Update on twins. They have been feeling horrible. Cash has been quiet and still, very sleepy. He’s quiet when we wake him and he stays awake only for a little bit then he wants to rest. Jake, on the other hand, has been the opposite. He hasn’t been eating or sleeping well, and we think the medicine is upsetting his stomach because he is just not happy. And he can’t seem to get settled. We went to the doctor today for a check-up and Cash is on the mend! Jake, however, has developed a chest infection. Boo. And now, they’ve passed the sickness on to me. My head is feeling achy and I have a sore throat. It really doesn’t help that we haven’t been able to get our rest. I’m hoping to go to bed by 8 tonight!

Apart from the flu, they are growing and progressing so much in just the past month! They both kind of moved past crawling and are pulling up on things. The other day, Cash pulled himself up on Mason’s box of toys and was fishing through the toys! It was so cute! Jake and Cash are also both sitting on their own. They look so much bigger and older when they are sitting upright by themselves. They have a little piano that they can sit in front of and play. They really like this. We’ve discovered Jake’s new talent; playing piano with his gums!! He still has no teeth. And when we were at the doctor last week, Ashlee asked the doctor to check his gums to see if there are any teeth close to coming in. She said no. L Poor Jake! He’s still a puddle of drool. We go through lots and lots of bibs that we decided we should start double bibbing him! Cash, on the other hand, got a 5^th tooth in!

Here's a close-up so you can see his 5th tooth! He got a third tooth on the bottom!

In other news, I jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon. It’s already proved to be very dangerous! Too addicting! I resisted so far but had to give in! And now, I can't wait to try some of the DIY projects! You can check out my boards here: http://pinterest.com/jenleigh55/. Fair warning, you could spend all day on this website, so procede with caution!

Well, the twins have the flu. Mason has been home from school all week because he wasn't feeling well. Ashlee took him to the doctor yesterday and he has a sort of sinus infection. He also has chronic allergies so that doesn't help. And we had a dust storm last week which, again, doesn't help. After Ashlee got home from the doctor, Cash was running a fever. Both of the twins have been a little extra fussy because they are teething and have had runny noses. Yesterday was the first day they were running fevers though. So we had an appointment today. We had to wake Cash up from his morning nap and he was really lethargic, burning up and running a 102 temperature. Ashlee debated taking him to the emergency room but we just went to the appointment. The doctor said she could tell right away that Cash had the flu. Just in the 15-20 minutes we were there, Jake's symptoms started getting worse and turns out he has the flu too. The good news is that they caught it early and can give them Tamiflu which will shorten the duration of the flu. So, if you don't catch it early, a fever could last about two weeks. But since we caught it in the first couple days, the twins can be on Tamiflu and the fever will only last about 5 days. So pray for somewhat good days the next couple days and pray that they don't get worse. Also pray that the older boy, Mason, doesn't catch the flu and get more sick than he already is. And last, but not least, pray that Rod, Ashlee, and I don't get sick.

Well, this Saturday was an adventure! I made a list, recently, of all the things I wanted to do in Dubai before I leave. I have a few friends here in Dubai so I asked each of them if they wanted to go with me to a couple places! That way I’m not dragging the same person along with me! This Saturday, I enlisted the help of my friend Brian. He’s from Texas and has been over here for about a year and a half. First, he took me to the Gold souk. It’s right by Dubai Creek so we parked on the opposite side and took a dhow boat across the creek and made our way into the souk.

