The past few weeks

Meet our newest member of the family...

Ah, yes, Olympus Stylus Tough Marshall. Isn't she lovely?

I've been waiting for this little baby for quite sometime... many hours spent online researching, reading reviews and forums, all for the purpose of finding the perfect thin, high quality, underwater digital point and shoot camera that I can keep in my purse at all times to capture whatever, whenever. While it's hard for me to envision taking pictures with anything but my beloved SLR, the fact of the matter is it is just too big and bulky to take everywhere with us. The Olympus has so far proven to be a great little purchase, and has captured plenty of happy moments from the past few weeks...

Happy Birthday Zack!
We celebrated our friend Zack's birthday at Cactus Cantina last weekend. Very fun evening spent chatting with friends and munching on chips and salsa.







Dubai Mall Date Night
Last Sunday we headed over to the Dubai Mall for a little impromptu date. Oh. My. Goodness. I LOVE this mall! I don't mean to sound shallow or dorky, but I just love going there... I think it's because of the massive bookstore. And the aquarium. And the Taco Bell... =)
Anyways, we spent a good hour in the travel section of Kinokuniya Book World. This book store is seriously incredible! Out of this world, even. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed, and I wouldn't dare risk being banned from this mammoth reader's utopia for a photo, so I don't have any photos to share. But trust me, this place is AMAZING! Literally takes about 2 minutes to walk from one end of the store to the other, without stopping... it just keeps spiraling around... thousands and thousands and thousands of books lining the shelves... oh, I love it there! So, we snuggled up on a bench, flanked by stacks of our chosen books, and flipped through pages and pages of brilliant photographs of far off lands, and dreamed of future adventures. We ended up purchasing a few goodies. For planning our spring trip to Bali (and to learn more about this incredible island we aspire to call home someday) we found this little gem:


I have seen the large eyewitness informational books, but didn't realize they had a travel line. They are awesome! So many incredible facts and details.

We also picked up and Eyewitness Tunisia book for our sweet friends, Adam and Kelli, who are leaving us after this year (sniff, sniff) and moving on to Tunisia. While I am so excited for them, I am so very sad knowing that I won't have Kelli to work with next year... she's on my grade 2 team, and she is wonderful! The Eyewitness book did help with my sadness a bit, as it got me very excited about visiting them=). Tunisia looks awesome! Hmmm... Eid 2010 trip, perhaps?

This little guy made it home with us as well...


We have decided to take a 2-3 week trip to Peru at the beginning of the summer. I am so excited already! It's been announced that 2010/2011 school start date is about 3 weeks later than usual, so we decided that it would be alright to take some of that extra summer time and go on a little adventure=).

Lastly, we found a very interesting travel book that lists all sorts of o the beaten path travel spots, and offers unique and sustainable travel ideas, such as traveling on cargo ships... interesting... Looking forward to spending more time in the pages of this fun book!


After our lovely tour through the travel section at the bookstore, we went to the newly-opened Rainforest Cafe for dinner. I have been eagerly anticipating eating at this restaurant, ever since I heard it was opening. I have happy memories of going to the Rainforest Cafe in Seattle, years ago with my Great Auntie Goldie and Uncle Glen=). The restaurant had wonderfully festive jungle decor- although not geographically or zoologically accurate, reports this zoologist=). I was a little bummed out that it never rained inside the restaurant while we were there- that had been my favorite memory from my first visit years ago. Oh well. The food was yummy, and I got to snuggle up in a booth with my favorite person in the world. Can't complain about that!






Cool tabletop, huh?


After dinner we walked up to Chili's and devoured a yummy, gooey, delicious molten chocolate cake. Why not, right?! It was date night=).



The Chili's restaurant backs right up to the mall aquarium, so we meandered along the glass slowly, and watched the beautiful rays and schools of fish glide past. It was a lovely end to a lovely evening. Impromptu date nights are the best!






Avatar Date Night with the Iverson's
We spent most of last Friday reclining in lounge chairs beside our apartment pool. The much needed rest time was nothing short of glorious! Lacey joined us downstairs and we decided to go on a double date that evening to see Avatar in 3-D. We went to Apres for dinner and drinks, and then donned our very stylish 3-D glasses and spent 3 hours completely captivated by the film. What a movie! When I walked out of that theater, my head was spinning. Brilliant scenery, spectacular computer graphics, and a few well-timed jabs at some developing nations who tend to press their wants and values on other nations... that's all I'll say about that=). It was a fantastic evening! We're planning to go see Avatar in 3-D again, but this time at the IMAX theater!










Dinner with Donny, Natasha, and Jazlyn!
Last weekend we spent Saturday evening with some of our favorite Dubai people. Donny made a scrumptious shepard's pie for dinner. The weather was lovely, so we ate outside on their beautiful patio. The rest of the evening was spent snuggled up on the sofas, chatting, and watching a football match. Thanks again for a wonderful evening, guys!


Isaac and Jazlyn having a little snuggle time=)


How precious is that?!


Cheering Isaac on!


Dubai Ultimate Championship

Yesterday we spent the day on the ASD field for the Dubai Ultimate Frisbee Championship. Isaac played, and I cheered=). It was a really fun event, with teams from neighboring countries and emirates participating. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and the atmosphere was relaxed. After the tournament a bunch of us headed down to the old sailing club for dinner and drinks.

I decided just to leave the big camera gear at home and let Olympus do her thing. I'm getting used to the idea that not every picture needs to be a masterpiece. I didn't realize how small everyone would look on that big field though, so I pointed Isaac out for you=).


The newly re-named Burj al Khalifa in the background



Didn't make it to the championship this year, but they put on a good show for us! Go team!



One of Kelli's students made this for her. How cute!












Cutest frisbee player I know! =)


Big smiles with Lee and Kelli


They're sooooo excited! Although Adam looks more startled...


This is the Wes pose





A quick snuggle with my Safa before bed. You can tell how completely thrilled he is!

So, there you have it. The Marshall highlights of the last few weeks. We are off to spend a little time by the pool before getting some lesson planning done, more senior portrait photo editing, and then a family photo shoot at the beach. Happy Saturday to you all!