Picnic Season

A couple weekends ago we decided that we better do some outdoor activities before it gets too hot. We packed up and headed out for a picnic before going to the Wildlife Park.


How can I describe our picnic location??? Basically it was a desert field with lots of small sand dunes and 4 wheel drive trails and several trees. As we were driving around we also saw many camels - even 3 babies! We were able to walk up within about 10 feet of them before they got spooked and walked away. One unique thing about the location was that there was no one else around - very rare here.

We had been to the Wildlife Park before, and it is one of our favourite destinations. The kids love the petting zoo where they can feed the animals. This time they even got to go for a pony ride.

The next week was quite eventful for Zoe. At school she got her "pen license" because of her neat penmanship.

Later in the week Zoe competed in the inter school sports day. She got 3 firsts, 1 second and 1 third!

On another day she was walking with her friends at the playground. Her hat fell over her eyes and she walked into a pole and broke her front tooth and gave herself a black eye. Off to the dentist we go!!! As unbelievable as her explanation is, she insists it happened exactly like that.

This past week, Rick was working out of town. But that's a different story for another time.

A change in the weather

Dubai seems to have 2 seasons - summer and the rainy season. This year the rainy season had been pretty uneventful. We hadn't even had rain since very early in January. That all changed this week!

Our experience is that it doesn't just rain in Dubai. Rain falls in heavy downpours and is accompanied with thunder and lightning. Our first rain happened on Saturday night. Traffic ground to a standstill on many of the major thoroughfares as they developed huge puddles. I guess when it only rains 5 - 10 days a year, drainage systems aren't a priority in the infrastructure. Just when things were almost getting back to normal it rained again on Monday night. Roads closed into some of the Emirates, schools were closed. Our kids were sent home early - not sure why since they were already there and the sky was clear and blue.

I heard of one woman who had her 3 cars destroyed because of the water. She must have been parked in an underground parking garage. Dubai Mall also apparently flooded. Fortunately, with our Penthouse suite, the only issue we had was a little puddle of water in our bedroom from the leak in our window.