Ludington 2011

Most people have a favorite place and my favorite place is Ludington MI.  I have been going to Ludington for as long as I can remember.  We used to go every year as a family and spend the time at Aunt Alice's house and the Ludington beach where we could enjoy swimming in Lake MI.  I try to get there every year and this year was no exception.  The only difference was we rented a house on Hamlin Lake, about 8 miles from Lake MI.  Well that and a couple of cool kids came with us as well.

Ann, Alexa, and I loaded up her CRV and headed up to Ludington Friday evening.  We survived the ride, despite all the chattering from Alexa.  It wasn't that bad of a drive.  The biggest problem was finding the house.  It was pitch black with no street lights and very confusing directions.  At one point Alexa said "we're lost in the woods and I want my Mommy and Daddy."  We were lost in the woods.  OK not really in the woods and I guess we weren't really lost because we drove past the house a couple of times just not realizing it.  Once we discovered the house we unpacked, explored, and then waited for Mom, Dad, Amy, and Mason to join us.  Ann was able to lead them in so they didn't have any problems finding the house.  Then it was time to unload the van.  I think we packed enough to last a month instead of only 3 1/2 days.  Lots of bags and food to unload.  Since we didn't get to the house until after 10pm there wasn't much time for anything other than bed.  I got to sleep with Alexa!

Beach house

 Saturday morning began quite early.  I wasn't going to get much sleep sharing a bed with a 4 year old.  We had breakfast and then Ann and I had to do some errands and we met everyone else for lunch at the Ludington City Park.  When we arrived Alexa was already playing in the water and Mason was playing in the sand.  Mason wasn't too keen about the big waves on the Lake so he just played in the sand and ran away from the water.  We decided it was time for lunch so we claimed a picnic table in the shade, where it was kind of chilly, and had our picnic.  After lunch we walked the pier.  It was a gorgeous day, the water was nice, and the walk to the lighthouse was wonderful.  Then it was back to the house for naps.  While everyone else napped Ann, Amy, and I headed to the Ludington State Park to do some hiking.  We found a nice trail around Hamlin Lake and enjoyed the greenery of the woods and the sparkling clear water.  We finished our walk and headed home for dinner and S'mores.  Ann found a recipe for S'mores where you have to preassemble the S'mores and then wrap them in foil and put them on the grill for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side.  If you do it right the final product is a fully melted marshmallow and chocolate piece and nice and toasty graham crackers.  Yummy!

The whole gang at the lighthouse

Ann, Amy, and Mason were leaving on Sunday and we wanted to do something different so we headed back to the State Park.  I have never actually been to the Ludington State Park for anything other than the walk we did yesterday.  We would always just park along side the road and walk down the sand dunes to the beach.  We spent the day at the Hamlin Lake beach where the water wasn't so rough so Mason actually went in the water.  He had a good time splashing and running in and out of the water.  He loved the sand too, although we had to try to prevent him from eating too much of it!Although the water was very nice the beach wasn't as nice as the beach at the Ludington City Park, there were lots of rocks and sticks on the beach and I stepped on something and really hurt the arch of my foot; makes walking very difficult and painful.  After the afternoon at the beach it was back to the house for dinner and then back to the Ludington for ice cream at The House of Flavors (best ice cream in the world!) and then to the City Park for a beautiful sunset!  No  nap for Alexa so she went to bed after we returned from watching the sun go down.

Monday was our last day in Ludington, so of course we went back to the beach!  Prior to the heading to the beach Dad and I took Alexa to the park and then to play in the sand and the waves at the beach.  She enjoyed playing in the sand but wanted to change into her bathing suit.  We weren't planning on staying that long since we had to go home for lunch and to pick up Mom so she just got wet in her shorts.  No problem!  Lunch was leftovers so we could clean out the refrigerator and then we went
putt-putting.  I had difficulty walking due to my injury so I didn't play the entire game, but 1/2 of it was fun!  Putt-putting is hard work so we went back to The House of Flavors for ice cream!  Since Alexa was unable to go swimming when we went to the beach earlier we went back and allowed her to change into her bathing suit.  The water was freezing, but she had a good time.  Then it was back for dinner.  We stayed up late tonight so we could make S'mores.  Dad made a fire in the grill and we waited for it to get a little dark then headed outside to make the ooey gooey treats. 

Tuesday was the day to leave and of course we had to drive past the Lake and say good-bye.  Just another family tradition!  I just found out that my parents used to tell us that the road ended and we had to drive by the Lake.  Silly!  The ride home was uneventful.   Alexa slept for most of it!  We stopped at Olive Garden for lunch, one more thing crossed off my list.  We made it back home by 3pm so I could do laundry and put the finishing touches on my packing.

