Etihad Business Class

When you sit you get a cute limited edition goodie bag. Mine was from Madrid. M's was from Sydney. Comes with travel essentials and where to go in your city.

My cheese platter and yummy wine. 

 M making silly faces

Preparing for safari to Africa

A dream of mine has been to see as many animals as possible in their natural habitat. As we are lucky enough to live so close to Africa and the Indian Ocean we can do just that.

In June we will travel to Tanzania and Zanzibar.

We will be on a 5 day safari then a 3 day beach trip.

We have booked with World Tours Safaris.

Tips: 

Wear neutral colors

Take malaria tablets

Bring bug spray

Bring camera

Pack light

Our flight is 6 hours direct on Etihad. 

Beach Day

Finally we packed our beach essentials into the A3 & headed to the sea. It is only a 15 minute drive from the villa through some road construction. Upon arriving we were shocked to see only 2 other people and further down the coast.

This was Gizmo's first beach trip. As he is 8 & we have lived in a coastal state I feel like a bad puppy mama.

He had a blast chasing his ball.

I decided I would put him in a little over ankle deep water and let him swim. Cutest thing ever. A few times he swam in a circle.

Even when I held him above the water he was still trying to swim. Cutest thing!

Next time I will take sandwiches as this was a trial I only had our beach mats and bag of toys.

Brazil Butt Lift...a few years late starting

workout, get fit, eat right, stay active.

All great things if you have the time, energy or money. In 2011, I think, I bought Brazil Butt Lift. I am a slender girl but wanted tone and definition like I had in high school while doing sports. It is now 2016 and I tried my first workout called #bumbum . The trainer is said to train the VS Angels to prep for the Fashion shows.

The workout is very fast paced. It was difficult to follow at first about midway through when he starts changing camera Angels and lunges to jumps to African dance. Overall very fun, active and reminded me of prep for dance or cheerleading exercises mixed in.

Since living in the Middle East for 2 years I have gained 20 pounds. For me that is unheard of as growing up Drs tried to fatten me up and nothing worked. Hot dogs, double cheeseburgers and cases of Mountain Dew. Large bowls of ice cream and lots and lots of cheese. All it took was Middle Eastern foods heavy in breads, drinks high in fruit (sugars) & a job where I spend a portion of time driving in my car.

My goal by September 1 is to be back to a comfortable weight and have a toned  stomach and bum bum haha.

I won't post my "before" picture but I have it to guide me to success.

Beach body is who makes P90X which M has been doing off and on for years now. I think he's on like a 3rd version.

Beach body wants you to eat their diet plan. Use their workout after drink mix and go on their website. My goal is to try it on my own and own pace to ensure I am happy with my results.

In the pack you get great tools to help guide your meal plan. Track your fitness and measure your body. I left all that in our storage locker in the States. 

Storm 2016

Rain began followed by hail storms.

Thursday we saw winds up to 90mph..trees were ripped from their roots. Road signs thrown into the streets. Sand tossed everywhere.

We lost power as well as any room with a window saw flooding.

Schools were closed Wednesday and Thursday. Roads were impassable.

Emirates Zoo Abu Dhabi

While looking through things to do in Abu Dhabi we saw Emirates Zoo. This zoo is in Shahama about 20 minutes from our house (as is everything). The cost per adult is 30dhs. The Entertainer voucher is B1G1.

They boasted to have African wildlife, Desert Life and Aquatic animals.

We saw many monkeys.

We fed a zebra and tiny animal which I do not know its name.

Then....

We had a cage between us Emu this time.

 Word to the wise for kids no running and no smoking....oh signs of the Middle East.

This is my future farm pet. She's fancy!!

Umm???

At the end when we saw caged cheetahs being sprayed with rain water and they did not understand where it was coming from we remembered why we do not like zoos. Really sad.

They had lions and tigers as well. Such amazing animals. I do not know where they get these animals if they are from customs seizures, pets or trapped. If they were all rescues I would feel different but I can't support the idea.

This week....

Homemade pizza

Turned out delicious.

The new spring flowers: Went by the Mina Flower souk downtown. I got daisies, hyanthesis, hydrangeas

So pretty.