It’s called the gold souk because most of the merchants sell gold. They also have spices, clothing, shoes, knick-knacks, and pashminas. It’s also known for knock-off purses, wallets, watches, and sunglasses. They come out on the main part of the souk and ask if you want purses or watches. Just like places in New York, you follow them to the back alley, up a couple flights of stairs, and into a small room.  Brian said we had to experience this part of Dubai, and he was looking for a briefcase so we decided to follow one of the guys. The first place didn’t have what we wanted so the guy took us to another room. Another fail, so the guy took us to another guy who took us to another place. Fail. I think we went to a total of 6 or 7 places and none of them had what Brian wanted. But we got to talk to some of the guys and learn about the culture. There was a cop who eyed Brian and I and sort of followed us around. We were worried that we’d get thrown in jail, because it’s not quite legal! But one guy told us that the cops don’t care and the cops often come to them for watches!! So the souk was a success! We worked up an appetite walking around the souk so Brian took me to a Pakistani place called Ravi. First let me say, I’m think I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to indoor and outdoor activities, but when it comes to food, I’m not quite daring enough! But I said okay! I had no clue what to order but we got a couple things and I, surprisingly, didn’t hate it! It didn’t become my new favorite place, but it was good. After lunch, we went to the Antiques Museum. You can buy trinkets, t-shirts, perfumes, lanterns, and lots of things for the home. Then we made our way to the marina area where Brian lives. They have a street called the walk that goes along the beach and has lots of hotels, restaurants, and businesses. It’s the cool place to hang out on the weekends! Apparently, a lot of the Emirates just drive down the walk and show off their Ferraris, Porsches, etc. Brian said if you sit on the walk long enough, you’ll see the same cars come back around! After seeing the walk, we picked up Brian’s roommate, Matt, and made our way down to Abu Dhabi to see the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque! It’s a little over an hour drive. We got to the Grand Mosque. And it sure is grand! In fact, it’s around the size of five football fields!

If a guy was wearing shorts, then he had to wear the white cover called a dishdash, but all the women have to cover up in the abaya. We took one picture of me in the abaya, but I won't share it with you because I looked like the grim reaper!! Here's a better one!

Here are a few facts about the mosque:

• Named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who is fondly thought of as the father of the UAE.
• It’s a construction to ‘unite the world’, using artisans and materials from countries such as Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, Turkey, Iran, China, Greece and the UAE.
• More than 3,000 workers and 38 renowned contracting companies took part in the construction of the Mosque.
• It can accommodate 40,960 worshippers – 7,126 in the main prayer hall; 1,960 in the open prayer hall; 980 female worshippers in the open prayer hall female section; 22, 729 in the open Sahan (courtyard); 682 in the main prayer hall entrance and 784 in the mosque’s main hall entrance.
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• The main prayer hall features the world’s largest chandelier under the main dome. 
• The Mosque’s seven gold-colored chandeliers, from Germany, feature thousands of Swarovski crystals from Austria and some glasswork from Italy, and cost about US$8.2 million.
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• The main prayer hall features the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet.

Here are a few more pictures!

 

This past Saturday was an American-like day for me! The church that I have been going to here was having a BeachFest! They had a nice spread of food and we had a beach volleyball tournament.

Each small group from the church had a team. I was on the green team! And we won! Go green!

The photographer wanted to get us jumping in the air! Ana, another girl, caught us a little early!

I had a great time and it was nice to be out in the sun at the beach and meet other people from the church. And it was the perfect day to be at the beach! It was about 80degrees and light wind! I didn’t get all the way into the water, I just stuck my feet in, but it was nice! After the beach, my friend Amy, another friend Natasha and I went to a baseball game! Amy is the children and student’s minister at the church and one of her students was the one playing. They were actually called the Texas Rangers! So I went to a Rangers baseball game in Dubai!! lol. It was great baseball weather and great company!

                                            Natasha                 Me                     Amy

Downtown Dubai in the back!

We kept the American theme, or Texas theme, going as we listened to country music on our walk to the mall. Then we continued with dinner at Texas Roadhouse! After dinner we went and saw the movie, The Vow. And we all had the caramel/salted popcorn at the movies! We really didn’t care which movie we saw, we just all wanted to popcorn!!! It’s so good!

It turned out to be a great day off! That day, I didn't feel so far from home! Sunday I also got to see these cute faces!!

 Jackson and Georgia!

Remy had to get in too!

