The highlight of the trip to Jordan was
definitely Petra.
This is one of those places that every one must see - and no the Indiana Jones movie doesn't count.
We strapped
Jaydon into his backpack and headed out for a day in the desert, rocks, and ruins of Petra. The first attraction for
Jaydon was all the horses and
donkeys. Since
donkeys sound so much like doggies he was content to call everything a
doggy.
The weather ended up being perfect with just a little chill to make long sleeves comfortable to help protect tender skin from the intense sun. It's a fairly short and easy walk to the first ruin known as the treasury.
You see all kinds of interesting people on this part of the walk from the back packers (like us) ready for a full day of hiking to the
leisure tourists who just jumped out of their car and thought a quick hike in flip flops and sun dresses (and usually no water) was a good idea.
This is the ruin used in the Indiana Jones movie.
Every time I see it I expect big stone balls to come rolling out or big knives to come jutting out of the walls. I think
Jaydon was
impressed all same.
From the Treasury the valley opens up and you can see ruins of an entire city that used to thrive here in the rocks. These are small houses carved into the rock.
They even carved out an
amphitheatre (it was later 'remodeled' by the
Romans).
The further you walk down the valley the more interesting ruins you see. All of them are perched up in the cliffs so the residents must have appreciated a good
view.
And with the beautiful
patterns that the sandstone makes in the area they didn't even have to
decorate the walls.
It was about a 2 hour walk to the place where we had lunch. After getting refueled and rested we started the big climb up to the
monastery.
My goal for this trip was to make it to that ruin since the last time I went to Petra I was 7 months
pregnant and was not able to make the climb. The hike was very interesting and a little tricky at times.
Jaydon had spent all morning in the back pack without an issue and was content to watch the world go by from his perch.
The climb was intense and I was happy it wasn't a step further then it was. When we reached the top we were rewarded with the magnificent ruin.
It was well worth the climb!
After all that hiking it was time for a break.
Jaydon happily played with the rocks and sand for a good hour while we regained our strength for the hike back down.
We also got a show from one of the local boys who had climbed the facade of the
monastery and was standing on top of the main
steeple (yep, that's a person up there).
He was doing tricks and flipping off of it to the gasps of the tourists and cheers of his buddies down on the ground.
Since we had accomplished our goal of hiking to the
Monastery on the way back down we were a bit more relaxed and took the time to chat with a few of the locals. We met Ahmed, who was just a few months younger than
Jaydon, and his mother and grandmother.
We sat and had tea and let the little boys play. One of Ahmed's cousins came by on his donkey and gave
Jaydon a ride.
He wanted to trade me the donkey for
Jaydon but I didn't think the donkey would fit in the plane very well.
On the way back down we got to see all of the neat ruins again and enjoy them in the cool afternoon light. The camels were getting ready to call it a day and
Jaydon had finally seen everything he could manage and fell fast asleep.
Napping in a backpack is pretty tough, his poor head was flopping everywhere but he got in a good 20 minutes and was ready for more sight-seeing.
We got one more good look at the Treasury and called it a day.
Said good-bye to the doggies and
hiked back to the hotel for a well deserved rest.
I finally got the disposable cameras developed that we had to buy since our camera decided to jam on the first day of the vacation. I don't know if all the fancy cameras make us worse photographers or if the disposable cameras are just that hard to use. Most of the pictures were blurry with bad lighting but we got a few good ones that I've added in below. My favorite is the one above of Jaydon and Steve in the sunset. 
Steve and Jaydon enjoying the ocean before dinner time. 
The island is full of gigantic fruit bats with wing spans wider than your arms. Jaydon got very good at spotting them and would spend most of the late afternoon with his eyes to the sky to spot the next one. 
The resort had golf carts to get from the beach to the restaurants to the villas perch up in the cliff. Jaydon loves tractors and to him the carts were a perfect replacement for the tractors he usually sees at home. He loved to ride in them and by then end of the week when all the drivers knew him he usually sat on their lap and helped drive. 
Here's a couple of good beach shots, it was only after I saw this one on the big computer screen when I realized why Steve might have been taking it :) 
Jaydon and Steve made a great team building and destroying sand castles. 
Jaydon loved the water and got pretty brave about going into it even with the waves crashing (it meant Steve and I had to be on high alert and ready to grab him before they swallowed him up). 
He had fun playing with the ice and ate about as much sand as he did ice. We also spent a lot of time in the pool. 
The ocean was a bit to rough too swim in with Jaydon and by the end of the week only the body surfers were venturing out into the waves. On the last day Steve decided that he had enough relaxing and needed to go out fishing. 
As I mentioned the ocean was getting very rough so he ended up feeding as many fish as he caught but he did catch some beautiful ones. His very first sailfish which ended up spearing the deck hand in the knee (that's why his spear is missing). He took the tuna home and had the chef at the restaurant cook it up for us. The rest of the fish he left with the captain to hand out to all his buddies.
It's summer time which means all the schools are closing and they've opened up their pools for swimming lessons. 
Bath time is fun only until it's hair washing time - then it's a battle 
He loves the fact that the pool is full of other kids - or be-
He's also taking the lessons with 2 of his friends from the compound Jacob and Clarissa. They're much younger than 
We ended spending about 70 euros 2 disposable camera which now each have about 5 pictures remaining before I can get it processed the old fashioned way. We also have a short video so you can see the view from our pool. This will have to suffice until the pictures come back of 
Now we get to figure out how to be a one car family for awhile while we navigate through the 
It's one of his many words and it a great way to get him to cooperate when washing his hands or in the tub. We've also learned that it's well worth investing in the premium bubble solutions that is much thicker and much more 
(You also get a great shot of one of 
They set up a gigantic tent out in the Pearl (which is Doha's 
The show was a lot of fun with great dancing, singing, and costumes. The venue didn't quite have the proper 
There always seems to be someone in the compound having a birthday. 
At the party we pulled out the 
It was a big hit with the kids (and the parents). Our next door 
She didn't last very long though. 
I saw it last time we were in Jordan and highly 
It's an easy hour drive from Amman and well worth the trip. 
Grandma saw the sights and made friends with some of the local Jordain school boys practicing their 
