The Satuday Morning Alex

The Satuday Morning Alex
Post #2

This week is....


AW.com!!!


AW.com (or also known as Alex.com) was constructed when I was about 10-11 years old. You are probably thinking "no its not! wollyung.synthasite.com was made last year"...right?? WRONG!!!
AW.com has been around for a very long time. The very first official Alex.com was made when I was 10-11. It was developed by my sister Ali but was further updated and controlled by myself.
But by the time I was about 12 years old, Alex.com had a flaw...
The home page could not update, and eventually all the pages could not either...Except for one.
on that page I gave instructions to go to the new website..
And thus created Alex.com(1.9). This was made off of a engine called Freewebs. It worked very well and contained the highest record of widgets and website games in my website history. But, as freewebs updated to other versions. I found myself troubled and I eventually got frustrated and ventured on Google to find a better website engine. Then I came across Synthasite.
Synthasite is now the home of AW.com(2.0) my most recent site. This site has been narrowed down to no more games but more about myself.
AW.com is currentley on a break until May/5/2009. Now, you are probally wondering why on May 5th? well May 5th is a secret...

AW.com is now the current name of my website, but who knows... I might make it sound more epic someday...
AW.com may be on a break but it is making a slow proccess to a new look. Stop by sometime to notice the change.

Welp, thanks for joining me for...

The Saturday Morning Alex

Message to Wham... Yes, you can still make posts

Check back to AW.com on April 1st...

Dune Bashing in the desert!!!!

This was our third time on safari and it was by far the best. We were picked up at 3:30 and driven to a part of the desert where all the 4 wheelers and quad bikers go. Our driver was part of a group called Desert Rose and he seemed to be very experienced. He surely had me nervous at times as we would go up and down the dunes, power slide down the dunes etc. It was a lot of fun. We stopped at a camel farm, a mountainous area to climb on the rocks (I didn't do this), and then stopped at a sand dune to do some sand boarding ( I also did NOT do this but it was fun to watch Greg). We also stopped to watch some quad bikers going up a large dune trying to get to the top before their power gave out???? After all this, we drove to a Bedoin village and had a BBQ dinner and a really great show with a belly dancer, two whirling dirvishs -they got Ali up to do the twirl, and music. WE had to admit it was a great show. After the show we got back in our car and the driver drove us home and we arrived home around 9:00 tired but really happy. It was a great night.

Having Fun with Ali and Alex here in Dubai

It has been a busy week and I haven't taken the time to blog, but we have been busy. I will try to remember all that we have done. Ali and Alex arrived on Friday evening. We took a short drive around and had dinner at The Walk which is our favorite place for Mexican food. It is also right along the beach and like a modern boardwalk so we could walk a bit so Ali and Alex could get the kinks out from their long trip. Saturday we went to the Dubai Mall and walked around ending up at the Aquarium. The last time we were there it was too busy and we did not go in. This time we took the time and I am so glad we did. It was awesome. There are pictures posted and you can view some of the sites. Sunday Ed and I went to work and I worked early so I could spend the afternoon with the kids - we went to the Mall of the Emirates where the ski slope is. We did not go skiing but saw all the sites that the mall has to offer. Tuesday we went to the beach and had a nice relaxing afternoon and then Tuesday night Ali and Alex ventured out on their own to a bar at Le Meridian Hotel. Wednesday I took the day off from work and we "visited" Medcare and spent some time with my boss and my friends there. It was nice showing them around the hospital and introducing them to my friends at work. That night Ed was on a trip so Ali and Alex had dinner themselves at a really nice restaurant that I want to try some day and Greg was attending a play at school for an assignment. Alex and I enjoyed a quiet evening at home. Thursday I took another day off from work (this could be a habit I could get used to - anyone else want to come visit?) We allowed Greg and Alex the day off and Ed took a day and we took the kids Quad biking and drove around the desert a bit and saw many many camels. Today we are having a big breakfast and getting ready for safari tonight which is dune bashing and then dinner at a bedoin camp in the desert. The weather has been really odd for the week, started out nice, then many many sand storms, then rain storms and now cool weather and it is still cloudy. I am keeping my fingers crossed for tonight that it doesn't rain. Rain is not common here so it is a nice change but we will be having dinner outside in the desert and it could be interesting if it rains........ watch for more.

The Saturday Morning Alex

The Saturday Morning Alex..
Post #1,

This weeks topic is...

Wollygang was developed by the Wollyung family, But mostly Ali, JJ, and I think Dave helped develop it. This site was meant for keeping in touch for the entire family while we went overseas for two years.

This site has family photos, and links to other related sites including...

