Sights around Dead Sea

While at the Dead Sea we took a day to visit a few of the historical sights since this is the birth place of Christianity. First stop was Jesus' baptism site. Not much to look at but it was a nice walk to get there and was the first time we were able to use the backpack for Jaydon on the trip. We also went down to the Jordan River which denotes the border between Israel and Jordon. The river is really small, really more of a creek but in the dessert if it has water all year then it's a river. That's Israel in the background there. Grandma also did some water playing of her own in the holy water at the river. Next stop was lunch. Our driver took us to a local restaurant which ended up being catered for the tourists so we got a picture of Jaydon at the tourist table. Next stop was Mount Nebo. The day had turned to cloudy for us to view the 'promise land' but it was a beautiful drive up the mountain (though a little too curvy for those us who get car sick). We also got to see some very old mosaics dating back to the time of the bible. Jaydon was a trooper for all the sights and had the most fun playing in the dirt and rocks.



After we left the Dead Sea we drove down to Petra. The route we choose was the scenic route so we got to see the length of the Dead Sea and stopped in a little mountain town to see Karak Castle. It was a very beautiful site with amazing views. It was a little chilly up in the mountains so I happy to have the extra heater on my back. After we left the castle we had the most difficult part of the trip - the long drive to Petra. Jaydon hates any car ride longer than about 30 minutes and he screamed for a majority of the drive. It was nerve racking for everyone, especially our poor driver who had quite smoking about 3 weeks earlier and used to smoke almost 2 packs a day. When he dropped us off at the hotel in Petra we were sure that he was off to have a smoke. Hell, after that drive I even needed a smoke :) Oh yeah, and did I mention that Jaydon threw up in the lobby of the Kempenski while we checked out from the Dead Sea and just before getting in the car. He also threw up that night at dinner - the joys of traveling with a baby...

Dead Sea, Jordan

Our next trip with Grandma was to Jordan and first stop was our favorite hotel the Kempenski. It's a beautiful hotel with great architecture that is very modern but inspired by the old structures you might find out in the desert. The Dead Sea is a very neat place because it feels more like your visiting the moon with almost no natural vegetation. One thing that struck us was how quite the sea is. Usually when your that close to a large body of water you will hear boats and jet skis all day. In the Dead Sea there is not a single boat. Our driver told us that the border patrol (Dead Sea is on the Jordan Israel border) runs a boat twice a day to do patrols and they immediately remove it from the water and wash it after each run to reduce corrosion. As you may have heard, the water is so salty that you float with no effort, but be careful not to get it in your eye. As Grandma found out it really hurts, her eye watered for good hour after getting the burning drop in it. Here she is enjoying a relaxing float in the water. We spent most of our time playing in the nice (fresh water) pools. This is the second time I've been to this hotel (Steve was supposed to be with us too but had a last minute work trip to the UK and US come up) and this time I really appreciated how they designed the pools. They have a large portion of it just at ankle/calf depth which is perfect for a little guy just learning to walk who loves water. The new word we learned was 'pree' because all that nice stone around the pools was very slipPREE. He had a great time splashing around and enjoying the cool water. We also learned that Jaydon likes to play in the sand almost as much as he likes to play in the water. We headed down to the beach and had fun getting sand everywhere. On the very last morning before we left we had to make one last trip to the beach so that Grandma could go and play in the famous Dead Sea mud. She wasn't into it at first but got the hang of it once a nice British lady helped her out. Jaydon was not sure what to think about his Grandma covered in black mud and being all "dirt-tee". We all got a pretty good laugh from his reaction to the whole situation. And no he didn't get to play in the mud for the same reason that he didn't go in the sea - to much salt (not exactly the 'tear-free' version).

