April Madness

April has been a very busy month!  Which has caused me to be away from blogging.  I am so sad that I have missed some key events.  Here is a little summary of our last 6 weeks.

1. Work - We do work hard!
2. Bryan went on a 2 day whale shark expedition. (Didn't see any but had fun!)
3. Bryan and the boys went to Dubai for three nights to meet Thomas and Kyle.  They only saw Thomas for about an hour because his little body couldn't handle the time change. :(  They had fun sledding on the indoor mountain, seeing the world's tallest building, and going to the waterslides.
4. I turned 40!  It is tough going to the next decade!  The only good thing that I can see about it so far is it puts me in a new age bracket when I race.  My birthday consisted of working, exploring a different compound , and my first Lebanese dinner, which was wonderful! My students also sang to me in English and Arabic.  It was great!
5. Bryan and I have been diving in the red sea!  It is incredible and I will blog some pictures soon.  It is like swimming in a fish tank!
6. Bryan was accepted into a University and will be getting his teaching certificate next year!  This will be his last career change!  
7. Don't forget we work hard!

However, today's blog is dedicated to our Desert Picnic!  We joined about 12 other families and caravanned about 40 minutes from here where we were able to drive like crazy in the sand!  We happened to pick a day with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, but we made it work and really enjoyed our experience.  We drove over sand dunes and each vehicle had to master the challenge of climbing to the ridge.  We then found a great place to make a bon fire and have a picnic.  We stayed until the stars came out.  We saw a lot of sand, but here are a few pictures of other things we found.

 The sweaty husband! 

 

 This is the typical bush that grows in the desert.  It is full of huge thorns.

 

 The kids tackling the hill.

 

 This little bush was growing in the middle of a huge open area.  It was the only bush I found of its kind.  It had beautiful flowers.  I felt like I should give it water, but then figured I would end up killing it.

 

 Here is our fleet of cars.  It is best to always caravan just in case a car breaks down or whatever else you can imagine happening in this country. Bryan is trying to talk me into getting our own car.  It was tough for him being a passenger. He really wants to drive like a crazy person over the sand. I keep reminding him that he will be a college student next year, and college students do not own cars!

 

I know this looks gross, but fascinating on how it is decomposing.  It still had eyelashes!  There wasn't any odor either! The wind was covering it with sad, which made me think of all the dead things that could be below my feet.

 

This man was herding about 100 camels.  I am not sure how he was able to get them all to follow, but they were all in a line. I am sure he was surprised to see so many women uncovered.  

Camels are not wild in Saudi.  They belong to someone and are branded on their back end. 

 

 Cameron and I watched this camel  for quite awhile.  He would always reach for the highest branch.  The bush has huge thorns so it was amazing he was able to get into it and eat.  We noticed he would close his eyes while reaching upwards.  We are thinking camels must have think eyelids.

 Our picnic in the sand was a success. The wind stopped blowing and we were able to relax and enjoy some great company and food!

It was a great day!  We haven't spent a lot of time exploring outside of our community.  We have so much to do here that it is easy to forget about the rest of the country.  We are motivated to see more.  Saudi Arabia has some unique historical sites and great "wilderness" areas.  We hope to explore more next school year. 

We have 7 weeks left until we leave for the summer months.  It is too hot to stay here during June, July, and August.  We will be coming back in August so we will have to battle a few months of intense heat (110ish), but we have been amazed by the pleasant weather we have had since November.  Everyday has been between 85-95, which feels pleasant when you live in the desert.  This year it has rained more than many have ever seen.  I witnessed 5 different rain showers.  Only 1 was quite severe but only lasted about 15 minutes.  The rest have been only a few drops.  I guess the rainy season is now over.  When I wake up in the morning it looks like our windows are sweating, and when you walk outside you are blasted with the intense heat.  (The AC has been running since we arrived

However, this will be considered pleasant for what is coming our way.  The heat does not slow the Johnsons down.  We find other ways to enjoy ourselves: swimming, movies, and more swimming! Also, don't forget that we do work, so we spend much of our day inside!  Yes, we do work!!  Ha! 

Our Red Sea pictures will be coming soon!