Christmas Trip 2014 (part 1)

Part 1 of our Christmas 2014 Trip consists of me taking Unicorn, Ladybug, and Monkey to Arizona to visit their grandparents so Hubby and I can go on our 10 year Anniversary cruise.

On December 9 we headed to Abu Dhabi to begin our trip. We stopped at the new Yas Mall and wandered around for a while and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Then we headed to the airport at around 9pm. Our flight wasn't until 2:45am the next day but Hubby needed to get back to Al Ain (about an hour and a half drive) and work the next morning. The kids and I went through the first security area and waited for check-in for our flight to open. We were still sitting there when Hubby texted to say that he made it home safely! After we checked in we went through passport control and went to wait in the terminal. At this point Monkey was exhausted and finally fell asleep.

Since you have to go through security a second time, to get to the gate, we had to try to wake Monkey up. He would NOT wake up. I had to hold him up and push him (gently) through the metal detector and the security guy had to catch him as he came through. It was quite entertaining. The sweet ladies that were getting ready to help us board the flight saw me struggling with him and let me sit in their nice comfy chairs until it was time to board. They also had me board first (been a long time since I have pre-boarded a flight).

The flight was fine and we had some time in the London airport to find some food. Monkey was really excited to have pancakes and I was thrilled to have Eggs Benedict!! Can you say HAM?!?

The little play area in one of the Family Lounges at the London airport.

After London we had a quick stop in Dallas. So quick that we barely had time to get through customs and recheck our bags and get to our gate...just in time for them to announce a gate change...to the other side of the freaking city, I mean airport! Monkey was not very happy as we had to pass a McDonald's on the way and he was starving and we didn't have time to stop...or so we thought. Once we got to our new gate we had to wait to board (of course)! This made for an even more frustrated Monkey! Thankfully the flight was uneventful and we were not too late into Phoenix on the 10th.

Dec. 11-14 the kids and I visited with family and friends and also walked the Gilbert Temple grounds. I couldn't get a really good photo of the kids because either the sun was in their eyes or they were freezing in the shade!

On the 15th I headed back to the UAE to go on a cruise with my hubby! The kids remained in Arizona with grandparents until I returned in January. My flight back was a nice long trip with a decent lay-over in London. I knew about the long lay-over in advance so I had booked a hotel room and purchased tickets to see WICKED on the 16th! It was so awesome.

I arrived home in Abu Dhabi the night of the 17th, spent the 18th repacking and sleeping, went to our Branch Christmas Party and then drove back to Abu Dhabi to start our Anniversary Adventure in Italy.  Until next time!