We decided that it was time to return to AD on a holiay. So we booked the flights and the car, notified friends that they would be lucky enough to see us, and headed off.
We got as far as passport control here in Doha before the wheels started coming off. The passport chap looked at D's passport and said "You can't leave. Your exit permit expired. Yesterday." Yes, this place is like Saudi - you have to have permission from your employer before you're allowed to leave the country. So, the kids and I proceeded to our plane, while D ran around like a blue arsed fly, getting an official pass from his company to allow him to leave. The irony is that since D is the GM of ALEC Qatar, he had to sign the pass himself, but no matter. What mattered was the split second timing. D is usually a master of this, but this time round, DBLASTMINUTE.COM failed him. He missed the flight by about 60 seconds. Lots of very bad language was used.
He eventually caught us up at Rachel's house, by which time Rachel, her hubby Tony and I were all 90% asleep, so not exactly scintillating company!
Thursday we went to the new Yas Water Park. The kids had a brilliant time! They did lots of scary rides and had a ball. The only poor part for them was the Q for the family ride - it was one and a half hours due to technical problems, but by the time we'd started Q'ing, we thought we may as well continue. That wasn't all bad though, as we had to climb many stairs up a very tall tower to get to the top of the ride, and climbing up one stair at time was just perfect for me - I probably wouldn't have been able to do it in less time anyway!
An early night at Claire's house, the kids were all pretty exhausted after their late night and busy day. We spent far too long at the waterpark! We got a bit lost finding Claire's new place, her directions weren't very accurate (right instead of left, that kind of thing) and Darrell was rather rude about them.
Friday we met up with Charmaine and her little girls (Steph's best friend Taylor) for lunch, then I dropped the boys at Zayed sports city to go to the Monster Truck Show. Apparently it was great, and they also went 10 pin bowling (Alex won QR100 by getting the highest score). In the meantime, I headed up to Dubai with Steph, to join Joss and Katie in their jacuzzi. Delish and wonderful. I'm not going to discuss the drive, apart from stating that after the map Darrell drew to supposedly get me there but which actually landed me in the middle of the desert, Darrell is no longer allowed to criticise anyone else's poor directions!
We had a girlie night, pedicures and pizza, and bravely waited up for the men to get home before heading to bed. Actually, we were waiting for our sons, the men could look after themselves!
Saturday we had a pork overload (thanks Barry and Joss!), loads of bacon, the full fry up. Then off to Al Ain to go...... White Water Rafting! Yes, rafting in the desert. Totally natural, of course, like the rest of the UAE. Not. Steph wasn't keen, so she did the air park - involved climbing a huge frame about 60ft high, fortunately with harness attached. Everyone had a great time at their various activities, and after a quick snack, we whizzed back to the Dubai airport. Couldn't believe that D found it without getting lost once, if I'd been driving, we'd never have got there.
Checked in OK, got through passport control OK, flight was OK, picked up our bags OK - I'm not going to tell you the story about the car keys....I think I've ripped Darrell off enough today!
Suffice to say, home safely, kids in bed not too late, back to school and SATS week for David.
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