Now today is Wednesday and it's almost time to return to Al Ain.  I will be leaving for the Detroit airport in about an hour.  My flight leaves from Detroit at 5:00pm and I arrive in Chicago at 5:15pm (Chicago time, 6:15 local time).  My flight to Abu Dhabi leaves at 8:30pm and I will land in Abu Dhabi at 7:25pm (11:25am) Thursday 9/1.  I have a taxi picking me up and I hope to be back at Hili by 11:30pm at the latest, sooner would be nice.  I am still not ready to go.  Well I'm packed, but not ready.  I'm pretty sure it will be tough, but once I get there hopefully I'll adjust emotionally.  I don't have much time to recover from jet-lag since I start work on Sunday so hopefully I won't experience too much.  I don't think I had any jet-lag last year, or it could just be that I was excited to be in a new place that I didn't notice.  Who knows.  All I know is that I only have a few days to get back on Abu Dhabi time before I have to go to work.

It's been a great month!  I've had a fabulous time spending time with my family and friends.  I'm so glad that I was able to spend the month in MI and NC. I wish it could have been longer, but it's time to get back to work.

See you in Al Ain!

Happenings

A few things have kept me busy since my return to the fabulous state of MI last week. 

Surprise!  Dad is turning 70 this year and we (Mom and the kids) gave him a surprise party on 7/20.  There was lots of work to be done prior to the party and I am so thankful that the rest of my family did the majority of the work (since I was still in the UAE).  But I did get to help with the decorating, which wasn't all that much so it was kind of fun!  Dad knew that he was having a family dinner at Ann's to celebrate his birthday, but he was totally surprised when he arrived and there were more people than the immediate family members that he was expecting.  It was a good day to see a lot of my family that I haven't seen in a year, or more: Aunt Margaret, Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Emma, Uncle Gordie and Aunt Mary, Linda, and Alan.  We (the kids) got Dad $70 worth of instant lottery tickets and Nancy arranged them on a tree.  I guess money does grow on trees because he won $33.  Not much, but hey it was something!  It was a fun party filled with great family times!  A great plus of the day was that Mason-Man said my name for the first time!!!  He said "Aira".  Hey that's close enough for me:)

Happy 70th Birthday Dad!!

On Tuesday I got up early, what was I thinking, and went to work with Amy.  Amy works at Tutor Time (a daycare) and I went last year and some of her kids were asking if I was going to come again this year.  She is a pre-K teacher and she is wonderful with those 4 and 5 year olds!!  The learning that is taking place in her classroom is impressive.  She is really preparing her students for kindergarten.  Personally I don't know how she does it, dealing with 22 4 and 5 year olds.  There was crying and temper tantrums.  I think they're cute, but I just can't deal with the crying.  Thank God for pre-K teachers!!

Amy works with a couple of Arabic teachers and I spent time with Rimon working on my Arabic.  She tried talking to me in Arabic and having me answer, but turns out I still don't know enough.  My Arabic really sucks.  I can do the few pleasantries (hi, how are you, where do you live, what do you do, what's your name...) but really not much beyond that.  I think it all goes back to verbs and really having to learn them myself.  I know speaking more would definitely help.  We'll see what happens this year.  After work Rimon and Lamia took us to Sahara (desert) for a delicous Arabic meal.  It was good, but the fatoush was not like The Golden Sheep in Al Ain and the hommous wasn't as good as Al Noor's.  It was a good Arabic meal, but when you've had authentic nothing really compares!!!  The company was great though:)

I am getting ready to spend my last weekend in the USA at my favorite place, Ludington!!!  Mom, Dad, Amy, and I went last year before I left for the UAE and we'll be returning this year.  I love being on Lake MI and walking the Ludington Pier.  I have many, many wonderful family memories of this place and I am glad to be making more.

On the subject of going back: I'm not really ready (other than partially packed) or excited.  I don't want to go.  I know I have to and I also know that once I get back and into the routine and seeing friends I will be glad to be back, but I don't want to leave my family.  It's been a great month and I don't want it to end.  One more year and then hopefully I'll be able to find a job in MI.

72 degrees with 68% humidity at 4:30

نورث كارولينا - North Carolina

ذهبت الى نورث كارولينا يوم الاثنين ان يوم الخميس

I went to North Carolina Monday to Thursday. 

I needed to throw in some Arabic lest I forget!  I'll try to add more, but who knows!!

