Dead Sea!

A couple of weeks later, we planned a trip to Aqaba, but the reservation got messed up and the hotel was booked one of the nights we were planning to stay, so we decided to go the Dead Sea instead, This was a much better choice for our family, since it is only 40 minutes away and there is endless swimming in pools and floating in the sea. It doesn't get better than that, and for 2 days that is what we did...swim, swim, swim!

Just like her brothers, Eliza loves the water!

And she was indoctrinated to the famous Marriott waterslide. She loved it and went down with us many more times. Every time, she came out with a huge smile and said, 'again?'

What a view, I will always remember this.

The boys and I went to the sea to float on the first afternoon. It was well over 100 degrees, but I couldn't miss one last opportunity to get in and look across at Palestine. In case you needed a reminder....

Debating on mudding up...they decided no...

I decided yes!

Caleb especially loves to float in the sea. The first time we went in 2016, he refused to get in, nowadays he refuses to get out, haha!

We do a swim to the bouy challenge for ice cream...always works!

It was hot, but it felt good.

We ate an early dinner in the room and fell asleep around sunset. It was a good day.

Our room was just a few steps from where we were sitting and was right in front of one of the pools. It was a perfect location. Look at these two cuties sharing an apple juice at breakfast.

Ready for more swimming! Nathan went down to the sea with the boys that morning too.

We swam in every pool, multiple times!

Eliza took a nap and apparently was not too happy to wake up.

But she loved all the space to run and play.

It was such a fun getaway. We have been here many times over the past 5 years, and while this may have been our last visit, this place will always have a special place in our hearts, and many great memories were made here.

Wadi Rum

The final stop on our trip was to Sun City Camp in Wadi Rum. Like Petra, we have only been here with visitors, and this time we decided to splurge and stay in one of the bubble tents. The camp was usually busy when we went in the past, but this time we were one of only three families staying that night. It felt kind of odd being there with it so empty, but did not stop our fun!

Welcome to our tent. We had a front row view of the dessert, it was pretty awesome!

Our front yard for the stay...literally all to ourselves!

On past trips, we took the sunset and/or sunrise jeep rides, and this time we decided to do the sunset camel ride through the desert. For living in the Middle East for the past 7 years, I never rode a camel...

Big shadows as the sun was going down.

The boys rode in front and Nathan and my camel's were tied behind theirs. At first, they thought our camel was going to eat their feet, but once they stopped for every weed they saw (which was not too many), they settled down, haha.

Hooray for sunset camel rides! 

I loved the patterns of the drifted, fine, red sand.

Our camels were 4 years old, or at least that's what the Bedouin guides told me.

One of the things I have loved about learning Arabic, is the opportunity to speak to people. These men spoke no English, and I enjoyed asking them questions and answering their questions

I love this man ;).

Time to get back on the camels...Benjamin initially said 'no way'...he didn't like how they had to bend their legs twice to get up and down. Admittedly it is a pretty rough feeling, but after a little convincing he agreed to get back on.

Gorgeous sunset.

Moonrise

Heading back to camp.

Beautiful skies and camp up ahead on the left.

Freshening up before dinner.

The usually cook the meal in a pit about 6 feet underground, but because there were just a few guests, they cooked in the kitchen. And it was amazingly delicious! We had traditional Jordanian chicken and rice dish with a few sides. 

After dinner, they served tea and there was a man playing a stringed instrument and singing. I don't recall what the instrument was called, but it was smaller than a guitar. He too spoke no english, and earlier in the afternoon I sat and spoke with him for a while, and he told me about Yemen, and how he has been a singer for over 30 years. He was legit and pulled up a bunch of youtube videos of him over the decades.

Caleb loved the tea and may have had about 4 glasses....lots of sugar and all!

We were all tired from being outside in the heat all day...did I mention it was super hot down there? And we all slept well under the beautiful full moon.

Morning comes early this time of year...sun rises around 4:30, but the shades helped us sleep until almost 6. The kids played outside while we got packed up.

We had a traditional Jordanian breakfast of pita, hummus, lebneh, eggs, coffee and juice, then got on the road back to Amman. We had a really great few days away, and enjoyed experiencing new things at places we have loved visiting over the years!

We missed Eliza, but it would have been way too hot and strenuous of a trip for her. We were thankful that Tes could watch her and the report was, the girls had lots of fun! She was happy to see us when we returned, and us happy to see her too of course.