Triple triathlon in the desert?

This weekend Naz and some friends competed in the Wadi Adventure Triple Triathlon in Al Ain.
A triple triathlon is - 350m swim in a man made wadi (dam), 7km bike leg followed by 1.5km run then repeated 3 times. This makes for a lot of transitions and hard work for competitors but meant Piper and I were able to see Naz several times during the race in quick succession and follow his progress easily.

Unfortunately to beat the heat the race started at 7am with entry roads in closed from 6:30am and Al Ain is in another Emirate so it was a 4:30am start for our drive from Dubai!
But it was all worth it! Naz's swim training is paying off and he really enjoyed the triathlon and to top it off finished 19th overall!!

The location the triathlon was held is also home to a man made wave pool which pumps out genuine 3.5 metre waves for surfing..... in the middle of the desert! Naz and a friend Brett have been travelling here for a weekly surf so I will post a separate blog post on this another day.

Pre race cuddle

Start of the race



Waiting for a high five from her Daddy

Another high five!



Cheering on the competitors





Running across the finish line with her Daddy - she was so excited to run in the race and won a pair of shoe laces at the presentation for her efforts!

Busy Bee O'Briens

It has been very crazy in our house this week. Naz has been working in Abu Dhabi all week on the car launch event at Yas Island race track so Piper and I have barely seen him.
The upside for me was the ability to move a few things around and work from home for the first half of the week (thanks to great friends who stepped in and looked after Piper when I had client meetings) and the last two days I took leave and had fab girly days! I am exhausted but Piper and I have had a ball. Our girly days have consisted of a morning at Kidzania (kids play world, worthy of its own post), pancakes for breakfast, lots of baking cupcakes, shopping and a pedicure.

Think I have to mention the baking was inspired by my wedding anniversary present from Naz last week.... a butter yellow Kitchen Aid... I am in love!!

Last weekend we had a friends care for the weekend (they were off skiing in Lebanon for the weekend as you do) so we made the most of it. We found a secluded beach early in the morning and snuck Lily in for a swim, enjoyed breakfast at our favourite place in Jumeirah and went to Al Ain Zoo. Al Ain is another Emirate about one and a half hours drive from Dubai. I think this weekend will be a quiet on, a good chance to catch-up on some sleep and relaxation by the pool as winter is definitely over and its heating up fast this week.

Cheeky meerkat teasing Piper

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Amazing white lions

As I said it has been a big week! I was working on the dining table and turned around to find this.