I had an awesome week in NC.  It was great to go back and spend time with friends.  Although I did not have enough time to see everyone, it was still a good week.  After working 8 years in NC this was the first year that I was actually excited to go back!  Going back for a vacation instead of having to work helps add to the excitement.  I was able to spend the week at Badin Lake with Dee and Dave.  It was a nice week at the lake.

Monday was a relaxing day just catching up with Dee.  After traveling via car and plane I decided that I didn't need to go out on the boat.  We had a fabulous dinner of homemade pulled pork!  It was extemely tender and juicy. 

Tuesday was the day for the get together at the lake.  I had invited several friends from Balfour to come out to the lake and I was able to see Kristen, Lesley, Rosemary, and Lesha.  It was a great reunion from last year when the third grade teachers gave me a farewell party at Dee's house.  I have missed my friends and it was great to see them.  We spent some time on dry land catching up and then Dave took us out on the boat.  It was a gorgeous day on the lake; sunny and warm.  We continued to chat on the boat as Dave took us around the lake.  After our boat ride Dave made his famous brats!  I hadn't had brats since I've been home so it was a nice treat.  Dave cooks the brats in beer and then grills them; they are delicious:)  I had a wonderful day, but it ended all too soon and I found myself saying goodbye to many good friends.  It will be another year until I see them.  Saying goodbye to several friends that I have missed was very hard.  Although I had to say goodbye, it was wonderful to be able to have the oportunity to see them and spend the day with them.

Balfour friends and Riley!

Oh Burrito Brothers, I have missed you!  It's been too long.  On Wed. I was able to go back to Burrito Brothers and have the best Mexican  food in the state of NC.  Amy, Beth, and Meredith met me and Dee at Burrito Brothers in Asheboro for a spicy Mexican dinner.  The best part of the dinner was the salsa.  OK maybe the actual best part was spending time with friends, but the salsa would be a close second! 

Burrito Brothers dinner get together

In addition to a fabulous dinner and another great night with friends, I was able to go out on the boat again.  Dave took me and Dee out in the afternoon and I enjoyed the lake and tubing.  It had been quite some time since I had been tubing and let me tell you, these tubes are very different.  No hole in the middle and really big!  I was reminded of the awesome times I had at my Uncle Jimmy's during the summer.  I would go tubing every year, and this was just as fun.  Granted, I didn't as wet without the hole in the middle, but it was fun nonetheless! 

No hands required!

Unfortunately the week was coming to an end.  After a great day on Wed. I went to bed exhausted and woke ready for another quick trip on the boat.  Lake living has its benefits!  The weather was gorgeous the entire 4 days; Dee joked that I had brought the cooler weather from MI!  The weather may have been cooler, but the sun was out the entire time and I am not used to spending time in the sun. Yes, I live in the desert, but I spend a lot of time indoors due to the exteme heat.  It was nice to be outside, but I got sunburned!!  I survived 11 months of living in the desert without getting sunburned (I am totally covered when I am outdoors) and I only had to spend 4 days at the lake in NC to get sunburn!  I guess that's just the price I have to pay for being able to spend the time at the lake.  I'm willing!  I am so blessed to have awesome friends that were willing and able to spend the time with me and listen to my stories about the previous year.  I would have liked to have stayed longer and seen more people, but all good things must come to an end.

The 1 1/2hour flight back to MI was an extremely long.  I'm not sure how I'm going to survive the 14 hour flight from Chicago to Abu Dhabi.  The actual flight was about 2 hours, but all the taxing and waiting was ridiculous.  I think it was about 6 hours from the time I left Dee's to the time I got home to a homemade pot roast dinner:)

صديقاتي ممتازة و احبكم

My friends are excellent and I love them!! 

Weather update: 83 degrees with 42% humidity at 7:30.









Relaxing Week

I've had another great week in MI with my family and friends.  It's been a relatively relaxing week, which has been good. 

I was able to get to Lansing on Monday to enjoy dinner with Angie.  It's always great to see her and spend time catching up.  I wish we could do it more often.

I finished my travel scrapbook last Sunday so I began my school scrapbook.  It was fun looking at the pictures of the girls!  They really were some great girls and I wonder who will be in my grade 4 class in September.  I just hope Moza isn't, other than that it should be fine.  Hopefully!

Wednesday was a fabulous day.  I picked the kids up from daycare and took them to a park.  It was a great day to go to the park, temps in the 70s and sunny!  I am so blessed to be able to spend quality time with my niece and nephew and my entire family!  We had a wonderful time at the park and then we met Mom at McDonalds for dinner. 