Trip to Dubai with Grandma

We took a long weekend trip to Dubai to show Grandma the tallest building in the world - Burj Khalifa. We even came back a few days later and arrived just in time to see the fountain show in the pool surrounding the building and the newest addition to the shopping haven - Dubai Mall. Jaydon loved the fountains and was a very windy day so we all ended up getting soaked. The Dubai Mall also has one of (or maybe THE) largest single tank aquarium in the world. We spent the afternoon enjoying all the neat fish and other doggies on display. Note - anything that is furry with 4 legs is a doggie except for kees (kitties), they are very different than doggies and Jaydon rarely gets them confused. We visited several of the other malls in Dubai and spent the morning in the old Dubai area where we had lunch on Dubai Creek and visited the quaint little Dubai museum. Here's Jaydon in the museum posing with a really big doggie (don't worry, it's stuffed). The car seat that came with vehicle we rented ended up being a bit to pink for Jaydon's taste. Steve had to stay home to work so fortunately didn't have to witness his little boy cruising Dubai in his pink car seat. And this was a random sign we came across - think there's a translation problem here. I'm guessing the sign was meant to convey a message closer to "Stand here at your own risk" since it was next to a construction site.

Grandma's visit to Doha

With Grandma safely in town (minus the luggage which took an extra day or so) we decided to do a little touring of Doha. First stop was the Pearl for lunch. It was a nice cloudy day so not too hot yet. Jaydon had fun riding on daddies shoulders and we had to visit his favorite place of big stone balls so he could show grandma how cool they are. We also got all dressed up for a ladies night out on the town with some friends. Jaydon's good night kiss was a little more apparent with all that lipstick mommy was wearing. We went to an abaya fashion show and unfortunately didn't make it there in time for the actual show but we ate some good food and made the best of it.

Birthdays part 3 - Mariah's

Grandma CA came to town for the month to take-over nanny duties for Semina while she went home to the Philippines for her annual leave. Fresh off the plane we all went out to La Mer to celebrate yet another birthday - mine.

Birthday Parties part 2 - Aiden, Will, and Patrick

It must be spring time because the weekends are full of birthday parties. Aiden turned 1 and had a green themed party. Everyone was supposed to dress in green and they set up their camera like a photo both so we could all (try) to take some green family photos. We had fun with the props provided but the timer on the camera was just a little too long to get Jaydon to keep any of his on. The next day was Will's 2 yr birthday party and is brother Patrick's 0 yr party. Will's party was supposed to be a week earlier but his brother Patrick decided to arrive a little ahead of schedule and delayed the festivities. They had a bouncy castle that all the kids had fun on and brought out Jaydon's favorite toy of Will's - the water table. Jaydon spent the entire party playing in the water, fortunately it was a nice warm day (like always) so having a soggy baby was just part of the fun. Jaydon did take a break from the water to go and meet Patrick and welcome him to the Al-Malki family.

And in case you're wondering Will and Patrick now have the exact same day for birthday's...what are the odds.

Just like Dad

Hmmm... who does he look like?? Lately Jaydon has gotten into trying to steal and wear glasses, he's also so thrilled when daddy puts his on him. It's also getting into swimming season again so a few fun pool shots too.

Birthday parties part 1 - Abby

It must be spring time because Jaydon's social calendar is full of birthday parties. Almost one every weekend and one weekend with 2 parties. Jaydon's starting to think that cupcakes, balloons and seeing all his friends is just part of the normal weekend plans. First party was for Abby, she's turning 2. The theme was doggies which was right up Jaydon's alley - his favorite word is doggie. The big hit for this party was the ball pit. Actually it was a blow-up swimming pool full of balls and he loved it. He hung out with his girlfirend Ella. And got to know one of the new girls on the block Clarissa. Ella's moving soon so Jaydon's has to find girlfriend #2. Then Aiden and Jaydon had some fun hanging out and doing what ever it is that 1 year olds do. The newest addition to the Al-Malki family is a goat, her name is Darla. She was purchased as a joke on our neighboor (we had nothing to do with it), he came home from a trip to the US with a goat in his kitchen...she has now turned into the big attraction for all the kids in the neighboorhood. The begining of our own petting zoo.

Walking

Jaydon went from taking a few hesistant steps to full on walking within about a day so I guess we have officially entered toddlerhood.

Watch out world - here comes Jaydon!!