A weekend on Saadiyat Island

We developed a bit of a family tradition (in all two years that we've been here!) of heading away for a weekend after school ends.  Since we had so much fun at Emirates Palace last summer, we decided to do it again this year but in a new location.  There are two new hotels out on Saadiyat Island (this is the island right outside Abu Dhabi City where all the new museums will be (Guggenheim, Louvre, etc.)).  Right now there is a golf course, two brand new hotels and the half completed new campus of New York University.  The rest is still sand dunes.  But unlike all the other hotels in Abu Dhabi that are on the water, these hotels have real beaches with real waves (all the other beaches face other islands or construction zones).  We've been told that you can see dolphins off Saadiyat but we haven't seen them yet.

We had a really great weekend - just a quiet time with our family (no to-do lists, no chores!).  We played on the beach (which although there are real waves, there are also lots of real rocks!  It is a very rocky beach!), we played at the pool and we played at the Kids Club.  Sunday (which is a workday here) was an Islamic holiday so we were able to spend Father's Day out there as well.  Jake was able to play a round of golf with his friend Eric which wasn't a bad way for him to spend Father's Day.  And if you would have told us two years ago that either of us could have stood the heat in June long enough to play 18 holes, we wouldn't have believed you.  Jake said it really wasn't that bad!  I think it was a high of 107 or so that day....

The chairs were far from the water so I just took a picture from here
to show the beach without having to risk dropping my
camera in the sand or getting it wet!

There is a beautiful candlelit walkway to the Southeast Asian
restaurant but the candles don't show up very well

At the hotel - they kind of liked and were kind of
scared off the big light fixture

Fun cubbies at the kids club - we played board games,
did puzzles and had a good time in the indoor (AC!)
part of the Kids Club

The 3 big kids are under the green mushroom looking fountain.
They had a great time at the kids club - although Regan thought
it was too baby-ish for her (and it was!).  Anna's favorite was
the big sand area in the back

This is about as far as Anna got into the splash part - she doesn't
like splashy things!

Inside the kids club with her buddy
Charlie the Horse

This is Anna showing us her muscles!

After swimming until past dinner time, we were too tired
to go out so we ordered room service.  It's hard to find room
for all six of us to eat, so Anna is sitting on a trashcan using
the luggage chest as her table!

Breakfast hugs from the St. Regis teddy bear.  Meredith
is terrified of characters so it took the 2nd day and a
lot of encouragement for her to agree to be in this picture.
Yay, Meredith!

At the pool

Check out the fun "egg" bathtubs.  Anna could barely
even see out when she was bathing.

Back home - in their favorite matching dress-up clothes