Hello from Dubai! I am going to start this entry talking about our ‘real’ life and what we do on a daily basis. Then I’ll move onto the Greece part! We have had a great few months with the start of school. Molly is busy with golf lessons, yoga, and Girl Scouts, and she was elected to be on the Student Council for the elementary school. She is very busy in 4th grade with many more projects than she has ever had. She thinks she is a little ‘too’ busy!
Caroline is doing ballet again, enjoying second grade very much, especially math, and we are looking into piano lessons because has recently said that she thinks she would love it!
Lucy is in ballet as well, and enjoying Girl Scouts with her sister Caroline. However, Lucy is happiest when she is at home playing with her sisters, and even better….by herself. Ha!
Wesley was recently promoted and is currently traveling in London, and then again to Houston for several weeks. He was excited he got to ride the London Eye!
I have volunteered too much this year! HA. I am leading 2 Girl Scout troops, a co-leader of the Moms on the Move group at their school (which is scheduling very fun monthly outings for all of us), as well as helping teachers with Scholastic books.
Brownie Troop 54!
Dubai turns you into a hoarder. If you find an American food item you like, you had better buy them all, because chances are you will never again locate that product!
Play dates are a daily part of our lives – Caroline here with her bestie, Jude.
I arranged a date tasting, and presentation for Moms on the Move, at the largest date manufacturer in this region, Bateel. It was so fun! Can you believe there are over 2000 different varieties and they all taste different? AND their health benefits beat that of a banana!
My favorite volunteer job is acting as travel agent for my family! We were lucky enough to travel to Greece during our week break celebrating the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Adha “Feast of the Sacrifice.”
Molly has recently been very into the Percy Jackson novels, which are a modern twist on old Greek mythology. So, needless to say, she was very into the fact that all of the history we saw in this country had something to do with the Greek Gods (the Olympians), especially her favorite God, Athena.
Upon arrival of our hotel, this is the terrace with an amazing view of the Acropolis (the hill) and the Parthenon on top.
We met up with some very good friends from Dubai one night for dinner before they left for their 10 day cruise.
Gorgeous view of The Acropolis from our hotel. You can see the Parthenon on the hill, lit up, way back over Molly’s head.
The crew – with our friends The Ulmers and The Ristrophs out for a great dinner at Orizontes!
A view from the restaurant at night – stunning!
In Plaka, the charming shopping area on our way walking to the Acropolis.
Girls with Caroline Ristroph at the museum.
One of the copies of the Athena columns on Athena’s temple.
The theater
With Mary Claire and Caroline at the theater.
The rocky hill to the right is where Paul first preached about Christianity to the Greeks.
Temple of Hephaesteon, currently one of the most preserved temples of the Greek Gods.
On our way up to see the Parthenon, temple of Nike and Athen’s temple.
Molly in front of her very favorite Greek God’s temple, Athena.
See the amazing detail of the Parthenon.
Yay – we’re here!
We were so lucky to have traveled with Tiffany and Kevin Ristroph and their girls, Mary Claire and Caroline.
Athena’s Temple – you can see on the left side…those columns are shaped like the greek goddesses. In my opinion, the prettiest of the temples.
Another beautiful view of Athens on the other side.
In Plaka, listening to the sounds of a Greek street band.
Charming streets of Athens.
Caroline!
On our way to dinner – Hotel Central across the street is where we stayed.
Can’t get enough photos of the Acropolis lit up at night.
Our hotel in Santorini! One of the most amazing views we’ve ever seen.
Our villa looking up toward the main part of the hotel. You can see Wesley reading his book where we ate breakfast every morning.
Our villa and a gorgeous view we could not get enough of.
- Ia (one of the towns on Santorini where the blue cathedrals are) at night!
Typical Santorini!
Beautiful everywhere you look!
Watching the sun set before dinner.
Wesley and Lucy on their way down the steep sidewalks of Ia.
The black beach…we didn’t wear our suits because it was a bit too cold to swim. However, the girls didn’t care and got wet anyways.
One of our favorite days in Santorini at the black beach.
In Fira, about to ride the donkeys up to the top! Caroline & Molly
In Fira, another town after the donkey ride. Caroline with Molly.
At the very tip of the island! Lucy and Molly.
Amazing sunsets – visiting a local winery in Santorini.
The wind was crazy the day we left! Hilarious photos.
Great photo, but mainly because you can see how incredibly windy it was. This was cracking us all up!
As you can see, we had a marvelous time. From the small part of Greece we saw, we absolutely loved it. The people are so warm and nice, and we did not see one ounce of downturn or economic struggle – the places we were we bustling with business and tourism (and this is the low season!)
We hope everyone is doing great. We are missing Texas this time of year because of nice fall weather, football season (I never thought I would say that!) and pumpkins! However, the girls do get to go trick or treating next week, have Halloween parties at their school, and we have plans for pumpkin carving and Halloween cookie making. Lucy has been hard at work making decorations for our house, which of course are WAY better than store bought ones!
We look forward to our family visiting this year! My brother Bill and his family come in December, my dad hopes to come early 2014, Wes’s parents also hope to come, and my sister plan on coming in April! We can’t wait to show everyone the great things (and not so great things) about Dubai!
Until next time….with photos from Halloween (2 voo doo dolls, and 1 zombie princess), and my girl’s trip to India, Nov. 21-25.
Vestals in Dubai 