AW.com

Aliwolly.com

And Binnerfamily

Now, this site has become a hit! We know a lot of people who visit it and know about it. And c'mon, 10,116 views!? Thats MY goal for MY site, and Wollygang has beat it!

Now let me just elaborate on something real quick.

This site was developed in 2007 if I am correct.

So for two years this site has been plain and dull...

I think it is time for a face lift. Thats right!

Ali and JJ I thinks its time to collaborate. If we have more info and pages on the site. It can be more informative about the family AND for the viewers

Heres some ideas

-history of wollygang page

-Status like on facebook. So whenever we are on blogger we can say what we are up to.

-and perhaps a bulletin page for updates and such

-And a new design

This are just suggestions. So if anyone has BETTER ideas. Please write to me or the family. Thanks.

Well, thats all for this week, Thank you for joining me in...

The Saturday Morning Alex..

JESS

JESS stands for Jumerian English Speaking School and my boss and I spent this afternoon there talking to the second graders about Florence Nightingale. We planned a power point presentation and some interactive play with bandaging and a question and answer about being a nurse. We were thinking - how hard can this been, they are 8 years old!! So we kept big words out of the presentation and made it very basic. Well, when we arrived the teachers asked us to wait and asked if we wanted to see their Florence Museum!!!!!! It turns out the classes have been studying Florence since January and they have every imaginable bit of information about her and an area of the school designed like a museum with the rats, bucket of body parts and all (all artificial of course). Nalini and I were amazed. While doing the presentation the kids were very attentive and answered questions and even added bits of information to the talk. The children were all British and really really cute. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.
The weather is starting to get a little warmer. Yesterday, briefly the temperature was up to 100 but it does cool down at night. I have turned the A/C on in the house though as the wind and dust have persisted and the house keeps getting dirty. Being outside though is not uncomfortable at all. Alison and Alex will be here on Friday and hopefully, it will be just breezy and warm not hot for their stay here. I am very excited to see them and show them around Dubai.
A comment to my son's previous post - I am not BORING!!!!! Can't wait for your Saturday post. Love ya...........

Just Another Post...

Howdy,
This is Alex, the youngest, the best, and the person typing this. I just decided to type this while I wait for the generous Wham to finish making my lunch (Grilled Cheese). It feels like I haven't posted on here for a while, and due to my website begin on a hiatus until May. I have decided to make a new obligation to Wollygang.com. I will begin to type a little post on my thoughts and such every Saturday. It seems like I have not kept in touch with my pals back in NY. So here is my chance. MY posts will be filled with pics and cool things. unlike boring Wham's. This will start every saturday starting next week. Now if you excuse me, Fresh Prine of Bel Air is on.

Yet Another Mall in Dubai

This weekend there is a Food Festival in Dubai called Taste of Dubai. I wanted to go there last night (Thursday) but there was another sandstorm and the festival is outside. I didn't look forward to food with sand in it so we decided to check out another mall that just opened called the Dubai Marina Mall. I had heard that not many stores were opened yet which seems to be the thing around here - to open malls only half full, but this mall is very nice, smaller then most but it has many what I call "down to earth stores" where we like to shop. It also had some nice restaurants and some of them had outdoor seating bordering on the marina. Of course outside was not my option last night so we sat inside at TGI Fridays, but it is nice to know that we can do outside sometime and it is very close to home. They also had a BillaBong store, Nike, Adidas, Quicksilver and some souvenir shops. I am hoping that the other stores open soon as it is very close to home and would be a nice place to run and pick something up quickly.
Alex is on a one night camp out with the scouts last night and today. He is working on his kyaking badge and hopefully, will earn that this weekend. Greg will be going to play paintball in a few hours with his friends. Ed and I are taking advantage of a quiet weekend. Ali and Alex will be here next weekend and then we will do some more siteseeing. I am working on an itinerary now for them. I hope they do not suffer from jet lag as they will only be here a week and there is lots to see and do.
Dave arrived home safely and hopefully is all over any jet lag and getting back to life as normal.

