Party Of Five in Dubai: December 2015

It's hard to imagine that we are back in Dubai for the 8th year, and so much has changed since our first time here in Dec 2008. Mason was only 2.5, and Rod came two weeks before us to make sure this was going to work out. That year we stayed in a villa, unlike the serviced apartments where we stay now with the other Godolphin folks. We had very limited TV and this is when Mason found his love for Tom & Jerry. We could enjoy that in any language! We also had a DVD player, and the movie Cars was on repeat! I had a Nokia flip phone and email was the best way to communicate with people, and I don't believe we texted internationally back then. That was a rough year for us for multiple reasons, but we decided after that year it was better for us to stay in the serviced apartments.

The pictures on my home page were taken back in 2011. The twins were only 5 months, and Mason was 5 years old! I used an outside company to set up my blog, and they have since gone out of business. I was hoping to update the boys' pictures every year, but now those baby faces make me smile and remind me how far we've come! That was by far the hardest transition period for us. The twins were barely sleeping through the night back home, and then we decided to rock their world and move half way across the world! I didn't think we would ever get them sleeping through the night again, but after one month, they finally got back on schedule!

Fast forward to 2015 and our 8th year in Dubai! Now the twins are 4.5 and Mason is 9.5 years old! We are back in the same apartment from last year, and it's as if we never left! The gap between Dubai and home just gets smaller and with every year the transition gets easier. I realize I have technology to thank for a lot of that!!

Thank you Emirates airlines for having a touch screen TV on your flight! My kids are able to operate their own TV and ICE remote now, and can pick and choose their movies and TV shows. This makes the 14 hour flight manageable and now actually enjoyable since I'm able to watch a few movies myself. I'm not a big movie watcher back home, but I figure I have this flight to look forward to and can catch up on a years worth of movies!

Thank you iPads! You came in very handy on the flight, because if the twins were not able to find something from the 1000 ICE shows, they could always rely on their own programs and apps on their iPads.

Thank you iPhone! Over the last few years, I've managed to upgrade from the Nokia flip phone, to a Blackberry and last year I was able to get an iPhone! Yeah! I'm able to have access to all my apps, the camera feature and most importantly Google Maps! This comes in very handy here in Dubai, as roads and directions are changing all the time!

Thank you WhatsApp, FB messenger, iMessage, iBooks! It's so easy to communicate with friends and family, which makes leaving home a little bit easier :) I've done a lot of reading during my days (and currently nights) while in Dubai. I've read some of my favorite books like the Divergent series, Still Alice, Girl on the Train, The Husband's Secret, Gone Girl and Big Little Lies! I'm currently reading Jen Hatmaker's For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards. It is a hilarious must-read for every woman trying to juggle it all!!

Thank you Apple TV for allowing us to watch our favorite programs and discover new ones. The boys have access to their cartoons (the kids programming in our hotel package leaves little to be desired. It's either the Cartoon Network with inappropriate shows for any child, or the Disney channel in Arabic!) I'm excited to see what shows Rod and I will watch this year. We've been able to watch full seasons of Downton Abbey, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Sons of Anarchy, Homeland and Outlander. It also allows the kids to watch some of their favorite Christmas shows like Home Alone, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Elf on the Shelf and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This especially comes in handy when we are up at 3:00 am, but our bodies are telling us it's 5:00 pm!

All of this technology is great, but at the end of the day, nothing replaces some good ol' toys! We just opened up our last trunk and it was an early Christmas for the boys! They discovered their balls, guns, dinosaurs, tractors, cranes, building blocks and books! This is just day 5 of our fun journey, and I think it's going to be another great one!