I got to Skype with my sister-in-law a couple times this week. And one of those times, my niece Piper joined her. I think the whole idea of video chat threw her off. It took her a little bit to warm up, but she finally started talking to me! Piper was there on Sunday too, I think she thought been there, done that and didn't feel the need to talk to me again! Even Jackson and Georgia were a little shy and quiet! I miss them all so much so it was great to get to talk to them and see their faces!

I’ve shared before how different the culture is here in Dubai. I shouldn’t be surprised because we're half-way around the world. It’s been interesting to learn about the cultures of the different types of people here. One thing that has really amused me is the reaction to seeing the twins. Everybody is so fascinated by them. Many stop, smile and talk to them and try to get them to smile! Some have even taken pictures of them! I've been told they don’t see many twins over here, so when they do, they get really excited!

Jake and Cash! You can see Cash's teeth! Two on the bottom and two coming in on the top!

Jake's turn!

 Another thing that has surprised me is that people are very quick to come over and ask questions and even hold the twins. One day we were in a store and Cash was getting fussy so I had taken him out of the stroller and was holding him. One of the employees came over and practically took him out of my arms! I've never seen this happen in the states. I know for me, I've never done that because I’m a stranger and I think it would seem weird. But over here, it happens all the time! And we get asked the same three questions. Are they twins? What are their names? And how old are they? Several people have asked if they are a boy and a girl. People seem to think that Cash is a girl. Even dressed in blue! Another question we get is if Jake is older than Cash!! Lol. No. Just because he’s a little bigger doesn’t mean that he’s older! It’s funny to hear some of the questions that people ask about twins! I’m used to the questions because I’ve gotten them my whole life. Are you twins? How far apart are you? And people seem to think it’s funny to ask when my birthday is and then ask Rachel the same question, like it’s going to be different. Sometimes I just want to tell them the day before or day after, just to throw people off!! All the questions about twins, reminds me of when Rachel and I were at church camp in the 6^th grade. It was the first year in the youth group so it was the our first time at church camp! Our youth group was in a room one evening for our group time. We were all sitting in a circle and were waiting for something. Maybe for our youth leader to get his guitar or something, I can’t remember. We were just waiting. And everybody was pretty quiet. Until a guy, who was in high school, looked at Rachel and me and asked how long we had been twins! He wasn’t serious; he just did it for a good laugh. But I’m pretty sure I turned bright red and let out an awkward laugh! Good times!

It's been interesting taking care of twins. It's given me a glimpse into what my mom dealt with with Rachel and I. It's definitely not an easy job! My mom sent me some pictures of Rachel and me when we were little. You should feel lucky that I’m sharing these with you!

 Good luck with trying to figure out which is which! I don't even know!

 We can make a game out of it! Try and guess which is which!

 I think I'm in the pink in this one! I've never liked having my picture taken!!

This past week I've been a little camera crazy! So this post is mainly pictures. A glimpse into Dubai! The Dubai Mall, the Address Hotel, the Souk Al Bahar, and the Burj Khalifa all surround the Dubai Fountains.

                 The Address Hotel                                                       Souk Al Bahar

The Burj Khalifa from the other side of the fountain

 The Grove is an indoor/outdoor shopping corridor in the Dubai Mall

 This is a gold souk in the Dubai Mall

  

Dubai's Longest Catwalk at the Promenade at the Dubai Mall.

 The kid's area at Al Safa park

Mason on the go-cart!

 

Notice that the signs have Arabic on top and then English translation on the bottom. This is true for all signs in Dubai. Makes it easy for visitors!

They were playing soccer (or futbol!) barefoot!

Don't let Cash and Jake fool you, they loved the park!

Mason loves the park for this reason!

Okay so here in Dubai, everywhere you turn, you will find construction! They don’t work on one project at a time; they do them all at once. Ashlee said that, at one point, Dubai had half of the cranes in the world! We don’t think it was literally half but, I’m sure, it was close!

This is a picture from the bottom of the Burj Khalifa. I know, you’re thinking, more Burj Khalifa! I just liked the picture and thought I would share!