Happy Belated Christmas!!

Sorry for the delay in Christmas photos, we had a very busy December. After returning from South Africa we swung right into Christmas preperations. How can it be Christmas without baking Grandma Louise's famous Christmas cookies? I was so excited to find a cookie press here!! I could not find all the cute decorations for the cookies (no red hots or sprinkles that look like ball ornaments) but we found enough to suffice and made beautiful cookies!! Jake is quite the baker..it is very serious business for him!!

The final result...!! Jake marked who got what cookies...he put some in a container to save for Nana and Baba!!

On Christmas Eve we were invited to our friends, Nicole and Chase's house. I met Nicole (below in the green dress) at Jake's school, ACS. We instantly connected as we realized that Jill (my sister) and her brother both live in Tustin Ranch, CA..literally around the corner from each other. Nicole has two girls the same ages as Jake and Jett, they play really well together. She had three familes over for Christmas Eve dinner and had a special gift hunt set-up for the kids. They followed notes from Santa to get to their special gifts!!

Our traditional Oswald Family Christmas Eve photo in front of the tree on Christmas Eve (in Christmas PJ"S)...

Christmas Morning...I was thrilled to wake up to an Abu Dhabi white Christmas..a thick layer of fog!!

Before the gifts were tackled..

(after)

Santa brought a trampoline..luckily we had just the right space for it!!!

Pre-Christmas..Jett's Pre-School Winter Concert...

So handsome and ready to sing!!!

Man!!... singing can get really tiring...

I hope this works...if you can view it, it is Jett's Christmas morning dance...!!!!

Overall we had a great Christmas!

South Africa III -- Cape Town!

Finally, the third installment.

In getting ready to go to South Africa and on the way there, all we heard is that we HAVE TO go to Cape Town. We did not initially plan it in our schedule. After awhile of hearing this, everywhere we went, we felt we had to go....as who knows when we would make it back to this part of the earth. So, we showed up at the airport and hoped one of the flight's out could accommodate us. I never thought we would be this adventurous (traveling with kids) but, like us they have learned to enjoy the adventure of it all...We found a flight and a hotel with no problem at all, it felt as if it were all meant to be, because it was so easy. We did have to wait at the airport for about three hours for the flight, but as you can see all the boys know how to stay busy. Thank goodness for modern technology. Many people looked, pointed and stared at us with a smile..all the boys happily playing their games, waiting for the flight to our next destination...
We arrived into Cape Town so late so we couldn't see much, but we awoke to a lovely view out of our hotel-apartment balcony...

The boys had to go check it out...

Alas..Cape Town across the bay..the clouds set on table top mountain like they were taking a rest stop to enjoy the scenery.

We first headed to the waterfront, below are statues of Nobel Prize winners...

Waterfront...

I had to take this picture in front of the San Francisco sign...the wind was crazy this day!!

The boys enjoyed looking out of this...

Hey..guess where it came from.....

Lunch from a hotdog stand..one of the many items we miss in Abu Dhabi..pork is not available when eating out. There is ONE store that sells it, you have to go through a special door in the back.

We only had two full days in Cape Town, so we decided to see the highlights on the double decker bus tour.

Headed to the top of table mountain...

At the top..it was just a tad windy!

Playing on the beach..the boys loved to chase the birds...

The wind was so feirce the sand was burning our skin, we still had fun getting carried by the wind...

Trying to knock Mommy down...

The next day..lunch in the city centre...

Local kids earning money by dancing. They moved around often as to not get caught by the police...Notice the little girl with a bandage on her foot...

The waterfront..a swinging bridge that would open for taller vessels..

The Bubbles!!!!!! Remember bubble boy? Well this is a way to turn it into an attraction.

Jake made Jett go first (to make sure it was safe.) Jake often uses Jett as his personal test dummy..Jett is so fearless he would try anything!! Here goes Jett..jumped in the bubble to get blown-up...

Here he goes...

Once Jake sees that his brother was safe, unharmed and breathing..he decided it would be okay to try...

Enjoying more street entertainers...

Getting ready to board the ferry to Robben Island...

"From the 17th to the 20th centuries, Robben Island served as a place of banishment, isolation and imprisonment. Rebel princes from present day Indonesia, convicts from the Cape, and defiant chiefs from the Eastern Cape were removed from society and brought to the Island in chains.
The notorious prison on the Island was also used to exile political prisoners of the apartheid era between the 1960s and 1991.
Today it is a World Heritage Site and museum, a poignant reminder to the newly democratic South Africa of the price some paid for freedom. " -Robben Island website

The block where Nelson Mandela was held...

Where we wanted to put Jett when he would not stop talking during the tour...
The boat ride back to the Cape Town..we sat on top and rode the waves...Happy Jake!


Well, it was worth it..we were so glad we fit it in. When we were headed to the airport early the next morning, Jake said "where are we going next?" I said, "HOME!" He said, "No I don't want to go home yet, lets go somewhere else!!"

When we landed in Abu Dhabi Jett jumped up and down and said "Yeah, we are back in Abu Dhabi!" The locals loved it, so did we!! All we could talk about on our way home was..where are we going next!! We plan to see as much of the world as we can, together, as a family....I love living in Abu Dhabi!!!!