Thursday was a quiet day.  I got my hair cut and went to get my taxes done.  It wasn't as complicated as I thought since I had to claim my foreign income.  But I was able to deduct it due to not making at least $90,000 or being in the States for more than 35 days.  I will be getting a nice refund which will go towards another college loan.  I will get it paid off!!

Friday I picked the kids up from daycare again and brought them over to Grandma and Poppy's so we could go to the African Safari Adeventure in Ohio on Saturday.  The safari was interesting.  It definitely wasn't worth the $17.50 admission price, but Mom got tickets for $6, and I guess it was worth that.  There were a ton of llamas, alpacas, and deer.  There were elk and buffalo roaming around as well.  They would come right up to the car, stick their head in the car and eat out of your hand.  Alexa loved feeding them the carrots.  There were also a few, 3 to be exact, giraffes and zebras but they were behind fences so it was hard to feed them.  It was neat to be able to see them up close and personal though.  Although I hear you can do that at zoos now, so it's not all that special.  There were camel and pony rides as well, and they were actually free!  Amazing!  They should be since you're paying $17.50 for admission.  The kids were really good and I'm quite sure Alexa had a blast!  Mason enjoyed sitting on someone's lap or walking around in the car while we were driving through the safari (no car seats necessary, we were going very slow).  All in all it was a good day, and it didn't rain like they had forecasted.

I am looking forward to heading to NC for 4 days to visit friends. 

We just had a brief thunderstorm which brought the temp to 63 with 90% humidity.

Family Time

I've been soaking up all the family time I can get!  I have also been trying to set the record for greatest amount of pork eaten in one month!  OK maybe not, but I am consuming a lot of it.  I have to make up for a year of not having a lot of pork and get ready for another year.

Monday was a trip to Slow's in Downtown Detroit with Mom, Dad, Aunt Diane, and Uncle Bill (not really my aunt and uncle just really close family friends).  Slow's has awesome barbecue ribs and that's what I had.  I had a 1/2 rack of baby back ribs, they were so tender that they fell right off the bone; just the way ribs should.  Mom had a 1/2 rack of St. Louis style ribs and we shared.  Delicious pork!

Tuesday I began my scrapbooking adventure.  I had a lot to do in order to finish before Aug. 31.  It was an intense project, but I finally finished on Sunday.  Now I can work on adding pictures of what has been happening since I've been home and I can start my Ammoryiah scrapbook.  Lots of memories to record!  After a day of scrapbooking I was ready for a break, so I met Mom at Red Lobster for dinner.  I didn't have pork, but I had a great tilapia and shrimp dinnner.  Yes, they have seafood in Abu Dhabi and Dubai but not Red Lobster and for some reason I really like Red Lobster.  Maybe it's their biscuits?!  Red Lobster with Mom is always a nice time.

Wednesday I drove to Portland, MI to visit the Seaveys.  It was great to see my old college roommate, her husband, and their 5 children.  We had BLTs, hamburgers, and hotdogs.  More pork!  It was a good time playing games, talking, picking blueberries, and eating S'mores.  It was slim pickin's at the blueberry farm; Andrew and I worked together and got 1/2 a pound which we quickly reduced to 1/4 a pound.  I think Michelle was only able to get 1 pound. 

Thursday I continued my scrapbook and had lunch with Dad.  I had a bacon cheeseburger.  Another meal with pork!!

Friday I picked Alexa and Mason up from day care and had a good afternoon playing at their house.  Mason actually let me hold him!  Well, he fell and was crying so I guess when that happens he doesn't care who is there to cuddle and tell him everything will be fine.  After that he warmed up to me.  We played in the sprinkler, on their swingset, and read books.  Mark came home and made dinner.  There was no pork involved, but I did have an awesome steak and grilled vegetables.  Mark should be a chef!  I took Alexa back to Mom and Dad's (Grandma and Poppy's) for a sleepover.  Amy and I took Alexa putt-putting.  Alexa made it through about 8 holes before she lost interest.  She was the only one who got a hole in one though!

Saturday Amy and I took Alexa to Dominos Farms.  There were tons of goats and you could feed them.  The goats knew!  They would climb on the gate and stick their heads through the bars.  They were begging like dogs.  Alexa had fun feeding them and she even rode a pony.  I'm pretty sure she had a good time.  For dinner we went to Leo's for a coney dog.  A coney dog for me is just a hot dog with chili.  Another meal with pork! 

The weather here has been very humid.  I don't like the humidity at all; I've gotten used to the dry heat.  The temperatures haven't been all that hot, but the humidity is making it very sticky and unpleasant. 

A great week!

81 degrees with 65% humidity at 1:00pm.