An Abstract Series

I love turning my camera on and finding pictures that Yaya took without me knowing.

Here is her most recent abstract series:

Lilah and Henry

Yesterday I got to see not just one of my favorite little people on the planet, but two.  Yes two!  It made my day and filled my week with joy!

Here they are: Lilah and Henry!!!  (They make the best faces!)

You Get More Than You're Paying For...

That's for sure.  Every time I venture into a mall here, I go with that expectation.  Currently, Dubai is celebrating Dubai Shopping Festival which makes the above statement even more true.

This is what I saw the other week when I was at the mall:

A Drumline and Light Show.

Definitely more than I paid for since I was just stopping by to get a pair of socks...

Valentine's Day

Even though none of us are really big on Valentine's Day here, it was important to celebrate the occasion with a few honored traditions this past weekend.

The first one of those traditions was.... Valentine's SHOEBOXES!

I helped Aliza and Norah decorate them.  (If you see Yaya or Norah- Don't tell them these shoeboxes were meant to house all of the Valentines that people gave them... because they didn't get any, but at least they have shoeboxes with holes at the top... just in case.)

Yaya's had a very nice garden theme.

And Norah's had a very nice monster theme, but as you can see she got a little bit distracted and started decorating her baby with the stickers instead.

But then we got back on track...

And of course the second honored tradition is a rose and a valentine from my father:

Gig knows how to treat his ladies!

I'm sure that rose was actually for my mum, not me...  but I wouldn't say that to him of course.

Suddenly, during the second tradition something unexpected happened:

Baba and Gig started singing...

"I've Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher

Baba even had jingle bells in her hand...

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Moments Like These...

that you want to capture forever.

Here's more of Norah's second birthday party!!!

J-Town showed up in style and alertness...

And so did some of our friends, The Jones.

I don't think they were counting on the party being so much fun though:

Sam especially had no idea, until Yaya and Liam started jumping on him.

But Sam made it out okay and got to see Norah blow out her candles!

And everyone ate cake!

Including Yaya, she needed it after she used up all her energy jumping on Sam.

Proof...

That the little meerkat turned two:

Birthday Cake!

Remarkable Resemblance

I was looking through my Al Ain zoo pictures this morning and found a remarkable resemblance...

These meerkats look like another little meerkat in my life:

Who turned 2 years old yesterday!

Just a Camel Ride...

What?...  Don't you see this everyday!?

Aliza: The Proud Mommy

When Judson was born, Aliza got a newborn baby from some friends here.  Here's the happy family:

She's so happy that she's singing with her eyes closed.

(About a Boy anybody?)

Yaya was so excited about him, as any proud mother would be.

She was so proud that she wanted to record many first moments.

Here are some of them that I captured too:

Yaya capturing her baby's first time visiting with Grandpop.

Or maybe she's capturing her baby's first time laying on a table at a fast food restaurant....

I'm not sure.

Here's the actual photo that she took.

It really says everything.

Yaya and Baby riding on Grandpop's shoulders.

We'll have to see how this situation will work as both of them grow at an alarming rate.

Camel Racing

On the way to Al Ain, we stopped to see the camel tracks.

Not these kind of tracks, even though they were all over the place, the Racing Tracks.

The men in the pictures train and run the camels everyday.  When we stopped by, that's exactly what they were doing!   But luckily some of them were taking a break so I could get some good pictures.

The white robots that you see on the backs of the camels are the jockeys.

Coincidence?

I don't think so.

I see this sweet sign every time I exit the parking garage of Deira City Center:

Mum, it's meant to be.

Geckos in Flowery Fields

We have taken a brief hiatus from art classes due to the excitement of our lives around here lately.  But I found these pictures Aliza painted a few weeks ago and had to share them with you.

Aliza is particularly fond of geckos and wanted to paint one.

This one is a little more colorful than the geckos we find on the villa walls outside.

It reminds me of a veiled chameleon.

This is a field of flowers, made with crayon and water colors.

I like looking at it and imagining myself laying in the midst of all of those colorful flowers.... on green grass!

A New Shovel

My dad showed me his new snow shovel over skype this weekend.  It has probably come in handy with how much snow my parents have been getting in Connecticut recently.

He didn't smile in the first picture, as you can see.

So I had to take this one.

Much better smile Gig.

More J-Town Fever

How many people can you stick in a hospital room....

We found out this week as everyone had J-Town fever.

Can you find Judson in this picture?

Grandpop Watson and J-Town

Donita and Judson

Grandma Watson and J-Town

This is Joshua Jones.  

If anyone has experience holding babies, it's this guy.  He has three little siblings to prove it.

* J-Town fever is contagious, but will not do anything to you except make you always want to be around Judson.  There should be no fear of falling ill with this fever.  You will be okay... maybe.

J-Town