthday and have lots and lots of laughs! Our time together was priceless, and it was such a treat having her here!