Amelia Turns 2

Another little cutie turns 2

Happy Easter

Yet another holiday away from our family. Though we are very thankful for our friends who have become our family. This year was a bit bitter sweet as we realize that this is our last Easter with this new "family" of ours. It is the last time we will dye eggs together at Erin and Chris', see the bunny, eat brunch (Yummm Brunch), and hunt for eggs on the ambassadors lawn. Who knows where the future will take any of us but I am sure it wont be here in Jordan for Easter again. Anyways Happy Easter Everyone! Oh and If you haven't read our blog posts about our time in Jerusalem check them out. It is hard to look at this day the same after having been there and looked upon his tomb.

dyeing some eggs

So much easier to just use your hands

Enjoying the garden at Erin and Chris' house

what happened to your hands?

looking for bugs

Saying Hi to the bunny. LL was ok with high fives but that was about it

Egg Hunt!

10? I only get 10?

Trying for the family photo on the lawn. LL refused to look

The Easter Bunny visited during nap...Yes, our Easter Bunny talked to Santa and made up the difference for the old man this year.

Enjoying her first chocolate bunny.

She is an ears first kinda girl

Yum! Happy Easter!

Wadi Rum

a couple weekends ago we made another check mark on our things to do in Jordan bucket list. This time it was Wadi Rum. Again we teamed up with Jon and Jess and set out for adventure with 2 2 year olds in tow. Fair warning there were a ton of pictures taken and I widdled it down to 80 for this blog post!

We stayed at Saleh's camp and when we arrived to Wadi Rum Village Saleh invited us to stay at his house for some Tea. The girls were not as interested in the tea as they were the goats that Saleh and his family keep. The other little one in the picture is Sarah. Saleh's youngest daughter.

 We eventually loaded up our truck and headed of the payment into the desert. With our driver Saleh's Brother (SB for Short) we started our adventure at Lawrence of Arabia's spring. SB parked the truck and told us to climb up some stairs along the mountain side. There was a bit of confusion as to why were climbing and what we were looking for but we went along with it anyway. Little Lady loved all the stairs.

we drove through Wadi Rum village

heading up the trail

until all of the sudden...

There were goats everywhere!

and they didn't think twice about pooping on the trail

waiting for the goats to clear

this one was a bit shifty

some nice greenery. We must be getting close

love the views up here

another view of the red rocks. It was beautiful everywhere you turned.

a little friend we saw on our hike

The spring...while a welcome sight in the dry desert it was not as impressive as legend made it sound.

Little Lady finding rocks in the spring

eventually she couldn't stand it and jumped right in (notice the on lookers in the background)

Of course Elmo made the trip. This really is one cultured Elmo.

Joe checking out a little house at the spring...we are not sure if this is Lawrence's house or what we are guessing not but who are we to judge

Feeling the cool cool water as it drips off the rocks

Views over the valley from the spring

 After checking out the spring we made our way back to the trucks and Little Lady had her first potty break in the desert. Then we continued on taking in some amazing views.

 We eventually arrived at what can only be described as a massive sand dune and got out. We left our shoes behind as instructed and enjoyed some sand between our toes, amongst other places. SB grabbed a snowboard and quickly climbed up the dune and signaled for someone to join him. I went first (what was I thinking)

After  few pointers I was sandboarding and I did not fall

Then he says to me..."we go higher and you go faster. Let's go higher"  Then he climbs a little bit up and says here? I said sure but then he says  I need to try sand sledding and that needs to be higher still. With SB continuously telling me "no tired YELLA (let's go)" everytime I told him we could stop I eventually made it to the top of this thing.

S became bored with how long it was taking me to climb this thing. so started taking pictures of LL

After a lesson in how to sit on it he shoved me down the dune. He was right it was faster.

Unfortunately he didn't teach me how to steer.

and we have the first wipe out of the day

It really is a long way to the top. The two specks to the right are Jon and S

Jess got out the sand toys for the girls.

S takes his turn at sandboarding

only one near fall for him

He crashed on purpose to stop from landing in the dense rock at the bottom that serves as a road

"My parents are doing what?"

Some private little kid joke I guess

LL got in on the action. Not from the top. At the bottom we went about 10 ft but she liked it

Jon and Jess (sorry guys I had to include you because well...you know why) start out great with this two person sledding idea

and then...

This happened. Jess ended up with some scrapes and bruises but they were both smiling when it was done.

After Sandboarding we headed out to see some drawing on the side of the mountain.

Looks like a lot of camels to me

Then we had some lunch in the shade

Jon and S did the climb up the mountain while Jess and I stayed at the bottom with the girls. It looks like it was beautiful

 After the lunch break we went to mushroom rock.

These two are just too cute for words

tire tracks in the sand

camel tracks in the sand

silly poses in the sand

a very old Nebetean house. Little Lady claimed it as her house.

Climbing the rock that serves as the roof of this house

some flowers

Jon and S walked through the Siq while Jess and I stayed in the truck with the girls who had finally fallen asleep

Then we drove out to visit some camels

It seems all sweet and innocent when there is 2

Then there is 5

The next thing you know there is like 15 of them!

and they are eating out of your truck

and you have to make sure they don't eat the plastic

They do have nice eye lashes though

S took his turn feeding the camels

not impressed with being out with the camels at all.

 Once we finished feeding the camels and got S some sanitizer for his face (long story and I have to get copies of those pictures before I tell it) we headed to one of the natural bridges

Jess and I made it to the top

" i have no idea how we get down"

Yay!

even better. we made it down

The guys had their turn. They are at the top and the girls are at the bottom looking for their daddys.

while they didn't climb to the top they did some climbing at the bottom

view from the top

looking down from the top. Can you find the girls?

 after we left this rock bridge we went to another one.

the view from up there

little lady discovered playing with her shadow is fun

 After we left this bridge we went to one more canyon before heading to the camp for the night

walking towards the canyon. Notice who has what kid. They switched

it got a bit tight

the pools in the siq

More cave drawings

the line in the sand. it is hard to tell from here but this is where red sand meets white sand

Sunset at Saleh's camp

The camp was right at the base of one of the mountains

under this sandy tarp is our dinner

roast chicken and veggetables

Yummy!

dinner time seating

fireside entertainment

with nothing around the stars were amazing

despite the train sign we never heard a train the entire time we were here.

We had a great time. It was a full days tour. A rough nights sleep and a long right home but it was worth it and best of all Little Lady did it. She had no accidents and completed her first week dry! Then proceeded to have 4 or 5 accidents once we got home. oh well. Better luck next week.