Dave is on his way home to NY

We had a going home dinner for Dave last night and Ed commented on the fact that it seemed funny to him that we are staying here and he is the one going "home". Where is home? Where the Heart Is - Where the Family Is - Where the nice weather is...... Anyway, we had a nice dinner in a Thai Restaurant near the airport. We took some last pics for Dave in front of Wafi City - a mall designed like a pyramid and then were off to the airport. All went well. For awhile we were concerned that he may have a problem because he stayed past his 30 day visit visa, but I called and they said there was an automatic 10 day extension for visitors (why not make it 40 days then?) so he was OK.
We had a really nice dinner and I think a month of family and having mom around was good for Dave. He looks great and is ready to tackle his last year of school, graduate and get on with life. In a few short months we will be home and life will return to "normal" again. Enough of this living in a dream stuff for me (darn).
Dave, Greg and Alex also had a day at Wild Wadi on Sunday as it was a holiday from school here. They had a good time while I was at work. Sunday evening Alex had Boy Scouts and they were in the pool at the school practicing their row boat skills as they are going camping this weekend and will be in row boats and kayaks. Dave and I went along to the meeting to watch and visit with the parents. I think Dave has met just about everyone we know here in Dubai. He has gotten around quite a bit. Being here a month helped get him aclimated to Dubai and life here. Ed even left him drive the care a bit before we left yesterday just so he could say he did. You haven't lived until you have driven over all the speed bumps and around all the traffic circles they have here.
As I write this, Dave is in the air on his way home. Won't be long before we are on that same trip.

Great Weekend with my Boys

Ed was away from Thursday evening this week so the boys and I had a weekend to plan on our own. Thursday evening we stayed in, but Friday we decided to go to the Mall of the Emirates and see a movie and have lunch/dinner there. We decided on Benjamin Button and it was a great movie, by the time it was over, it was dinner time. The popcorn we had for the movie was our lunch. We also did some walking around the mall and souvenir shopping for David. We had dinner at the boys favorite hamburger place and then came home.
Today (Saturday) we went to the beach. David wanted his picture taken with the Burj Al Arab in the background but today was a holiday and the beach close to that hotel was packed, so we decided to go to another beach and that one was very nice, not crowded at all. We stayed there for about an hour or so, the weather was perfect but the water was cold. WE came home and changed and went to the Marina - we wanted to take a boat ride but the boat was not running as it was a bit windy. We had dinner at the Marina and are now home for the evening. Tomorrow while I work, the guys are going to Wild Wadi a water park. Then on Monday David will be going home to NY. It has been fun having him here and I hope he had a good time. WE want the kids to remember being here as it truly is the experience of a lifetime.

More Dubai Weather

Now that the sandstorms are gone, We are left with this cool, clear beautiful weather that just makes you want to go out and take a walk. I haven't of course, but I want to. Yesterday, Ed, David and I had lunch at the Jumeriah Beach Hotel - one of their restuarants is called the Dhow and Anchor. They have seating along the back outside, near the pool with the ocean in the distance. The sun was shining and we chose to sit in the sun as it was a bit cool in the shade. It was so nice I could have sat there all afternoon. We wanted to treat David as he is leaving soon to go home to NY. I hope we have given him some experiences to remember as I don't know when he will be returning to Dubai.
Alex is returning home today from Jordan so our day is planned around picking him up at the airport. I will be at work longer today (as I had a short day yesterday) and then Ed and Dave will pick me up before we go get Greg at school and head off to the airport. Later tonight, Ed will leave for Saudi and will have to go back to the airport. We talked to Amy tonight and are setting plans in motion to have a mini family reunion in South Carolina in June. We are anxious to spend some time with JJ and family. We will be spending a week there before heading home to NY for re-settling. I think having that to look forward to will make leaving Dubai a bit easier. It is going to be so hard to leave here. Many of my co-workers are starting to say good bye already and it makes me so sad. But life does go on and we have so much to look forward to that I can't be too upset. But I really have loved my time here and will probably write about that for the next two months.

Sandstorm Time

We have been having a lot of wind lately which causes sand storms. On Saturday we took Greg and Dave Quad Biking in the desert. It was during a sand storm but it wasn't too bad. We decided while driving there that we would check it out and if it wasn't too bad, they would try it. Well of course they tried it and loved it. I got lots of pictures and we will post them soon.
The other news is that today, we are having another sand storm and this is probably the worst I have ever seen. It is sooooo windy and getting cooler by the minute. This past Saturday it was really hot (supposedly the hottest in February in 26 years) here in the UAE. But tonight, it is getting much cooler. I don't want to open the windows though as the air is so thick with sand, it has covered everything standing still. I just know it would be all over everything in the house. It is already, even with the windows closed. WE also had a bit of rain this morning. Not much, just enough to make everything a bit damp. I look forward to the cooler temperatures again when I can open up and turn the A/C off.
Heard from Alex, he is having a good time and today they are at the Dead Sea. One of my co-workers says he will enjoy that as you can actually almost walk on water. The Sea is so thick with salt I guess. I can't wait to hear from Alex again as the weather is really cold with a hail storm and they were supposed to camp out last night. Many of the kids commented on the cold in their blog posts. I am happy we packed Alex a winter coat, hat and gloves.