Bye Bye Granny and Grandad

Since moving abroad over 7 years ago, I remember all the goodbyes to my mum and dad so clearly. Goodbyes in Singapore on the way to the UK to live. Goodbyes in Thailand when I met my mum for a mother/daughter trip. Goodbyes when Stu and I went back for a holiday to NZ by ourselves and with Oscar and Bailee when they were 11 months old. The hardest goodbye was probably that when my parents left after meeting our 6-week-old twins for the first time and staying with us in England for a few weeks. We had another goodbye from them in England when they were around 16 months old and today it was goodbye at Dubai Airport after they stayed with us for Christmas and met Maple for the first time. Goodbyes suck... I wish they didn't have to happen. All I can be grateful for is that the reason they hurt so bad is that I have a great family, I had a loving upbringing and we care about each other a lot. Ironically I hope goodbyes with my children will be just as difficult (But not as many!) Life as an expat sure has it's drawbacks.

Stu went back to work yesterday. The rest of us decided to take a ride on the Palm Monorail today. At the moment, it is just a tourist attraction that only stops at two stops for people to hop on and off. We boarded at Atlantis. Oscar is 96cm and Bailee 92cm so I am not sure how they managed to appear shorter than the red tape as the free threshold is 90cm, but Oscar and Bailee managed to scrape through....

We see this train go past our apartment building every day so it was great to finally ride it. The views are fantastic. I have never seen the fronds and crescents of The Palm Jumeirah that we live on so clearly before. The shape is magnificent! Bailee and Oscar loved looking out the window and as predicted, were so excited to ride the train!

After that, mum got a couple more date gifts from our favourite shop Bateel. We went to the beach for some relaxing and lunch at the Beach Club restaurant. Following that was just packing and getting ready for the flight. Stu and I took mum and dad to the airport, had a coffee with them there and waved goodbye. I hope they take a bit more time out for themselves this year, learn to relax easier and enjoy all that they have worked so hard for as they deserve it.