COUSINS!

There is nothing quite as exciting in our house as a visit from the cousins!  Their arrival - be it three days or three months since the last visit - is always greeted with war cries of "COOOUUUSSSINNNNNNSSSSSS!"  For those of you who have not met the characters in question - our visitors were Augusto's middle brother Marcos, his wife Amanda, and their kids Molly (6 1/2) and Matt (just turned 4).  And of course you have all met Francis - Augusto's youngest brother and our resident "manny" (that would be a man-nanny, if you need translation).

We are so thrilled that they braved the 17 hour plane flight to come visit!  We had a week packed full of desert adventures! Check out some of the highlights:

A desert safari, inluding "Dune Bashing" (a nausea inducing 4X4 ride over the desert dunes), camel riding, belly dancers and Arabic food:

Here I am in the bashing vehichle.  And yes.  I am concentrating on not barfing:

Obligatory Camel Shot:

Matty working it out with the Belly Dancer:

 

And making friends with a Falcon:

 

 

A trip to Old Dubai to visit the fish market, spice souk, textile souk, gold souk and to ride the Abra (water taxi) across the creek:

We got a tinsy bit lost, but that was OK because Francis cleverly pointed out the "You are Here" red dot on the map - which was written entirely in Arabic.

 

Some good times at Aquaventure - the water park at the Atlantis:

A dinner with the full crew - Bryant kids make 8 (Lilly stayed dry)

Lots of beach time collecting critters:

Some relaxing (and my niece knows how to work it!)

Lots of great food, and even some Shisha (the giant bong/pipe thing).  Marc and Frany tried this at a restaurant with the kids and were entertaining them endlessly with smoke rings and other tricks.  Seemed like a good idea until they all wanted to try it and one even said "That is so cool".  Oops. 

A trip to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi - the largest mosque outside of Mecca.  It is REQUIRED that the women go in FULL burka.  And when I mean full - that means not one scrap of hair showing.  I almost caused an international incident when my head wrap slipped back on my head, revealing my hair.  The blonde hair against the black burka acted like a beacon to security, who came racing over to beg me to cover my head.  Oops again.  Looking good, Auntie Amanda!

And yes, that is me holding hands with the kids.  And that is as close to seeing me in full burka as you are going to get, because it is not pretty.

It was a fantastic week, and the girls miss their cousins dearly.  In closing, I'll let Frany and Amanda show you their feelings about Dubai:



We will miss you Auntie, Uncle and Cousins!  Can't wait to see you at home!